Pourtout Pancakes

Pourtout Pancakes is returning soon...

2012-01-16T21:20:00.001-06:00

Hey everybody, Pourtout Pancakes will be back very, very soon.

Finally The Rock has come back to WWE...does it really matter?

2011-02-16T23:11:00.002-06:00

So finally, The Rock has returned to WWE...

Video to watch: The Rock

Despite not working for a professional wrestling organization anymore, I still love the sport and follow it as much as I can.

It really started when I was a little kid and my grandparents used to watch the WWF every Saturday and treat it as if it was a real sport. If anyone even dared to say that the WWF, NWA or WCW was fake, they would get admonished greatly. Even to this day, some family members will never state that wrestling is fake.

You can say its acting, scripted, worked out, but don't call it fake. Those men and women are out there working hard out there and to call their art that is insulting.

I'm starting to sound like this guy...

Anyway, because of the influence of the family, I've taken professional wrestling more seriously than most other people really should. Even when I've gone periods of not watching it consistently, mainly my college years in the early 2000's, I still would find time to watch an episode of Raw, Nitro, Smackdown, ECW, etc.

Working for an actual wrestling organization made me watch the sport even more because it was part of the job to view the competition as well as your own work, but it helped me see the entire scope of the industry. This was good but it also took out some of the fun of being a fan and I looked at it as more of a business.

What does all of this have to do with The Rock's return?

For the first time in a long time, I felt like the fanboy that obsessed with the sport as a teenager.

When the arena lights went down and The Rock's theme music came on, I literally yelled out loud in my house and went off. It was an incredible moment that I didn't see coming.

With the internet age we're in, the difficulty of keeping a secret in wrestling is harder than ever. I'm sure there was a Web site or a few reporters who figured out that the guest host for Wrestlemania was going to be Rocky (one fan in the arena sitting behind the announce table had a sign for The Rock when he came out). However, it was great to finally be surprised for once.

I thought the actual promo was solid. I read a comment online that said The Rock looked rusty but I didn't see it. In fact, for someone who hasn't cut a long promo in that format in years, he did amazing. I thought the comments as Dwayne was a nice touch as well. His interaction with Michael Cole was funny as well, especially when you consider the history that both of those men have together. However, there were two things that I question from The Rock's promo.

1) Why was he so persistent in promising to never leave WWE again? The Rock kept saying that he was returning for good to the WWE but wouldn't say in what capacity. I have to believe that the acting career isn't over. Shoot, he's in the new movie in the Fast and Furious franchise that comes out this summer. The commercial was in the Super Bowl.

I don't think you're going to see The Rock lacing up his boots and trying to get the World Title. Why would The Rock put his body through the strains of being a wrestler when he can do just as well acting?

I think you're going to see The Rock on WWE television heavily for the next month promoting Wrestlemania but after the event, you may see him once every two to three months.

2) Why did he go off on John Cena? I understood him going after The Miz, the current WWE Champion. The Rock is a face, Miz is a heel, that's basic Wrestling 101 right there.

I'm not a fan of John Cena's character. Cena is a loyal to WWE and has been excellent for the company. In fact, Cena has been the biggest money maker for WWE the past seven years since The Rock left.

I was very surprised that WWE, mainly Vince McMahon, allowed The Rock to go after their cash cow like that in a public forum.

An amendment to that is that the Rock said all of his catchphrases during the promo but if you noticed, half of them were beeped out, which would have never happened in the mid to late 1990's or even the early 2000's.

The result of that is you have a generation of fans like myself who are frustrated about the censorship of the product and the representation of that has been Cena. Therefore, you have many fans who dislike Cena and I guess The Rock was trying to express that.

My final thought on this is that we've seen WWE bring back former stars in the past. I remember when Hulk Hogan returned for the first time in a long time years ago. I remember the reunion of the NWO in WWE. Outside of Randy Savage, Bruno Sanmartino and the Ultimate Warrior, we've seen every big name the WWE has ever had in its history, come back for one more run. However, the reality is that each of those returns produced a moment of glory and not much else. How will The Rock be different?

I've already had two friends tell me that they're coming to Wrestlemania in Atlanta just to see The Rock and seen numerous people online saying that they're now interested in the event.

I was going to order Wrestlemania on pay-per-view before The Rock's return but now I regret not having a ticket to go the actual event.

I think The Rock and WWE will be making a lot of money in the next few months.

Those are my thoughts, what are yours?

My Thoughts on the 2011 Grammy Awards

2011-02-15T22:47:00.002-06:00

Time to give a general commentary on the Grammys that took place on Sunday night.

Music to listen to: I Know You Know/Smile Like That by Esperanza Spalding

-Justin Bieber fans need to fall back: Its one thing to want your favorite artist to win an award. Its another thing to hack into the Wikipedia page of the other artist who got the award and leave negative messages towards them.

That's what happened to Esperanza Spalding when she won the Grammy for Best New Artist over Bieber on Sunday.

First, the whole "new artist" concept is flawed. Spalding has released three solo albums. Drake has been featured on songs for at least three years but released his first full length album this past year. Florence & The Machine along with Mumford & Sons have released work as well. Bieber has even had some work that would make him not be considered a "new artist."

What I'm trying to say is that you can't take this award too seriously and the Bieber fans who see him losing the award as a terrible moment need to gain perspective.

-I should have seen Spalding winning from a mile away: I'm a big fan of her work and have been following her work for a few years. I just didn't think she would win but it's not as big of an upset as you would think.

Most of the voters for Grammy awards tend to be "traditionalist" in nature and that's really code for old people. They tend to go for artists who could be defined as true musicians, which means playing your own instruments on stage. They'll throw a bone to an artist like Lady Gaga for things like Pop Vocal but look at other artists that have dominated Grammy awards in the past. Alicia Keys, Lauryn Hill, etc. You get the idea.

When you look at the New Artists, here's what the majority of voters were thinking.

"I'm not going to vote for Justin Bieber because he's a pop star who dances and the only person who knows who he is may be my daughter. I've heard of Drake but he lacks the musicianship I like in my New Artist. I'm not familiar with Florence & The Machine. I've heard of Mumford & Sons but I've really liked the jazz works of Spalding and think she's a true talent who may be the best prodigy in her genre in a generation. She will get my vote."

That may not have been the thinking of every voter but enough of them had this thought to produce the result.

-Not knowing who the artist is shouldn't be your ultimate judgement on the quality of the work.

I know that I'm the exception to the rule for the majority of people because I know of many musical acts in nearly every genre out there. I've heard of Spalding. I'm very familiar with the work of Lady Antebellum. Heck, if I made a list of the top-10 albums of 2010, The Suburbs by Arcade Fire would have probably made the cut.

However, even if I didn't know who they were, that wouldn't give me the inclination to dismiss their work.

The biggest problem, actually there are two problems that are happening with commercial music today.

-The majority of music airplay on video channels and radio are pop and rap. Actually calling this a problem isn't correct because I'm a fan of Jay-Z, Eminem, Bruno Mars, Usher, Drake and Rihanna, all artists who had a big musical year in 2010 as far as airplay goes. Katy Perry and Lady Gaga are hit or miss for me and as much crap as he gets, Bieber is OK by me. I really don't listen to his music much but its hard to avoid knowing of his songs if you follow music. I do respect his hustle though.

The problem with this is that genres such as alternative rock, country, jazz, dance, electronic, heavy metal, R&B, hard rock, punk, etc. aren't getting as much attention in the mainstream.

That's how you can have an Arcade Fire or Sterling win an award in the most public forum in music, the Grammys, and a majority of people not know who they are.

-We've become an IPod/Pandora society in relation to music. What's happened is that fans of groups such as Arcade Fire, The Black Keys, Minus the Bear, Mars Volta, Maserati, Block Party and other groups of that ilk have said screw it to trying to listen to songs by those artists on the local rock or pop stations in their hometown and going online to get the music.

I can honestly tell you that I listen to 80% of my music from my own collections whether its a burned CD, ITunes downloads, Pandora internet radio, 10% goes to college radio stations and the other 10% goes to traditional radio stations. What this means is that I'm probably going to listen to a Black Angels song before Lady Gaga and I'm not alone.

When I was younger (back in the 1980's and early 1990's), you would listen to a station and literally hear Dr. Dre, Nirvana and Mariah Carey on the same show. Now, those are three different stations, two at the least. That's how I became a fan of all genres of music.

The country music interest came from living in Nashville for seven years. However, I've always argued that I would like country music even if I never lived there but it would be less likely if I stayed in the Northeast where I was born.

What's happening now is that people only seem to stick to their favorite genre or artists and are fiercely loyal to it at the detriment of acknowledging other works.

That's when you get supporters of artists such as Bieber or Lil Wayne who become downright hostile when you suggest that another artist may be better. Those are mainstream examples but I'm sure each of you can think of a musical act, known or not, that have these same supporters.

I'm on record as saying that The Mars Volta is not only my favorite group of the last 10 years but maybe in my lifetime and I'm sure that the majority of you don't know about the band. If I made the same statement about someone like U2, I would get some critiques but in the end you would listen to my argument more because that's a known group. If I make the same case for Volta, you would probably tell me to go back to my mother's basement and keep my indy/emo crap to myself.

What does this all mean?

It means that we're finding less diversification in the music choices of people, especially if there under 25 years old or older than 50 years old.

Therefore, we have things like Sunday night take place.

-Despite all of that, I enjoyed Eminem's album the most of the choices for that category. This doesn't mean that Arcade Fire's album was bad, in fact I liked it also.

-I'm over Will and Jada Smith's kids. I enjoy the acting of Will and Jada but I'm done with their darn kids. I don't want to see them in a movie, telling me what to do with my hair, rapping, all of it. Leave me alone.

-Mick Jagger has been and always will be awesome.

-If anyone should have beef about not winning an award in a category, its Cee-Lo Green. How does Fuck You not win Record of the Year?

-On that accord, how does Love the Way You Lie not win Song of the Year?

OK, those are my thoughts. What are yours?

Repost: Not Bitter on Valentine's Day? I Was Shocked Myself!

2011-02-14T19:28:00.003-06:00

Here's a repost of my Blog entry from last Valentine's Day. I was going to do a new post but the emotions are the same this year. Enjoy...

Music to listen to: Lila's Dance by The Mahavishnu Orchestra

So Valentine's Day was on Sunday and it was the first one in a few years that I was bitter that I was single. I think this is for several reasons.

First, I think that people, especially women are finally catching on to the overrated “holiday” and I use that term loosely. You shouldn't have to wait until February 14th to express your love to your girlfriend, it should be a daily event. Plus, I've said this since I've been a little kid, you should be insulted if your boyfriend treats you well on only one day of the year. So this has been an improvement. You're still going to have the few that take the day TOO seriously, but its ok.

Second, I really think that the economy has had a major effect on the “holiday.” People are struggling to pay bills and are literally losing their jobs, so the concept of spending thousands on a gift is a lot for us these days.

Third, on a direct personal level, I've gone through a complete reevaluation of my life and I'm not happy where I'm at professionally and personally, more the former than the latter. I'll get into that distinction at another time, but the point is that I've been more concerned about things like how I'm going to pay rent and what I want from my career in the next five years than worry about my dating situation.

Fourth, I've been single every single Valentine's Day in my life, literally. Even back in elementary school and junior high when you would just pick someone of the opposite sex and keep it moving, I never did that. I even broke down about it at 16 years old, will never forget it.

I was coming home on the subway and I saw at least five couples my age looking happy and exchanging gifts. Women were carrying flowers and candy, men were appreciating the affection and I was there staring at them, giving them the patented mean look. It was based on envy and when I got home, I started to cry because of my feeling of lonliness. I balled my eyes out for nearly an hour.

What does all of that mean? If the same thing happens for nearly 30 years on the same date in an annual basis, why get mad at it? I'm going to be single, most likely for the rest of my life, and I've accepted that. No need for tears.

Fifth, being single on this “holiday” saves money and I take pride in my thriftiness with my finances. You can call me cheap, I don't care.

Finally, the “holiday” does focus on love within dating relationships, but it does promote the concept of love in general and who can hate on that?

Before you can find happiness in your life, you have to appreciate the happiness that others are experienceing in their lives. Instead of having jealousy for people who are in loving relationships, I should acknowledge and approve of it. Love is hard to find and not all of us will feel it in our lives.

Plus, your time will come. It may not be soon and it may not be in the form that you expect. I may not come across a loving relationship with a girlfriend or wife until I'm 80 or I may meet her tomorrow, or even worse, maybe I've already experienced it and didn't understand it. Maybe my true love will be a dog I'll purchase next year. Either way, it will happen for me.

So, I wasn't bitter on Valentine's Day and it felt good.

Sunday Reflections

2011-01-30T22:50:00.002-06:00

Time for some Reflections

Music to listen to: Where I End and You Begin by Radiohead

Its been another long spell since I've written on Pourtout Pancakes. Its strange that when I was my most active personally and professionally, having a full-time job, going to graduate school at night, dating, etc. I wrote on the Blong consistently. Now, even when not having full-time work, I'm spuratic with my posts.

There are two main reasons. First, I've been focusing on The Sports Inquirer. Second, I didn't want to write about the same stuff each week. A normal post would be about me applying for jobs, going on an interview, two if I'm lucky, not even getting a call back, being lonely in Georgia because while I love my family and enjoy my time with them, I'm a sports professional and should be working at a game in some form. How it kills me to watch sports on television, especially college contests involving Belmont and Vandy and missing the heck out of Nashville. How I'm in the worst financial state I've even been in my life and I'm 29. How I've finally reached the point where I want to start a family and struggling with my dating life.

No one wants to read about those things consistently on a Blog.

However, I've learned that despite this being the roughest patch of my professional life, I have to improve my grind. If I want to reach my professional goals, I have to dedicate completly to my work. Every moment should be dedicated to something that helps grow my brand.

That means writing more posts and not watching reality television. The more time I commit to writing will make me a better writer for my eventual sports business magazine.

It means doing a physical workout instead of searching odd topics on Google. This will not only keep me healthy and increase my lifetime, it will make me look better when I'm on television providing my analysis of said sports issues.

I see people like Darren Rovell, Peter King, Jay Glazer, Jason Whitlock and numerous others and their work ethic is much better than mines and that disturbs me because I can be at their level, maybe even better but I've been wasting my time feeling bad about the cards I've been dealt.

I was released from a job that I really, really liked. Didn't deserve to be let go in my opinion but that's not going to be the first time this has happened or will happen. I have to move on.

I had to leave Nashville, which bummed me out but I didn't want to leave the first time. I didn't want to leave Charleston when I lived there. When I eventually move out away from where I'm currently at, Kennesaw, Ga. I'll be sad to leave here also. I'm probably not going to live in Nashville again, loved my time there, miss my friends there, but I have to move on.

I'm not going to start that family I'm interested in having for a few years. I want to achieve things that are going to take several years to gain. There's no need to have a mental scoreboard comparing how many of my friends have reached the benchmarks of top job, marriage and children in comparison to myself. Not only does this waste time but everyone's journey is different so let them live their lives.

So the final message of this post for myself is to improve my work ethic and try to enjoy this journey of life.

Links I Like

2011-01-12T18:26:00.003-06:00

Time for a long-overdue addition of Links I Like

Music to listen to: Warning (live) by Incubus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vvKOMM3JDo&feature=related

-Since I’m single and dating, its always fun to see a satirical view of how things are out there so enjoy this post titled “8 Reasons Not To Date Black…uh…I Mean TO Date a White Woman.” Personally, I find #7 to be true in some ways.

-There isn’t a professional wrestler that I respect for his in-ring work more than Kurt Angle and here’s an interview of him discussing his career before a pay-per-view: http://www.fanhouse.com/2010/10/10/kurt-angle-has-high-expectations-for-match-at-tna-bound-for-glory/

-Seeing how I operate two Blogs, have a twitter account, use Facebook daily and go to sleep literally with my lap top on, I’m the last one to judge another person’s digital usage but the overkill of the younger generation of technology is an interesting read: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/technology/21brain.html?_r=2&src=tptw

-Excellent post by my friend Nicole on her Blog titled This Is Why You’re Single. The title says it all.

-I’ve always been a fan of Cracked.com and one of their posts with un-doctored pictures is amazing. The picture at the top is one of these pics: http://www.cracked.com/article_18878_17-images-you-wont-believe-arent-photoshopped-part-7.html

-What were her parents thinking with this name for their daughter?

What are some links you like?

I've become the "Old Relative"

2010-12-08T21:40:00.002-06:00

Music to listen to: Hurt Me by The Jezabels

I went to my niece’s high school basketball game yesterday and it was a good experience. J played well, the team won, all was well or so I thought.

Her high school plays the women’s game first and than the men’s so I stayed for a part of the men’s game while J wrapped up her post-game activities.

I find her watching the men’s contest on the other side of the gym in the bleachers, so I come over and tell her congrats on the game and everything.

Well, she was sitting with two boys and I immediately knew that she wanted me to leave so that she could continue her social activities. I also know that she was “scouting” out some of the talent on her school’s boy team. In fact, she was trying to move the conversation along so that I would get my goodbye in and leave.

I saw right through it and called her out on it. She laughed and said that this wasn’t the case, but I’ve been there so I told her that I’ll talk to her later and left.

This isn’t the first time this has happened. In the summer, I ran into J while I was at the mall and she was with her friends. The second that she saw me, she ran the other way to not come near me. I knew her friends so it wasn’t as if I was going to see some shady characters J was with.

The reality is that I’ve become the “old relative.”

We’ve have that older relative when we were teenagers that we have love for but we think is lame if we associate with them in front of our friends.

I’m not hurt by J’s actions. In fact, I’ve joked with her about the mall incident and will mess with her about the gym situation the next time we’re together.

But its strange to be at this stage of our relationship because I was the youngest member of the immediate family for many years, especially during my elementary and high school years. Its been an interesting transition going from the young guy to being the mentor to a group that’s currently in high school themselves.

The relationship with J has had changed over the years. When she was first born, she was the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen. I know everyone says that about their kid or family member, but you have to believe me on this one. I would spend hours with her because it was cool to spend time with a little girl for the first time.

I still remember when I was babysitting her when J was less than a year old and there was a blackout at the house we were staying at. I spoke directly to her for a whole hour and she just sat there, looked up at me and listened. Granted, J may have been excited to see a talking object as a baby but it started a bond that is still strong to this day.

She’s 15 now and growing up into a woman. We’re still close and have even been able to share some things in common, including our dating lives to some degree as strange as that sounds. She’s my main advisor in many aspects of my life.

However, as evidence at the gym yesterday, she’s springing out into her own world and I’ve come to terms with this.

I’ve always said that J has been a test case for me if I ever have a daughter and this is a lesson that I’ll remember for a long time.

Update on all things Pourtout Pancakes

2010-11-30T21:53:00.001-06:00

Its been a while…

Music to listen to: Any Colour You Like by Pink Floyd

Hey everybody. Its been such a long time since I’ve written on Pourtout Pancakes and that’s my fault.

Since moving to Georgia, I’ve been focused on not only finding a full-time job but on my other Web page, thesportsinquirer.worpress.com.

Spending a majority of time on that has been fun but I’ve also missed giving you my updated top-five, Links I Like, dating life information, music reviews and of course, Sunday Reflections.

There’s nothing new to update you on here in Georgia. I miss Nashville for a variety of reasons. I miss attending Vandy football games, even though looking at this season from a far, maybe it was good to sit this one out from a distance.

I miss going to Belmont sporting events, where even after I graduated and stopped working in the athletic department was given massive amounts of love whenever I visited.

I even miss my peeps at TNA Wrestling. While there may have been issues at the time I was there, it was an awesome gig to have and as a professional wrestling fan, that internship may be a major highlight in my professional career.

More importantly, at all of those places, I miss the people.

I’ve kept in touch with some but not as much as I would like. I went from seeing some people every day to not even hearing from them for weeks at a time.

However, despite all of this nostalgia, it was time to move away from Nashville and find another path.

What that path is, I’m unsure.

What has been a bummer is seeing the employment market in sports. I’ve been on all of the job boards, sent my resume to a bunch of places, made countless cover letters, contacted a bunch of people, yet nothing.

It makes you want to look for something outside of the industry, which is something that I’ve had to start doing because the financial funds are really low right now.

But you don’t read this Blog to hear about all of that. I’ll be fine.

