This book centers around a female detective, Nikki Heat, and the author that trails her, Jameson Rook. This book was okay, not the best book ever but also not the worst. Would I reccomend it? Yes I definitely would if you are a fan of the television show "Castle". Even though he's a fictional character, he allegedly writes these books. Actually the mystery of who writes these books might be more interesting than the actual books.
I do plan on reading the next book, "Naked Heat". I have it on hold at the library.
With yesterday's announcement that TCU will be joining the Big East in all sports, the Big East finally has a true football power. TCU joins effective July 1, 2012. Because the Big Least is one of the alleged "power" conferences, they receive an automatic BCS bid. That's yet another sham about the BCS. The "best" team in the Big Least is West Virginia. They are ranked #24 and are 8-3. When your conference's best team has 3 losses how is it that they qualify automatically for a BCS bowl? Besides LSU, West Virginia had a very mediocre schedule. Then why is the Big East an automatic qualifier league? It all goes back to how it has nothing to do with competition or the spirit of fair play, its all about money.
It looks like Wisconsin is going to play TCU in the Rose Bowl on January 1st. That should be a classic battle. We'll see how good Wisconsin really is. I suggest they don't overlook TCU, even though they just completed their "murderer row's" schedule. TCU is not a "Little Sister of the Poor", although after the game I see Wisconsin wishing that TCU was. This should be a great, hard fought game that either team can win. In fact the only way this game could be better is if it was part of a playoff. I'll be cheering loudly for TCU.
BYU is going independent in football, Utah is joining the Pac-12 and now TCU is defecting. These three teams announced they were leaving the Mountain West in the last few months, they also happen to be the three best football schools. Now the Mountain West is just a glorified WAC. Boise State joins next year and will immediately dominate that conference, just like they have the WAC over the last several years.
My advice to the conference that emerges out of the ashes of the MWC is threefold 1) They need to get a real television contract. The Mtn was paying each team $1.3 million as their part of the television revenue. I know that sounds like a lot of money, but in today's college football that is a pittance. Many of the BCS schools get between $10-$15 million when they go to a BCS bowl. That doesn't include all the television and merchandise money they get. 2) Don't get your own television network unless it is significantly better than the Mtn. What a joke that network is. They can't even keep people watching the game updated on the play down and distance. 3) I don't know how this is going to happen, but there needs to be some competition. There have to be multiple great teams in all sports to remain relevant. Too bad the MWC is such a joke, they would have been a great football conference if they had found a way to keep TCU, BYU and Utah along with incoming Boise State. There would have been some great battles.
The BYU's Men's Basketball team is now 6-0 and moving up the polls. They are #21 in this week's AP poll. The only reason I'm mentioning that is because of how great it is not to have to worry about the BCS in college basketball. There's no antiquated bowl system and there is a playoff. If you are one of the 68 teams that make this year's March Madness and win 6 times you are the national championship. There's no question about it. Even though Butler didn't win the national championship last year, they got to the final and played for the national title. Of course there are politics involved, but they are greatly minimized.
The Black Eyed Peas new CD was released today. I listened to the brief snippets of each song via iTunes. From the 30 seconds of each song I heard, I wasn't impressed. Once I can I will listen to the whole thing on napster.com and give a more detailed review.
There's a new radio station in Utah, it's called Gen-X radio. (Generation X: Regulate!) You can find it at 101.9. I've been listening to it a lot as I'm driving and I like it quite a bit. Two things I really like about them is no lame dj trying to be funny and they play mostly music. Even their commercials are as unobnoxious as they possibly can be. They have a diverse play list, although they do tend to play the same songs over and over again. I've heard the Counting Crows "Mr. Jones" at least three times already. But they also have reminded me two forgotten classics from my generation. They also have a decent website: http://1019utah.com/
Yesterday's loss by BYU to Utah was very disheartening, especially since a lot of the damage BYU did to themselves. There were three things that BYU did to themselves that helped the Utes win the game.
1) The following is Football 101. When your team is receiving a punt, the ball is live if it touches a member of the receiving team. When Joe Dale hit that short punt, why weren't BYU's special teams looking for the ball? The punt hit a BYU player making the ball live and Utah recovered. Those simple mental errors drive me crazy.
2) On that same possession BYU player Brandon Bradley intercepted Jordan Wynn and instead of going down he tried to run the ball. What happened, he fumbled the ball back to Utah. Although the replays clearly show his knee was on the ground before he fumbled the ball. I'm not even mad about the refs missing that, Bradley in the first place should have just went to the ground. Although I'm not sure why we have video replay if they still can't get the call right.
On that same possession BYU should have had the ball twice and both times played it poorly and the Utes got the ball.
3) Then the third bad decision was in the first half BYU could have kicked a chip shot field goal or go for it on fourth and short. BYU made a poor decision to go for it. Not only that, but they called a passing play. Their receivers have had a hard time catching the ball the whole season.
BYU still got a final chance and drove the ball down the field and went for the field goal and the Utes blocked it. Unlike the night before when BSU lost the game to Nevada, in this game the Utes won the game.
Other thoughts about the BYU game. Where was McKay Jacobsen this season? Why was he only scoring his first touchdown of the season last night? BYU is now 6-6, I don't think a .500 team should be bowl eligible. However if BYU does go to a bowl game, I would like to see the Cougars open up the offense and lets see what Heaps can do. He certainly has improved all season.
Now if BYU can keep all their young players, meaning they don't get in trouble with the Honor Code, then I think BYU has a bright future. Jake Heaps, Josh Quesada, Cody Hoffman, Kyle Van Noy and Devin Mahina are all freshman. McKay Jacobsen is a junior and hopefully will be used much better next season. Also Bryan Kariya is a junior and quarterback Riley Nelson should get his junior season over again. I know Heaps has said he isn't going on a mission, although he definitely shouldn't pass up that opportunity. If he chooses to go on a mission, Nelson would be a good fill in for him that two years. Also backup quarterback James Lark got a little bit game experience this season. Again I think BYU could have a great future. I look forward to next season.
Thanks to wikipedia.org, this is BYU's tentative schedule for next season:
Date Opponent Site Reference September 3 at Ole Miss Vaught–Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, MS [1] September 10 at Texas Texas Memorial Stadium • Austin, TX [2] September 17 Utah LaVell Edwards Stadium • Provo, UT [3] September 23 UCF LaVell Edwards Stadium • Provo, UT [4] September 30 Utah State LaVell Edwards Stadium • Provo, UT [5] October 15 at Oregon State Reser Stadium • Corvallis, OR [5] TBD Idaho LaVell Edwards Stadium • Provo, UT [6] TBD New Mexico State LaVell Edwards Stadium • Provo, UT [7] TBD San Jose State LaVell Edwards Stadium • Provo, UT [8] TBD at Hawaii Aloha Stadium • Honolulu, HI [9] TBD at Louisiana Tech Joe Aillet Stadium • Ruston, LA [10]
That will be a brutal September. They play at Ole Miss and Texas, although both schools were down this season. Texas coach Mack Brown had his first losing season this year. Then I think Utah will be a good team again next year, although Jordan Wynn needs to play better than he did yesterday. Right now the home game I'm looking forward to most is the Utah State game. BYU you need to demolish the Aggies, that's the loss that bothers me the most is losing to the terrible Aggies. BYU should never lose to USU, USU is such a football backwater and will always be.
Of all those WAC teams BYU plays, the only one that worries me is Hawaii. The rest are WAC teams, not to much to worry about. Although I wish BYU could play Nevada again. Maybe they will, the Cougars can still add two or three games to next season's schedule.
My final thought, thank goodness BYU and Utah are no longer in that pathetic MWC. A terrible conference for football. But the worst thing is that terrible MTN network. Seriously how tough is it to keep the graphic for downs and yardage on the screen. Someday I'd like to see BYU join a conference again, but being independent in football will be an adventure.
