Happy Easter!: A Brief Testimony

Hello,

I'm not close to being perfect and I pray that this isn't self-righteous in anyway. I'm hoping you don't read this blog as some lame preaching, or for that matter any preaching at all. This is just a simple testimony of my extraordinary gratitude for the resurrection and atonement of Jesus Christ. Please only take this blog as that. If it offends you in anyway, I apologize. In this world of slipping morality, I'm glad for Easter when I can be reminded of the things that are truly important. One of those things being that Jesus lived on this Earth, suffered and died for us so we wouldn't have to pay for their sins. And I'm so truly grateful as I've certainly had more than my share of sins and stupid mistakes.

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I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,

Confused at the grace that so fully he profers me.
I tremble to know that for me he was crucified,
That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.
Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me Enough to die for me!
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine
To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine,
That he should extend his great love unto such as I,
Sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify.
Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me Enough to die for me!
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

I think of his hands pierced and bleeding to pay the debt!
Such mercy, such love, and devotion can I forget?
No, no I will praise and adore at the mercy seat,
Until at the glorified throne I kneel at his feet.
Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me Enough to die for me!
Oh, it is wonderful,
(Oh, it is wonderful!
Oh, it is wonderful),
wonderful to me! (thanks to kerbymusic.org)

These lyrics are particularly noteworthy me:

I tremble to know that for me he was crucified,
That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.
Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me Enough to die for me!

Here's some other songs that also mean a lot to me and remind me of the great sacrifice that Jesus made for everyone. There truly are no lost causes because of Jesus and his ultimate sacrifice.

"I Heard Him Come":

The absolutely beautiful "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief":



"How Great Thou Art":



I do realize this is a Christmas song, but the lyrics also feel so very appropriate for Easter. Casting Crowns amazing version of "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day":



themusicaddict

#fail: Cowboys Sign Tony Romo To 6 Year, $108 Million Extension (Updated 3/31/13)

Hello,

Football is a team sport, there's no doubt about that. However that being said Tony Romo has choked time and time again. From fumbling the snap against the Seahawks to his perfectly thrown pass to Darelle Revis on September 11th, 2011. I hate that ESPN uses that play to show how great Revis is, as that's not what it shows. Romo threw the ball right to Revis!

But in defense of Romo he's been cursed by having the egotistical and delusional Jones as both his owner and his GM. Also having Wade Phillips and Jason Garrett as his coaches in no way has been helpful to his progress.

If you've ever read this blog more than once, you know how much I hate Jones and Romo. I'm sure you can figure out what my opinion is about the Cowboys signing Romo to a 6 year-$108 million dollar extension today. There was still one year left on his previous deal so overall the deal now is 7 years and $119.5 million left on his contract. #jerryjonesfailsagain

I'm hoping for another great year by my 49ers and hope that my Bucs can continue rebuilding back to being great. The 49ers have been blessed with a great GM and a great coach. They were wise enough to get two stud quarterbacks. One that took them to the Super Bowl and the other that was a valuable trade asset. Tampa Bay seems to have made some great offseason moves and it looks like they'll be even better in 2013.

As everyone knows Romo has one playoff win in his career, once a choker always a choker. If you can think of an exception please let me know. So I racked my brain wondering why in the hell would the Cowboys sign Romo to such a long and expensive extension. I think I know the answer. Jones is completely delusional and also desperate to prove to the world that he's right. Although Romo and Garrett have failed and failed miserably so many times, Jones will continue to stick with them. Why? Because if lightning strikes and those two lead the Cowboys to a Super Bowl victory then Jerry Jones is proven "right". Please no one point out to him how many times they've failed to this point. I often wonder what would the Cowboys be like now if Jimmy Johnson hadn't been forced out by Jones ego. The Cowboys certainly wouldn't have been worse.

As long as Romo is a key player for the Cowboys I guarantee the Cowboys won't ever win a Super Bowl! That is if they even make the playoffs, something they haven't done 4 of the last 5 seasons.