So I’ll make a better effort to write more on Pourtout Pancakes because its fun and does provide me a form of therapy that I can use right now in my life.

Until then, good fight and good night everybody.

Sunday Reflections: "Shotgun Weddings" in 2010

2010-08-09T08:32:00.002-05:00

My Reflections today are on pregnant women getting married. Strange, I know, but first…

Music to listen to: Hoops by Chemical Brothers (live)

I thought about this topic when watching the Bethanny’s Getting Married TV show on Bravo. Before you start hating for me watching a show on that station, especially a spinoff of a Real Housewives edition of the series, hear me out. Beth is entertaining, her unintentional comedy is off the charts, easy on the eyes and has a show based in my hometown, the NYC. Darn near any show based in the NYC gets a customary view because that’s where I will always represent for it. So I gave Beth’s show an opportunity, liked it, etc.

So the premise of the show is this. She’s pregnant and is planning to get married during the pregnancy to her boyfriend. Of course, there is drama with this, but she has her wedding, even has the honeymoon about seven months pregnant, has the baby a month early, baby and marriage is fine, the end.

While watching the show, I kept asking myself why she just didn’t wait to get married until AFTER she had the baby. I thought that Beth was the exception but I’ve seen this trend happening often.

First it was Beth, than it was the singer Alicia Keys, next was model Miranda Kerr and even someone within my extended family. What’s going on?

I thought in 2010 that we would be past the “shotgun wedding.”

I’ve fortunately never been in a situation where I’ve gotten someone pregnant and had to make a decision to whether I want to keep the baby, stay with the woman, break up with her and be a single parent, etc. You would have to consider all of those things if you are in that spot.

I put this inquiry on Facebook about a week ago and the response from my women friends tended to be of the view that women don’t want to be a “baby mama,” meaning that before they give birth to the baby, they want a commitment from their boyfriend that they will have a family and nothing says that more than marriage.

I see that view from the women but here’s my view as a man.

If we’re in an established relationship and you happen to be pregnant, that would be great. I want to be a father and if we were having unprotected sex than I was willing to accept the potential responsibility of fatherhood. However, there is a difference between being your husband and the father of your child. They are connected but not as much as people make it out to be.

Our marriage is about the commitment that we are making towards each other. My role as a father is about my commitment to our child. I can be a great father without being your husband. Being a great husband may have no impact on my fathering skills.

If we only get married to provide a fake family for our child, that’s going to hurt in a major way in the future because it won’t last and hurt feelings will ensue.

Furthermore, preparing to have a baby is a major commitment in itself that deserves its own attention. Those nine months should be dedicated to our child, not looking at floral arrangements and seating charts. We should be preparing the nursery and not trying out wedding gowns, you get what I’m saying.

We can take care of the pregnancy, wait about a year while we settle into being parents and then have the wedding when things calm down.

Also, I thought most of us 35 years old and under were beyond the pressures of the older generation forcing the “shotgun wedding.” Back in the olden days (really the 1950’s and 60’s), if you got someone pregnant, you had to marry then because raising a child out of wedlock was considered unacceptable by the standards of society.

In the 21st century, most of us were either raised by divorced parents or had a member of your immediate family circle going through it. My parents are divorced and after spending time with each of them, I understand why the separation happened on both sides. If they forced themselves to stay together for my sake, it would have been an unhappier household that would have been problems for everybody.

That’s just my case and not everyone is the same but what do you think about “shotgun weddings” in 2010?

Welcome to Kennesaw: Not my Rock Bottom

2010-07-12T23:01:00.002-05:00

Music to listen to: Clubbed to Death by Rob Dougan (otherwise known as that Matrix song)

My nephew asked me a few weeks ago if this was my lowest point of my life or rock bottom. I thought about it and I simply told him no. He didn’t have to know about my unhappy high school years, my depression during the first two years of college, celebrating my 21st birthday alone and wondering if I left the world if anyone would care, having the power and heat cut off of my apartment in Dunwoody, making me take hot showers at the gym and about five or six situations I can think of but won’t get into.

Searching for a job is not my lowest point.

I can see his view of it. He has seen his uncle go from earning a master’s degree in the one industry that I’ve cared about the most, sport management and then working in professional wrestling in a fun job to having no money in my account and having to move into my mother’s home. He’s seen me move away from a place that I’ve had the best three years of my life, Nashville, to a less active suburbia.

To a 13-year old who thinks his uncle should be living in a condo in downtown Atlanta partying with three girlfriends and hitting the bars but instead is barely surviving, that can be viewed at as a low.

But his blunt honesty of my situation has made me realize that I’ve let myself perceive this as a low and that’s why I haven’t written on my Blog for nearly two months.

For those of you who have followed Pourtout Pancakes the past three years know that I’ll write about anything personal accept my family. I’ve written about my body image issues, my job, working on getting my education, dating, sports and even dying. My boundaries are very open, but why the fear of writing now?

I thought that I would write my post saying goodbye to Nashville and than be able to do another one a week or two later promoting my new job in a fun city that would continue my life path.

I wanted my next post to be a positive one with good news on my front but that isn’t what the Blog is about. Its about me working out my issues and hopefully letting my experiences be helpful to someone that’s reading it.

I let the perceived lives of others affect my mood. I violated my own rule of not judging my life in comparison with others. One of my life mantras is to have my own journey but when I see people I know getting jobs, getting married, having children, taking vacations around the world and I’m stuck here, that hurt.

But this (earmuffs for the kids) shit is temporary. I will come out of this stronger and with a desire to dominate all aspects of my life. I will get a job, have my own place again and get back into a positive situation.

The second thing that happened since my move here was interesting as well. I was in an interview for a sales position for an athletic department in Georgia and they asked me if sports didn’t exist, what industry would I work in.

At first, I tried to give a answer but kept it real and told them that I can’t imagine myself in another industry.

I’m a sports journalist. That’s what I do.

I’ve been flexible with it working in media relations, marketing, advertising, etc but the core desire is the same.

Fuck it I will have that sports media outlet that will be witnessed by the world as the premiere source in the world for sports news. I can’t compromise on that ideal because if I do than I will consider my life, at least on the professional side, a failure.

I have been a failure towards my goal and have to be honest about that. You’re reading this and calling me out on my bull crap.

I could produce this sports media vehicle right now. I can start up that second Blog. I can post videos with my commentaries. I could become a freelance writer. All of this is true. I’m not going to make promises that I’m going to do all of that to you because I can’t even keep that promise to myself.

I don’t know what my next step is and that’s the honest truth.

So that’s the update. I’ll touch on stuff like enjoying food a little too much, my new enjoyment of Univision and Telemundo, LeBron, the World Cup, watching three seasons of The Wire on DVD and it being one of the five best shows I’ve ever seen, the Cincinnati Reds being in first place, getting roped into online dating again, Fedor losing and Brock winning me over as a MMA fan, being awed by Breaking Bad, the addiction of daytime TV and everything in between over the next few weeks in my blog posts.

This isn’t a rock bottom, just a time to get it together and more importantly, get it right.

NBA Playoffs Review: Conference Finals and Where Will LeBron Go?

2010-05-20T21:19:00.005-05:00

Before I start, you know what's coming...

Music to listen to: Seven by Sunny Day Real Estate

So we are halfway through the conference finals of the NBA Playoffs and not only are we heading towards possible sweeps, but we my see a rematch of only two years ago in the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. This may lead to a lack of excitement for casual fans but there has been a lot of things going on in the world of the NBA. So you’ve come to the right source for the review of it all.

1) Where in the world will LeBron James go? I’ve been asked this question by several people because I have a partial and impartial view of this situation. I’m a New York Knicks fan, one of LeBron’s potential destinations, and I would be happy if he became a Knick. However, as an NBA fan, I like to see elite players in the best situations so we can see the best product possible. Plus, I show no emotion in my analysis and you know that. Here’s my breakdown.

Before I start, he’s going to make his money wherever he goes, so the fact that Cleveland can sign him for the “most” money is true on paper but in the grand scheme of this situation, it doesn’t matter.

If he’s thinking with his basketball mind he will be a…Bull. Chicago gives him the best situation to turn a playoff team to a potentially elite team. Not only do the Bulls have Rose and Noah in store, they have additional money to sign another high-level player like Chris Bosh. If you put those four together, they will be the top team in the East right along with Orlando the next five to six years. They also have Deng’s contract to include in a sign and trade, which makes the possibility even stronger. There is also an open head coach position if he wants to play that game.

If he’s thinking with his heart he will be a…Cav. LeBron continues to preach loyalty and obviously staying with your “hometown” team is the way to show this. I put “hometown” in quotations because most people seem to think that LeBron considers Cleveland his hometown but its actually Akron that he claims. It’s not the same. He can finish what he has stated with the Cavs. However, because of the inept management of the team’s roster, all of the role players such as Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, Varajo, etc. are still with the team for a few years with heavy contracts other teams won’t want. If LeBron couldn’t even make the Finals the past two years with this crew, what makes him think it will be any different? Plus, if they keep Mike Brown, which they probably won’t, James has to walk.

If he wanted to think about his brand, he will be a…Net. I’ll get to the Knicks, hear me out. The Nets have Brook Lopez, Devin Harris, a top-three pick in the draft and money to spend. He will be closer to his major New York market and the Nets have a better core than the Knicks, which isn’t saying much but it’s something. Another open position is at head coach. Two more factors to consider. You can’t ignore the ownership of Jay-Z of the team as being a factor. Those two have formed a relationship of some form that has lasted a long time. Second, the owner is Russian and has European connections that will help James increase his name in that area of the world.

If he wants to be a little savvy he will be a…Celtic or Thunder. Both teams can afford him, especially Oklahoma City. They each have good cores to build around but I don’t think that Lebron is a candidate for these locations.

If he wanted to be savvy and give a sleeper a chance, he would be a…Maverick. Dallas has the money, an expiring contract, the sway of Mark Cuban, the chance to play in a bigger market and even Texas Stadium on occasion and some other attributes. The problem is that you have an older core that may lose its maximum skills in a year or two instead of a younger core like Chicago or New Jersey.

If he buys into the whole “global icon” concept, he would be a…Knick. It is the biggest market, the largest stage, offers the most money besides Cleveland, he would be the biggest sports celebrity in that city, even more than Jeter. He would gain larger exposure for his brand. On the court, New York offers him a nearly open slate to choose players and a coach in D’Antoni with a system that he could realistically average 35/10/8 if he wanted to for a season or even tick the points down a few and get the elusive triple-double season. However, this isn’t enough. He would have to get another player like Bosh or even Wade to take the leap with him. This may be harder than you would think.

If he can deal with a crappy owner, he would be a Clipper…If the Clippers had another owner that gave a crap about the team, they would be the favorite outside of Cleveland. The Clippers give him the major market, have a solid core of young players, the whole thing accept for the terrible owner. There is no way that LeBron makes this move. Can’t blame him.

So where does he go. I think he ends up a Knick. He’s going to buy into the BS of him having to play for the Knicks to reach his marketing potential. He’s already the face of the league. If he wants to reach Michael Jordan status, he has to win titles. He would have a better chance of doing that with the Bulls and not a rebuilding Knicks team.

Wherever he chooses to play, he needs to gain a killer instinct and act like he cares. Losing game five of the Boston series wasn’t criminal. It happens to all of the great players. However, his mannerisms during that contest was unacceptable for a player who is trying to become a world champion. All of the greats from Jordan to Magic to Bird and many others wouldn’t have let game five happen the way that it did. You have to be aggressive and take control of your team. Game six was a formality because all of us knew the Cavs were going to lose that contest.

The biggest thing that we learned from that Boston series is that LeBron, really any elite player honestly, needs help to win a championship. One-man gangs don’t win NBA titles. That’s why its critical that whoever he signs with has a supporting cast around him because if he goes to New York and no one joins him, he’s going to keep losing early in the playoffs.

Enough LeBron, he’s out of the playoffs, lets look at the other playoff series:

Boston vs. Orlando: Dwight Howard is like LeBron-lite. The lack of competitiveness in him is just as disappointing. He needs to stop smiling and acting happy because he’s getting punked in this series. The thing that was most disturbing was his “interview” during game one of the series with himself. His alter ego Clark Kent or some other crap like that was doing an interview with Dwight, it was awful as it sounds. Not to sound like an old man but you wouldn’t see the great players do that at all. He’s not elite. Also, learn some post moves.

When you’re relying on Vince Carter for clutch plays, you have problems.

For Boston, we’ve seen this song and dance before. The main difference is that while Pierce, Garnett and Allen can’t give a max effort every night because of age, Rondo steps up and fills the role. I still would take Deron Williams and Derrick Rose before Rondo but he’s had an excellent 2010 playoffs.

Back to Orlando. I think that sweeping Charlotte and Atlanta may have actually hurt it. The Magic haven’t been challenged and you’re seeing the battle-tested crew of Boston take it to them. Also, does Rashad Lewis even know that this series has started? Just a question for someone who is due to make more than $18 million dollars each year for the next four? What an awful contract.

I think Boston wins this series in six.

Los Angeles vs. Phoenix: Its not a problem for the Suns when Kobe goes for 40 points in game one. Lamar Odom going for 18 and 18 in the same contest is not good. Gasol getting 28 points in game two is a problem. Kobe is going to get 30+ points in every game of this series. If the bigs for the Lakers have big games, the Suns will get swept.

Phoenix just doesn’t have the size to compete.

However, similar to Orlando, if the Lakers get comfortable, Boston will bring it to them in the Finals.

Lakers in five.

Sunday Reflection (on a Monday): I'm Leaving Nashville

2010-05-17T22:25:00.005-05:00

What up everybody, hope you’ve been well. On to another fun post…

Music to listen to: Machine Messiah by Yes

So I’m moving out of Nashville and going to spend at least the summer in good ole Kennesaw, Ga.

Its been an active four-week period for me personally and professionally. It all started at the end of March when I was informed that I was going to be released from my position at TNA Wrestling. It was a tough blow to take because its always tough being told that you aren’t wanted at your place of employment, no matter how good or bad you did at your job. I think I did well and tried my best but that wasn’t good enough for them and I can’t control that. I made some excellent relationships there and will miss the job but you have to move on.

Furthermore, as I’ve stated here in this forum, working in sports is a dicey profession to get involved in. No one is safe. Players get traded, coaches get fired, executives get released, its part of the gig. So while there are some hard feelings towards the release, I’m not bitter about it. Plus, in a few years, there may be another chance to come back to TNA Wrestling or professional wresting in general, so this is just a phase of the employment life.

It was fun to work in professional wrestling because I was able to achieve one of those childhood goals. When I was a little, ok husky, lad in Brooklyn with only a prayer and a dream back in the NYC, I wanted to be one of several things in this order

1) President of the New York Mets
2) Sports writer for the New York Daily News
3) President of the New York Giants
4) President of the New York Rangers
5) President of the World Wrestling Federation

The first one would be interesting, the second one would be interesting and I’ve worked in media relations so I have an idea of how that goes down, the third one would be OK, the fourth one would be the most outside of my element and the fifth one would be the least interesting to me because after working in professional wrestling, I see what goes into it and its probably not for me. But at least I can say that I tried it.

Plus I got paid to talk about and watch wrestling. The 13-year old version of me would think that was epic so the 28-year old version will as well.

After getting the release, I’ve been contemplating a LOT of stuff in my life. I’ve come to several conclusions. Want to hear them? Since you’re reading this blog post, you probably do so here they go:

1) It’s time to move out of Nashville. I’ve spent seven years of my adult life in this city and I’ve enjoyed every moment of it. When I first came down here for undergrad studies, there was a culture shock of moving from the NYC to middle Tennessee. While I had spent some summers in South Carolina and Georgia as a teenager, it wasn’t the same. This city has represented my growth as an adult in many ways. When I first came here in 1999, Nashville was growing from a perceived sleepy town with some country music into one of the major cities in the country. Between the Tennessee Titans, businesses moving down here and everything else, it was a happening time. By the time of my first departure in 2003, the city had changed and so did I. After some rough personal times and not finding happiness in Charleston, S.C., I jumped at the chance to come back to this city for graduate school and its been even more fun than the frst time.

I’ve so comfortable here. I know where to go to take care of every task, have free access to each sporting event of my choosing, only a three-hour drive from a significant amount of my family, the people are nice, etc.

However, its time for me to move outside of my bubble and expand my options. I’m sure that I could stay here, find a job to my liking and spend the next fifty years here. But I want to see more of this country, diversify my choices and that means moving away. I will always be around the city though. I can’t miss Vandy football, Belmont volleyball, Belmont soccer, Vandy men’s basketball, Belmont basketball, and most surprisingly, Belmont baseball.

I came to my ultimate conclusion to move out on Saturday when I went to the senior day activities for Belmont baseball. I saw the ceremony for the four seniors Packy, Cameron, Brandan and Mark and thought back to three years ago when those guys were sophomores and now they were grown men moving on to their next paths of life. I would love to still be friends with the senior versions of them and stay in this state forever but that’s not how life works. Like them I must find my path and that means leaving this comfort zone.

I will have an emo moment when I drive on to I-24 towards Chattanooga to Georgia because while I will visit here often, it won’t be the same.

2) Being very picky about my next position of employment, it has to be in the following fields to reach these positions.

a) College athletic director
b) President of a Mixed Martial Arts organization
c) Publisher of a sports publication
d) President/Commissioner of a professional basketball team/organization
e) President/Commissioner of a professional baseball team/organization
f) Kick ass bass player of an alternative rock group that’s part Mars Volta, part Yes, part Tool, some Black Angels, Massive Attack and Thievery Corporation wrapped into one.

Only one of those has no chance of happening. I’ve looked at other positions in other industries and I would prefer to not do it. I love the sports industry and more importantly, I’m good, borderline excellent in it. This is what I want to do and the past month has confirmed this for me.

3) I want a wife and children. I’ve bounced back and forth with this one. All of us who are single like me have those moments when we see a happy family in a public place and wish we had that for ourselves and then we see an unhappy couple with miserable children and are grateful we aren’t in that spot.

If it seems like I’m harping on age its not intentional but I get like this on my birthday week. I turn 29 on Saturday and while I’m not old (btw, when you’re in your early 50’s, you’re old, no shame in that, embrace it, but you are in the second-half of your life), I would prefer to not be the old dad if you know what I’m saying.

I figure I’m fortunate if I reach 70. I’m well aware of my mortality and accept it because all of us die so no biggie to think on these terms. I would like to be able to post up my sons and daughters in the backyard driveway playing basketball when they are teenagers, lets say 15. Its going to go south for me at 50, so that means I have about five years, maybe 10 before I have to at least have the first child.

I’ve heard that having a child is like seeing a dog learn to talk and who doesn’t want that?

But seriously, if I want to have a family, these are things I have to think about. I’m glad that I haven’t had any children yet because I’m not in the proper position to support them right now but I will be soon.

So as of May 17, 2010, your boy will eventually like to become a father and husband, but that may change next week, next year or even by the end of this post. Its something that’s in my control and out of my control if that makes sense.

4) I want to have more fun. This month has been rough but its shown me that I also have a lot going for me and that I have to enjoy my life more because as you saw in point three above, it can go in an instant.

Along those lines, I have to go back to my definitions of fun. For some, heading to the bar or dance club may be fun but I’m not interested in that. I find enjoyment in writing on this blog, heading to the book store and reading, attending sporting events, etc. What I’m telling myself to do is embrace my journey and find enjoyment within me.

5) I really, really want to get Sports Inquirer going. This moment of my life will determine if I become a sports journalist or not. Pourtout Pancakes is a good forum but deep in my soul I believe that if I do this right, when you think of American sports publications, it will be only behind Sports Illustrated, ESPN the Magazine and The Sporting News. Its on me to make that happen

6) Law school may still happen in 2011, but I’m not ready to take the LSAT. I postponed that test until October. It had to be done.

7) Learn French and play guitar. When I release my French rock album and have my first concert in Quebec City, you won’t be laughing then.

8) Value my family. I’ve been selfish the last decade of my life in relation to assisting my family. They can really use my assistance at this time. I’m not going to specifics because remember my one rule of the blog, I don’t write about specifics in my family but its nothing major. However, having my presence in Georgia will be nice for them.

And with that, I’m leaving Nashville.