Also it looks like BYU basketball is going to have a good season, led by pre-season All American Jimmer Fredette. BYU is now 6-0. They'll be challenged over the next little bit, their next 6 games they play away from the Marriott Center.
I had my kids here last night and a couple of them sleep in the room where I usually watch TV. That usually isn't a big deal but I wanted to watch the end of the Boise St. Nevada game. Thanks to ESPN3 and my laptop I was able to watch the end of it. Thanks ESPN!
Now on to the very disappointing loss by BSU to Nevada. Let's first talk about Nevada. I love how people kept on calling that game the biggest game in Nevada football history. That's not saying much and exactly what history are they talking about? Ah remember their great years, how about that year they...? Oh yeah, they don't have any years when they did anything nationally significant. Their basketball team at least has had some impact, but their football team has been a joke. I keep on waiting for Public Enemy to come out and sing "Nevada Football Is A Joke".
One of Nevada's biggest games in history was a 0-0 tie.... in 1923! Nevada has only played in 10 bowl games in their history, 8 of those since 1992. They've lost their last 4 bowl games and only have won 3 of their 10 bowl games. Like I said, what history? Chris Vargas is one of the greatest quarterbacks in Nevada history. Have you ever heard of him, either have I. I keep on hearing about this Hall-of-Fame coach, Chris Ault. How do you become a Hall-of-Fame coach without making an impact on national consciousness?
Nevada wasn't even Division 1-A until 1992! Last night they rose up and clawed their way to victory. Props for that. Although that game was more of Boise State losing, rather than Nevada winning. BSU's field goal kicker missed two chip shot field goals, the first of which would have won the game. BSU will now close out their regular season by taking their anger out on pathetic Utah State. They will then be relegated to a third tier bowl game by the BCS apologists with a smug-Dick Cheney smile on their face.
Nevada will go on the road to play Louisiana Tech in a relatively meaningless game. Then they will also be relegated to a third tier bowl game. Nevada will resume their non-history by joining the irrelevant MWC next season. The conference that will be dominated by TCU and BSU until they leave to hopefully join real conferences. Seniors Colin Kaepernick and Vai Taua will end their careers in a meaningless bowl game and Nevada football will go back to mediocrity. Thank goodness, Nevada fans are obnoxious.
Yesterday someone asked me who I thought was going to win the BYU-Utah game. I said I'm a BYU fan, but I think that Utah will win. I predict Utah will win for three main reasons. Utah has the better team, Utah will be playing at home and Utah is always fired up when they play BYU. Utah becomes 2 or 3 times better when they play BYU and they are a pretty good team this year. Other reasons for my Utah prediction. BYU isn't a very good team this season. I know they have a winning record, but that has been against a bunch of terrible Mountain West Conference teams. (Thank goodness BYU and Utah are leaving this terrible conference behind.) Also BYU is starting a true freshman quarterback, Jake Heaps. He's had his moments but he's a freshman quarterback.
The more I think about it I think Utah wins in a blowout. I plan on watching at least part of it, but I probably won't watch the whole thing. It's been a heart breaking sports weekend for me so far. I've been disappointed with Dallas and Boise State losing and with Auburn winning. When is karma going to rise up and slap down Auburn? I hope it's before they lose to Oregon in the BCS National Championship Game.
I think in a few years we'll find out about all the crap that Cam Newton has been doing and that the NCAA will vacate this season. That's too bad for the team that loses out playing in the BCS National Championship game because of what highly likely is an illegible player. Where there's smoke, there's usually fire. Let's review: The following are allegations, otherwise known as smoke. First, it seems his father has been soliciting money from who knows how many schools. Second Newton stole a laptop and when confronted about it by the police threw it out the window. Third, by some reports he has cheated on at least 3 papers.
Not only are the these the allegations, but he also hasn't been smart about it. He threw the laptop out the window? Really? Did he really think that was going to work? Then he got a paper off of the Internet and signed his name to it. Also who knows what else he has done? He's a cheater and not even very smart about it. Auburn is that who you really want representing your university? Of course with SEC football, it's often said, "If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying." You gotta love those BCS teams.
iTunes sent out an e-mail this morning that from November 26th to November 29th, people can buy 5 MP3 CD's for only $6.99. Those 5 CDs are Kings of Leon's "Come Around Sundown", Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream", Mumford and Sons "Sigh No More", Maroon 5's "Hands All Over" and Sugarland's "The Incredible Machine".
That's a pretty good deal. I have no interest in "Come Around Sundown", "Sigh No More" or "Hands All Over". I'm not a big fan of either Kings of Leon or Mumford and Sons. I like Maroon 5, but this CD is very wimpy. I wouldn't buy any of the above 3 CD's for .99c. I was looking forward to the new Katy Perry CD and it certainly has some good songs on it. However I think it's a disappointment, I was hoping for a bit more.
The only one I'm tempted with is Sugarland's "The Incredible Machine", so I listened to it on napster.com this morning. I like it and it has some good songs on it, I'm just not prepared to spend $6.99 on it at this time. Possibly if it was the physical CD I would buy it. But I've bought some digital music before and have lost a lot of it when changing computers. So unless it's free or incredibly cheap if possible I stay away from digital music. I would be more willing to buy digital music is if I lost it, the place where I bought it would let me download it again for free.
I would give "The Incredible Machine" a C+. I also listened to the Original Broadway Play Soundtrack for "Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson". napster.com only has 30 second excerpts of the 13 songs. (Does the soundtrack really only have that few songs, is it excerpted? Most Broadway Soundtracks have about 20-25 songs.) What I've heard of "Andrew Jackson" in one listen I like a lot. Although some of the language is unnecessarily vulgar. Now I'm listening to the "Hannah Montana Forever" Soundtrack. I'm listening to it for two reasons. The first is I really liked her last CD as Miley Cyrus, "Can't Be Tamed". Even after all these months I'm still a big fan of that CD. Also Entertainment Weekly gave the CD a B+ grade. Yes, I'm also liking this CD, it's just pure pop music. This CD and "Can't Be Tamed" reflects her growing maturity. That means the quality of her music is increasing. I just wish she wasn't showing skin as much as she is. Doesn't she realize she's being manipulated? This whole growing up thing definitely has a learning curve, for all of us.
Upcoming: I'll also be coming with quick reviews for the Anoop Desai CD, he's one of my favorite American Idol non winners. I've also heard good things about the new Shakira CD, I really like her. I don't think she has received enough credit in America. Her new CD is called "Sale El Sol".
One non music note: Last night I started reading the "Richard Castle" novel "Heat Wave". I put Richard Castle in quotation marks, as he's obviously not a real person. He's a character on the excellent "Castle" TV series. Anyway "Castle" has allegedly written two novels. I started reading one of them last night. This book is called "Heat Wave". Castle's protagonist is Detective Nikki Heat. As in "Castle" a female detective has to let a writer hang out with her at the behest of her boss. In "Heat Wave" the author Heat has to hang out with is magazine journalist Jameson Rook. The respective authors are Castle and Rook, get it? Ask a chess player if you don't. Rook is much more obnoxious than Richard Castle though without as much humor.
The book only has 212 pages, but the font is incredibly small. In reality, with normal font, it would be about a 300 to 350 page book. I like it so far. I haven't been able to find out who the real author is. Although the novel has a blurb from James Patterson on the cover, I'm wondering if he really is the author.
For the last few hours of Thanksgiving, you can download the free Anoop Desai CD. Here's the link: http://anoopdesai.com/news/article/978 I will be giving a quick review later.