Gag on these numbers (thanks to espn.com):

Here’s the breakdown of Romo’s contract, not including the $25 million signing bonus: 

2013: $1.5 million base salary, $11.818 million cap figure 
2014: $13.5 million base salary, $21.773 million cap figure 
2015: $17 million base salary, $25.273 million cap figure (unless the salary cap jumps dramatically, this will be about 20% of the Cowboys salary cap that season.)
2016: $8.5 million base salary, $15.135 million cap figure 
2017: $14 million base salary, $19 million cap figure 
2018: $19.5 million base salary, cap figure (Thank goodness for guaranteed money as Romo will be long gone by this point.)
2019: $20.5 million base salary, cap figure 

Two good things about Romo's contract: 1) It adds $5 million dollars back into the Cowboys salary cap for this season. 2) Cowboys fans don't have to waste their time following the Cowboys, because they are going to suck!

If I do watch the Cowboys next season, it will only be hate watching. And that's a waste of time, so I probably won't be watching them much.

ESPN please lay off your coverage of the overrated and poorly run Cowboys and Lakers.

thepissedoffmusicaddict

2013 Dodgers Muted Excitement

Hello,

Onward to blog 1500, this is themusicaddict blog # 1478.

This is my 5th of 5 previews of the MLB teams that I follow. Previously I blogged about the Red Sox, Braves, Cubs and Pirates. One year ago today I wrote a blog where part of the title was "Dodgers Excitement".  That was a relatively long blog even by my standards. The thing is although "Dodgers Excitement" is in the title I only wrote a paragraph in the whole blog about the Dodgers. And honestly looking back at that blog now, it's a complete mess. I actually cleaned it up a bit today and also changed the title to "Dodgers 2012 Excitement". I hate stumbling across someone else's blog or article thinking that it's current, but realize that it was written months or even years ago. If you look at that blog entry from one year ago today, you'll notice at least one big change. Last June my brother, a semi-frequent reader of my blog suggested that I blog by subject only. In other words an all sports blog or an all music blog. I thought that was a good idea, so now my blogs usually stick with one theme. For instance, this blog will be a Dodgers/baseball blog.

Before I get to the Dodgers part of this blog, I wanted to point out an amazing thing that ESPN.com shared yesterday. By himself Alex Rodriguez, of the Yankees, will be paid more than the entire roster of the Houston Astros. ARod will be paid $29 million this year, meanwhile the entire Astros roster will only be paid about $25 million. And the funny thing is that ARod might not be able to play the entire season. I love when karma strikes the teams that I despise. Sarcasm alert, yeah the MLB payroll system is just a bit unfair. Thankfully MLB is making changes to fix that.

The above is this week's cover of Sports Illustrated. For the record SI predicts that the Dodgers will win one of the two NL Wild Card playoff spots. They then predict that the Dodgers will beat Atlanta in the one game Wild Card playoff. They predict that will be followed by the Dodgers losing to the eventual World Series champ Nationals in the Divisional round. Again it's SI that predicts that the Nationals will win the World Series. (Honestly I think their Dodger prediction is a bit too optimistic.)

Before I even start I just want to acknowledge the debt I owe to ESPN.com for much of the information in this blog. Anything in quotes is verbatim from ESPN.com. Facts and figures are ESPNs, the whining, moaning and opinions are all mine.

The last I heard the Dodgers have approximately a payroll of $230 million for this season. (I'm just a bit nervous that some of the bad karma that has hit the Yankees will also hit the Dodgers.) What does LA get for that money? They get some of the best names currently in the MLB. Unfortunately many of those "names" are oft injured and or on the downside of their careers.

The season doesn't even start until Monday and the Dodgers already have injury concerns. On March 11th Zack Greinke had inflammation in the back of his right elbow. As of March 26th he was pitching for the Dodgers. On that day he gave up 5 runs on 6 hits, but said his elbow felt "fine". I have a feeling that the Greinke deal is going to end up being a disaster for the Dodgers. Greinke is being paid $13,500,000 this season. This is one of those deals that the Dodgers can make because they have so much money. However I question if they should make this kind of deal. Just because they can isn't a good enough reason.