NBA Playoffs Review

2010-05-05T13:19:00.002-05:00

Hey everybody, long time since my last Blog post, no excuses, let’s get right into it with a review of the 2010 NBA playoffs so far.

Music to listen to: Exodus by Bob Marley

This is what I’m listening to while doing this post. For some reason, Bob Marley came up in a conversation I was having a few days ago so I’ve decided to post my favorite song of his.

So the NBA playoffs are in full swing and I’m loving every moment of it. This is my favorite set of playoffs out of the big four sports because while it does last a little too long for my taste (thank you television rights), you see the most intriguing matchups and the true meddle of teams. While MLB is seems even lengthier, NFL crests with the Super Bowl and the NHL seems like a war of attriction, the NBA seems like the perfect balance.

I didn’t know the best way to do this but decided to make general statements and roll from there.

-Denver is an absolute mess and I don’t know where to point the finger. I could go with the unfortunate health decline of its head coach, George Karl, the eroding skills of Billups, the pouting and immaturity of J.R. Smith, the joke of an attitude that Kenyon Martin has. In the end, I have to look at Carmelo Anthony. He should have taken the reigns on this team and carried them to a win over Utah in the first round.

-Have no idea what to make of Charlotte after its first-round series against Orlando.

-Dwayne Wade is, at worst, the fourth-best player in the league and he may need to be higher. That game four performance against Boston was inspirational. When he is a Bull next year, look out for those guys, speaking of which…

-The combo of Derrick Rose and Noah in Chicago in its series against Cleveland, should be an open letter to every wing free-agent, including LeBron, that you can go to the Bulls and compete for the East, maybe even an NBA title. Its rare to find an elite point guard and a high-production forward together and willing to do whatever it takes for the team. If the Bulls hire someone competent as head coach, even though with the ownership’s continued support of the incompetent general manager Paxson you don’t know, that team can be a force.

-I’m buying into what Kenny Smith said on Inside the NBA that Kevin Durant will be the best player in the NBA in three years. Think about it. Kobe and Duncan will definitely be on the downturn. Dwight Howard will actually regress as a player and I’ll get to him in my next point. Deron Williams, Rose and Chris Paul will continue to do their thing but Durant will have a size advantage over them. Anthony is solid but not better.

That leaves Wade and LeBron. We’ve seen Wade’s body break down so I’m leaning against him. I think that Durant is a better shooter right now, LeBron is a better defender, both can score even though I would put Durant as a better “scorer.” Just think about it.

The Thunder showed me some maturity in losing to the Lakers and will be a force to recognize in the next few years.

-Portland was borderline idiotic in playing Brandon Roy with a bum knee. I don’t care that he came on the court, hit some shots and the Blazers actually won that home contest. You can’t risk your franchise player in a first-round series like that. Furthermore, your team has a history of injuries, hello Greg Oden, and you do that. That was one of the most unsmart moves I’ve seen from a professional organization

-OK, back to Dwight Howard. We should have seen more development from him as a post player by now in his career. I know he had a nice game against Atlanta last night but Orlando will NEVER win a title if he is the main option on offense.

-Fire Mike Woodson. As a passive Hawks fan, I’m disgusted at the fact of the Bucks series going seven games and the embarrassment of last night’s game against Orlando. He has been an incompetent coach during his entire time in Atlanta and now the rest of America gets to see it.

Now on to the current series

Lakers vs. Jazz: While Deron Williams is playing like the best point guard in the league right now and the Jazz will always play hard, it can’t beat the Lakers. Too much size. Lakers in six.

Suns vs. Spurs: Classic series that will be enjoyable to watch because of the matchups. I think this is the year that Phoenix breaks through. Suns in seven.

Orland vs. Atlanta: This has the chance of being a sweep but I’ll give the Hawks one game assuming that Joe Johnson gets hot in one contest. Magic in five.

Cleveland vs. Boston: Saved the best for last. I’m as big of a LeBron mark as you can find but two things are disturbing me about this series and the Cavs in general. First, the elbow injury is legit and it can affect him physically. The second point worries me even more and it’s the mental state of the Cavs. They seemed a little too happy to get their butts whipped at home by an aging Celtics squad that they should be double-digit favorites over in each game. Mike Brown, aka LeBron’s puppet, needs to gain some strong testicle power and tell his team that if they don’t get their act right, they can be down 3-1 quickly. I don’t see that killer instinct in LeBron and it may never come, at least in this series. With all that being said, I’ll take the best player in the world. Cavs in seven.

Sunday Reflections (on a Monday): Time to Walk the Mountains

2010-04-19T16:41:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone, sorry that the Sunday Reflections are on a Monday but I got caught up in some things last night and that prevented me from writing them. So, here they are now. First…

Music to listen to: Natural Science by Rush

This came up on my Pandora this morning and you know that I always go war for Rush so enjoy.

The past week has been interesting for me in several ways and I’ll probably get to all of them through my timeline of it.

First, I found out on Thursday that my time at my current job will end in mid-May. Its disappointing because I like working at that place and have made some good connections but that’s the world of sports business and you have to accept it.

It’s never enjoyable to lose your job, whether it was for something you did or the company. There are some things that I could have done better and that goes both ways but this post isn’t about that. Its about me reflecting on the action and taking action upon it.

The initial reaction was frustration for the reasons stated above but if you stay angry about the situation, that’s not productive for anybody, especially yourself.

The next thing was about the business of Marcel, Inc. (you like how I did that?). Losing your job is incredibly taxing on your finances, especially when I was struggling financially before my release. So, you look at what your income is, your expenses and figure out a way to hold on until the next job comes along. I’m at that stage right now.

Notice how the reflection of what went right and wrong hasn’t taken place yet. All of my writers out there will be able to relate to this. Its like when you write a long form paper and immediately edit it for errors. You are entranced in the work so you miss the mistakes that you made. You write the paper, take your eyes off of it for a few hours and then review it. That’s why if a paper was due on a Friday, I would finish it by Wednesday night and then review it on Thursday night or write it Thursday night and review it Friday morning, that distance of time is very important.

I know what my positive attributes are as an employee and where improvements can be made but in relation to this current job, I’ll have to take some time before that happens. However, sitting around doesn’t pay the bills or advance your career so we keep it moving.

Most of that stuff happened on Thursday night into Friday morning. On Friday afternoon, I went to the Strikeforce: Nashville event weigh-in. For those of you unfamiliar with that, Strikeforce is a mixed martial arts organization that was holding a fighting event at Bridgestone Arena here in town on Saturday night. The day before the event, competitors are weighed to make sure that they fit the proper criteria to fight in the weight class.

This weigh-in took place outside of the Bridgestone Arena and it made a gloomy past 24 hours lighten up. I’ll get into the particulars of Friday afternoon and even Saturday night in my MMA Review post later but being in that environment reminded me that this current job isn’t the end of the line for me.

I will be the president or commissioner of a major sports organization in my lifetime, its destined to happen, it has to happen and it will happen. Whenever I’m at a sporting event, whether its an MMA event, a baseball contest, a tennis match, etc. I always look at the organization of it and analyze what steps I would take to enhance, improve, edit, change.

Outside of spending time with my friends and family or dominating my young nephew in video games, this is the most enjoyment I have in my life, viewing live sporting events, the preparations behind them and seeing the execution.

I saw the weigh-ins and that made me excited and the fights on Saturday were entertaining as well. It was the first time that I saw an MMA event of that magnitude and it has inspired me to not give up on my goals.

And that’s what this is all about in the end. We all have setbacks in our life, personal, professional, physical and they stink. However, its how we recover from these that tests your character and ultimately makes you who you are.

When I reach my goal, it will be even better knowing the struggles that I had to go through to reach it.

Furthermore, its also about prospective. I went shopping in Kroger yesterday afternoon and I saw a gentleman that put all of this in its proper place.

He was someone who has been stricken with a sickness, probably cancer. He has no hair, was wearing a surgeon mask and wearing batting gloves that you would use for baseball. Furthermore, he had a thin frame, which as those of you know who have unfortunately dealt with disease, know that he was not doing well health-wise.

I wanted to tell him to stay strong and that he was in my prayers but I didn’t want to approach him, scare him or possibly make him even more sick. I kept my distance and saw him shopping just like the rest of us in the store, not intimidated by his physical limitations.

It showed me that despite all of the stuff that I’m going through in my life, I have so many positives and am truly blessed to be where I am today. If that gentleman in the store can strive forward with his life, I have NOTHING to complain about.

I’ll find another job, learn from my missteps and emerge as a stronger individual from this. It has to happen, it must happen, it will happen.

Plus this will finally give me the chance to go walk the mountains like I keep saying I will do.

NBA Regular Season Awards and First-Round Playoff Predictions

2010-04-16T19:58:00.005-05:00

The NBA playoffs start tomorrow and I’m very, very excited about them. This is usually my favorite time of year sports wise because you have the NHL playoffs, NBA playoffs, Wrestlemania from WWE, Lockdown from TNA Wrestling, the beginning of MLB, college baseball, solid MMA fights, even some early tennis and golf majors. However the favorite is the NBA playoffs.

For those of you who hate on the NBA for various reasons, a lot of those dislikes are eliminated in the playoffs, accept for the fact there a few too many games. Return the best-of-five format to the first round, please!

Forgot…

Music to listen to: Vicera Eyes by The Mars Volta

Before I get to my first-round playoff predictions, here are my awards:

OK, Cleveland beats Los Angeles in the NBA Finals, LeBron is the MVP, fun times in the city before he contemplates leaving and then…stays in Cleveland and signs a three-year deal. More on this during the summer.

MVP: Lebron James, Cleveland

I know that its easy to hate on LeBron because of his constant non-commitment to his future and openly accepting the ovatures of the New York Knicks, the media love affair, the dancing, etc. but he’s clearly the best player in the league. Kobe Bryant made a nice claim last year but its Lebron’s crown now.

Similar to last year, LeBron covers all fronts. If you believe in the notion of the best player on the best team, its LeBron. If you’re a stats geek, he averaged 29/9/7 while shooting over 50% from the field. He’s the most efficient player in the league and just had one of the 10 best individual seasons ever and he took some games off at the end to rest. He’s in year two of a seven to eight year run of being arguably the most dominant player in his sport for his era, maybe only Wayne Gretzky, Jim Brown, Bobby Orr, Gordie Howe, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Babe Ruth joining him at the table. He’s an athlete that is almost lapping the field with his individual brilliance.

Kevin Durant would be second in my vote. Not only did he mature and lead his team to 50 wins, something no one, I don’t care who you are saw coming, but he evolved his game beyond just scoring points. OK, the points are big for him. Youngest scoring champ ever, the only possible guy who can average 35+ points in the next two to three years, unstoppable if he’s on point. The thing I like about him is that he shoots 90% from the free throw line, averages more than 10 attempts a game and shots 3-pointers efficiently. A year ago Bill Simmons said that he could average 40 per game. I laughed but not anymore. He also gave a darn on defense and rebounding. He’s never going to be a first-team All-Defense member but his effort propelled them to 50 wins.

Rounding out my top five would be Steve Nash, who defies age and has gone from underrated in Dallas, to slightly overrated with the two MVPs in Phoenix, to underrated again the past three years. He’s a lock Hall of Famer and off the top of my head, Magic, Isiah Thomas, Oscar Robinson and John Stockton are the only point guards I’m taking over him all-time. That’s major company.

Fourth would be Deron Williams who is making his debate against Chris Paul even more interesting as the years pass and Dwight Howard, who continues to play defense and rebound but lacks offensive and leadership qualities to contend for the top spot.

I didn’t leave Kobe of the top-five on purpose. Just looked at the other guys and put them ahead.

Rook of the year: Steph Curry, Golden State

I really, really wanted to show love to Brandon Jennings of Milwaukee for being the starting point guard on a playoff team and Tyreke Evans for putting up a 20/5/5 season. Only Jordan, Robertson and James have done what Evans did so that’s heady company.

However, I think that Curry was a better overall player this season. You may say that the Golden State system makes him better and that’s a fair critique but I look at this award as the best pure player, not just stats and that nod goes to Curry.

OK, I’ll get to some other stuff during the predictions so lets get started

Cleveland vs. Chicago

Prediction: Cleveland in five

Thoughts: Maybe Noah will close line James as he drives to the basket. Other than Rose averaging 25 points, eight assists and five rebounds in this series, Chicago doesn’t have much to look forward to other than the general manager John Paxson and head coach Vinnie Del Negro slapping each other in the hallway. Hinrich will have a nice series for the Bulls and Noah will show his all-defensive skills but this round for Cleveland is all about getting Shaq in shape to face Orlando down the line.

Orlando vs. Charlotte

Prediction: Orlando in six

Thoughts: Sure Charlotte plays excellent defense and anytime you have Stephen Jackson in a pressure situation its fun for the whole family but outside of that, what do the Bobcats offer that Orlando can’t overcome?

Atlanta vs. Milwaukee

Prediction: Atlanta in six

Thoughts: If Andrew Bogut was healthy, I would take the Bucks in a walk. However, seeing how Atlanta’s strenghs is the front court play of Josh Smith and Al Hoford, Milwaukee can’t compete with that. Jennings starting his first playoff series is tough to bet on as well. He’ll outplay Mike Bibby but with Joe Johnson establishing himself as a borderline elite NBA player, this too much for the Bucks to overcome.

Boston vs. Miami

Prediction: Boston in seven

Thoughts: Wade is the best player on the floor. He was the best player on the floor last year when the Heat faced Atlanta last year in the playoffs. Who won that series, you can figure it out. I’ve never been a fan of one-man gangs in the playoffs (Cleveland is different because that one player is that darn good). While Boston will get smoked in the next round, they have the better overall team than Miami. Wade will put up sick numbers and the Celtics will look very old but they will find a way to get this series.

Western Conference

Los Angeles vs. Oklahoma City

Prediction: Lakers in six

Thoughts: The battle of two of the three best pure players in the league in the first round of the playoffs, young vs. older and experienced. The NBA couldn’t have scripted it any better. As much love as I have for Durant as you’ve read above and becoming more enamored by Russell Westbrook’s skills at point guard where he will destroy Derek Fisher, the Lakers are the better overall team. Durant will go for 40 in one of the games and Thabo Sefolosha may curtail Kobe from scoring a lot of points but Gasol and Odom will be too much inside. This series is about the Lakers getting Artest and Bynum right for the next series coming up.

Dallas vs. San Antonio

Prediction: Dallas in six

Thoughts: Duncan can only do so much. Richard Jefferson has been a bust, Tony Parker and Ginobili are too worn down, this can get ugly for the Spurs. However, they’re a game bunch and will get two games in this series, in fact it wouldn’t surprise me to see them take it to seven games. However, the best player on the floor is Nowitzki, the bigs of Haywood, Dampier and even Marion to some degree will be too much for San Antonio.

Phoenix vs. Portland

Prediction: Phoenix in six

Thoughts: Without Brandon Roy, you have to take Phoenix. This will be a fun series to watch but the two best players are Steve Nash and Amar’e Stoudemire. In a more even series than you would think, I usually take the team with the best players.

Denver vs. Utah

Prediction: Denver in seven

Thoughts: Excellent series, maybe the best one on the docket for the first round. I’ve gone both ways with this series mentally but I jus think that Carmelo Anthony will find a way to win a seventh game at home. Love the point guard matchup between Williams and Chauncy Billups, both guys play the position properly. I would be more confident in Denver if Kenyon Martin was in form but I’m always fearful of older players coming back from knee injuries. The Jazz have a healthy Andrei Kirilenko, Boozer in a contract year, positive things going. Plus, I’ll take Jerry Sloan over darn near any other coach in the NBA. All of that stuff and I still come back to Carmelo.

Your opinions are welcomed.

Do I "Hate" Duke or not?

2010-04-06T20:10:00.002-05:00

What’s going on folks, time for me to review why people may not be fans of Duke, the new NCAA men’s basketball national champs. But first…

Music to listen to: Illumination by Thievery Corporation

So, Duke won another national title last night and normally I would be pissed about it because like most of America, I’ve developed a dislike for that team over the years. Hate is a strong word but I’ll admit that I’ve had that emotion for them over the years. So, the best way to do that would be to go over the chronological breakdown.

I started to follow college basketball on a consistent basis in the early 1990’s and my favorite team besides Syracuse was UNLV. I was a big Larry Johnson and Greg Anthony fan. I dug the uniforms, Tark, the black sneakers, the whole deal. So when they won the title in 1990, I was feeling it, especially when they laid the smack down to Duke in the title game.

In the 1991 Final Four, Duke had a rematch against UNLV in the semifinals and pulled one of the biggest upsets in history. Of course, calling that dumb foul against Anthony to foul him out of the game changed everything, not that I remember it or anything. So Duke beat Kansas in the title game and the dislike for Duke began.

First it was Christian Laettner. Now that was a dude I hated and he was from my home state. Part of it was racial. He was an annoying white basketball player who was very arrogant and thought he was better than everyone. But to be honest, he was a beast at the college level. But it wasn’t racial because I was a big fan of Bobby Hurley, who was also white.

After UNLV dissolved, my next team of choice was Michigan. I bought into the whole swagger of the Fab Five. However, while Michigan would do some arrogant things, I would feel it but if Duke did the same thing, I wouldn’t like it. It’s a thin line between arrogance and swagger I guess.

When Duke and Michigan met in the title game of 1992, you know who I was cheering for. Of course Duke won and my distain increased.

After that, Laettner and Hurley moved on but I became a fan of Grant Hill, which still exists to this day. He didn’t seem to carry that arrogance that I disliked, if anything he had a humility to his game that was very enjoyable to see. He would score the quietest 20 points you could imagine, throw in eight rebounds and six assists and make it look beautiful.

So this was a quiet lull for me and Duke until the emergence of the most disliked player I’ve ever felt towards in maybe any sport.

Steve Wojohowski

This piece of crap player was insufferable on the highest order. First, he was below-average player who did play hard but would over exaggerate EVERYTHING. Everytime he would dive for a ball, he would make sure that he would take extra long to get back up. Every time he took a charge, and by the way, people talk about how Shane Battier, who I will get to later, trust me, would flop all the time. Well, he had nothing on ole Wojo.

Then there was the floor slapping. We know that you like to play defense because your offense was terrible, but Jesus Christmas, stop with the floor slapping. It doesn’t inspire anyone and it made him look like a donkey and I don’t want to call him the other name for that animal out of kindness, if you get what I’m saying.

Wojo was also a prime example and the first in my experience as a sports fan to fit the role of the scrappy White basketball player.

Wojo would do all of the things above and the media would fawn over him like he was the only player on the floor that was giving his best effort which is crap because the majority of the players out there are working their hardest, they just didn’t stoop to the antics of Wojo to gain extra attention. Plus, the fact that he was an unathletic White basketball player portrayed the image to the sports media, who are mostly White males, that hey, we could be out there too. Awful.

So my hate for Duke was very strong with Wojo but unfortunately for my thirst for distain, he graduated. Thankfully, he’s on their current coaching staff and every time I see him, a little hate come out.

Then in the late 1990’s to early 2000’s, it was hit and miss for me. Liked Elton Brand, didn’t like Mike Dunleavy. Felt neutral on Jay Williams, for some reason really didn’t like Carlos Boozer.

Finally, another person came along to return the hate.

Shane Battier.

Unlike Wojo, Battier was actually a talented player, dare I say one of the best players of that decade, but the love for him reached overkill during Duke’s 2001 national title year.

He was a flopper who would acting would reach overkill as well. But there were two things about his portrayal that wrinkled me wrong way. First, when he decided to stay for his senior year, it was hailed as a gutsy decision that showed his true commitment to college athletics.

I follow the NBA just as much, if not more than NCAA men’s basketball, and he would have been a late first rounder in the draft if he left after his junior year. It was a smart financial decision. If Battier was guaranteed to be a top-five pick, he would have packed up his bags in Durham so quick that Coach K wouldn’t have known what to do.

The second thing was that he was the single force leading that team to a title. So I guess Dunleavy, Boozer, Williams and Chris Duhon COMING OFF THE BENCH had nothing to do with the success.

Plus, a new adopted men’s basketball team of mine, Arizona, lost that title game in 2001 to them so three teams that I followed on a consistent basis, UNLV in 1991, Michigan in 1992 and Arizona in 2001, all lost chances to win a national title because of Duke.