It was announced today that the Black Eyed Peas will be the halftime entertainment for this season's Super Bowl. With previous bands like the Who, The Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney performing, aren't the Black Eyed Peas a little young? The Black Eyed Peas new CD, "The Beginning", comes out this Tuesday, November 30th. I love the Black Eyed Peas and their music. However the first single off their new CD "The Time (Dirty Bit)" is lame. Why is Will.i.am, one of the most creative people in music today, sampling a song from "Dirty Dancing"? That's not even the best song from that movie, how about "Hungry Eyes" or "She's Like The Wind". Neither of those would be great choices either, but much better than "The Time Of My Life". I don't get it. Not only that but the Black Eyed Peas version isn't even an improvement on the original. Compare and contrast:
The 1987 Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes version:
The 2010 Black Eyed Peas version:
Anyway on to the football game, today's Dallas-New Orleans game was disappointing. It seems like its the same things to come back to haunt the Dallas Cowboys. Roy Williams poor play, although he had a good day up to that point. Jason Garrett's poor decision making. Really you would go for a 59 yard field goal over a 4th and 10. Granted it's choosing between two tough decisions. Also some of the play calling on that last drive was overly conservative.
I hate when teams fall in love with the pass, when that happens they become so predictable. Now that being said, the Cowboys have looked a lot better with Jason Garrett as their head coach. I'm still made about this wasted season though, why did Jones stick with Phillips for so long. Oh yeah his ego! Troy Aikman made a great point today, Jones wants to be proven right. So he's going to want to keep Jason Garrett if it seems logical.
Dallas does need to make some changes before next season though. They need to get rid of Andre Gurode, he's terrible. They also need to get rid of Marion Barber, do you remember when he use to be relevant? He ran 10 times for 19 yards, 1.9 yards per carry is the very definition of irrelevant. I'm also tired of his jitterbug running style on nearly every one of his carries. Just run straight ahead, your past the days when you can fake out people. I really would love to see the Cowboys get rid of Tony Romo also. He's just not going to take the Cowboys to the promised land. It's not a coincidence that the Cowboys are playing better with Kitna as the quarterback.
But the biggest change for next season that I want to see from Dallas is Jerry Jones getting pushed into an emeritus position. His decision to hire Wade Phillips, sign Tony Romo to that expensive, long-term contract and make that desperate trade for Roy Williams all are bad decisions that the Cowboys are reaping the bad results of now. I don't have a great football mind and I can recognize my own kind, which is why I can recognize that in Jerry Jones.
Jerry for this terrible season and the close to 4 hours I spent today watching that game I want to be compensated for. You're fingerprints are all over what was such a promising season.
One more general football note, the NFL and college both need to change that rule where coaches can call time out when the kicker is about to kick a field goal attempt. The coaches aren't breaking any rules, it's just a stupid rule to have in the first place.
Let's start with the great songs first, here's the amazing Lauryn Hill with her advice for people with dating issues:
The lyrics to "Doo Wop (That Thing)", the lyrics aren't for everyone, you should definitely "watch out" if they apply to you. What a great, great song.
Girls you know you better watch out some guys,some guys are only about that thing, that thing, that thing
It's been three weeks since you've been looking for your friend The one you let hit it and never called you again 'Member when he told you he was 'bout the Benjamins You act like you ain't hear him then gave him a little trim To begin, how you think you really gon' pretend Like you wasn't down then you called him again Plus when you give it up so easy you ain't even fooling him If you did it then, then you probably f*** again Talking out your neck sayin' you're a Christian A Muslim sleeping with the gin Now that was the sin that did Jezebel in Who you gon' tell when the repercussions spin Showing off your ass 'cause you're thinking it's a trend Girlfriend, let me break it down for you again You know I only say it 'cause I'm truly genuine Don't be a hardrock when you're really a gem Babygirl, respect is just a minimum Niggas f***ed up and you still defending them Now Lauryn is only human Don't think I haven't been through the same predicament Let it sit inside your head like a million women in Philly, Penn. It's silly when girls sell their soul because it's in Look at where you be in hair weaves like Europeans Fake nails done by Koreans Come again Come again, come again, come again, come again
Guys you know you better watch out Some girls, some girls are only about That thing, that thing, that thing
The second verse is dedicated to the men More concerned with his rims and his Timbs than his women Him and his men come in the club like hooligans Don't care who they offend popping yang like you got yen Let's not pretend, they wanna pack pistol by they waist men Cristal by the case men, still in they mother's basement The pretty face, men claiming that they did a bid men Need to take care of their three and four kids men They facing a court case when the child's support late Money taking, heart breaking now you wonder why women hate men The sneaky silent men the punk domestic violence men The quick to shoot the semen stop acting like boys and be men How you gon' win when you ain't right within How you gon' win when you ain't right within How you gon' win when you ain't right within Come again Come again, come again, come again, come again
Girls you know you better watch out Some guys, some guys are only about That thing, that thing, that thing
guys you know you better watch out some girls, some girls are only about that thing, that thing, that thing
I love Lauryn Hill. Lauryn, you've been gone away for too long, it's time for some new music! Unfortunately her last release is the train wreck "MTV Unplugged No. 2.0" in 2002. Lauryn do you want that to be your legacy? (After receiving e-mails from my ex-wife and daughter yesterday, I realize we are a family that loves exclamation points.) Lauryn, your music is so much better than your male hip hop counterparts. Bring it girl!
Up next is Carrie Underwood. She, Kelly Clarkson and Jennifer Hudson are reasons why I'll always probably have hopes that "American Idol" can still be relevant. After all Crystal Bowersox was on last year.
As you know I think that Carrie Underwood is one of the most gorgeous current female celebrities and her gorgeousness comes out in this video. That being said, she also has an amazing voice and truly brilliant songs. This is "So Small":
This is another one of her classic songs, "Before He Cheats". This video is so unrealistic, who in their right mind would cheat on Carrie Underwood?
I've been listening a lot lately to the new My Chemical Romance CD, "Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys". (Thanks napster.com True music fans need to get a membership to napster.com. They rock.) Quick Review: Overall the CD is pretty darn good. I would give it a B grade. I especially love this song, "Bulletproof Heart".
Other music thoughts: People have come to this blog wanting a review of the new Crystal Bowersox CD. The CD is "Farmer's Daughter". I will definitely have a review once I'm able to listen to it on napster.com. The CD is released on December 14th. I recently finished reading the October 28th, 2010 Rolling Stone. This is the issue with Keith Richards on the cover. It contains excerpts from his new memoir "Life". That the next article is about the Kings of Leon is instructive of how far rock music has fallen now days. The contrast between the two bands is a huge chasm.
Yesterday BCS apologist E. Gordon Gee offered his opinions on BSU and TCU and the fact that in the Big Ten, they play a "murderer's row" schedule. To see my thoughts about the idiocy of his comments, see my previous blog. Last night both BSU and TCU responded to Gee's spurious claims. See especially where BSU says that BCS schools will only play BSU at home, as I stated yesterday.
Also in yesterday's blog I figured out the combined records for both Ohio State and Boise State, but didn't do the same for TCU. In fairness I'm doing that today, the combined records of TCU's opponents is 62-73. That's the worst combined record of all 3 team's opponents. In MWC play, TCU's opponents are 39-52. There's no question that the Big 10 is a better conference than the MWC. That's especially true this year, the MWC is terrible this season. That's part of the reason Utah and BYU are leaving. That's also the reason that BSU and TCU will leave someday.
The following is thanks to espn.go.com. "Kustra (Bob Kustra is Boise State's President) said it was hypocritical of Ohio State and all of the major BCS conferences to demean teams like Boise State. He said most of those conferences refuse to schedule his school.
"It's easy for the presidents to talk, but ask the ADs when's the last time that they seriously entertained taking requests or inviting Boise State to [play them]," Kustra told the AP. "If you're Boise State or TCU, they're going to want to steer way clear of you."
TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte responded to comments by Ohio State's president by suggesting the Buckeyes are jealous and challenging them to settle it on the football field.
He said he had phone records that would prove that Boise State had tried to schedule home-and-home games with Top 25 teams from the BCS conferences, but that they would not play the Broncos anywhere but at their home stadium.
