themusicaddict: I Chose 49ers-Steelers over "Terra Nova"

Hello,

Yesterday I wrote about how I couldn't decide which to watch: Monday Night Football or the two part season finale of "Terra Nova". With the game getting closer and this being such a big game I decided to watch the game. I haven't been able to see San Francisco play much this year. Also they are battling for the the #2 seed in the NFC and this was a good chance to see how good of a team they are.

With them winning 20-3 it's needless to say San Francisco performed very well. Alex Smith will never break any records, but he played well enough for the 49ers to win last night. Both teams are known for their tough defenses and both were on display last night. That brutally ugly 6-0 halftime score told you all you need to know. San Francisco's defense is so good that I think they could win the Super Bowl this year. After Kansas City exposed Green Bay's flaws, they look beatable.

San Francisco leads the NFL in takeaways with 35. Amazingly the 49ers haven't allowed a rushing touchdown all season. After playing 14 games, that's just amazing. It was funny watching Pittsburgh try to run on that tough defense. Pittsburgh, at 10-4, is a good team. They are tied for first place with Baltimore in the AFC North. This was a great, great victory for San Francisco. It should build their confidence if they play in Green Bay in the NFC Championship Game.

Although I wasn't overwhelmed with excitement for the NBA to return, I watched part of the Jazz-Trailblazers preseason game last night. I thought the Jazz didn't look very good, but in their first game of the season I didn't expect them too. They looked like a young, inexperienced team that hasn't played together long enough. That's exactly what they are. Honestly the only ones I recognized were Memo Okur, Al Jefferson, Enes Kanter and Gordon Hayward. The player I enjoyed watching the most was Derrick Favors. He scored 25 points and had 12 rebounds and looked very good in the part of the game I watched. The Jazz have a bright future if they can get all these various parts to jell.

As for "Terra Nova", when will I watch that? Well I won't watch it tonight as I only have a 2.5 hour window between getting home and needing to go to bed. Also there was a new "Rizzoli and Isles" last night. That's what I'll be watching tonight. I could watch "Terra Nova" Wednesday night. But that's the night of one of the Screwed by the BCS bowls.

In the corporate sponsor Poinsettia Bowl 10-2 TCU will play the powerhouse of the the South 8-4 Louisiana Tech. Even though this TCU team isn't as good as the team that won the Rose Bowl last year, they are still very good. They should beat La. Tech pretty easily.

On Thursday night in the corporate sponsor Las Vegas Bowl, Boise St. will play in the other Screwed by the BCS Bowl Game. BSU got the shaft not only in what bowl they play in but who their opponent is. BSU is playing a team from one of the alleged BCS conferences. They play the Pac 12 Arizona State, the same team that quit on their coach late in the season. The same coach that has already been replaced. Even if ASU was playing at their best, BSU should still win this game easily. However I'm guessing that ASU won't be giving 100% and I expect a BSU romp in this game.

While BSU and TCU got shafted and won't play in a BCS Bowl, instead we have the corporate sponsor Overrated Bowl. Due to how screwed up the BCS is there will be two 3 loss teams playing in that alleged BCS Bowl. People will say that TCU and BSU didn't play as tough as schedules. As whom? Both the Big Least and the ACC were very mediocre conferences this year. I don't think either conference deserve to be BCS conferences.

I love that the Rangers will spend $51.7 million for the opportunity just to talk to Yu Darvish. As the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for. I remember when the Red Sox won the rights to talk to Daisuke Matsuzaka. They signed him just a little over 5 years ago. Boston paid 51.1 million just for the right to talk with Matsuzaka. Then on December 14th, 2006 Matsuzaka signed with the Red Sox for $52 million more.

I was so excited when they actually signed him and added them to their rotation. I was seeing Red Sox World Series Championships in the future. They did win one World Series with him on the roster. He was 2-1 with a .503 ERA in that playoffs. However overall Daisuke has been a big bust. Matsuzaka has won a total of 51 games for the Red Sox in his 5 years with the Red Sox. That's right the Red Sox have paid $2million for each Matsuzaka win.

It's also highly unlikely he'll get any more wins for the Red Sox. Currently he's recovering from Tommy John surgery and likely won't be available to the Red Sox until the middle of the season at the earliest. I'd be surprised if the Red Sox will actually have him come back. He's just been a bust. He'll go down as one of the two worst signings in the Theo Epstein era. The other being the Jon Lackey signing, who strangely enough is also recovering from Tommy John surgery. It would be nice if MLB had partially non guaranteed contracts like the NFL does. Then the Red Sox could cut both players and save themselves money.

I have started reading a lot of books over the last several months. But last night I finished the first book that I can remember in the longest time. I finished reading "The Lost World", Michael Crichton's sequel to "Jurassic Park". I liked the book, although it's nowhere is in the same league as "Jurassic Park". The main lure of "Lost World" is the same as in "Terra Nova" the coolness of dinosaurs. That's especially the velociraptors. Or as they call them in "Terra Nova" slashers.

Anyway the ending of the book was predictable. Of course Ian Malcolm, Sarah Harding and most of the others got off the island. Thankfully Crichton put a little twist in that. The helicopter scheduled to pick them up didn't wait. There was a boat house that they had to make their way too to escape the island. I wish that Crichton would have the ending where the survivors couldn't get off the island. And that they had to stay on the island, learn how to adapt and survive.

Wednesday and Thursday I'll be watching football, no "Terra Nova" those nights. On Friday my brother and his family will be coming into town. Then we'll be celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve. So I won't be able to watch "Terra Nova" that morning or afternoon. Maybe after I take my kids home I can watch it. If it had been a better show, my urgency would be much higher to watch it. ew.com had 6 steps that could help to save the show. But I suggest this show isn't good enough to save.

Lastly and leastly David Archuleta has announced he's going on a LDS Mission. Grainy video shows him stuttering over his words and he's overcome with emotion as he announces his decision to a cheering crowd. While that's something he should do, why did he make such a big deal out of it? It will be a great experience for him and make him a much better person. Although it cracks me up that it seems he has his mission call already, but both the LDS Church and he are being mum about where he's going. This isn't like Justin Bieber or someone extremely famous going on a mission.

I know this is rude, but he's extremely over rated and it will be nice not to have to hear about him for two years. Although he'll be gone for two years this will be one way to keep himself in the news. He will probably interview with all the local papers wherever he goes. I hope he presents the mission as a good thing and not something he's doing because he hasn't become a big musical star.

And if many failed "American Idols" are going on missions this could double the numbers of missionaries in the world.

Bob Marley's "Positive Vibration":

This song comes from the October 27th, 2011 Rolling Stone's playlist issue. The playlists for the most part, but Merle Haggard's Playlist is "Songs I Wish I'd Written" and this was one of those songs. The following video only has 659 views.

Another song that Merle Haggard wished he had written:

Also the ultimate version of this song. I think the main reason Willie Nelson came to earth was to sing this song:

Merle mentioned 10 songs he'd wished he'd written, the song below is the last one I'll highlight.

Here's a couple of free songs you can get from iTunes today:

Billie Holiday's "Just One More Chance":

Unfortunately I can't find a youtube.com video for this song.

From "The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams" is this song by Jack White. From a shoebox full of lyrics written by Hank Williams Sr. some musicians were recruited to write music for those lyrics. You can see those musicians on the below video. This is my favorite song on the CD, "You Know That I Know":