Oh, forgot maybe the largest factor in my original distain for Duke.

I was rejected by the school when I applied in 1999.

I applied to 13 schools and got into 11 of them. Duke and Emory rejected me, not that I still remember that or anything.

Looking back, I’m glad that I didn’t get in because even when I visited Duke in 1998, I didn’t feel a good vibe about it and applied anyway because it’s a really good school. But if I ended up going there, I probably wouldn’t have been happy there.

So after Battier graduated, some players came and went that I didn’t care about. JJ Reddick was overrated, Sheldon Williams was bad, Greg Paulus was dislikeable but everyone didn’t care for him.

It became less about hating Duke but more disliking the portrayal of what the school was supposed to be.

Behind sports media members like Dick Vitale, Duke represents everything that we would want from an elite college athletic program. Strong academics, disciplined mentality, “good” players on and off the court, etc.

I don’t have specific examples of this but I will say that when you reach the level of program like Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky, etc., some lines are blurred. Package deals take place. Players grades are manipulated to keep eligibility. Relatives find good jobs in the same city so that they can attend all of the home games and find the money to travel on the road.

The point is that we shouldn’t be so trustworthy that everything is on the up and up at Duke. You have to be cynical of what you see at that level.

In the end, I guess I just matured and stopped wasting my time hating a college basketball team. Things like employment, family, God and other things became more of a priority.

Sure, I have my moments with Tennessee athletics, especially men’s basketball and football, but it hasn’t reached a level of hate that I had for Duke in the early 1990’s.

So when they won the title last night, I was OK with it. But when I saw the celebration and Wojo jumping up and down, the hate returned for a moment and I liked it because passion for sports is good.

My 2010 MLB Predictions

2010-04-04T23:26:00.002-05:00

Well folks, its time for those Sunday Reflections…

Actually, since the MLB season has officially kicked off tonight, its time to preview the season.

First…

Music to listen to: Fixed Income by DJ Shadow

For those of you who don’t like to read my long and winding writing, here are my predictions in cheat form so you can memorize them and ridicule me in early July when they are wrong.

AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Minnesota
AL West: Seattle (third year in a row picking them to win division, has to happen one day)
AL Wild Card: Texas
AL Champs: Yankees

AL MVP: 1) Joe Mauer, Minnesota 2) Evan Longoria, Tampa 3) Mark Teixeira, Yankees
Sleeper MVP: Josh Hamilton, Texas
AL Cy Young: 1) Felix Hernandez, Seattle 2) Jon Lester, Boston 3) CC Sabathia, Yankees
Sleeper Cy Young: Justin Verlander, Detroit
AL Best team: Yankees
AL Worst team: Kansas City
Overrated: Boston
Underrated: Texas

NL East: Philadelphia
NL Central: Cincinnati (going with them for a third year in a row as well)
NL West: Colorado
NL Wild Card: Atlanta
NL Champs: Philly

NL MVP (not named Albert Pujols): 1) Hanley Ramirez, Florida 2) Justin Upton, Arizona 3) Chase Utley, Philadelphia
Sleeper MVP: Brian McCann, Atlanta & Roy Halladay, Philadelphia
NL Cy Young: 1) Roy Halladay, Philadelphia (if Brad Lidge doesn’t implode, he can win 25 games this year, seriously) 2) Tim Lincecum, San Francisco 3) Johan Santana, Mets
Sleeper Cy Young: Tommy Hanson, Atlanta
NL Best team: Philadelphia
NL Worst team: Pittsburgh
Overrated: Los Angeles
Underrated: Cincinnati

If I was betting money World Series: New York over Philly, again (sorry for the easy prediction, but it is what it is)
Second-safest bet: Minnesota vs. St Louis
Taking a chance World Series: Seattle vs. Atlanta

Division breakdowns:

AL East:

1) Yankees- Clearly the best team on paper in all of baseball. Age of core, especially Posada, Jeter and Rivera can break down on them. If Sabathia DOESN’T win 20 games, I’ll be shocked. The outfield can be better but no one beats these guys if all things are equal.

2) Boston- Arguably the best pitching staff in MLB. Dice-K HAS to return to form if these guys have any chance of competing for any titles. Adrian Beltre will either be the biggest bargain deal in the past five years or a colossal bust. I’m leaning for in-between. David Ortiz, have NO clue how he’s going to do this year.

3) Tampa- What does 85 wins get you in the NL Central? A division title. In the AL East, third place. A lot will be determined in the first three months. If they’re in it, they can win the division. If they’re out of it, Crawford, Pena, etc may be gone. If that happens, problems. Love Longoria for MVP contention, Price to win 15 games and Garza to emerge as a top-five AL starting pitcher.

4) Baltimore- Optimism in Charm City? Adam Jones, not Pacman, will become a perennial All-Star for these guys, Matt Wieters may be the third-best catcher in MLB by the end of the year and have a lot of young pitching that will take lumps this year but can improve. Reaching 75-80 wins would be nice.

5) Toronto- Have Aaron Hill and Adam Lind, that is all. Rough times for them

AL Central:

1) Minnesota- They win this weak division by default. When you have Mauer and Morneau, that’s a good start. Will gain a boost from playing in new stadium. Major question for them is whether Liriano can return to form off of Tommy John surgery. Its been over a year now and that’s usually the time guys get better.

2) White Sox- Like the pitching staff, especially if Peavy is on point. Where do the runs come from besides Beckham, Konerko and maybe Quentin if he’s healthy?

3) Detroit- Similar to White Sox, have beast pitchers in Verlander and Porcello, but once again, where do the runs come from? Johnny Damon, don’t make me laugh.

4) Cleveland- Such a mess. Even if LaPorta becomes a superstar, Sizemore returns to All-Star form, Jhonny Peralta bounces back, Travis Hafner learns to hit again pre-big contract signing, these guys don’t win more than 75 games. At least they’re not…

5) Kansas City- Love Zack Grinke, who doesn’t. I honestly have nothing else for you on these guys

AL West:

1) Seattle- Obviously banking on a monster year from Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee to shake off this early DL stint. Both can be good for 20 wins. Like Ichiro and addition of Figgins.

2) Texas- Taking another chance with these guys. We know that they can score runs and the addition of Vlad Guerrero as a DH was smart, but the youth of the pitching is a concern. I think that it will figure itself out and they contend for the division with Seattle

3) Anaheim- Once again, I refuse to call them by their full name because it’s the dumbest one in all of professional sports, at least in MLB. The run of division titles end. Losing Lackey hurts, even though Weaver and Santana are good pitchers. Need to see more from Kazmir and since he’s on my fantasy baseball team, I already know he’s hurt.

4) Oakland- According to people who follow this stuff, the best young pitchers in the minors and under a full year of service in MLB are Oakland and Texas. At least the Rangers can score some runs.

NL East

1) Philly- Its their League to lose. Have the best pitcher in Halladay, best top to bottom lineup, Howard may hit 50 home runs, Utley can put together a 35/100/.295 year, which is sick for a second baseman, you get the idea. Very, very worried about the bullpen especially Brad Lidge, you literally don’t know what version you’re going to get from him day-to-day. Best reliever in MLB in 2008, benched in 2009, that says it all.

2) Atlanta- Very bullish on the Braves. Always liked Lowe, Jurrjens is going to be a star and I have frickin Tommy Hanson on my short list for the Cy Young award, he’s winning close to 20 if they can score runs and that’s the rub. I think that Glaus will be decent at first, Larry Jones cobbles together a decent season, McCann becomes an MVP candidate. Prediction for Jason Haywood, 25/85/.280 and runaway Rook of the Year. If Billy Wagner’s arm stays attached, they’re the wild card of the NL.

3) Florida- Having the second-best player in the league in Hanley Ramirez is a nice start. Also like Josh Johnson, Ricky Nolasco, Dan Uggla, Chris Coghlan, etc. but just don’t have enough depth to hold up against Philly and Atlanta.

4) Mets- If Washington was worth anything, I would have put it ahead of the Mets. Beltran and Reyes are starting the season on the DL, Wright has to bounce back this year, Jason Bay is whatever and Johan Santana is coming off of elbow surgery, good times. They’re a mess.

5) Washington- Just bring Stephen Strasburg up in May or whenever you have to for contract purposes and pray for the best.

NL Central:

1) Cincinnati: OK, hear me out. I’m banking on major seasons from Brandon Phillips, Jay Bruce, Joey Votto on the field. 30 home runs from each this season, lets say yes. Pitching staff isn’t bad, especially Volquez and the natural talent of Cueto. O-dog will give them some much needed offense at short. Plus, if Chapman can come up in the middle of the year, that’s another power arm. You have to take chances in this prediction game and I’m willing to do it. I don’t like putting my hopes in Dusty Baker though. Plus they’re my adopted MLB team here in Nashville, I have to show them some love. This is for my peeps like Mr. Ingram and Jared C.

2) St. Louis: Honestly, they’re the class of the division. A grouping of Pujols and Matt Holliday is nice and the top two pitchers of Carpenter and Wainwright can be Cy Young contenders. I’m banking on the rest of the team taking a step back allowing the Reds to sneak in there…it can happen.

3) Chicago- The expectations are low, by Cubs standards, and this may be a good thing. I’ve given up on trying to figure out Zambrano and Soriano. Maybe Meggie or you Cubs fans can help me on this one.

4) Milwaukee- Love Braun and Fielder on the field, Gallardo as its top starter, and nothing else. Trevor Hoffman can’t do it again this year.

5) Houston- Pence is OK, El Cabayo (Carlos Lee) is fun at times and Berkman is good but already injured and on my fantasy team, not good. Oswalt will probably break down.

6) Pittsburgh- This is going to be another rough year for them and they’re lineup isn’t even worth discussing, even though I’m looking forward to Pedro Alvarez coming up this season from a selfish Vandy angle. OK, McCutchen is fun to watch but that’s really it. When you’re hanging your hat on Zack Duke and Octavio Dotel, you need to find another hat stand or a new set of hats, you get what I’m saying.

NL West:

1) Colorado- Its split between them and the Dodgers with the slight nod going to the Rockies. Like Tulowitzki to emerge as an MVP candidate and Jimenez to be one of the top pitchers in the NL. Pitching has depth and bullpen is solid. Soft buy on the Rockies.

2) Los Angeles- Actually think that they’re better than the Rockies on paper but won’t come together. Starting lineup is stacked with up to five all-stars, including all three outfielders and top-level catcher. Like Billingsley and Kershaw a lot and Broxton is a solid closer.

3) San Francisco- Can pitch their butts off but outside of Sandoval, can’t score a lick. Have arguably the top two out of five pitchers in entire NL with Lincecum and Cain and Wilson is a decent closer, but slapping the ball around isn’t going to get you more than third in this division.

4) Arizona- Love Upton to make a big leap this year, think Drew is underrated at shortstop, Reynolds can mash it when he isn’t striking out, Haren is an excellent starter and like Edwin Jackson in the National League, but outside of that, not much else.

5) San Diego- How long do Gonzalez and Heath Bell stay on this team? Both are gone by All-star break.

Review of my NCAA Men's Bracket

2010-03-25T00:11:00.001-05:00

Well, my NCAA Men’s Bracket is screwed, like most of America’s. Depending on when you read this, the Regionals, or the Sweet 16 for those who like to say that, start tonight. Before you can go forward, you must look back and that’s what I’ll do here.

Midwest Region

Current matchups: Northern Iowa vs. Michigan State, Tennessee vs. Ohio State
My projected matchup: Kansas vs. Michigan State, Georgetown vs. Ohio State
My projected regional champ: Kansas
My best prediction: Ohio Stat and Michigan State
My worst prediction: Kansas
What happens now: Northern Iowa over Michigan State, Ohio Stat over Tennessee, Ohio State is in the Final Four

Thoughts: I thought that Northern Iowa could give Kansas a game but didn’t expect them to win. It didn’t reach my elite mid-major vs. average BCS team rule but it was close. The Jayhawks have a history of coming up short and I should have had them losing in at least the Elite Eight and not winning my whole title, that’s why I will lose my pool. Lucked out with Michigan State getting a last second shot over Maryland. I’m not mad about losing the Georgetown vs. Ohio matchup because you can’t project a below .500 MAC team beating a solid Big East team. Should have had more faith in Tennessee, even though when your path to the Regionals is San Diego State and Ohio, that’s not great. As a Georgia Tech fan, Paul Hewitt failed as a coach this year and has been for the past five years. If he wants to go to St. John’s let him.

West Region
Current matchups: Syracuse vs. Butler, Xavier vs. Kansas State
My projected matchup: Syracuse vs. Vanderbilt, Xavier vs. Kansas State
My projected Regional champ: Syracuse
My best prediction: Three out of four Sweet 16 teams
My worst prediction: Vandy in Sweet 16
What happens now: Syracuse over Butler, Kansas St. over Xavier, Syracuse is in the Final Four

Thoughts: Follow your own rules Etienne Marcel. If I did, there is no way I would have taken Vandy over Murray St. However, to be fair, I was a missed jump shot away from that prediction coming true. Shouldn’t have taken UTEP over Butler. Syracuse is the quietest top team left and I think the team wants it that way and as a fan, I don’t mind it as well. Feeling very, very shaky about not putting Kansas St. in Final Four

East Region

Current matchups: Kentucky vs. Cornell, Washington vs. West Virginia
My projected matchup: Kentucky vs. Cornell (damn right I did), New Mexico vs. West Virginia
My projected Regional champ: Kentucky
My best prediction: Cornell of course
Worst prediction: New Mexico in Sweet 16, Wofford over Wisconsin
What happens now: Kentucky over Cornell, West Virginia over Washington, Kentucky is in the Final Four

Thoughts: I knew Cornell was a legit team when I saw them lose a very close game to Kansas on the road earlier in the year. The 12 seed was insulting. You mean to tell me that Minnesota, San Diego State, heck Florida was better than them this season. Absolutely not. Even Northern Iowa should have gotten a five or six seed and got stuck with an eight. I can go on but lets move on. So that was a good pick by me. Kicking myself for not having Kentucky winning the whole thing. I’ve said since the beginning of the year that they’re the most talented team with the best coach for them. Honestly, I got scared off by Cousins but should have realized that they have Wall, Patterson and Bledsoe to cover up for Cousins if he gets moody. Didn’t expect New Mexico to get run out of the gym like that by Washington.

South Region

Current matchups: Duke vs. Purdue, Baylor vs. St. Mary’s
My projected matchups: Duke vs. Utah State, Baylor vs. Villanova
My projected Regional Champ: Villanova
My best prediction: Baylor in the Sweet 16
My worst prediction: Where do I start? Villanova in the Final Four…Utah State in the Sweet 16, Siena over Purdue…bad region for me.
What happens now: Duke over Purdue, Baylor over St. Mary’s, Duke is in the Final Four and CBS rejoices

Thoughts: Why, oh why, did I have Villanova? Not only should I have seen St. Mary’s beating them (the elite mid-major thing), but Nova was seeded too high at two AND I didn’t include a major rule in picking games in my prediction post and therefore thought about it too late. Look for how a team does in its final ten games BEFORE it’s conference tournament. Nova lost five of its last six games, major red flags there. Took a chance on Utah State, it happens. Underestimated Purdue, gotta acknowledge that.

OK, so that was a review of my picks, enjoy the games.

A Young Lion Inspires the Old Lion and Law School...It May Go Down

2010-03-24T23:23:00.003-05:00

What’s up everybody, hope all is well in your world. Time for me to talk about some developments in my life in the past few weeks. But first…

Music to listen to: Trampled Under Foot (live) by Led Zeppelin

I love all types of music but lately I’ve been on a major kick of Zepplelin, who actually started my interest in rock music in the early 1990’s when I was in junior high. I would listen to the classic rock station in the NYC and they always played Zeppelin. Anyway, this is maybe their most badass live performance from arguably their best recorded concert. They were at their peak at this stage, 1975, before the drugs, injuries, drama and death came into play.

So your boy has been contemplating a lot of things the past few weeks. It all started when I returned to Kennesaw to see my oldest nephew, Alex, participate in a Nike Football Combine in Atlanta a few Sundays ago.

He did really well and had one of the best scores in the entire country. He’s a current junior and now he’s now getting attention from top schools around the country and I’m happy for him but a lot of work needs to be done. He still has to get his highlight tape out to schools, visit schools, prepare his application, take his SAT exam, get recommendations, write essays, etc.

Point being, I’m taking a role of assisting him through this process and its been fun.

I wrote a status on Facebook stating that I’ve never wanted to see someone succeed more in my life than him, including myself and I mean it. He’s my nephew but he’s my little brother in nature. I will sacrifice my time, money, energy, whatever it will take for him to reach his highest level. I see how hard he works in school and his commitment to football from practicing, weight training, his determination is inspiring.

I guess this how parents feel about their children.

So while I’ve been preparing him for all of this, I’ve thought about my own career.

If I’m telling him every day to strive for his goal to become an elite college football player, I can’t be hypocritical and not do the same for myself in relation to my life.

I’ve thought about what I want to do for the rest of my career. I know that I want to stay in sports so that’s a given.

Its funny because by the time I was Alex’s age, a junior in high school, I had visited about a dozen colleges, had my recommendations lined up, knew all of my financial aid options, I was a beast when it came to my academics and college preparations. I was determined to get into a great school and dominate in it. That’s right, I actually looked at college as a chance to come in and dominate like a sporting event.

I’m trying to get Alex close to that level and speaking with him today on the phone I think he’s getting there. But what happened to me?

Not to sound ungrateful but at my age and experience, I should have a better job. If anyone at my job is reading this, they would agree with me if they were honest about it. How did that pitbull from the NYC turn into a softie in Nashville?

During my senior year as an undergrad at Vandy, I took the LSAT with aspirations of becoming a lawyer. I didn’t do well on that test. I then applied to about eight schools and got rejected by all of them. It was devastating. So I decided to take the LSAT again, improved by about two points, applied to another set of schools and didn’t get accepted to any of them.

At that stage, I’ve gone through two application processes and gotten nowhere. To be fair, I was applying to schools that were outside of my reach and looking back, I wouldn’t have accepted myself to those places. I

f I went to law school as a 23 year old, I would have flunked out in a year. I wasn’t ready for it and I think that the admissions people at the schools could see that.

After that ordeal, I worked different places and even got a masters degree in sport management, which has taken me a step closer to my sports career goal. What is that goal you ask?

I want to run my own sports organization, become a general manager, team president. Do I dare dream of the sports executive trinity, meaning commissioner of the NBA, NFL or MLB?

Damn right, I would dominate at that job, a commissioner. Even better, I love mixed martial arts. Why not aspire to be Dana White, the president of the UFC, or Scott Coker, prez of Strikeforce?

So I look at those options and I’m getting hyped about it but how do I reach that goal? The sport management degree is nice but I need more. I did some research and saw a common thread in the sports executives in positions that I would want.

A legal background.

Every aspect of a sports organization from the front office to players to marketing and everything else in between deals with the law. What’s the best way to learn about the law?

Going to law school…but do I want to put myself through all of that stuff again that I mentioned above?

I did some initial research on this. If I wanted to go to law school, I would have to start from the beginning. My LSAT score doesn’t count because it was taken too long ago. My recommendations are not useful because its talking about a 21-year old me and that was years ago. New personal statement, new application fees, you get the idea.

I weighted all of that out and still came across unsure. The next step was to actually visit a law school and see if it would be for me. Being in Nashville, the only law school here in town (actually just did a quick google search for accuracy and there is actually a place called Nashville School of Law but work with me please) is Vandy Law. So this week, I returned to my old stomping grounds of Vandy Law to meet an admissions rep and visit a class.

My first two years of undergrad at Vandy I worked in the Law Library and had a blast. I enjoyed being in the environment of people learning about our laws. A lot has changed about the school since then but it still has the same vibe.

I get there and meet my host and she was very nice and introduced me to different people. There was a diverse group of people in the school, different ages, races, etc. However, the median age of the school is 23 so I was a little older than most of the people.

Then I went to a Constitutional Law class and it was very educational in two ways. It was useful knowledge for your everyday life and I was already making tie ins to how I would apply the rules as a general manager or commissioner. Sitting in the class got the pitbull inside of me going and you know what that meant. I had the feeling that I would dominate in that class and law school overall. I’m getting hyped thinking about it now. Being in that environment was amazing and made it very, very tough to head to work later that day.