Del Conte said his team would happily play Ohio State. "Anytime. Anyplace. Anywhere," he said. "Buckeyes against the Horned Frogs. Tee it up. Let's go."
In addition Kustra says about Gee: "I just hope that when he speaks about his research profile or the quality of his university he's a little more believable than he is about athletics, because he's just so wrong on this one." I love that, Kustra is absolutely right.
I also absolutely agree with the following Kustra's comments: "We probably need to sit down and think about a playoff system. The only outliers are the presidents of the schools in the large conferences. ... They're like puppets on a string for their conference commissioners. Once they are brought out into the open for their inaccuracies and falsehoods in their thinking, in Gee's case, the sooner I think the system falls on its own."
I was about to write that we've almost reached the tipping point for an actual college football playoffs. But then I realized how much the greed of the BCS is. I know the BCS has television contracts to continue this fiasco for a few more years. On the other hand, legislative pressure is being put on the BCS. I just don't understand why we have the BCS monopoly when AT&T, Microsoft and other large companies can't get it away with it.
According to dictionary.com, this is the definition of monopoly: exclusive control of a commodity or service in a particular market, or a control that makes possible the manipulation of prices. (If a team wants to play in a BCS Bowl, they have to play the BCS game. Part of that game is ceding control and most of the money to the BCS. Simply put the BCS manipulates prices and money to their member schools.)
OSU President E. Gordon Gee on BSU and TCU going to a BCS Bowl: "I do know, having been both a Southeastern Conference president and a Big Ten president, that it's like murderer's row every week for these schools. We do not play the Little Sisters of the Poor. We play very fine schools on any given day." (Thanks to espn.com) I love how the BCS apologists are circling the wagons. That's what people tend to do when they are battling for something that's greedy and illogical.
I'm so tired of these BCS assholes whining about how tough of a schedule they play. They play a tough Big 10 schedule? Really? The teams that Ohio State plays this year have an overall record of 68-64. Then the BCS idiots will say they only mean the games they play in the Big-10 conference. Ohio State's Big 10 opponents are a combined 47-41.
I love how he says they don't play the "Little Sisters of the Poor". What do you call Marshall who is 4-7? How about 2-9 Eastern Michigan? How about 4-7 Purdue, 4-7 Indiana and 2-9 Minnesota. The last 3 teams are part of that Big 10 "murderer's row". If Boise State doesn't make it to the BCS National Championship game, there's a good chance they would play OSU in the Rose Bowl. Boise State, led by their awesome defense would destroy, Ohio State. Ohio State why don't you set up a home and home series with Boise State? BCS schools don't usually do that because they like to play as many games as they can at home. It gives them more money and a competitive advantage in those games. Boise State on the other hand will play anyone, anywhere at anytime. Oh yeah and they win those games.
I will agree with Gee that the Big 10 is a better conference than the WAC. But other than Wisconsin and Ohio State, there's only one other outstanding team in the Big 10. Michigan State is pretty good but Ohio State doesn't play them this season. Gee that's convenient. Apparently they were too busy playing such "Little Sisters of The Poor" like 4-7 Marshall, 2-9 Eastern Michigan, 2-9 Minnesota, 4-7 Indiana and 4-7 Purdue. Oh Gee, I'm sorry those last 3 teams are part of the Big 10's "murderers row".
The Big-10 is better than the WAC, there's no question about that. Boise State knows that also that's why they are improving the conference they play in and also their non-conference schedule. They played against two BCS teams this year, beating both. They beat Va Tech, who is now 9-2, and the class of the ACC. They also beat Oregon State who is now 5-5. That's the problem with scheduling BCS teams years in advance you never know how good they are going to be. BYU crushed Oregon State in their bowl game last year. It's too bad those alleged BCS teams can be so mediocre.
All teams that BSU played this year have a total record of 64-66, slightly worse than OSU opponents. In WAC play, Boise State's opponents record is 40-46.
The other thing about BSU is they just win no matter where they play. They are 2-0 in BCS games, including one of the most exciting college football games of all-time. That's when they beat Oklahoma. Ohio State is 5-3 in BCS games. OSU wasn't really helped by playing their "murderer's row" schedule before they played in the BCS National Championship. In the 2007 BCS National Championship Game Florida dismantled OSU 41-14. Are we sure there wasn't a better team to play Florida that year than the Suckeyes? I thought that the BCS was set up for the two best teams to play in the National Championship Game. Then in 2008 OSU lost again in the BCS National Championship Game, this time to LSU 38-24.
Now I know I'm skewing facts to fit into my argument, but that's a trick the BCS has been doing since creating their unholy alliance.
More Gee idiocy: "Gee, long an admirer of the BC$ and the current bowl system, said he was against a playoff in the Football Bowl Subdivision."
"If you put a gun to my head and said, 'What are you going to do about a playoff system [if] the BCS system as it now exists goes away?' I would vote immediately to go back to the bowl system," he said. (This and above paragraph from espn.com)
I love how espn.com calls Gee "long an admirer of the BC$". Of course he is, it's making him and his school a lot of money. I'm sure he receives some kind of significant bonus for his school being in the BCS. Gee talks about how the BC$ is better for the student-athlete. What a lie! We all know the real reason for the BC$, it's all about money and greed. The only people the BC$ cares about is themselves. Of course he's against a playoff system, as he thinks that will be less profitable for him. He doesn't care about it not being an equitable situation for all schools. Isn't fairness and equality something one is suppose to learn in college. What good does it do for them for a so-called mid-major team to win the national championship? None! That's why there's no hurry to change the system.
It always makes me laugh how the BC$ is set up to protect the biggest schools in the nation. Do these big schools really need that protection? Of course they don't, they do it because they can get away with it. They also do so they get the majority of the money. Don't even start me on the fact that the Big East gets a BC$ Bowl, they might not even have a Top 25 team in that bowl game. Gee that doesn't help your idiotic argument Gee.
I watched a couple of minutes of TV before "Hawaii Five-0" started last night. Unfortunately that couple of minutes was spent with the absolutely stupid "The Event". Seriously that show just continues to get worse. That show needs to be put down, I'm sure the 16 people still watching it will be able to find something else to do. They could watch paint dry for the same level of excitement.
"Hawaii Five-0" continues to be good. I liked how we were able to meet Danny's ex-wife, Rachel. She's very attractive, but she's on TV so of course she is. I love how each story line finds a way to have Steve McGarrett and Kono put on swimming suits. Could it be any more obvious. Overall an enjoyable show.
Tonight is another episode of "No Ordinary Family", I really like this show. Also "The Good Wife" is on tonight. This show is slowly growing on me. I'm not overwhelmed by it, but it's a nice thoughtful show. That's nice to have with all this glut of crappy television shows now. I enjoyed Michael J. Fox's appearance a couple of weeks ago. I'm excited that he will be coming back in the spring for another episode. It's good to see him fighting through his Parkinson's disease.
Though On "The Good Wife" I'm not sure why we had to have the Miranda Cosgrove appearance. That seemed pointless. Although she's a teen pop star, her acting skills aren't the greatest.
Due to busy lives of people in my family, we had our Thanksgiving celebration this past Saturday. It was the four Fs, food, family, football and a film. Some of us went and saw "Megamind" and some of us went and saw "Unstoppable".
I'll get my biases and thoughts out about how good or not of a movie this could be up front. First of all I love Denzel Washington. He's the man, he's a great actor and has so much charisma. I even loved him in the movie "Training Day". I thought that was a terrible movie, but he was so great in it. Unfortunately Washington's movies haven't been as good lately, but he always does a good job in them. To be honest I thought "Unstoppable" might suck and I didn't have high hopes for it.
However boy was I wrong what a great movie, the tension in the movie slowly builds up. It reminds me a lot of the Clint Eastwood film "In The Line of Fire". In both the tension builds up expertly, but the payoff in "Unstoppable" is much higher.