Josh Beckett, who's making $17 million, is only a small pull or twist away from being injured and going to the DL. It seems like he's had a good Spring Training, but there's no way he'll live up to his salary.

Next up is the seemingly perpetually injured Carl Crawford, he's making $20,357,143 million this year. (No, that's not a misprint. I don't know about you, but these numbers are mind boggling to me.) It seems he's healthy now and will be the Dodgers leadoff hitter to start the season. That's all well and good, but I think it will only be a short time until he's injured again. Before playing in Spring Training this year, the last time he played was August 19th, 2012.

Looking at his player page on ESPN.com Crawford has a big smile on his face. He's still owed $107.7 million for the next 5 years. Well who can blame him for being happy for getting paid so much for doing so little? I wish MLB contracts were like NFL contracts and only so much money is guaranteed.

Oh yeah and don't forget Hanley Ramirez, making $15,000,000 this season, will miss the first 8 weeks of the season due to "a torn right thumb ligament".

So all the injuries alone make me have muted excitement for this season. Even if healthy both Crawford and Beckett are on the downsides of their careers. I also don't think that Greinke or Ramirez will ever perform to a level to actually come close to living up to their contracts.

For the Dodgers to have a great season there's just too many things that have to happen. For instance, the above players have to live up at least to half of their contracts. Good luck on that. Also Adrian Gonzalez has to re find his form from his last year in San Diego, honestly I don't think that's going to happen. The big stars have to perform, but also one or two of the unheralded players have to have break out seasons. That would be a Mark Ellis, Luiz Cruz, Dee Gordon or Yasiel Puig type of player. I think we already know what we are going to get from the first 3, Puig is the wildcard.

I predict the Dodgers will finish above .500, but not make the playoffs. As much as any fan I love when my teams spend a lot of money to have the best chance to win. However I'm convinced the Dodgers didn't use their money as wisely as they could have. Instead of spending a lot of money to acquire injury prone and expensive players, I wish they would went with a youth movement. Maybe have a couple of big name free agents sprinkled in with young players. I'd rather have sustained success, not the Marlins winning the World Series followed by having a fire sale.

The Dodgers start off the season by playing one of their traditional rivals, the San Francisco Giants. The Giants are the defending World Series champions and also locked up catcher Buster Posey to a long term contract today. On April 1st Clayton Kershaw will take the ball for the Dodgers against the Giants. LA's first 6 games will be in Chavez Ravine, they'll play 3 games against the Giants and then 3 games against the Pirates.

Then on April 9th they go to San Diego to play a 3 game series with the Padres. What kind of reaction will Adrian Gonzalez get? From April 12th to April 14th the Dodgers will be in Arizona for a 3 game tilt with the Diamondbacks.

Also tentatively I hope to blog about the Dodgers nearly every game day. The blogs probably won't be long. I just think it will be fun to follow my favorite MLB team that closely all season long. I have no idea how long this will last though.

I realize in several months when someone stumbles across this blog the following won't make sense, but that's okay. GO FGCU & MICHIGAN STATE!

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Great Pre-1973 Songs

Hello,

I grew up in the 80's and thus think that's the best music ever made. However there was a lot of great music made before that. Here's a selection of some of my favorite older songs. Originally I was going to go with songs older than me, but I decided against that. For this blog I'm defining an older song as anything older than 40 years. Enjoy.

Gene Pitney's "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance":



One of my all-time favorite songs ever. Bobby Darin's "Mack The Knife":



The amazing Frank Sinatra's "Luck Be A Lady":



The amazing Frank Sinatra again with a couple more classics. First up "My Way" and then "New York, New York".