After the class, I met with an admissions rep and laid out my plan and he didn’t scoff at it. In fact, he mentioned a Vandy Law tie-in to one of those sports organizations I mentioned earlier that was very impressive. After that, I went to work with a lot to contemplate.

Does this mean I’m going back to school? Will Vandy get more of my money? Not necessarily but the odds are siding significantly towards yes to the first question, the second question is too early to tell. Years ago, I was applying to law school and trying to become a lawyer because everyone else was doing it and it would sound impressive to my mother.

Now things have changed. I’m older and wiser. I can handle the commitment of school. It would help progress my career and would help me intellectually greatly. My approach from the application process to choosing schools would be so much better now.

The 28-year-old version of me is better prepared for this step.

The only major issue is finances but I may have a plan for that and if you want something enough in life, money doesn’t have to get in the way.

In the end, the young buck in my life has inspired the old bull to give school another try. While I’m trying to teach Alex something,, I’m learning more from him than he’ll ever understand.

Rules to fill out your NCAA Basketball Bracket

2010-03-18T00:03:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone, happy St. Patty’s day. I’ve always enjoyed this holiday. At my staff meeting today, someone asked why everyone was wearing green and we told him it was St. Paddy’s Day. He said he was Jewish and couldn’t participate. I told him I’m Black and I was still wearing my green tie.

Of course, this always leads to the Black Irish joke, which I don’t mind at all.

This day also reminds me of one of my first college campus visits as a high schooler, when my tour pulled into Georgetown on this day and this incredibly attractive blond woman comes up to us and in a drunken state tells us to go there. We proceeded to have a fun night, no drinking at that level, we were too young, but it was still a good vibe.

OK, on to the purpose of this post…the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

First..

Music to listen to: Coma Pony by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez

So chilled, I love this type of music right now, puts me in a reflective mood.

I love the Tournament, you love the Tournament and the most enjoyment you get out of it is making brackets and placing predictions on who you think is going to win.

Now, not to brag, but I’ve done well on more than one occasion on these brackets because I follow a few simple steps which I will share with you now. After that, I will fill out my own bracket here so you may witness my methods in effect.

Rule 1: Business is business

Save your emotions for your children or a puppy.

Rule 2: Loyalty is for losers.

My favorite team is Vanderbilt. It’s my alma mater, love the place, proud to be a Commodore. However, I have no problem picking them to lose to Murray State if I see it happening. In fact, if it will ultimately help me win a pool, hate to say it, but Go Racers!

Rule 3: Biases are for suckers

I don’t like Duke and I despise Tennessee with a passion. However, if Duke looks like they’re going to win a national title, I have no problems projecting that. If I think that Tennessee finds a way to make a run to the Elite Eight, then it shall be.

Rule 4: Beware of the overvalued BCS school.

If there is a battle between a top mid-major school and an average or below-average team from say the SEC or Big 10, the mid-major school is going to win the majority of the time.

Now, the only three mid-majors that don’t apply this season are Butler, New Mexico and maybe Gonzaga.

Matchups like this that I see at first glance of the bracket include San Diego State v. Tennessee, BYU v. Florida, Utah State v. Texas A&M, Siena v. Purdue, Old Dominion v. Notre Dame.

Rule 5: Beware of the “hot” conference tournament champion

A few years ago, I remember seeing Syracuse win the Big East Tournament in 2006 by winning four games in four days, including upsets over Connecticut, Georgetown and Pitt. All of the games were decided by four points or less. Everyone was hyped that they would make a run in the NCAA’s accept for me. I picked them to lose to BYU in the first round and they got smoked, just like I predicted.

This happens for two reasons. First, if a team had to win that many games in a few days, its physically taxing on them, I don’t care how young the legs are. Second, after the euphoria of winning the conference tourney, they have to go back to campus, get everyone patting them on the back, then get back to work without feeling too high about themselves. That’s a lot to ask from 18-22 year olds.

Victims of this for the Tournament may include Houston, San Diego State, Georgia Tech, Ohio State, Wofford, West Virginia, Notre Dame and St. Mary’s

Rule 6: Guard play is important but post play is just, if not more, crucial

We’re all excited to see guys like Collins out of Kansas, John Wall from Kentucky, Evan Turner from Ohio State, Schyer and Singler from Duke, Butler from West Virginia and other perimeter guys do their thing, but the reason that Kansas and Kentucky are probably going to meet in the finals while the other guys would be fortunate to reach the Final Four is post play.

Kentucky and Kansas both have post players who can get points inside and can give you solid rebounding. The thing that happens in the Tournament is that the pace slows down and rebounding becomes paramount. Keep this in mind when doing your bracket.

Rule 7: Beware of the One-Man Gang

I’m looking right at you Ohio State. Not since Danny Manning with Kansas in 1988 has one player alone led his team to a title. If Tim Duncan, Kevin Durant, Michael Beasley, David Robinson, Grant Hill at the end at Duke, John Wallace, etc. couldn’t do it, then its not going to happen for a while.

Rule 8: Upsets are cute for the first round but it’s a marathon

It may be cool to pick North Texas over Kansas State but if the Wildcats win and make it to the Final Four, you aren’t going to win your pool. Its pretty much mathematically impossible. If you love to pick upsets for fun, stick to 5 v. 12, 6 v. 11, etc.

Rule 9: Don’t get silly with your picks

You may like their uniform, have a girlfriend that went to the school, had a good time in the city the school is in, know someone that knows someone who had a cousin take classes there, you get the idea.

Don’t be stupid with this, accept for which mascot would win in a fight, because that’s an awesome debate.

Rule 10: Don’t trust Crappy Big 10 basketball

I love to pick on the Big 10 because their sports suck. Football, basketball, baseball, you take your pick. They never do well nationally on this stage accept for Michigan State basketball and I’m not so sure about them this year. Purdue was a legit national title contender, no joke, until Hummel went down and now they aren’t as good but they have a reason. Avoid ALL Big 10 schools.

Rule 11: Only do one bracket

Just fill out one bracket, don’t look at it for about 20 minutes, take a deep breath, review your picks and submit them. None of this five “different” brackets with various outcomes. Don’t be a pussy, be a man.

Rule 12: Coaching matters…to a degree

Coaching is important but at this stage, talent usurps most. When all else fails, take the team with the most talent.

Rule 13: Don’t listen to experts

I don’t look at other people’s brackets unless by accident. It muddles my thoughts. You start playing this game. I think that Washington is going to beat Marquette but everyone on ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Twitter, etc. has Marquette. So now you doubt yourself and take Marquette only to see Washington cruise to a win. Even if you lose with your pick, at least it was yours and not influenced by anybody. Trust your own instincts.

Finally…

Rule 14: This is unpredictable

You’re placing your hopes on 18-22 year old men. I don’t know about you but when I was that age, a girl could look at me funny and it would place me in a funk all day. I could have gotten a bad grade and it would ruin my night. Point is, its not a rational age to expect consistency. All it takes is for one guy to be mad at something, lose focus and ruin things for his entire team.

The team that wins a title has to win six games in a row in three different locations. If your national title team hasn’t shown the ability to win consistently, than its probably not going to happen now.

OK, on to my picks…

Midwest:

First round “upsets”: San Diego State over Tennessee and Northern Iowa over UNLV

Sweet 16 teams: Kansas over Michigan State and Georgetown over Ohio St.

Regional Final: Kansas over Georgetown

West:

First round “upsets”: UTEP over Butler

Sweet 16 teams: Syracuse over Vanderbilt (yes, I have Vandy there, and I’m nervous about it) and Kansas State over Xavier

Regional Final: Syracuse over Kansas St.

East:

First round “upsets”: Cornell over Tempe, Wofford over Wisconsin, Missouri over Clemson

Sweet 16 teams: Kentucky over Cornell, West Virginia over New Mexico

Regional Final: Kentucky over West Virginia

South:

First round “upsets”: Utah St. over Texas A&M, Siena over Purdue, Old Dominion over Notre Dame, St. Mary’s over Richmond

Sweet 16 teams: Duke over Utah State, Villanova over Baylor

Regional Final: Villanova over Duke

Final Four: Kansas over Syracuse, Kentucky over Villanova

National Championship: Kansas over Kentucky…of course, I could be wrong

My mid-career crisis

2010-03-11T00:08:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone, hope all has been well in your world. Its been a while since I’ve written on the blog, actually its been a week but I used to write everyday and I’ve heard from some of you about that.

I would love to write everyday…before I continue, time for you know what…

Music to listen to: In a State by UNKLE

Some chilled music for you.

So, I would enjoy writing on Pourtout Pancakes every day, but life honestly gets in the way.

When I was a grad assistant at Belmont in athletics, I had more free time, especially during the day, so there was more opportunity to write. I could cheat and actually write posts while at work. I don’t have that luxury with my current job.

My schedule consists of waking up about 6:30 a.m., going to the gym from 7-9, working at the job from 9-5:30, getting home at 6 p.m. and taking care of personal needs before going to bed around 11 p.m.

The job has really drained me of energy and when I get home, the first thing that I want to do is go to bed. This doesn’t lead to good times to write.

Its even affected my New Year’s Life Alterations. I haven’t taken one French lesson, haven’t played one note on a guitar, haven’t talked to my father, you get the idea.

Before this turns into me bitching about my job, that’s not the case. The job is good but it’s a job, if that makes sense.

But the reality of the matter is that I haven’t been happy with one aspect of my life the past few weeks.

I’m going through a mid-career crisis.

I’m unhappy with the path of my career and where I’m at with it right now. I’m 28 and my current position is entry level and is in essence a paid internship.

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve had a history of changing my career interests. When I was in fifth grade, I wanted to be an engineer so that I could design sports stadiums. Maybe it was attending games in the dump known as the old Shea Stadium to see the New York Mets that inspired this, me wanting to build something better. However, my interest in math didn’t stay and I moved on.

When I first started high school, I wanted to be a doctor that performed surgeries on professional athletes like Dr. James Andrews. The process of reaching this goal, particularly medical school, didn’t interest me.

When I first started undergrad at Vandy, I wanted to be a sports psychologist but that got sidetracked when I wanted to become a sports agent. This even led me to applying to law schools for three straight years after I graduated college. I didn’t get into any of them.

Since graduating college, I’ve interned at a fashion magazine, worked in a public relations firm that specialized in clients in the financial industry, worked at a men’s clothing store, was a communications assistant for a non-profit organization specializing in assisting underprivileged children in public schools, was a media relations assistant at two colleges and got a masters degree in sport administration. Now, I work in professional wrestling.

You would think with all of that stuff, I would have a more established career but it hasn’t happened. Part of it is economics. Every industry has experienced hard times in the past two years but sports has been feeling it a lot. If it was 10 years ago, I would have a full-time job, probably middle-management and be in a better financial position. Now, people like me are getting turned down for unpaid internships.

But some of it has to go on me as well. I underperformed in college and barely graduated, which I was reminded of last night and will get to later. If I got better grades, I would have probably had a job right out of school and my path may have been different. I could have been a better employee at some of those other places I’ve worked. Shoot, I can be a better employee right now, you can always improve your work performance.

So, I sit here writing on my blog late on a Wednesday night and want better for myself. I’ve been evaluating my career and learned that there is a connection between my professional happiness and personal contentment, meaning if I’m unhappy with my career, it affects a large part of how I feel overall.

I’ve been thinking about whether I want to work in sports at all. it’s a fun industry that I have a lot of experience in but the grind is a bit much, especially if I want to have a family of my own in the future. Plus, the pay isn’t good.

But then I think about how important sports are in my life. it’s the one thing outside of my family that has kept me sane over the years. I love it too much. Plus, I’m pretty darn good in the industry. I’ve never had a lot of money in my life so having a lot or a little of it isn’t going to worry me.

So then you go into what part of sports do I like the most. Do I want to get into coaching? Maybe game management? Public relations and marketing? Journalism? Law?

I then think back to my studies in sport management and my favorite class was sports law. I’ve always enjoyed studying law and merging that with sports was exciting. Learning about labor law, antitrust issues, constitutional law, things like that excite me. I still crack open the sports law text book for fun reading.

So do I want to be a sports lawyer now? Dare I say it, does this mean that I have to go to law school? Can I even afford law school? The questions keep coming.

I do know that I like sports, particularly the legal matters in relation to it. I also like business journalism, how do I merge these things together? Do I start my own sports law/business journalism publication? Do I make a blog? Do I work for a publication, sports or non-sports related, to gain the experience in that field?

To do these things, do I have to move to a bigger market than Nashville?

I like mixed martial arts, do I start my own MMA organization?

One final thought. I was talking with my buddy Andrew last week and my interest in law came up. I told him about how I applied to law schools and decided not to go in the end. So last night, I decide to check to see if my LSAC account was still open…oh, to apply to law school, you register with the LSAC and they handle your LSAT, transcript, letters of recommendation, sometimes school applications, etc.

Sure enough, it still is and all of that stuff mentioned above is still on file. I even got to see my Vandy transcript for the first time in years and saw my grades. They weren’t good, in fact, they were pitiful. My LSAT scores weren’t much better. Now I understand why law schools didn’t accept me as a 22-year old with those credentials.

I think I wasn’t ready for it overall. I was still in a sheltered state and didn’t have life experience. Honestly, if I went to law school at 22, I would have failed out of it.

But now, I’ve matured greatly in all aspects of my life and have gotten smarter or at least know how to handle it.

I’m seriously considering this option now but I may change my thoughts tomorrow, hence the mid-career crisis.

In the end, I'll figure something out or it will be done for me. Either way, I'll keep focusing and keep it moving.
　

Curling...Sport of the 21st Century?

2010-03-02T23:33:00.004-06:00

What’s going on everyone, hope you’ve had a good few weeks. Things have been OK for me. I’ve learned over time that as long as you wake up in the morning in good physical condition and you have people that love you, things are going to be all right.

Music to listen to: Lateralus by Tool

I’ve been a major kick right now listening to Tool, maybe besides The Mars Volta, my favorite rock group ever. This song takes me to a positive mental place.

So I’ve developed a love for curling the past few weeks when it was on the Olympics. I would come home from work and immediately flip to CNBC to see the latest games. I guess I wasn’t the only one that caught on because it became the sport that gained the most buzz from what I’ve seen. People were Tweeting about it. The participants, especially the women players, became mini-celebrities, especially Cheryl Bernard from Canada, whose the one in the picture above and known as the “Curgler.” Yes, it means exactly what you think if you say it out loud.

I listed on my Facebook my thoughts about the game as it was going on but I’m going to elaborate about it here with the five reasons the sport is great.

One more thing before I start the list, I’m playing this sport in my future. I’ll get into it more on the list but its gotten to the point that I was looking up the Nashville Curling Club information, but its Web page was down. I would have loved to have gone to the 2010 USA Curling National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich. From Mar. 6-13 but frickin work is getting in the way.

I have to start training for the 2011 U.S. Nationals Qualifying Rounds in January of that year and eventually go to the World Championships in Esbjerg, Denmark in March.

OK, on to the list

1) The rules are simple. Its like shuffleboard on ice. You throw stones and try to get yours closest to the center than your opponent. Of course there’s a LOT more strategy to it such as protecting your shots, putting out guards, keeping the “hammer” on your end, etc. However, its not as complicated as sports with judges. I can’t watch figure skating because of this, well, I take that back…I can’t watch it because I just can’t sit there with a straight face and see dudes in those outfits performing dance acts. I’m pretty liberal with my sports viewing and respect the athleticism of it but I have my limits.

Anyway, the rules are not difficult to comprehend and the scores are low, which is a good thing.

If curling scores got into the high teens or to the thirties or forties, it would be hard.

2) I could play it. I have some athletic skill but I’m not going to become a luger. Am I going to be a competitive snowboarder? No. Will you see your boy making a run at joining the speed skating team? You already know the answer to that.

This may sound like I’m underestimating the athleticism of curlers and that’s far from it. In fact, the curlers at the Olympics made their sport look easier than it is. I would have busted my butt dozens of times moving across the ice like they did.

What I mean is that I don’t see a specific body-type that you have to be to play curling. I’m a big boy and I can actually see myself being a competitive curler with the proper training. I don’t see that in many other sports, which bring me to my next point…

3) Unique scope of player. In many of the sports that we watch, the athletes are at a physical and mental level above us. Whether it’s the height of basketball or volleyball players, the size of football players, the leanness of track sprinters, the thickness of hockey players, most of us see them and not ourselves.

However, when I saw the male curlers, accept for the Norwegians and their hideous checkered pants, I saw men who were in good shape to perform in their sport but nothing outside of the ordinary.

4) Attractive players. It is what it is. There were some very attractive female curlers in the Olympics. You had some cute Canadians, the Sweden team didn’t disappoint (yes, I catered to the stereotypes), I dug the Danes and their black skirts with black leggings, not in a perverted way, but for it being stylistic. And I fell in love with Carmen Schafer of Switzerland. She’s also above, the brunette in the red shirt.

That was a pleasant surprise for me. I don’t intentionally watch women sports for the attractiveness of the athletes but if it happens, I’m not going to complain.

5) Calm chaos. The beauty to me of a sport like baseball is that it may look like nothing is happening when 20 things are taking place. Before a pitch is thrown, you look to see where the fielders are placed, where the catcher receiving the ball is, the body language of the pitcher, the stance of the batter, what the runners on base are doing, etc. Then the pitch is made and things go into motion.

The same takes place in curling. When a stone is thrown, you see the direction of the throw. Was the stone thrown fast or slow, was it curled, are the sweepers going hard or soft, is the stone going for the center, is it a guard for another stone, is it a guide or setup for another shot.

Most viewers just see somebody sliding a stone down the ice and don’t realize the strategy of it, same as baseball. Personally, I love it.

With many good things in life, there are flaws. Here are mine.

1) The men’s uniforms. I frickin hate to bite off of someone else’s idea, especially with how popular he is, but listening to Bill Simmons, aka The Sports Guy, on his pod cast a few days ago, he suggested the men have jerseys in an American football style and I agree. Seeing Great Britain in their snuggly fit white polo shirts made them look overdressed and I think contribute to their weak showing.

I would say get rid of the Norway pants but if that’s the style that they want, let them.

2) You need ice to play curling. I live in Nashville, Tenn. The amount of locations that have ice are less than say in Minnesota or Wisconsin, which seems like the American hotbed of curling from my limited experience. Similar to ice hockey in America in general, its going to be tougher for some people to play it. You can play football or basketball anywhere. Ice is harder to come by. This may limit the growth of the sport.

3) It has elements of boredom. I love baseball. It was my first sports love, before basketball, football, soccer, mixed martial arts, all of them. However, there are some baseball games that make me want to crawl out my skin. I mentioned all of that cool stuff about baseball and curling and the action but when you have a 2-0 game when nothing really happens, it turns off an American society, me included, that has been trained into the fast pace of football and basketball.

That’s why soccer and hockey will only reach a certain level of popularity in this country. People

would rather see a score of 35-28 or 105-98 than 4-3 or 2-1. We accept it in baseball because the sport has been around for so long.

So is curling going to take over the world? Maybe, maybe not but I’ve been hooked and want to play. Who’s going to join me?

The Miracle on Ice Means Nothing to Me and Other Thoughts on USA Hockey

2010-02-22T23:15:00.003-06:00

I’m going to write about some Olympic men’s hockey and insult some Americans…don’t change the Web page yet, give it a chance.

First, some music to listen to: Triad by Tool

This one of my top-five Tool songs and is arguably their best instrumental, even though it isn’t technically one because of Maynard’s sounds from the vocals. It does fit Tool’s ideal of making something so simple sound complicated yet developed.

OK, so this is the 30th anniversary of the “Miracle on Ice,” you know, the USA men’s hockey team beating the USSR team in Lake Placid during the 1980 Winter Olympics. The US team was a heavy underdog, facing arguably one of the top teams of all-time.

BTW, that’s legit. The Russian team beat NHL All-Star teams and featured Hall of Famers. The USA team were amateurs, college kids.

So, the USA wins the game amid the background of the Cold War and during the conflict in Iran and American patriotism was at a low but the win inspired a nation.

I don’t care about it 30 years later.

First, I wasn’t alive during the game. I was born in 1981. I wasn’t alive to see it. That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the moment. It was a major win for those guys and congrats to them but it doesn’t resonate with me at all.