Denzel Washington is great and so is Chris Pine. Rosario Dawson is also very good. A great cast, a great story and a great film.
I put "Fred Clause" in the title of this blog and didn't write about it. I also realized I spelled it wrong. How dumb is that? Anyway my review of this movie, it started out okay but ended lame. It was sort of boring, even my kids thought it was boring. That's surprising as they usually like anything kid oriented. Two good things I can say about this film is that Paul Giamatti is excellent in this as Santa Claus.
The second thing is this is the most attractive Santa's helper I've ever seen. Although did there really need to be cleavage in a kids film? However Elizabeth Banks is gorgeous in this movie:
"The Walking Dead" is starting to lose a bit of it's luster for me. Although I did like that the gang that appeared to be bad actually had a soft side. I like how it was a nurse and a janitor that stayed and kept the nursing home patients alive. That was a nice twist. I enjoyed that Rick left some guns to the people in the nursing home. Thankfully there was also more action in this episode.
Three things I'm not understanding: 1) Why aren't the survivors trying to kill large groups of the zombies. The zombies are drawn by sound and run purely on instinct, it seems they can kill a large group of the zombies at one time. (See Stephen King's "The Cell". 2) Why isn't there more society building? It seems these scattered groups should be running into other scattered groups and rebuilding society. 3) Also it was amazing how fast Rick and company got back to the camp without a vehicle last night.
I continue to enjoy "Blue Bloods" and I like that Tom Selleck's character shot the pervert who was attacking his daughter. That was true justice. I've also started watching "The Good Wife". I've watched only the last three episodes. There's a lot I've missed on that I'm slowly catching up on. I'm not sure how long I'll watch the show, but for now it's better than a lot of stuff on TV.
I'm still enjoying "Hawaii Five-0" and am looking forward to meeting Danno's ex-wife tonight.
23) Rolling Stones: They are up 12 notches from my first poll and I have 92 of their songs on my iTunes. A band that unfortunately I've never been able to see live. With all the recent hype of the Beatles coming to iTunes, the excitement for better bands was diminished. The Rolling Stones are a blues and rock band. A gritty version of the Beatles. The Rolling Stones were built to last with some of the greatest songs of all-time. Here's a selection.
"Gimme Shelter":
Probably the most gorgeous of all Rolling Stones songs, "Wild Horses":
Mick breaks out the guitar in this live version of "Miss You":
"Beast of Burden":
One of their more gritty songs, this is a truly unappreciated Rolling Stones song. "Honky Tonk Woman":
22) The Smiths, the kings of mope rock. They are down 4 from my previous Top 50 and I have 50 of their songs on my iTunes. Another band that unfortunately I've never seen live in concert. They were here and gone before I could understand what their appeal was. Like Bob Marley I had to get a bit older to truly appreciate them. When picking videos for a band, I like to avoid their most obvious songs. That's why I didn't include "Satisfaction" for the Rolling Stones. But I do need to include "How Soon Is Now" for the Smiths. Such an amazing song.
Yes it would be hard not to fall in love with a woman that loves the Smiths, especially one as gorgeous as Zooey. This is another amazing song: "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out":
My favorite line in the following song is, "Writing frightening verse to a bucktooth girl in Luxembourg". "Ask":
This song also has a great line, "Girlfriend in a coma. I know, I know, it's really serious". This is "Girlfriend In A Coma":
The loving Smiths and their love of djs. "Panic"
"Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want":
21) Dio: They/he move up 5 notches and I have 40 of their/his songs on my iTunes. According to wikipedia.org Dio is the Italian word for God. Take that as you will. Dio died a few months ago unfortunately. I blogged about him on his death. After he died, many people said he was one of the nicest people they'd ever met. A man that sung almost to the end of his life. He sang the role of Dr. X on "Operation Mindcrime 2". I highly doubt how cheesy these videos would look 20 years down the road. They rocked though and Dio had a great voice. From the concert videos I've seen, his live shows lacked a bit of excitement though. I was never able to see him live. R.I.P. RJD.
"Holy Diver":
Here's some more cheese on one of Dio's best songs, "The Last In Line":
Here's one of their songs live "Rainbow In The Dark":
What is up with the Howie Mandel lookalike with the hand on his head? Anyway here's "Stand Up and Shout":
Page 84: The only reason I picked up this book is because it's the next monthly choice of the book club I'm going to start going to in November. In no way did I think this book about running of all things would be interesting. I've pleasantly been surprised. This is a gripping story about running and several other things shooting off that. I anticipate I'll be finished with this book easily before Halloween. This is one of the reasons I love book clubs. It forces me to read a book that I would have never read, perhaps I wouldn't even have heard of it.
I was reading through this book too fast. I stopped and read "One Day", because wanted to have "Born To Run" fresh in my mind for when we have bookclub on November 17th. After almost not reading it for 3 weeks, I picked it back up today. Really who knew a book about ultrarunning could be so fun. It's one of those books where I keep on thinking I will quit at the end of the next chapter. However I get to the end and keep on reading. The reading of the book is similar to the amazing runners that inspired the book in the first place.
This book is absolutely one of the books I've ever read. Who would have thought a book about running could be so damn entertaining? Everything leads up to the big race at the end of the book organized by Caballo Blanco. You definitely need to read this book. It doesn't matter if you are a runner or not and you may be after reading this book. This book is enthusiastic and inspiring it almost makes a fat old man want to run, almost.
Hello,
This is a review for Lee DeWyze's "Live It Up". I know I can come off as being a bit brutal about DeWyze and it's nothing personal. He's the kind of story that "American Idol" celebrates. A person that works in a paint store with a great voice can show off their potential and become a full-time musician. Susan Boyle is another such story, but seriously it's time for her to go away. She was a great story when she first appeared on the international scene, but she's become a train wreck since then. I just think some people aren't made to be famous. As a wise man once said to me, "some people are meant to be on the sidelines".
Anyway, there have been some brutal reviews, like this one:
http://blastmagazine.com/2010/11/08/lee-dewyzes-live-it-up-reviewed/
I don't think it's as bad as that reviewer thinks, although "Live It Up" certainly has its flaws. Good points, DeWyze as a great voice. I love to listen to him sing. That's what made him stand out in the early stages of last season's "American Idol". The songs are pleasant enough. My two favorite songs on this CD are "Live It Up" and "The Day The Earth Stood Still". "Live It Up" has such a Jason Mraz feel to it, I wonder if he helped in writing it. I googled it but couldn't find the answer. These would be the two songs I would suggest people buy.
This is "Live It Up", this video only has 683 views.
Bad points: after about the third song, all the songs start sounding the same. All the lyrics are about love or loss thereof and the all the melodies are eerily similar. As I mention above the songs are pleasant and completely inoffensive. Being inoffensive can be both good or bad depending on your perspective. To me it comes off as a little tame, corporate America, pc
boredom.
DeWyze's CD had about the same first week sales as the new CD by Cee Lo Green, about 40,000 copies sold. The first week sales of CDs by "AI" winners continues to drop. I believe Kris Allen's first CD was the first "AI" CD to sell less than 100,000 copies. It's certainly not like the good old days. Kelly Clarkson's first "AI" CD "Thankful" sold 297,000 copies on its way to 3,000,000+ sales. The gorgeous Carrie Underwood's first CD "Some Hearts" sold 315,000 copies on its way to 7,000,000 plus sales. I think those sales numbers say it all.
Then I hear about some of the changes for Season 10 of "American Idol". For instance no Top 24, making the contestants work with a band, dancers and make a music video etc. In other words they continue to make unneeded changes. The show continues to drop in quality. Please let this be the last season of this show, before all the dreck of late will make us forget how relevant the show was its first 6 or 7 seasons. With such idiots running it, how did this show ever become a hit? Simply Simon and the first few seasons had multiple talented singers. Even non-winners from then have been successful. See Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson.