This is a spine tingling performance. Ah you got to love the 70's and their fashion choices:



Another one of the greatest songs ever:



Sinatra wasn't a rock singer, but he was a rock star. "Luck Be A Lady":



Louis Prima's "Jump, Jive and Wail":



Brian Setzer's take on the classic:



The amazing BB King "The Thrill Is Gone":



The "Rawhide" Theme:



"The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" theme:



Theme from "Mission Impossible":



From 1935 this is "Carmina Burana":



The Penguins "Earth Angel":



One of the most heartbreakingly beautiful songs of all-time. This song is so old, that it's even older than me! The Platters classic 55 year old song "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes":



This song is a young 38, but it's so great I decided to add it. Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody":



themusicaddict

BYU Goes To The Final Four! (Okay fine it's the N.I.T.

Hello,

BYU defeated Southern Mississippi last night 79-62, an impressive victory in a game that I didn't think BYU was going to win. BYU had never won a NIT road game ever. USM hadn't lost a game at home against a non-conference opponent in 5 years. Also USM had only lost one home game in the final two years. All three of those streaks came to an end yesterday. Brock Zylstra had the game of his life. He scored 23 points, including hitting 5 3 pointers in the first half. He's going out on a personal high in his senior year. With this win BYU advances to New York and the NIT semi-finals. The Cougars will  play the Baylor Bears on Tuesday. It should be a good game. Go Cougars.

Now for all you folks that have your snarky comments ready to go, chill. I do realize this is only the NIT, which means BYU is battling to be the 69th best team in the nation. And no one has ever chanted "We're # 69, We're # 69". I also realize that if BYU had their druthers that they would have preferred to play in the NCAA Tournament. That all being said, I'm just enjoying the ride. Anytime BYU can play in the postseason in fine with me. (Unlike the Dallas Cowboys, at least they can reach the postseason.)

Miami hadn't lost for 52 days, that's until they lost last night to the Bulls. It seems the Bulls resorted to old school Detroit Pistons thuggery to win the game. Chicago won the battle, but not the war. Ending the Heats 27 game winning streak will be the highlight of the Bulls season. When the season is over the Bulls will be a distant memory. They'll be lucky to get to the second round in the inconsequential Eastern Conference playoffs. The teams to beat in the Leastern Conference remains all of the following: the Heat.

Since I bag on Dwight Howard so much, I need to give him props when he has a great game. And last night he certainly had a great statistical game. Howard shot 9 of 13 from the field on his way to scoring 25 points. He also added 16 rebounds, 5 steals and 5 blocks. I can see a bit why people are so willing to throw so much money at him. Overall a very impressive game. However his weakness did flare up when he only made 7 of 17 free throws. Seriously if I was foolish enough to sign Howard to any kind of a contract I would tie free throw shooting to how much money he makes. You can damn well bet that he then would be out practicing.

Also the Lakers suffered a big loss when Ron Arrest, the artest formerly known as Ron, when he injured his knee. NOT! Please the Lakers put all their money into their big 4 players and the rest are scrubs. Arrest is one of the scrubs, he just happens to start. I'd be very surprised the Lakers miss him that much. Since he'll be out for 6 weeks, that means he'll be out for the rest of the season. I'm sure someone will miss him- it just won't be me or Lakers fans.

I augh that ESPN refers to the wimpy tussle between the Jazz, the Lakers and the Mavericks for the 8th seed in the Western Conference as a "race". A race are you kidding me? The team who finally captures the 8th seed will be the team that has failed the least, nothing more.  Both the Lakers and the Mavericks have a good chance of failing again tonight. Kobe got away with a clear foul on Ricky Rubio last night or Rubio could have tied the game from the line. I do realize it wasn't much of a foul, but it was still a foul. If that had been Kobe fouled like that, the referees probably would have called a flagrant 2 and banned Rubio from the league. Fortunately for the Lakers and the Mavs, there will be real basketball on tonight. #lovemarchmadness

File this under the something I thought I'd never see department:

"Video review by the league office confirmed that Kobe Bryant fouled [Ricky] Rubio while Rubio was in his shooting motion," the league said on its website. "Rubio should have been awarded three free throws." (Thanks again to ESPN, via the Associated Press.)