It’s the same with the 1972 Dolphins. I know that going undefeated in the NFL is a major accomplishment but its beyond my scope.

The members of that team and Al Michaels have turned the moment into a profitable endeavor for themselves and good for them in that regard, accept for Al Michaels.

You didn’t play in the game. I get mad at people who use the royal “we” when talking about their favorite team. You didn’t score the touchdown, hit that home run, make that free throw. You’re a broadcaster.

And don’t give me the whole, “Hey Marcel, he came up with the do you believe in miracles statement that everyone remembers from the event. Shoot, its called The Miracle on Ice for a reason.”

That’s fair to a degree. He did contribute to the atmosphere with his broadcasting. However, when I see interviews with the players including Al Michaels, the sports information/public relations director in me cringes.

The first rule of public relations and sports broadcasting is that you’re not the show. Its about the athletes/clients you are presenting. They are the show. Michaels violates this rule in this instance.

The point of all of this is saying that I see the clips of the game and I’m disconnected. If I was alive during the game to completely comprehend the significance of it than maybe I would feel different…

Which brings us to the game last night between the USA and Canada. The Americans gave an inspired effort and earned the win in this contest. I enjoyed it and it seemed like a lot of others did as well.

However, people found a way to bitch about it because it was on MSNBC, not NBC, and I’m not kidding, it wasn’t in High Definition.

My thoughts:

1) There was a reason it wasn’t on NBC and its called ice dancing. If you’re reading this, you probably follow sports for the most part and can’t comprehend figure skating usurping hockey in popularity, but it does. For all of the talk about this being the Olympics and competition between the best athletes in their sport in the world, it’s a business.

The whole concept of television is to sell advertising, not to present original programming. People tend to reverse that but it’s not accurate.

Hockey isn’t as big of a ratings draw as figure skating. The ice dancing hits two huge demographics, women and older people. Hockey hits middle-aged males. Advantage figure skating.

2) This game wasn’t even in the medal round. The semifinals and finals are going to be on NBC, puck heads, it will be all right.

3) Even if the game was on NBC, it wouldn’t increase the viewing of hockey in the United States. If the Miracle on Ice didn’t make the sport mainstream, nothing will.

4) People are mad about the game being on MSNBC because the USA won. If Canada won 4-0, which was a distinct possibility and the game was on NBC, people would be complaining about the terrible scheduling of NBC. You can’t win whatever you do.

5) This isn’t 1980. The majority of people have cable and if you have basic cable, you have MSNBC. Its not like the game was on the NFL Network that a significant amount of people don’t get. If you don’t have cable and there have been times I’ve been without, last night was a rough break but it happens. I would love to see Dexter on Showtime or Entourage on HBO, but I won’t pay for the package. So if there’s an epic Dexter episode on during a new season, I can’t get pissed that I didn’t see it.

6) Seriously, people are complaining about not being able to see the game in HD because I guess MSNBC doesn’t come in HD or some shit like that. I don’t have HD so I don’t know.

The elitist nature of that thinking is beyond me.

You want to go back to the olden days. OK buddy, 20 years ago, that game doesn’t get shown on TV until later. CNBC and MSNBC don’t exist so you have to wait through the ice dancing and see the game on midnight, on tape delay.

Instead, you got to see one of the biggest wins in USA hockey history, live, in your home and you want to complain about the game not being in HD so you can see the extra crispness of the lines on the uniforms, fall back!

7) Final thought, if you think that this is the last time that we see NHL players in the Olympics, you are kidding yourselves. Back in 1980, the Olympics were a major, major event. There was minimal competition. You had no choice but to watch it because you had three networks. Having cable was beyond a luxury back in the day.

That’s why the Miracle on Ice was so big. Even people who didn’t know a blue line from a power play heard about it. Now, we have so many distractions. Plus, the Cold War is over, the tension between Russia and the USA doesn’t exist today.

I guess the closest thing that we could have to it today is if the North Koreans won three straight World Cups in soccer using professionals and a group of USA college kids won the next one. Even that is a stretch.

You could pull off the amateur thing in 1980, not in 2010. We want to see stars. We want to see Ovie and Sidney Crosby duke it out. We want to see the Americans, who are very gritty and play like a bunch of college kids, relatively speaking for this competition, show that their professionals are just as good as the rest. We want to see the older men like Forsburg and Jagr represent their countries for the last time.

Once again, it is all about ratings and amateurs wouldn’t bring them.

So in conclusion, the Miracle on Ice means nothing to me and people annoy me with their complaints, sounds about right for a Pourtout Pancakes post.

Good fight and good night.

NBA Halfway Point Review

2010-02-17T23:13:00.002-06:00

First, some music to listen to: I Wanna Rock (remix) by Snoop Dogg, Jay Z and Ludacris

Your boy is moving into the 21st century musically, heard this on the radio today and was blasting it in the car.

We’re at the unofficial halfway point of the NBA season and its been an entertaining. Teams like Oklahoma City and Memphis have become playoff contenders while San Antonio and Boston have regressed. We’ll get to them later but the best way for me to do this is to review my preseason predictions and go from there.

Preseason predictions by division (in order)

Preseason Atlantic: Boston, Toronto, Philly, New York, New Jersey
Current Atlantic: Boston, Toronto, Philly, New York, New Jersey
Thoughts: Off to a good start on my predictions.

Preseason Central: Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, Indiana, Milwaukee
Current Central: Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Indiana
Thoughts: Cleveland will have the best record in the conference, maybe even the league. The Bucks have been surprisingly springy. Detroit has seen much better days. Indiana is well, Indiana

Preseason Southeast: Orlando, Washington, Miami, Atlanta, Charlotte
Current Southeast: Orlando, Atlanta, Miami, Charlotte, Washington
Thoughts: The Magic are doing what I expected. Respect to Atlanta for surprising me. The Wizards are a complete mess right now. Charlotte has been a spunky group and may cause damage in the playoffs. The Heat are still the Wade show.

Preseason Northwest: Utah, Portland, Denver, Oklahoma City, Minnesota
Current Northwest: Denver, Utah, Oklahoma City, Portland, Minnesota
Thoughts: The Nuggets have emerged as the second best team in the conference. Utah has been solid as always. Portland has been a good surprise, thriving despite injuries to some core players. Minnesota, specifically their general manager, should be ashamed.

Preseason Pacific: Lakers, Phoenix, Clippers, Golden State, Sacramento
Current Pacific: Lakers, Phoenix, Clippers, Sacramento, Golden State
Thoughts: Not bad, nothing special.

Preseason Southwest: San Antonio, Dallas, New Orleans, Houston, Memphis
Current Southwest: Dallas, San Antonio, New Orleans, Houston, Memphis
Thoughts: Maybe the deepest division in the league.

Preseason Eastern Conference Finals: Boston over Cleveland
Current Eastern Conference Finals (most likely): Cleveland over Atlanta
Thoughts: Ignored Boston’s age.

Preseason Western Conference Finals: Lakers over San Antonio
Current Western Conference Finals (most likely): Lakers over Denver
Thoughts: Ignored San Antonio’s age…sense a trend?

Preseason NBA Finals: Boston over Lakers
Current Finals (most likely): Cleveland over Lakers
Thoughts: Honestly, Cleveland and the Lakers are a toss-up.

Preseason MVP:
1) LeBron James, Cleveland
2) Kobe Bryant, Lakers
3) Chris Paul, New Orleans
4) Dwight Howard, Orlando
5) Kevin Durant, OK City and Derrick Rose, Chicago (tie)

Current MVP Standings:
1) LeBron James
2) Kevin Durant
3) Kobe Bryant
4) Dirk Noritzki, Dallas
5) Carmelo Anthony, Denver and Steve Nash, Phoenix (tie)

Thoughts: I thought James has one of the best individual seasons ever and got his first MVP award. This year, he has been even better. He’s finally balancing scoring and distributing to the point that he’s averaging nearly nine assists a game and he’s a forward. Durant has been a monster this season and was legally allowed to drink a little more than a year ago. Kobe is still Kobe and is the engine that makes the Lakers run. Dirk and Carmelo have reached a maturity level where they do more for their team than score. The injury bug has definitely hit Bryant, Paul, Anthony and Rose, affected their seasons and placement in the MVP voting. I’ll have more on Howard with the Magic review.

Preseason Rookie of the Year: Blake Griffin, Clippers
Current Rook of the Year: Tyreke Evans, Sacramento

Thought: Griffin is out for the year with a knee injury and hasn’t even played a game. Evans gets the edge over Brandon Jennings of Milwaukee because he has been more consistent.

Preseason Sleeper (East): Chicago

Thoughts: Hasn’t completely worked out but Rose can carry the Bulls to a first-round playoff win.

Preseason Sleeper (West): Utah

Thoughts: This one may work out for me.

OK, some quick thoughts on each team so you can sound smart to your co-workers:

Cleveland: With the addition of Antawn Jamison, they are clearly the class of the East. If he can incorporate himself with James, this team is going to be scary . Shaq can’t get injured because their front line has gotten thinner.

Lakers: Them and the Cavs are the top two teams in the league. I worry about three things. First, Kobe’s health. He’s a warrior but if he breaks down, problems. Second, don’t like the point guard play. Jordan Farmer has to be a big piece for them. Finally, Bynum is too inconsistent for my liking. it’s a good sign when I mention three potential negatives for the Lakers and not say Ron Artest.

Utah: Its all a tease people. They will win a round, maybe even two in the playoffs but will lose to the Lakers in five games, it happens every year. What has been good is that Deron Williams may be having the best season by a point guard in the league this year, maybe.

Orlando: Something is off about this bunch. Never liked the unofficial trade of Turkoglu for Vince Carter. All of the matchup advantages that they had in the playoffs last year are completely gone. Howard needs to really get some more touches on offense.

Denver: Biggest issue for them is health. They have to get Carmelo, Kenyon Martin and Billiups on the same page to make a legitimate run at the Lakers.

Oklahoma City: If Durant played for a top-ten NBA market, he would be more known. He’s probably going to win a scoring title this season and is getting even better. Did I mention that he’s only 21? His current streak of scoring at least 25 points in 26 consecutive games is impressive but I like the other numbers, like him averaging nearly eight rebounds a game, shooting more than 50% from the field, giving effort on defense. Those things are making him an MVP candidate.

Toronto: They are quietly moving up the Eastern conference standings and may even gain home court advantage over Boston. Bosh is playing like the best post player in the league right now, even better than Howard.

Atlanta: They’re not a fluke, third-best, arguably, second-best team in the East. They have everything you would like in a good team. Go to scorer (Joe Johnson), post presence (Al Horford), scoring off the bench (Jamal Crawford). Key to team has been maturity of Josh Smith. Don’t know where it came from but he stopped shooting three-pointers and getting others involved has been a nice surprise.

Boston: Breaking down health-wise. Garnett’s knees aren’t good, don’t listen to what anyone is saying, seen the guy play for more than 10 years now, its noticeable. Pierce is also banged up. Rondo has been very good for them but he isn’t enough. They don’t even make the conference finals this year.

San Antonio: Its tough to dismiss a team with Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, but that’s what I’m going to do. They may win a first-round series, but nothing beyond that. Duncan still has his moments like his 26 rebound effort in tonight’s game, but his body can’t keep it up. The Richard Jefferson pickup has been a moderate success and that’s being nice. Ginobili’s body has betrayed him as well.

Phoenix: Nash is playing the best ball of his career and he’s 36 and is a two-time MVP award winner. Its really a physical marvel that he’s kept this up. The Amare Stoudemire saga needs to end this trading deadline. No fault of his own, but both sides can use a change.

Dallas: Like the Caron Butler and Brandon Haywood additions. Josh Howard’s time has drawn to an end there. You now have a second scorer to take pressure off of Dirk, who may be having his second-best season of his career outside of the MVP year.

Portland: Treading water now but desperately need Brandon Roy to return if they expect to have any impact in the second half of the season.

Charlotte: Who expected the addition of Stephen Jackson to be one of the top-five in-season moves of the NBA this season? He now has Charlotte contending for a playoff spot and a tough out in the first round. They have beaten Cleveland two times this year already, not saying that they would beat the Cavs in a playoff series, but the Bobcats can make some noise.

Milwaukee: Jennings has been a nice surprise and Bogut has been productive. Imagine what they could have done if Redd has been healthy the whole time?

Chicago: Speaking of injuries, look at the Bulls since Rose has returned from a bad ankle. They can make a nice run in the East over the next few weeks.

Miami: If they acquire Stoudemire, they become the fourth best team in the East. If not, Wade will continue to be an elite player whose team loses in the first round of the playoffs once again.

New Orleans: Screw this season, I’m very, very concerned with Chris Paul and his knee injury.

Houston: Nice story but not an elite team.

Philadelphia, New York, Detroit, Indiana: All having bad seasons

Washington: Not saying that they’re tanking but you suspend Arenas for the rest of the season, and deservedly so, trade Jamison AND Butler. That’s a major purge that may net them a nice free agent or two in the offseason, in addition to a top-three draft pick.

Clippers: Hard to judge them with no Griffin this year, but these are your father’s Clippers, awful.

Sacramento: Evans has been excellent for them but I’m torn on him. He’s playing point guard for them but I don’t know if that’s his ultimate position. He doesn’t pass well enough to play point but doesn’t shoot well enough for shooting guard. He’s more of an off-guard. They also need to figure out if he and Kevin Martin can co-exist long term because in the short term, its not working.

Minnesota: T-Wolves fans should be pissed at the general manager, David Kahn, for screwing up the draft last year. They could have a back court of Rick Rubio and Stephen Curry right now.

Golden State: Free Anthony Randolph and Curry!

New Jersey: What do you say about a four-win team? Not much.
　
Tomorrow: Five storyline to look forward to the second-half of the season.　

Not Bitter on Valentine's Day? I Was Shocked Myself!

2010-02-15T23:45:00.001-06:00

First, some music to listen to: You Lied by Tool (live)

This is actually a cover of a song by Peach, a band which included Tool's bassist Justin Chandler so I don't know if this counts as a cover, but its a good track.

So Valentine's Day was on Sunday and it was the first one in a few years that I was bitter that I was single. I think this is for several reasons.

First, I think that people, especially women are finally catching on to the overrated “holiday” and I use that term loosely. You shouldn't have to wait until February 14th to express your love to your girlfriend, it should be a daily event. Plus, I've said this since I've been a little kid, you should be insulted if your boyfriend treats you well on only one day of the year. So this has been an improvement. You're still going to have the few that take the day TOO seriously, but its ok.

Second, I really think that the economy has had a major effect on the “holiday.” People are struggling to pay bills and are literally losing their jobs, so the concept of spending thousands on a gift is a lot for us these days.

Third, on a direct personal level, I've gone through a complete reevaluation of my life and I'm not happy where I'm at professionally and personally, more the former than the latter. I'll get into that distinction at another time, but the point is that I've been more concerned about things like how I'm going to pay rent and what I want from my career in the next five years than worry about my dating situation.

Fourth, I've been single every single Valentine's Day in my life, literally. Even back in elementary school and junior high when you would just pick someone of the opposite sex and keep it moving, I never did that. I even broke down about it at 16 years old, will never forget it.

I was coming home on the subway and I saw at least five couples my age looking happy and exchanging gifts. Women were carrying flowers and candy, men were appreciating the affection and I was there staring at them, giving them the patented mean look. It was based on envy and when I got home, I started to cry because of my feeling of lonliness. I balled my eyes out for nearly an hour.

What does all of that mean? If the same thing happens for nearly 30 years on the same date in an annual basis, why get mad at it? I'm going to be single, most likely for the rest of my life, and I've accepted that. No need for tears.

Fifth, being single on this “holiday” saves money and I take pride in my thriftiness with my finances. You can call me cheap, I don't care.

Finally, the “holiday” does focus on love within dating relationships, but it does promote the concept of love in general and who can hate on that?

Before you can find happiness in your life, you have to appreciate the happiness that others are experienceing in their lives. Instead of having jealousy for people who are in loving relationships, I should acknowledge and approve of it. Love is hard to find and not all of us will feel it in our lives.

Plus, your time will come. It may not be soon and it may not be in the form that you expect. I may not come across a loving relationship with a girlfriend or wife until I'm 80 or I may meet her tomorrow, or even worse, maybe I've already experienced it and didn't understand it. Maybe my true love will be a dog I'll purchase next year. Either way, it will happen for me.

So, I wasn't bitter on Valentine's Day and it felt good.

My thoughts on social networks

2010-02-10T23:42:00.002-06:00

First, music to listen to: Rock Steady by Aretha Franklin

I saw a special on Soul Train on VH1 over the weekend and it featured this performance of Rock Steady. She kills it on this song and that bass line is a beast.

Came across an interesting article today in USA Today, actually it was the cover story, on the impact that internet social networking, such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc. has had on our society.

Here's the link to it: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2010-02-10-1Asocialbacklash10_CV_N.htm

The article is really about how addictive these networks are for some people and the liberation that they feel when they stop using them. While some of the quotes are hyperbolic, comparing deactivating their Facebook account to “regaining their freedom,” it did make me thing about my reliance or lack of reliance on social networks and technology in general.

Concerning Facebook, I usually log on to it once a day to see what my friends are doing, check out some pictures, wish people happy birthday, etc. I'm actually on it right now. Its a good way for me to see what my non-Nashville friends are doing with their lives.

I'm not going to lie, I do look people up from time to time to see what is going on, especially if I haven't heard from them in a few months.

The danger of this is the ever-present potential for “Facebook stalking,” which really does happen, especially to women. If you're a guy and you really want to be creepy, all you need is a name and you can find out all of the information you need, including pictures if that's your thing. Thankfully, I think women have gotten wind of this and have limited profiles.

There's also the element of having friends in general. Some people treat it like its a privilege that they are accepting me as a friend, like I should be honored that they have even considered me. Slow down, bucky. We know each other and there is potential that I may have to interact with you on Facebook, nothing more.

Personally, if I know you in any form outside of the internet, I'll be your friend. If we've had face to face interaction, then we can be friends. However, if its a woman, I always try to tell them that I'm going to message them to be a friend, a forewarning. I think I've requested a friendship with a woman without warning them only once or twice. As a male, you have to be aware of this.

As far as pictures, they're fine as long as you have common sense. I'm not going to put pictures of me socially drinking or doing any other “adult” oriented activities. Its not because I'm afraid of an employer seeing them, I have a Blog, I have a relatively open book to my personal life, but I just don't think people want to see that stuff. When I was an SID for baseball at Belmont, I put up pictures of my travels and people actually liked seeing what it was like for a college baseball team on the road. That was productive. I do like seeing pics of that nature, as well as family pics, your kids, your significant other, its all good in my book.

Now some people put a little too much of themselves out there, I don't necessarily need to see you without a significant amount of clothing, if you catch my drift. However, I rarely run into that unintentionally.

I have no interest in playing any games on Facebook. I don't want to do anything related to Vampires. I don't want to be in a Mafia War.

This is when the social networking can become time consuming. When I first joined Facebook, I had a large amount of friends wanting me to play these games and download applications. I didn't like this for two reasons. First, I didn't want something bad getting on my computer. Second, I just don't have the time or interest to do it.

I have never had an interest in MySpace so I can't comment on that.

As far as Twitter, I have an account but haven't posted anything in weeks. The only good thing for me personally is that its an excellent way to follow sports. All of the writers that I follow will post their items on Twitter, so its an easy way to get to them. Also, during a contest, you get direct reactions from people, so that's a good thing.

I was going to go into other technical things like my lack of a DVR system or lack of internet on my cell phone, but its getting late and one of my New Year's lifestyle alterations was to get more sleep.

The guitar is going to happen by the end of the year and my first French lesson will be on Sunday. Still working on the Dad, its on my end.

Until then grasshoppers, good fight and good night!

Super Bowl Reflections and a Crush of the Day!

2010-02-08T23:27:00.003-06:00

What's going on everyone, let's get to my thoughts on the Super Bowl...

First, some music to listen to: South Side of the Sky by Yes (live)

Bump this in your office today, it will make you feel better.

One more thing...

Crush of the Day: Esperanza Spalding

Saw her performance on Austin City Limits on Saturday and was impressed. Talented musician, plays an excellent bass and is a cutie...you may be looking at the future Mrs. Pourtout, even though she will have to get past Ashley Judd, Ciara and Maria Menunos. That smells like an upcoming post on my updated top-five list...I'll save it for when Kentucky comes to play Vandy and Ms. Judd makes her annual trip to Memorial Gym.