Overall grade: C-
The "American Idol" CD I'm really looking forward to is Crystal Bowersox's CD, "Farmer's Daughter". It seems the title track is also going to be the lead single. Miss Bowersox's debut CD arrives in the stores on December 14th. She's been fighting a lot with the record company, about the release date and what the lead single is going to be. I actually might agree with the record company here, I don't know that I would have this song as the first single either.
Why we fell in love with Crystal Bowersox in the first place, what a great voice and presence. Not that it matters now but how did she not win:
Forgotten classics:
A great song for catharsis:
themusicaddict
Yesterday it was announced that the Beatles were finally going to be at iTunes. One of Apple's least interesting announcements ever. Then ew.com had an article about the remaining iTunes holdouts and what they said about why they aren't selling their music on iTunes.
Read that article here: http://music-mix.ew.com/2010/11/16/beatles-itunes-holdouts/
Also when I write how many "songs" an artist has on iTunes, I realize there are duplicates and live versions as well. I wasn't going to go through and try to figure out the actual number though.
1) AC/DC, they have 0 songs on iTunes. They are probably the biggest remaining name who hasn't authorized their music to go to iTunes. They say all the right things about artistic integrity, but come on guys no one believes that. I think there may be some truth to their statement, but you know if they needed money their music would be on iTunes instantly. I don't think that's going to be a problem for them, it seems they have so much money they won't need to go to iTunes. Chances of being on iTunes in the next 5 years: 10%.
2) Garth Brooks, he has a few songs available on iTunes. His alter ego, Chris Gaines, doesn't have any songs on iTunes either. Although those songs probably wouldn't sell anyway. Again he probably has more money than he needs. Chances of being on iTunes in the next 5 years: 10%.
3) Kid Rock, he has several songs on iTunes. One of the most over rated current artists. Seriously how is he still around? Again proving that talent isn't needed to be a rock star. Read his reasoning why he isn't all in on iTunes yet. His response scores high on the unintentional comedy scale. Chances of being on iTunes in 5 years? My first response who cares? My second response is his mediocrity is bound to catch up with him. So he'll be all in on iTunes sooner rather than later.
4) The Smiths, they have about 80 songs on iTunes. I don't know if I'd really call them a hold out. They just don't have all their music available on iTunes. I'm not sure why they just don't put all their music on iTunes now. Chances of being on iTunes in 5 years? 50%
5) Tool, they have a grand total of 1 song on iTunes. Isn't Tool, with Maynard James Keenan as their singer, possibly the most appropriately named band ever? Interestingly enough A Perfect Circle has 70 songs on iTunes. Chances of being on iTunes in 5 years? 20%
6) Def Leppard: They have 0 songs on iTunes. Who knows why they aren't on iTunes? They may be using the artistic integrity argument as well. They've also never authorized a live album. Chances of being on iTunes in 5 years? 5%
7) Bob Seger: He has 4 songs on iTunes. Chances of being on iTunes in 5 years? 5%
8) Black Sabbath: They have about 190 songs on iTunes. How many more songs can they possibly have than that? Ozzy Osbourne has about 326 of his songs on iTunes and Ronnie James Dio has about 156 songs on iTunes. I guess that the band Black Sabbath can't fall back on the artistic integrity reason. The music of both Osbourne and Dio is a lot better than that of Black Sabbath. Chances of being on iTunes in 5 years: 50%
Interestingly AC/DC, The Smiths and Def Leppard are three bands coming up on my Top 50.
July 15th, 1988 Page 35: I started reading this charming novel, which receives praise from Nick Hornby. "One Day" tells about the lives of two people, Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morely, on the same day each year, July 15th from 1988 to 2007. Obviously the question is will they or won't they get together. Normally I would predict yes, but with this book who knows. The movie is currently filming with Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. Yeah I don't know who Jim Sturgess is either, but Anne Hathaway is a great actress. Ok so she's hot too!
I anticipate I'll read through this book quickly.
July 15th, 1992 Page 103: I'm really enjoying this book. I just wish that the main male protagonist, Dexter Mayhew, wasn't so one dimensional. The rich playboy with only one thing on his mind. He gets by on superficial charm and good looks. He even manages to snag a TV show with no discernible talent in anything besides self promotion. However Emma, the smarter of the two and the main female protagonist, is stuck in a low end job. She's wasting her life away, both desiring but also slightly disgusted with Dexter. Will they eventually get together? I'm leaning towards yes now, but I don't think Dexter deserves her. He deserves to be with the shallow Euro trash he spends most of his time with already.
July 15th, 1993 Page 154: Dexter continues to be a skank and he seems to be deteriorating. His Mom wonders if he's a good person anymore. No Mom he's not. Emma getting together with Ian Whitehead (I just think of the most nasty zit one has ever seen every time I see his name) either comes across as unbelievable or complete desperation on Emma's part. Will Dexter and Emma eventually get together? Doubtful.
July 15th, 1994 Page 181: Emma Morley continues to grow as a person. I just don't really see her getting together with Ian Whitehead. I love the names in this book and think they a good hint to a person's character. Although Dexter is becoming a bigger star, as a person his life is a complete shambles. He's sort of like a pop culture Glenn Beck, obnoxious, opinionated and difficult to ignore. He's a car wreck, you don't want to look but you can't look away at the same time. Will Emma and Dexter get together? It remains doubtful.
July 15th, 1995 Page 213: Dexter continues to be a waste of a human being. He and his superficial girlfriend Suki Meadows remain annoying. I think Emma truly is beginning to realize how shallow he is. Emma continues in her unbelievable relationship with the zit Ian Whitehead. He's like one of those whitehead zits that appears on your upper lip one morning and you need to take care of it as soon as possible. That's what Emma needs to do with him. Although Ian isn't a bad person, he's not really what Emma wants. So far in this book she's a loser magnet.
She's not in love with zit boy and she seems to be looking for an escape strategy. As well as she should. Will Emma and Dexter eventually get together? Let's hope not and let's hope she breaks up with Ian soon. Whatever you do Emma, don't marry Ian.
July 15th, 1998 Page 262: Emma keeps on making poor relationship choices. She finally breaks up with the aptly named Ian Whitehead (I wonder what poor schmuck is playing him in the currently filming movie.) But then she takes up with her boss, Mr. Godalming. He's slightly better as a person and paramour but is also married. Meanwhile Dexter is no longer with Suki Meadows and has traded up for the lovely Slyvie. A beautiful women who is very intelligent and doesn't put up with Dexter's crap. He absolutely loves her. That's exactly what he needs if he can't hook up with Emma. This is a novel about people making bad choices in relationships. Also the one day of each year in catching up on the relationship started out like a noble experiment, but it's now getting a bit tired. Will Dexter and Emma get together, I'm still hoping not.
Page 349: Emma and Dexter finally get together on July 15th, 2001. Are we meant to be hoping for that? I don't know that we are. It's great for Dexter, but not so great for Emma. To me this goes down as another poor choice by her in men. Also do I find it believable, not really. Do I think it will last? Are you kidding, this relationship has the lifespan of a mayfly. To be consistent with Emma I think she needs to dump him soon, for instance July 16th, 2001. To be consistent with Dexter's character, or lack thereof, who hasn't learned anything about maintaining a stable relationship. True to Dexter's personality, he'll give into temptation of another woman soon. Will they stay together? Please no. That's my thought but the author may have other ideas.
I finished this book last night. I've given away enough spoilers, I won't give away any more. There's just a surprising development near the end of the book. It's an absolute punch in the gut. Overall I would give this book a thumbs up. Anyone who likes good fiction I would recommend this book to them. I got turned off by the story only taking place on 1 day each year. But Nicholls did handle that aspect pretty cleverly. This is a book for adults only.
iTunes had a big announcement today. As I speculated yesterday (see below), possibly it was the Beatles finally come to iTunes. That's exactly what it is. I describe my excitement with one word, "yawn". Okay I get that a lot of people grew up with the Beatles and they certainly had some good music. But overall they are over rated. A bad thing about this is every time I go to iTunes they are going to be all over the iTunes front page. To no one's surprise this deal was finally worked out, the money was just too good for everyone involved.