Later on in the article the AP writer states that there's a perception that "that superstar players are treated differently by the officials". Yes that's very much the perception and many times I also think it's the reality. That's one of the reasons why people hate the Lakers so much. They have the superstar players, the money and get the benefit of the doubt. And come on whether the officials will ever acknowledge it or not, everyone knows who the NBA wants in the NBA Finals. The League would kill for Lakers-Knicks, too bad both teams suck so much.

The same thing happens in college basketball, yes I'm looking at you Duke.

We have reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament, the second week in the three best weeks of the sports year. Of the four games tonight, honestly the only game I care about is "my" Shockers taking on the Explorers of La Salle. (Obviously the Shockers aren't really my team, my allegiances swing blue in BYU and North Carolina. However I've adopted Wichita State and FGCU for the duration of this tournament.) This will be the first game this tournament that the Shockers are favored. Tomorrow night I'll be cheering for the FGCU Eagles and the Michigan State Spartans. It's about time for Duke to have their final early flame out.

I could watch this play over and over again and in fact have. Hope we see a few more dunks like this:



Although Reggie Miller's "are you kidding me?" isn't that cool of a catch phrase.

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's TV Update "The Walking Dead", "Girls" and No Season 2 of "Homeland" (Updated 3/29/13)

Hello,

Currently Comcast is having their Xfinity Watchathon week, it runs until Easter Sunday. When I first heard about this I was so excited as I thought this would be the chance to finally see the second season of "Homeland". It just felt too good to be true though. I was more than a little disappointed that Season 2 wasn't available on the Watchathon. (How cool would have "Homeland" Season 1 been if Nick Brody had been able to blow up the bomb that he was wearing. The surprise value of that alone would be off the charts. That would have been such a tremendous finale. It kind of feels like they wimped out when his bomb wouldn't detonate. "Homeland's" first season already was amazing, but that finale would have took the show to an all-time best level.)

I actually have a relatively busy work week, so my TV watching time is limited this week.

On Monday, for the Watchathon, I watched 3 episodes of the middle part of the second season of the most recent "Battlestar Galactica". Yes, although I love Science Fiction, I never got into this show when it originally aired. Slowly but surely over the last 4 years I've been working my way through it. I've actually watched all of Season 2, but I've forgot so much that I had to do some refresh my memory.  "BSG" is a top rate show, except for I'm amused by how bad it's special effects are.

Last night for the Watchathon I watched the first 3 episodes of the HBO series "Girls". Being honest I'm not a big fan of Hannah Horvath (Lena Dunham.) Is the character name Hannah Horvath supposed to be that ugly? (The name of the character, not referring to Lena Dunham in anyway.) She graduated from college? Really? A college that apparently didn't give her the tools to be self-sufficient or have self-esteem. Where does she get her sense of entitlement from? Why is she so needy? And what the hell is up with her relationship with Adam? I understand that their relationship deepens as Season one goes along, but still why did she allow herself to put up with such degradation? I know what he gets out of the relationship, but what does she get out of the relationship? And no the gross sex isn't it. And why are people so comfortable walking in on each other using the bathroom? Why don't these people have any boundaries? Could you guess that I'm not a big fan of "Girls", but I do love women.

The only character I truly like in "Girls" is Marnie Michaels (the gorgeous Allison Williams). She's self sufficient, actually has a job and takes care of herself. What does she get out of her relationship with Hannah? Thankfully gross sex isn't a part of their relationship. However Marnie is bored with her boyfriend of 4 years. I understand as I get bored every time he comes on the screen. I hope that she ends that relationship soon. Everyone knows that the relationship is over except for her clueless boyfriend.

I don't think I'll be watching any more episodes of this show. Other than Marnie none of the characters in the show are anyone that I would want to hang out with in person. I certainly don't want to hang out with them as TV characters either.