For now, lets talk about the Super Bowl. It was a solid game, and I have some passing thoughts about it and yes, I'm openly imitating Don Banks from Si.com and his Snap Judgements, but what can you do, I like the format.

-I know that it seems hyperbolic to state that a team winning a championship can help the morale of an entire city because sports hold a place in our society but not that important, however, if you've ever been to New Orleans, before and after Hurricane Katrina, you can't overstate what this win means for them.

I have family from Baton Rogue and have seen what the Saints mean to that area. Outside of maybe Green Bay with the Packers, Buffalo with the Bills and possibly Cleveland to the Browns, no city takes their cue from its NFL team like New Orleans.

Will the Saints winning the game rebuilt the homes, give people jobs and erase the horrible memories of that natural disaster nearly six years ago, no. However, if the people truly affected by that event take comfort in seeing a team that they supported through some good and mostly bad, good for them. That's why I was supporting the Saints yesterday, because...

-There's no way that I will ever support a Vol in a major event so Peyton can go kick rocks, but...
-Manning played an excellent game. I thought that the talk about how this win would place him on the list of greatest quarterbacks was premature for several reasons. First, he's playing for at least six more seasons. He's durable, avoids injuries accept for normal wear and tear and keeps himself in prime condition. He's going to make at least one more Super Bowl in his career, you can book it. Second, people like to label him as a “choker,” which is not completely fair. Has he lost some playoff games? Sure he has, but all of the greats did.

Johnny Unitas got beat by an average New York Jets team in Super Bowl III.

John Elway got dominated in three straight Super Bowls before receiving redemption in his last two appearances in the championship game.

I saw Joe Montana get knocked out of two NFC title games against the Giants in his heyday with the 49ers.

Farve has had his bad losses, shoot, even Tom Brady has come up short.

The point is that you have to look beyond the initial analysis and wait for the career of these guys to end. Would it shock me if Minnesota won the Super Bowl with Farve next year? Of course not (btw, if you think Farve isn't coming back next season, you're trying to avoid the obvious. I want him to go away too, but he's not leaving that situation and the Vikes won't let him. You want Tavaris Jackson running your team, didn't think so). Brady still has a good year or two in him. The Pats have work to do but another Super Bowl isn't impossible.

That's why I don't like ranking current players in any sport. If Farve gets his second title, does that make him the best ever? He'd have a better case than Manning most likely. If Brady gets his fourth title, he matches Montana but still would have to win a few more to catch Otto Graham. Patience.

-Speaking of great quarterbacks, what about Drew Brees? I have to admit, I've doubted this guy's career on two occasions. First, when he came out of Purdue, I didn't think he had a strong enough arm and was too short to be an elite QB. I wasn't the only one because he lasted all the way to the second round when he had a first round-type career in college. He gets to San Diego and I'm proven right at first because he struggles there. Even the Chargers weren't sure about him because they drafted Rivers with the number four pick of the first round a few years later.

This motivates Brees and he becomes a Pro Bowler. However, he jacks up his throwing shoulder in the last game of the regular season in his contract year, and his career is almost over.

That was the second time I doubted him. I remember it exactly because it was a national TV game and the way that he was tackled was nasty. Then word got out that he needed major reconstruction and that was a wrap, or so I thought. Even the Dolphins didn't sign him because of the shoulder. The Saints were desperate to bring someone in and Brees was desperate to have a chance to play and it turned out to be a perfect match.

I don't think that Brees gets enough appreciation for what he's doing. He's arguably the most accurate quarterback in the past ten years and he's shorter than nearly everyone on the field. I don't know how you can play the QB position better in a championship game than he did.

Also, when he had his wife and baby son on stage with him after the game, it got misty in the Pourtout Palace, your boy almost shed a tear but I didn't.

-Hurts to say because they're a legendary group but The Who were weak last night.

-Sean Payton has significant testicular fortitude because there's no way I would have called for that onside kick to start the second half. Analysts are now saying it was a great move and not that big of a risk on paper but were saying that after the fact. When I was in front of my TV at that moment, you kick the ball deep but he didn't and was rewarded. I didn't mind the attempts to go for it on fourth down on two occasions because you're not going to beat the Colts with field goals, you need touchdowns.

-I guess Reggie Bush is now going to marry Kim Kardashian because he said he would if they won the Super Bowl. Hope he didn't get that in writing...

-Freeney was getting his moments in the first half but that ankle didn't hold up and its a shame because he was doing some nice things on the field.

-I thought about writing a post on the Tim Tebow Super Bowl ad but didn't for three reasons.

First, while I'm pro-choice in the issue of abortion and the ad was from an organization that is pro-life, I really don't care what it does with its money. The only argument that some have made, which is fair, is what if an anti-American terrorist group or even a group based in racist or sexist ideologies wanted their 30-seconds as well. Can CBS or even the NFL say no at that stage? That in itself may be worthy of its own post.

Second, by even giving time to the ad, it would get Tebow's name out there even more and we don't need that in our lifes.

But the biggest reason I didn't do it is because I didn't see the ad. I couldn't objectively critique it without seeing it and I'm glad I held off because the ad was fine besides the fact that I found his mom slightly attractive in a “hey, your buddy's mom is kinda cute” kind of way...come on fellas, I wasn't the only one thinking this, am I right?

-Reggie Wayne, what happened? He openly quit on at least two passes last night, the one at the very end of the game and the interception by Manning. Peyton is getting the blame for the pick but Wayne should have cut inside to shield the Saints' defender from getting to the ball.

Those are my thoughts, what about yours? Damn, it feels good to be writing again!

Sunday Reflections (on a Monday)

2010-01-26T00:04:00.003-06:00

Hey everyone, hope all is well with you.

Music to listen to: Fade to Black by Metallica (live)

When all else fails when trying to find a song for this portion of a Blog post, Metallica is hard to go wrong with.

I was going to write about the football games from yesterday, particularly marveling at the brilliance of Peyton Manning, the pure joy in seeing Brett Farve fail, true happiness for the Saints, especially the fans and residents of the entire Gulf Coast. But the Super Bowl isn't for another two weeks, so previews and reviews of the NFL can come later.

I was going to write a midseason review of the NBA, don't worry, that's tomorrow.

I was going to give you an update on my dating life, but not much has happened in that department.

I was going to write about Haiti and how it affects all of us in ways that we don't even realize, but that's a standard belief that I think most of us already have.

I'm going to tell you about my Friday afternoon into evening.

The workday was grinding down to an end at my office and I had a feeling of sadness come upon me. I was a little tired but nothing outside of the normal. I left work, drove home, and when I exited my car, I stopped right there.

The thought that continued to come to me was my lack of happiness in this lifestyle. I looked at my beat up car that I hadn't cleaned in months and wondered why I hadn't taken care of that. I stayed in this position for about five minutes.

Then I entered my home which was dirty and didn't look like a place that a young professional such as myself should be living in. In my place, I enter though the kitchen and when I stepped into the home, I stood there for another five minutes.

After that, I thought about what I was going to do for that night and remembered that my date for the evening was canceled because she wasn't feeling well. This bummed me out...I didn't stand in place for five minutes for this one.

I just went into my room, laid on my bed and reflected on how I ended up in this position. I began to re-examine every aspect of my life from my car to apartment to weight to job to dating and everything else that was tangible at that time.

What I realized is that I wasn't happy with any of them.

This is a tough realization to have for anyone and I know that all of us have been in this place at least once in our lives.

I thought about what I should be doing as a 28-year old with my background. With all of the work that I've done, I should own my own place instead of having to rent it and barely be able to afford it. I shouldn't have to drive a used 1998 Ford Taurus that may break down any moment. I should be in a long-term relationship and even have a kid, maybe two by now. I shouldn't have to take odd jobs that pay hardly anything just to pay bills. I shouldn't be an intern. I shouldn't feel this lonely nearly every day of my life. I shouldn't be nervous to enter public social settings. I shouldn't be as unhealthy as I am.

I shouldn't have this life.

All of these emotions came to me and I felt a feeling of unhappiness that I hadn't experienced since I was about 22, when I was saddened to dark places that I don't want to ever visit again. It's even hard writing this stuff now a few days after this experience.

So, I took a deep breath and thought about every major decision that I've made. Should I have gone to Vanderbilt? Should I have come back to Nashville? Should I have told Sara that I loved her? Should I have turned down law school? Should I even work in sports? Should I quit my job tomorrow and not look back? Should I have stayed in the NYC...you get the idea.

Then I realized that I was feeling frustrated with not living the lives of others that I'm not like.
Each of us has our own journey. I've made mistakes in my life and I have regrets. I'm not happy with the path that my life has taken but I'm not ashamed of it because its my own.

I believe that you can't control the path that your life takes but you can have significant influence in it. There's a reason that I'm in my current life. If God wanted me to be a father and a husband right now, it would have happened. If he wanted me to be a lawyer making six-figures, driving a BMW and owning a condo in the city, it would be going down at this moment.

I think that he has put me in this position to make me earn everything that I want. When I was younger, things were very easy for me. I had a loving mother that provided me with everything that I needed and more, to the point of being spoiled. High school was not hard, but I was a pitbull when it came to school and other things. I would sit in my small room in Brooklyn and motivate myself with the belief that I was going to dominate this world. If that meant studying through the night, working jobs in the summer while my buddies were relaxing, it that meant preparing myself for a career in sports like no other, that was going to happen.

Even college wasn't a terrible struggle. I had fun, enjoyed life, things were good. However, after college, the real world kicked my ass and it roughed me up a bit. Fortunately, I had a loving family that took care of me and I was able to work through some tough things. But the past three years, I've noticed that I've become lazy and content with the standard.

The teenager version of me would smack the adult me in the face and tell him to get his ass in gear and I think that's what was happening to me on Friday. He was looking at me and wondering how this took place over the years.

So, after this entire reflection took place, I decided that I was going to a complete reevaluation of my life in every aspect. I'm going through this process right now and it should make for some interesting posts in the upcoming weeks.

On Friday night, I went to the bookstore and read, something that I enjoy doing often but have gotten away from. I read some sports books, even the Bill Simmons' one on basketball that was just released. Reading his passionate writing about the sport inspired me because I remember having that same desire as a younger guy but losing it over time. I think its coming back and I'm excited about that.

After the bookstore, I came back home and gained prospective on life in general seeing the telethon for Haitian relief on the TV. As much as I've written above, its nothing in comparison with what is going on there. Its unfortunate to realize your fortune in comparison to the sadness and despair of others but that's what happened to me.

With that, I went to sleep.

So what does this mean for me? Am I going to change my job? Get a new place to live? Abstain from a lot of things and that includes you know what? Do I move out of Nashville? Do I hike the mountains or kayak a river? I don't know but all is being considered. I do know that days like Friday are going to come again and hopefully I'm better prepared for the emotions but maybe the point isn't to be prepared for them.

Maybe I'll stick to writing about the NBA for the moment and things will go from there.

Sunday Reflections (on a Monday)

2010-01-18T22:44:00.001-06:00

What’s going on peoples. Hope you had a good weekend, I’ll go over mine with some reflections thrown in there as usual.

Music to listen to: Fixed Income by DJ Shadow (live version)

This is a beastly beat and the live version is incredible, especially with the visuals of this video. DJ Shadow is amazing.

-On Friday, I had a date at a place that I’ve never been to in Nashville yet was always close to. I went to Café Coco. For those of you unfamiliar with Nashville, its near Vanderbilt, where I went as an undergrad. Furthermore, I love a good coffee shop and never found my way into this place in all of my years here. I’ve driven past it because Exit/In is there as well as the epic Krispy Kreme donut shop.

So I finally got there and it’s a nice place, its no Bongo Java, but its solid. Oh, how was the date? In the past on this Blog, I’ve openly talked about my dates and romantic endeavors and ultimately jinxed myself. Not this time, she won’t even get a fake name…for now. It was a good time.

-If Kurt Warner played his final game on Saturday, it was a great career. I’m cynical by nature, especially when it comes to sports, so when you hear the entire story of Warner, I was skeptical. We all know about him bagging groceries, being a Super Bowl champion with the Rams, winning MVP’s, being left for dead professionally with the Giants, goes to the Cardinals as a backup for Matt Leinart, gets his chance to shine and takes them to the Super Bowl. He’s a Hall of Famer and one of the only openly religious athletes that I actually believe follows his virtues.

That’s why I think that he will retire…not the religious part, actually, that’s part of it. He sees the full picture of his life with his wife, kids and religion. Football is important but he has other things going on. The minute a professional athlete has these thoughts, he needs to retire and move on to his new ventures of life.

-How about those Saints dominating that contest? Reggie Bush, where has that been for your entire NFL career? I don’t know if he got tired of hearing about being a bust, his teammates motivated him, he motivated himself, his girlfriend did something, whatever preparations he did before Saturday’s game, keep doing it. Also, the Drew Brees story is tremendous as well. I didn’t think that he would be this good of an NFL quarterback coming out of Purdue and when he jacked up his shoulder with the Chargers, I thought that the Saints were getting damaged goods. I was wrong in a big way.

-Colts defeated the Ravens, that is all.

-Good seeing the Cowboys get the hammer laid out to them. Don’t think that Phillips should be fired, Vikings were just a better team. If we weren’t so drunken with Farve-overload, we would be marveling at one of the greatest seasons that an athlete has ever had. He threw four touchdowns on Sunday and he’s 40. That’s not normal, that’s legendary.

-As a Giants fan, you would think that I would have a hard time dealing with the Jets reaching the AFC title game, but I’m actually happy for the Jets fans. While they aren’t as tortured as Bills fans or heaven forbid, Browns fans, supporters of the Jets have had some rough times over the years…trust me, if they make the Super Bowl, you will hear plenty about it. Growing up, I would watch just as many Giants games as Jets contests so I actually would support them.

A lot of you are probably from areas with strong college sports and couldn’t consider cheering for the crosstown or cross state team. But the Giants and Jets are in different conferences and rarely play each other accept for the preseason and it’s a meaningless game.

However, I just don’t think that they can beat Indy on the road.

-While Wade Phillips should keep his job in Dallas, Norv Turner has to go. He seems like a nice guy but he’s underachieved with the Chargers. Some of you may say that its not Norv’s fault that his kicker had an epically awful performance or that Tomlinson is finished as an elite runner, but you have to win that game at home.

My thoughts on UT Football...you knew it was coming

2010-01-13T22:50:00.003-06:00

Before I get to Lane Kiffin, you know that I have to lay out the foundation.

Music to listen to: Freek’N You by Jodeci

When I was driving back and forth between Kennesaw and Nashville, this song came up and it reminded me how underrated Jodeci is in the realm of music. For some reason the group didn’t get as big as it should have. It may have had something to do with race, the fact that they imploded earlier than they should have or whatever, but I thought that they should have gotten more love then they have, so now I do it here.

So our boy Lane Kiffin has caused some drama once again in the world of college football with his move from Tennessee to USC. He’s a shady character, this is known, but lets look at this from all angles and perspectives or prospective, whatever:

Lane Kiffin: Has a man who has accomplished less gotten more in football, from a football coaching profession? He was an assistant, not a coordinator, at USC for a few years during that school’s heyday in the early 2000’s, so this whole perception that he had a major role in that’s school’s dominance during this period is not a lie but not a complete truth.

He then parlays that into an NFL job with the Oakland Raiders, the most dysfunctional franchise in the league west of the Washington Redskins. Kiffin is a failure there, but it was the Raiders, where everyone fails, so it isn’t his fault.

Then he gets an SEC job at a highly respectable school, not a major program, but a good one. He causes a lot of noise, talks about recruiting to the point of annoyance, accuses others of cheating when he’s openly doing it himself, leads the team to seven wins and leaves after one season to get a job at one of the top-five programs in the country.

He does all of this with an arrogance like he belongs. BTW, the guy is younger than 35 years old. As Pat Forde said, its as if he was placed on third base and acts like he hit a triple.

However, he’s a hustler and obviously only thinks about his own well-being. I’m a big believer in karma and Lane’s time will come but if you’ve been given every thing in life, than what do you expect. You can dislike it but you can’t hate on it.

Monte Kiffin: You’re one of the most respected men in the coaching field yet your son is dragging your name in the mud as well with all of these antics. Of course he’s going to be loyal to Lane, probably to a fault, but you have to think that Monte would tell his son that this isn’t the right path to go. But…

I think that there’s a subtle guilt going on here, let me explain. It seems like Monte may feel guilty that he wasn’t there for his son when he was growing up because he was pursuing his coaching career and reached high levels. Now that Monte has a position of power, he has helped his son get his first big break at USC as an assistant, then he convinced his NFL buddies that Lane can coach the Raiders. Finally, in the ultimate act of support, Monte left his NFL position with the Bucs to join his son at UT.

If Monte and the jackass I’m going to mention later weren’t part of the package with Lane, the son doesn’t get hired at UT.

Monte’s coaching legacy is set but his actions may be hurting his son’s in the end.

Ed Orgeron: This jackass has the testicles to be in LA while the Kiffins are in Knoxville calling UT recruits, telling the early enrollees to not attend class and then telling them to go to USC. So the same kids you were telling for months to attend UT and the qualities of that school and now you want them to go to USC. I’ve never liked this cheater.

Tennessee athletic department: This is a tough spot because you never expect your coach to leave after one season. If Lane was there for four or five years and then left, then that’s different because that’s expected in these times. I didn’t like the Kiffin hire when it first happened because he was an outsider.

Tennessee is a unique place. I like to make fun of it as a Commodore alum because the school is in East Tennessee and very country. From the awful, ok, I said I was going to be fair in this post, odd Rocky Top song to the bright orange, the school represents a side of southern culture that is unique in its own way.

So you bring in this guy who has a bad personality for your school and doesn’t have experience in the southeast. Furthermore, when Lane started doing his dirt, the school didn’t do a good job of reining him in.

So what does the school do now? I think you have to pick someone who understands the culture of the school and knows its place in the SEC landscape, which brings me to…

Tennessee fans: We’re all fans of a sports team and the toughest thing to do is managing expectations. I think that the maximum for UT is averaging eight wins a season, having a 10-win year once every three years and winning the SEC East every four years and an SEC title every five to six years.

However, they should feel jilted by Kiffin and was feeling the protesting that they did in Knoxville last night. The burning of the couches and painting profanity on rocks was much, but besides that, the fans should react like they did.

USC: You’re really set on Kiffin leading you to glory. I wrote above my lack of faith of him above so I won’t get back into it. USC has to deal with NCAA issues but I’m sure it won’t be anything major. You still are a premier program with a lot of positives, just watch out for your coach.

Rest of SEC: As a Vandy fan, I’m going to miss having a punching bag but I think that Lane was building a nice program at UT that would have done some nice things. For fans of Florida, Alabama and Georgia, things are the same.

Rest of Pac-10: USC is in a vulnerable position. Eight of the programs in that conference have a chance to win a conference title in the next three years (Washington State is the exception, sorry Cougar fans). The Trojans will be back but on paper next year, Oregon, Oregon State, Cal, Arizona and probably Stanford are better.

Recruited student-athlete/family of said recruit: This is my favorite one of all. This shows that loyalty doesn’t exist in college athletics at this level. Hopefully this shows naïve recruited college athletes that they have to have limits to their trust in the process.

I have a nephew who is currently a junior and is being recruited by schools for football at a solid level. First, he isn’t going to enroll early anywhere, that’s for darn sure. There are recruits who are going to be stuck at UT and USC for that matter with coaches they expected to play for up to two weeks ago. Now they have other coaches to play for.

The reality is that he’s going to have to be very, very careful with this process and this is a prime example of it.

OK, those are my thoughts, what are yours?

Sunday Reflections

2010-01-10T21:55:00.002-06:00

What’s going on everyone, hope this life is treating you right. We just finished our first full week of 2010 and its been solid. First…

Some music to listen to: Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart by Alicia Keys

I saw Alicia perform this on Saturday Night Live yesterday and she killed it as usual. She’s a great performer, singer, songwriter and not to mention, very, very attractive. I was feeling the ponytail. I haven’t done an updated top-five list in a while but she may crack the starting lineup.