I can think of at least one good thing, this means that Ringo doesn't need to try and earn money. That means no more awful movies or music from him, hey Ringo please spare us the All-Star tours. When I think about the Beatles, I think of the Sesame Street song, "Which One of These Is Not Like the Others?" I actually enjoy the solo work of John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Wings more than the Beatles.
Right now I'm listening to Rihanna's new CD, "Loud". My initial reaction after only listening to it once is it's good. However does nearly every song really have to be about sex? On Christina Aguilera's most recent CD, nearly every song was about sex. Do you remember the name of that CD and how many copies did that CD sell? The answers are "Bionic" and not many. Will Rihanna's CD will be a big seller, of course. She has a lot of young people, see people who may have parents that disapprove of sexual lyrics, buying her music. Couldn't she sell more if the CD wasn't r rated. Maybe this is the CD that should have been titled "Rated R".
Another bad thing about this CD is the unneeded collaborations. I know they do this to boost sales and to increase street cred, however I find these unneeded collaborations distracting. Eminem is on the CD, does he make the songs he allegedly raps on better? NO! Also she has a duet with Drake on the song "What's My Name". He lowers the quality of the song. Anyway what is a drake, is that like an Akon? While I have all these questions, why is the Unabomber on the cover of Rolling Stone?
From listening to this CD for my second time, it already has grown on me significantly. I will definitely listen to it a few more times. Although the whole constant sex references turn me off.
Last night another great episode of "Hawaii Five-0". However Danny and Steve were arguing about the merits of New Jersey. I have to agree with Steve, there's not a whole lot positive. They didn't even talk about the "Jersey Shore", of course that would have only weakened Danny's case. But what I would like to specifically comment on is about the great singers of New Jersey. You can't argue with Frank Sinatra or Bruce Springsteen. But is Jon Bon Jovi worthy of classic status? I'd have to say "no". (Sorry Connie.) He/ they had a good mid to late 80's, but only a few good songs since then. I'd rather see them in concert than the Beatles or Nickelback though.
Also yesterday was one of the worst NFL contracts of all-time. The Redskins signed Donovan McNabb to a 5 year, $78 million dollar contract. Why would they sign a 34 year old quarterback for that much money and that length of contract? Again he's 34 and is clearly on the downhill. This is a quarterback that was pulled from a game recently in favor of REX GROSSMAN! This deal has the fingerprints of one of the NFL's most meddlesome owners Daniel Snyder. (Remember the sign of a bad NFL owner is if you know his name.)
How did Donovan McNabb repay the Redskins for their faith in him? He went out and threw 3 interceptions to the Eagles, his former team. As McNabb and the Redskins were stampeded (is there a more appropriate word than stampeded?) by the Eagles at home. Now the loss wasn't McNabb's fault, but his poor play was. He completed 17 of 31 passes for 295 yards with a quarterback rating of 69.4. That's a below average quarterback rating. McNabb defenders would say, but the weather was terrible. That's true. However McNabb's counterpart, Michael Vick, had a quarterback rating of 150.7. A perfect quarterback rating is 158.6. And how much is Washington paying McNabb again? How smart does Philadelphia look now for trading him?
Although espn.go.com's Matt Mosley is reporting this morning:
"One of the contract's most significant points is a payment due this offseason, when the Redskins must decide whether or not to pay McNabb a $10 million option bonus. If they do, it would trigger the rest of the contract and make Washington liable for McNabb's $2.5 million base salary in 2011.
So in essence, the Redskins paid McNabb $3.75 million in 2010 for the right to pay him $12.5 million in 2011 and control his rights. If the Redskins cut him after this season or trade him, they are only on the hook for the $3.75 million.
Boiled down, the deal's real guarantee is $3.5 million, though if McNabb suffered a catastrophic injury this season and never played again, he would receive $25 more million." (Thanks to espn.com and Matt Mosley. Mosley is one of my favorite writers.)
That gives more credit to the Redskins than I'd given them. But still it's insane to throw that much money around for McNabb. There's not too many quarterbacks worth that much money. The deserving quarterbacks would be Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and possibly Drew Brees. There may be other quarterbacks deserving of that much money, but I can't think of any more now. No either Eli Manning or Tony Romo is deserving of that much money. In a recent SI poll, both Eli Manning and Romo were voted as two of the most over rated NFL players. I completely agree with that.
Also I've noticed that my blog is getting a little more mean spirited than I would like. There are just some things like Nickelback and "The Event" that I like to keep people away from. I'm going to try and go back to writing more about the things I like rather than the things I dislike. I apologize to anyone that I may have offended.
Upcoming: I promise more of my Top 50 is coming soon. I've had plenty to write about lately. Let me let you in on a little secret of blogs/ TV shows etc, if you ever see one it's only a time or space filler. It's a way to still post or show something without doing too much work.
We've worked our way to the #23 band in my Top 50 countdown. Not trying to take anything from the Beatles, but the next two upcoming bands are truly great bands from England. One of those bands is up and one band is down from my first Top 50 list.
I just want to wish my younger brother a happy birthday. Happy Birthday J.
The Dallas Cowboys finally won again! They won in an unlikely place against an unlikely team, beating the Giants in New York. The Cowboys looked much improved, although their defense still looks porous. But it does look better than when Phillips was in charge of it. The kicking game continues to be a mess. Isn't there a free agent than can do better than the current kicker? Can we bring Rafael Septien out of retirement? Just kidding, but he was the kicker when I first fell in love with the Cowboys.
In honor of the most over rated quarterback in the NFL, Eli Manning, and the New Meadowlands power problems:
Dez Bryant continues to look like another great draft pick, Roy Williams is coming into his own and Jon Kitna proves to be a more than adequate backup quarterback for the Cowboys. At 38 I know that Kitna isn't the long term answer, but I'd like to see him play the rest of the season. That's even if Romo can come back. Kitna is more mobile than I expected and he still has a rocket arm. It was good to see some production from the quarterback and no choking in clutch situations. He seems to make good decisions and not force throws trying to make the big play. Now we need to get a quarterback for the long term, Tony Romo isn't the answer!
It was good to see the Cowboys play with some swagger and to be the Cowboys that most people hate. It's good to see America's Team play with some pride again! Now I know it's only one game and even if Dallas wins the rest of their games they aren't going to the playoffs. I'd just like to see them build and prepare for next season.
Jason Garrett's team looked better than anyone had the right to expect. However I'm still a little more than skeptical that he's the long-term answer. What's clear is that Jerry Jones let Wade Phillips stick around too long. Of course, if it had been up to me, he'd never been hired in the first place. Let's hope Jones doesn't make the same bad decision with Tony Romo. In other words it's time to find a real quarterback.
Here's some new Michael Jackson music:
There's been some argument in the media whether this is Michael Jackson singing or not. It sounds like MJ to me and I love this song:
This is the first single off his new CD, due one month from yesterday. This song is called "Hold My Hand". My first impression was that it's an okay song, but it's slowly growing on me. I have two questions, why is Akon on this? Second what is an Akon? Both songs are better than I think anyone had any right to expect, close to the quality of his early 90's music.
We celebrated my brother's birthday yesterday, he received a bunch of music and movies. For one he received tickets to see Sara Bareilles in concert. My brother usually has pretty good taste in music. Thanks to my friends at napster.com I checked out a couple of CDs by Miss Bareilles. I've never quite understood why people like her. "Love Song" is a great song, but what else does she have? And how entertaining can she be in concert?