I've noticed in shows like "The Walking Dead", "Girls" and "The Following" the lowest common denominator mentality is being appealed to more. That's one of the main reasons that I probably won't watch any more episodes of "Girls" or "The Following". I object to the salacious showing of people's intimate's life on moral grounds. Maybe intimate isn't the right word, it doesn't seem like any of the sex has any intimacy attached. That's truly the lowest common denominator mentality.

Not only from moral grounds, but also from a creative sense this lowest common denominator TV isn't very enjoyable. It seems like once you rely on too much sex or constant vulgar talk you are truly out of ideas. I realize that sex is very much a part of people's lives. However in TV can't it just be hinted at and then move on to the next part of the story? I wish creative people would set a higher bar for themselves and try to lift people with their artistic work. Yes I do realize that sex sells. I realize I'm a voice in the wilderness, but that's okay.

Speaking of "The Walking Dead", the sex scene with Glenn and Maggie a couple of weeks ago was certainly a barn burner. But as I mentioned above that scene was completely unnecessary. What did that do to advance the story? This third season of "The Walking Dead" already feels like it's been stretched out longer than needed. (If it gets stretched out any more, it's going to border on the lengths that "The Killing" did. Each season of "The Killing" should have been no more than 10 episodes and it would have been a much better show.) I can't believe how long the arc for "The Governor" has been. That storyline wore out it's welcome 3 or 4 episodes ago. Please kill the Governor in the Season 3 finale. A fourth season with the Governor would be torturous. Why didn't Michonne kill him when she had the chance? If we have any more of the Governor beyond this season that might be when this show jumps the shark. Although this show being on it's 3rd show runner is also concerning.

"The Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman tells Rolling Stone that 27 people die in the Season 3 finale. I love that Kirkman has the exact number. As long as the Governor dies that's all I ask for. I hope they learned from stretching out the very boring storyline of searching for Carol's daughter in the first half of Season 2. I've already had more than enough of the Governor. Again I watch "The Walking Dead" for people to fight zombies and not other people!

Tonight I won't have much time to relax, but I plan on watching at least one episode of "Newsroom". Looking at it's Wikipedia page, I'm quite excited about watching it now. The cast looks great and this series is mostly written by Aaron Sorkin, the genius behind the amazing "West Wing". That's one of the best television shows ever. Another show I missed out on while it was on the air. While hoping for "Newsroom" to be as good as "Homeland" is too much to hope for, I do hope it is a lot better than "Girls".

March 28th, 2013 update: I watched the pilot episode of "Newsroom", it was decent. Unlike "Girls" it has a lot of room to grow though. Although I can recognize the writing talents of Aaron Sorkin, his writing this isn't as crisp as the writing was in "The West Wing". I did appreciate that there was no sex in this first episode. I also liked how the Jack McAvoy thought he was hallucinating when he saw his former executive producer in the crowd at the Northwestern forum. But again the flagrant use of the f bomb was unnecessary and detracted from the episode. Again that's just the lowest common denominator of entertainment. I'm sure between Sorkin and Jeff Daniels they can figure out another way to show McAvoy's churlish behavior.

March 29th, 2013 update: I've now watched the first four episodes of "The Newsroom". Other than a couple of mild bedroom scenes I appreciate this show so much not having graphic sex scenes. The f bomb usage also seemed to drop a bit. Anyway things I love about "The Newsroom" after 4 episodes:

1) I love the whip smart writing. After a rough first episode the writing is coming closer to matching the great writing of "The West Wing". I love being entertained while I'm learning and thinking. It's such a pleasant contrast to the reality TV that is so joyfully mocks.
2) I love that "The Newsroom" improved from the first to the second episode. I went from not sure if I wanted to watch the second episode to hoping I can hopefully watch all 10 episodes before Xfinity's Watchathon ends. "Girls" started out mediocre and pretty much stayed there.
3) Aaron Sorkin and I have very similar views on politics. I love how the election of Mike Lee over Bob Bennett in 2010 in Utah was used. I remember that happening. Like Sorkin I also think that the Tea Party is a waste. I've always thought it was basically the Republican Party, just using a different name. Some people are so gullible.
4) I love how the show incorporates real news into the storylines of the show. So far they've used the BP oil disaster and the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords in their storylines. That's been done very tactfully.