-The weather here in Nashville has been brutally cold, by the standards of this city. We were excited today when the temperature got up into the mid-20’s. The problem isn’t the cold, it’s the snow and the lack of preparation this city has for it. First, the large majority of people here travel on their own, meaning more cars on the road to cause accidents. The major roads and highways aren’t an issue, but the side roads that aren’t used often have ice on them and your boy darn near busted his car sliding into 12th avenue several times.

This week also confirmed that I will not move away from a warm area of the country to live as long as its under my control. This cold weather isn’t the business.

-Darn Gilbert Arenas and his gun play. I spend more time than you would think defending the players in the NBA and telling people that they aren’t “thugs.” However, when Gil or even guys like Tyler Smith and three other players from the University of Tennessee perform criminal activities with firearms, its gets tougher for me.

-Is it sad that the Simpsons had their 450th episode on tonight that was advertised all through the Cards and Packers game yet I had no interest in watching?

-Huge week for the professional wrestling industry. I know that many of you don’t watch it but Hulk Hogan made his “official” debut with TNA Wrestling on Monday night and it was a good time. It was also TNA’s first ever live Monday night broadcast of iMPACT!, our weekly TV show. The significance of it being live on Monday was that it was in direct competition with WWE’s weekly Monday show.

Now you know I’m biased because I work for the company but I think we did a really good job with the show. We introduced a lot of content for fans to keep tuning in for the next few months.
When you work in the wrestling industry, people have one of three reactions when you tell them your job. First, they think its weird and mock the sport. The second one is that people who you didn’t expect to be fans mark out, meaning that they reveal to you how much they love the sport.

The third reaction is the most interesting and the one I actually like to receive the most. The people tell you that they’re a fan and then offer you criticism of the product. People have told me that they hate wrestlers that I enjoy greatly and even told me they liked wrestlers that I don’t find much intrigue in. The point of all of this is to get market research because as cliché as it sounds, at least for our industry, the most important thing is the fans. If our fans don’t come to our shows, watch us on TV, purchase our products, then problems.
　
-The NFL playoffs were decent this weekend. I would have been 1-3 this weekend, only hitting on the Dallas game. The Cards and Pack game was great accept for Joe Buck, he’s awful. Thankfully, I had the game on mute and avoided most of his monotone and apathy towards the contest.

Good fight and good night everybody.

New Year's Resolutions/Lifestyle Alterations

2010-01-05T23:48:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year everyone. Hope all of you had a good holiday season. I learned things about myself and others over this period and it will all be presented in this post.

First, you know what’s coming.

Music to listen to: Single by Everything but the Girl

Something chill to start the year.

Everyone makes resolutions at the beginning of the calendar year because it represents a chance to change your lifestyle for the better. We all would like to improve things in our life or enhance the positives that we are already practicing.

Unfortunately, many resolutions are hindered over time and we fall into our same habits.

So, I don’t have resolutions for this upcoming year. Instead I have lifestyle alteration suggestions. Some of these will be specific things which you will see but its more about influencing your lifestyle in a positive way instead of trying to stick to a resolute ideal that may be hard to maintain. With that, let’s get started.

-Be healthier physically. I’m still a relatively young man but I turn 29 in May. I’m reaching that age where I have to make preparations physically so that I can have a better lifestyle when I’m 60. At this pace, I may struggle to even make that number. This will mean increasing my physical activity but also watching my food intake or diet. Its not about being on a diet where I cut out carbs or increase protein, things like that would be helpful I guess but I know what I should eat and not eat.

-Be healthier mentally. This is the most important year I’ve had from a professional standpoint. Enough with school, internships, graduate assistantships, etc. This is my time to establish my career in sports and become the dominant sport manager that I was born to be. I’ve prepared for this since I was a little kid. Its my destiny.

With that, I have to prepare myself mentally for this fate. That means keeping my focus but also enjoying my life to appreciate what I have. I have to believe in balance.

-Improve my swagger. One of my nephews told me that I needed to do this. He’s 16 years old, good looking, nice guy, star football player, built like a tank, popular with the ladies and has a supreme level of self-confidence that I’m actually envious of.

The key is that he’s so young and has an unlimited future. I used to have this mentality. However, struggles in my life have zapped that out completely.

Its hard to have self confidence in your early-20’s when you get laid off of your job, the heat gets cut off in an apartment you can’t afford and you have to move into your brother and sister’s home. That’s when the serious depression and feeling like your life is worthless come in. That’s why I don’t want my early 20’s back ever again.

I’ve worked hard to get myself to this stage and many of you have seen my maturation. I will never be perfect, don’t want to be, but I need to gain my self-confidence back, or increase my swagger as the young kids say.

-Be a positive influence on younger family members. I used to be the youngest kid in the family for years but now my generation is starting to have children and they have grown up quickly. I have nieces, nephews, cousins, etc. in junior high school and high school. Some are even in college.

Now, I’ve become a mentor for them. I was part of the first group of family members to consistently go to college and its my responsibility to help out the younger generation in any way possible.

I used to not want this role because I felt the pressure to be the breadwinner of the family and honestly, I still feel it. I was always told that I would achieve great things, become famous, make a lot of money, etc. by my family members. They were trying to be encouraging and that’s great but when you don’t reach those goals immediately, you feel like a failure.

I don’t feel like a failure but I haven’t achieved what I thought I would have at this stage of my life. But it’s all good, everybody’s journey is different, which ties into the younger family members. I’ve experienced a lot of things for them to seek guidance to me for but I also know to let them take their own paths and not be as judgmental as the generation that raised me when I was their age.

-Write more and I’m talking more than the Blog. I used to write poems daily. I’ve written short stories. I had plans on a novel for years and haven’t even started it. Hopefully the Blog can lead to more creative writing or even non-fiction commentaries on things like politics, history, science and things non-sports. I have other interests and need to express them.

-Learn to play guitar. I tentatively played bass a few years ago and was starting to comprehend it but gave up. I miss the challenge of learning how to play an instrument and using it to express my emotions.

Plus, women love musicians, speaking of which…

-At least one long-term girlfriend. My longest relationship is three months and that was in high school. Its not intentional, seriously. Never cheated, never been cheated on, I think. My relationships don't last long and it would be a nice change. It would be nice to have a long-term relationship to not only develop myself but help someone grow as well.

A healthy partnership would be welcomed.

-Learn French. Women love French…actually this one is more than that. I have French origins and haven’t acknowledged them enough. I have family members from Martinique and haven’t been able to communicate with them in the native language. I think by learning French I can feel more in touch with my ancestors and my background. it’s a missing part of my life that I need to fill.

-Have better relationship with my father. This is personal but I can tell you that we’ve both been wrong over the years and its time for us to eliminate the negativity and move towards the future.

-Finally, do community service. Back in the NYC, I used to be heavily involved in community service and it was a fulfilling part of my life. Between doing activities in church, with the Leo/Lions Club, school and a community center here and there, I was making a positive contribution to society.

Sure, there was a selfish element to make myself feel good by helping those less fortunate than me, heck, it looked good on my college applications, I actually liked the process. It made me feel good inside and made me appreciate life. Furthermore, it drove me to not become deterred by any obstacles because I saw people in much, much worse shape than me loving their life.

There are plenty of ways that I can do this and this is a good time to start.

This is also a good time to end this post. Thanks for reading and you stay safe out there in those streets.

Sunday Reflections on a Monday

2009-12-21T19:41:00.004-06:00

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!!!

2009-12-19T17:14:00.002-06:00

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

2009-12-13T23:29:00.002-06:00

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

2009-12-07T21:14:00.002-06:00

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

2009-12-04T00:35:00.002-06:00

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

2009-12-03T23:41:00.003-06:00

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

2009-11-30T23:56:00.003-06:00

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

2009-11-23T23:57:00.001-06:00

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

2009-11-19T08:32:00.004-06:00

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

2009-11-16T00:04:00.002-06:00

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

2009-11-12T23:04:00.003-06:00

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

2009-11-10T23:21:00.003-06:00

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

2009-11-05T23:15:00.002-06:00

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

College Football Review

2009-11-04T22:17:00.003-06:00

Its time for that College Football Review

Music to listen to: Pushit by Tool

It’s a reworking of the original version but is still excellent. This song came up on the IPod at the gym today and I reverted back to my dark moments of my life and I became truly reflective, which was a beautiful time. I know that sounds odd but its true.

Crush of the Day: Ann Curry (Oregon)

I could have gone with Kaitlin Olson after her Ducks earned the big win over USC but I’m going to stick with Ann Curry, whose been a major crush of mine for years, even though she is literally old enough to be my mother. She was 25 when I was born, thanks for that disturbing news Wikipedia.

She’s the only reason that I watch the Today show. That and my brother from another mother Al Roker.

I know, I know, lets just move on to the games.

North Carolina 20, Virginia Tech 17: The second-biggest win of the week was from the Tar Heels on the road getting the victory. It looked like Tech was going to run away with this game but UNC kept hanging in there and got a last-second field goal. For the overall state of the two programs, I think this loss was a lot worse for Va. Tech then the win for UNC. In three weeks, Virginia Tech went from national title contenders to losing two straight ACC contests. Basically, they went from the Orange Bowl to the Gator Bowl, if their lucky. That’s a pretty big fall. For the Heels, this was the biggest win of the Butch Davis era and may allow them to become a top-flight ACC school.

South Florida 30, West Virginia 19: Both of these teams are definitely the Jekyll and Hyde of the Big East. Speaking of which, I use that term often but didn’t know what it meant. I read the plot of the play and that’s some heady stuff. I may have to get the book to read about this more.

Florida State 45, North Carolina State 42: Mickey Andrews is retiring at the end of the year, which is fair. His defensive legacy is matched by only a few in the history of college football. However, his unit has underperformed in the past few years and he would merit being relieved of his duties at the end of the year. Does this mean that Bowden is gone as well? I would think yes but I have a sneaking feeling that we haven’t seen the last of Bobby.

Iowa 42, Indiana 24: You have to start looking at the Hawkeyes as a potential national title contender. They’re the best team in the Big 10 and they can hang with teams defensively. However, the lack of offense would hurt them against Alabama, Florida, Texas and dare I say it, Oregon.

Ohio State 45, New Mexico State 0: Why did this game happen?

Auburn 33, Ole Miss 20: War Eagle Flying!!!

Houston 50, Southern Miss 43: How about Keenum getting some love for the Heisman?

Florida 41, Georgia 17: Dug the black pants, Georgia. Didn’t like the black helmets.

Duke 28, Virginia 17: Break up the Blue Devils. You have to seriously consider David Cutcliffe for ACC coach of the year. Duke stinks on paper but they are in contention to play in the conference championship game. Tremendous stuff. As for Virginia, I hope Al Groh saved his money.

Temple 27, Navy 24: The Owls are bowl-eligible. As a Vanderbilt fan, I can relate to supporting a team that has a history of being not so good. Much love to Temple for getting those six wins. Unfortunately, the problem is that they still may not get chosen for a bowl because we all know that the bowl system is a business and the Owls may get left out. That would be a bad thing for college football, especially since you have so many bowl games.

Miami 28, Wake Forest 27: Entertaining game.

California 23, Arizona State 21: Cal is quietly 6-2. Unfortunately their two losses were spankings to USC and Oregon.

Illinois 38, Michigan 13: This loss shouldn’t happen and sets back the initial positive vibes of Michigan from the beginning of the year. However, the Wolverines’ fans need to show patience.

TCU 41, UNLV 0: Caught some of this game on Versus. Saw some empty seats in the stands. How does that happen? If you’re a TCU fan, you have to sell out that stadium. If I noticed it, you know that bowl officials did as well. I’m telling you now, a two-loss Notre Dame, one-loss Penn State or even a two-loss Ohio State is going to get taken over them in the BCS. Actually, I know that they can get a guarantee spot if they finish in a certain position. However, if its for an at-large bid…

Fresno State 31, Utah State 27 and Idaho 35, Louisiana Tech 34: My Vandals held on for their seventh victory of the season to set up the battle for WAC supremacy this Saturday. One of my good buddies works for Fresno so normally I would pull for them. However, since I’ve been on the Vandals bandwagon since the start of the season, I have to stick with Idaho. The Kibbie Dome will be rocking, very excited about it.

Notre Dame 40, Washington State 14: Another joke of a game. Why was this played in Texas? Someone answer that for me.

Georgia Tech 56, Vanderbilt 31: I was at this game and while I of course supported my Commies, I got my sports career started at Georgia Tech, so I have love for the Jackets as well. Seeing their offense up close was fun to witness.

Tennessee 31, South Carolina 13: Hate to say this, but I dug the black jerseys. However, why did they pair it up with the orange pants? I would have preferred to see the jerseys with the white pants, just an observation.

Oregon 47, USC 20: The Ducks offense is beastly and made USC look like a joke. Watch out for the major letdown at Stanford for Oregon this weekend. They should still win but its going to be close. Why not, take Stanford in the win. As for USC, they still may lose one more game and miss out on a BCS bowl for the first time in a long, long time. It happens to all programs. They will probably be playing for a national title in two years.

Sunday Reflectons

2009-11-01T23:31:00.004-06:00

Hey everyone, finally some Sunday Reflections on a Sunday!

Music to listen to: When in Rome by Nickel Creek

Always enjoyed their music. Nickel Creek needs to get back together.

This weekend was very relaxing after a long week at work. We have our big Nashville wrestling event on Nov. 9 at the Wildhorse Saloon that I expect each of you to attend. You will be hearing more about that in the next few days.

So I’ve been traveling all over Nashville promoting for the event, driving up to 50 miles a day doing it and it drains you. I was looking forward to not doing anything this weekend, even though it was Halloween.

Stayed in Friday night and got some excellent sleep.

On Saturday morning, I woke up and didn’t even leave my bed. I laid there for about an hour in complete silence, didn’t go back to sleep and enjoyed it. It was so calm. I need to do that more often.

While doing that, I thought about how often I DON’T take advantage of the calm moments of my life. I’m always trying to stay focused on my next task or endeavor but that shouldn’t be your reason to live your life.

On Saturday, I liked that moment and while I can’t do that everyday, I want to do it more often.

One slight bummer on the weekend was that I couldn’t hand out candy on Saturday night because I was working the Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech football game.

I was saddened by this because I really enjoy giving out candy to the kids. I wasn’t allowed to really celebrate Halloween as a kid but have made up for lost time by going overboard trying to make the kids happy.

I also didn’t get to dress up and see all of the costumes of people. Its funny how Halloween has turned into a time where people find excuses to look like fools. Women tend to dress in scandalous clothing and guys look like jackasses.

On my way driving to the game on Saturday, I saw a white guy in black face, I guess trying to look like a Black rapper. I wasn’t offended so much by the racism but more for the fact that he looked like an idiot. I was so taken aback from it that I missed my turn into a street while driving.

As a guy, seeing some of the women dressing in revealing clothing is appealing but sometimes its overboard. I don’t need to see everything in display.

College Football Review

2009-10-29T21:44:00.003-05:00

Its time for my College Football Review, granted a day late because of my NBA Preview

Music to listen to: 18 and Life by Skid Row

While doing promotion for TNA’s show at the Wildhorse Saloon here in Nashville, I came across the promo for the Skid Row and LA Guns show at the same location in late November. That show may have to be attended by me. Granted, I will probably be the only Black guy in there but it won’t be the first time. Being a New Yorker, Skid Row isn’t as big as Bruce or Bon Jovi in the hierarchy of Jersey bands but the love is still there.

Crush of the Day: Kristin Holt-Adams (TCU)

Since the Horned Frogs earned a big win at BYU, lets show some love to one of their alums.

Florida State 30, North Carolina 27: I actually read journalist and heard analysts talk about how this win represented a turn in the right direction for FSU. Beating an average at best UNC team on the road by only three points when you were losing the contest at one point isn’t progress, it’s a sign that things need to change.

Rutgers 27, Army 10: The Black Knights are 3-5, so the hopes of playing a bowl game are dwindling by the week, something that I don’t like. Hope they can pull off the win at Air Force in two weeks.

Pitt 41, South Florida 14: Is this finally the year when Pitt puts together a one-loss type of season? They certainly have the looks of it.

West Virginia 28, Connecticut 24: Game effort by Connecticut with everything that the team had to deal with but this is still a good win by the Mountaineers.

Central Michigan 24, Bowling Green 10: How about the Chippawahs being 7-1 and traveling to Boston College this week. The Eagles better watch out.

Georgia Tech 34, Virginia 9: Two years ago, the Yellow Jackets lose this game by two touchdowns.

Kansas State 20, Colorado 6: Does Dan Hawkins get fired during the season or right after it?

Ball State 29, Eastern Michigan 27: Congrats to Ball State for getting its first win. Unfortunately for the Eagles, still no wins on the season. At least they can share having no loss with Miami of Ohio.

Notre Dame 20, Boston College 16: Congrats barely beating Boston College Notre Dame. If you end up in a BCS bowl, I’m done with college football on a major level, that would be a joke.

Alabama 12, Tennessee 10: Mount Cody did his thing It was interesting to hear Lane Kiffin deal with this loss. First, him whining about the officiating isn’t a shock.

BTW, can we all just stop complaining about the officials. Living in SEC country, it seems like every fan base is complaining about how the officials cost them the game. Officials are human, therefore, mistakes have been made since the beginning of time. Have some of the celebration penalties been bad, sure. However, teams have had plenty of time to recover and earn the win. Your team lost the game because they stink.

Coming home from work yesterday, I heard Kiffin on the local sports radio affiliate here in Nashville, 104.5 The Zone, talking about the game like Tennessee won. He talked about how hard the team played, this representing how fun it is to play for the Vols, helps with recruiting, etc. That’s all fine and good but you’re still 3-4. All he talks about is recruiting, which once again is good, but coaching is about a lot more then getting close losses to appeal to 18-year olds.

Finally, one fan today had the nerve to call into a station and say that the Vols are back. Back to what I ask?

Clemson 40, Miami 37: ACC continues to be unpredictable.

Nevada 70, Idaho 45: I’ve been writing about the virtues of the Vandals, but 70 points!?! I know that the Wolf Pack can put up some points with the Pistol offense but my goodness. I need to see some game tape to truly analyze what happened.

Kentucky 36, UL-Monroe 13: This was a decent win. I saw Monroe play MTSU a few weeks ago (it was a Tuesday night, nothing else was on), and Monroe wasn’t a bad team. The Wildcats are 4-3 and if they beat Mississippi State this week and defeat the Commodores, which will happen, Kentucky is bowl eligible for another season, which is a good accomplishment for that program.

Texas A&M 52, Texas Tech 30: Middle to lower pack of Big 12 continues to confuse me.

South Carolina 14, Vanderbilt 10: This week the Commies host Georgia Tech, the place where I used to work and started my sports career. I still have good friends that work at the Flats. I cheer for Tech in every game, follow the lineups, etc. Besides Vanderbilt, Tech is my favorite football program (for my Belmont and College of Charleston peeps, they don’t have football programs but you know I have love for them as well).

So who to cheer for on Saturday? Tech has BCS-bowl aspirations that would be crushed by a loss. Vandy can really use a win to improve on the 2-6 record but a loss would just add to an already disappointing season.

You know my answer.

Iowa 15, Michigan State 13: Survive and advance

LSU 31, Auburn 10: War Eagle wounded! Not shocked in the loss for my adopted 8-win team. That’s a tough road game. The disappointment is in the offense that got a garbage touchdown at the end. The Tigers need to beat Ole Miss at home this week.

TCU 38, BYU 7: The march for the BCS continues for the Horned Frogs

Fresno State 34, New Mexico State 3: Yeah Bulldogs!

Iowa State 9, Nebraska 7: Respect to the Cyclones for winning their first road game against the Huskers since the 1970’s but come on Nebraska, that shouldn’t happen, ever. It reminds me of when my Vandy Commies beat the East Tennessee Community College in Knoxville a few years ago. It was a tremendous moment for Vandy football but even at that moment, I realized that the win shouldn’t happen in normal circumstances. Anyway, to celebrate their win, here’s my main man Travis, an Iowa State alum and also known as The Abuser, trying out for the Vandy basketball team, keep playing player!

Looking ahead to this week:

Indiana at Iowa: The Hawkeyes better be careful

Georgia vs. Florida: This will be a close contest, dare I say a win by Georgia?

USC at Oregon: Taking the Ducks in this one