I listened to her new CD, "Kaleidoscope Heart". It's kind of boring and the song "King of Anything" is alright. But it's not worth $1.29 to buy it on iTunes. I also listened to her live CD "Between the Line: Sara Bareilles Live at the Fillmore". She's got a nice perky personality, but it's not enough to cover up for a lot of bland music. The three highlights of her set were "Love Song" (of course), "Bottle It Up" and "Sittin' On The Dock of The Bay". She closes her set with "Gravity". I think that's a good title for that song as it drags me down to the depths of boredom.
iTunes is suppose to make a big announcement tomorrow. rollingstone.com has a few ideas, one of them is, "We're rooting for an all-you-can-eat subscription service: about $10 a month to access the entire iTunes catalog on your computer, iPod and iPhone." (Thanks to rollingstone.)
That could be it or it might be that the Beatles are finally coming to iTunes. That was my initial thought. I hope not, I'd like for the Beatles to just go away. Well whatever it is, you can find out tomorrow at 10:00am EST.
Last night was Episode 3 of Season 1 of "The Walking Dead". This show is now halfway through it's first season. After two amazing episodes, am I the only one that was a little bored by last night's episode? It seems once the story gets out to the camp, it slows down. I couldn't wait for Rick Grimes and the 3 others to get back to Atlanta last. Although it was nice for Rick to find his family again and I was surprised by how happy Lori was to see Rick. I thought she was faking her enthusiasm at first. The previews make next week's episode look like it's going back to some more butt kicking action. Seemingly we have Zombies attacking the camp and Rick et al. run into another group of not necessarily friendly survivors. They probably won't be made any friendlier by anyone with the last name of Dixon. Where is Merle at?If the Zombies got to him, there should be something left behind like clothes etc. The only thing was a severed hand. I'm guessing he escaped, but how did he get down from the roof? I expect to see him again soon. I'd also like to read the comic books also. I just wish they weren't so expensive or were at the library.
I also watched a episode of "The Defenders" recently and it was pretty weak. I'm going to watch 1 or 2 more episodes though before making a final decision. Speaking of pretty weak, "The Event" is going to play out it's initial set of 13 episodes and then its going to be tweaked a bit. Actually I have a better idea, just cancel it now. That show blows and it has no hope of gaining relevance. With the ratings dropping like the IQ of anyone watching it, there's no way it will come back for a second season. "The Event" is mindless entertainment on Monday night.
If you want to watch mindless entertainment on Monday night, watch "Hawaii Five-0". "Hawaii Five-0" knows what it is. It's a cop show with the Hawaii twist. The cast is far superior to "The Event". Also the stories are much better, I enjoyed last week's episode very much.
I watched a bit of the Boise State-Idaho game tonight and BSU completely dominated the Vandals. At halftime BSU led 38-0 and the Broncos were as dominating as the score suggests. Here's a stat for you when the opposing team gets in the Broncos 20 yard line, they only score 53% of the time, yes that includes field goals. BSU has won 23 games in a row. I don't care who you play, but you have to be a great team to win that many in a row. They are going to roll to 26 victories in a roll also. Next they play 6-2 Fresno State in Boise. That will be a BSU blowout. Then after Thanksgiving, they go on the road to play Nevada. Don't let what you hear about Nevada fool you. They are truly over rated. They are 8-1 and # 21 in the nation. That might be a close game, in other words BSU might only win by 21 points. Then BSU plays a JV team, the Utah State Aggies. At that point BSU will be 12-0 and it what will be interesting to see what creative way the BCS screws BSU.
And about the strength of schedule thing, I know BSU and TCU would be glad to play the alleged big boys. But the power conferences like to load up their schedules with home games. So if they do play a BSU et. al they want to play at home. They rarely agree to a home and home series. Just another way the big boys hide.
I watch TCU, BSU and Utah all play and I just know no matter what happens, the BCS isn't going to allow a non-AQ team play in the National Championship game. Also it wouldn't surprise me that if both TCU and BSU make a BCS bowl that the BCS will have them play against each other. That's what happened last year. That way they can get no damage to their brand. They didn't want BSU and TCU to defeat two teams from their respective conferences. The BCS doesn't want to expose the lameness of their teams.
It cracks me up that the BCS is formed to protect itself. The BCS is a college football dictatorship. I wish that the Utes, Broncos and Horned Frogs all get a chance to show what they can do in an appropriate bowl. A couple years ago Utah completely dominated Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and I still hear people making excuses for Alabama to this day. Why can't they just admit they were outplayed? It's not that Utah won, it's that Alabama lost.
The BCS sucks. It's a shame that such obvious corruption exists in America. To no one's surprise the BCS is all about money and not competition. If it was about competition there would be a playoff. If they wanted there to be a true National Champion there would be a less haphazard way to decide it. Sports Illustrated has an excellent article about the bs behind the BCS. The cover screams "How (and why) the BCS is Blocking What College Football Needs". The answer of course is greed. I just hope the BCS's greed doesn't ruin the greatest sport we have in America.
Jerry Jones again has cast himself into the national spotlight. He said some Super Bowl winning coaches enquired about the Dallas Cowboys coaching job before hiring Wade Phillips. Obviously Jones didn't hire said coaches. Who can blame Jones, why would you hire a coach that has won a Super Bowl when he could hire a coach who'd NEVER WON A PLAYOFF GAME! I wish Jones would sell the Cowboys and go run the BCS. Two things that deserve each other.
25) Neil Young: He's dropped 16 spots from my first Top 50, I have 85 of his songs on my iTunes. Neil Young is a Canadian born singer/songwriter, a voice for many generations. Also today is Neil Young's birthday, Young is 65. Happy Birthday Neil and thanks for all the great music! Young is also an environmentalist of the highest order. He also does a lot of charity work, behind such organizations as Farm Aid and The Bridge School. I don't know if I'd ever want to meet him, he has an extremely cranky reputation. He has a semi-official biography that I plan on reading one day: "Shakey" by Jimmy McDonough.
There's no way I could put all his great songs on my blog, here's a selection of some though. My all-time favorite Neil Young song, an absolute classic. "Heart of Gold":
This song seems appropriate, although I realize he's singing this song to an "old man".
Another classic, "Rockin' In The Free World":
Another great song, "Piece of Crap":
I love the brief applause. This song was a song he's born to sing. His voice fits perfectly behind the tone and sentiment of the song. "Ohio":
"Sleeps With Angels", sorry for the Kurt Cobain picture. Compare and contrast, one of the greatest singers of all time vs. one of the most over rated.
Another classic, "Cowgirl In The Sand":
24) Pink: She's up 25 places in this poll. I have 39 of her songs on my iTunes. She's releasing her new CD "Greatest Hits...So Far!!!" November 16th. The queen of bad girl/ girl power songs. There are also rumors that she's pregnant. Maybe the wild child is settling down a bit. I saw her in concert when she was just starting out and she was pretty good. I love her new, new song: "Fn' Perfect". I just couldn't include it here as I hate the f bomb.
Pink goes retro as Rosie the Riveter in "Raise Your Glass":
"Please Don't Leave Me":
Pink singing "Bohemian Rhapsody" Um, okay:
"Highway To Hell" and "Bad Influence":
One of her all-time best songs, "Don't Let Me Get Me":
Unlike Nickelback, Pink knows how to pick what songs to cover. I had the misfortune of seeing Nickelback about 3 weeks ago and they suck. If Nickelback was a TV show, they'd be "The Event". Anyway Pink rules and she covers Aerosmith, Janis Joplin, Queen, AC/DC and here's Led Zeppelin: "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You":
This song was supposedly about her and Carey Hart's relationship as they were divorcing. Then they got back together and now she's possibly pregnant. Yeah you never know how things are going to work out. Anyway here's "Funhouse":
Although the sound is terrible in this video, the power and the rawness of her voice comes out. One more great cover, Guns 'N' Roses "Welcome To The Jungle":
Heat Wave by Richard Castle