Then Thursday and Friday night I'll be mainly watching March Madness. Go Shockers and Eagles! I had planned on watching the Wichita State-La Salle game Thursday night. But I watched an episode of "The Newsroom" first. When I checked the Wichita State score, the Shockers were up 14-2. Instead of sticking with the game I watched another episode of "The Newsroom" and then checked the score again. That was when Ron Baker hit a fadeaway 3 to lift the Shockers to a 20 point lead. Instead of sticking with the game I watched another episode of "The Newsroom".

WSU went on to an ugly win and will now play OSU for the right to go to the Final Four. I'll be watching the FGCU-Florida game a little more closely though.

I watched the first few episodes of "Arrow" and "The Following", but have stopped watching both. I stopped watching "Arrow" because the stories just got too similar. The whole storyline about the secret organization the Arrow's Mom is a part of is boring. Who cares? As for "The Following" all the sex scenes finally got too much for me. I also hate how evil Joe Carroll is. Also the fact that he and his cohorts can stay so many steps ahead of the FBI is beyond implausible.

Last and definitely least, the ratings for "American Idol" continue to thankfully drop. Can this be the last season for this show. Once a show has jumped the shark, which this show did 5 years ago, there should be an expiration date attached. If this season hadn't happened we would have never had to put up with all the Mariah Carey- Nicki Minaj nonsense. Also haven't Randy Jackson and Ryan Seacrest had more than enough TV time already?

themusicaddict

Lakers Lose Again, March Madness Delirium!, Dez Bryant Be Crazy

Hello,

I so enjoyed the Lakers losing yet again last night, this time they were beaten down by the Golden State Warriors. I love Marc Jackson's dismissive attitude towards the Lakers after the game. The Warriors lead the Lakers by 4.5 games, so there's for them to be intimidated by the Lakers. What I wonder is when will ESPN and the NBA join Jackson in a less than impressed attitude towards the Lakers? Many people think the Lakers would have a better record if they had had less injuries. That makes me laugh, especially since their record is something like 0-7 when they have Nash, Bryant, Howard, Arrest and Gasol starting.

On their ticker ESPN kept on flashing that the Lakers lost despite 36 points from Bryant. Well since he's a one man team of course he scored a lot of points. Besides Nash, who else would the Lakers get scoring from? The incredibly slow Pau Gasol? Gasol exploded for 7 points last night in limited action. The not very good offensive player Dwight Howard? Howard only hit half of his field goals and only half of his free throws, scoring all of 11 points in 37 minutes. That low production isn't going to win you many games from one of your key players. And poor wittle Ronny hurt himself. The injury was a blessing in disguise for the Lakers. That saved them from another 5 for 14 shooting night by Arrest.

Howard says he's going to get back at David Lee for Lee bloodying his lip. I'm sure Lee is shaking in his boots Dwight. Is Lee scared that the soft marshmallow man is going to come after him? Please! Of course now that Howard said something, he won't be able to do anything. Howard mouthing off to the press will put the NBA on guard and make sure that the refs are vigilant in preventing any retaliation when they next play on April 12th. Here's an idea Dwight, why don't you stop your yapping and go and practice your free throws.

News flash to all the so called NBA experts, the Lakers are poorly constructed and quite simply not very good. I said they were done about a month ago, at that point I didn't even think LA would make the playoffs. I've changed my tune just a tad, now I think they will make the playoffs as the 8th seed. However that's not due to their greatness, that's due to how bad the 3 teams chasing them are. Dallas and Portland are too inconsistent to catch the Lakers. And the Jazz, well it's a good thing they played a team that cares even less than them last night. That way they were able to get a late season meaningless win. As a Jazz fan I can't wait until their season ends. Honestly I don't think anyone wants that 8th seed, it's quite likely that team will be swept by the Spurs. It's not like the NCAA Tournament where a team can come out of nowhere, say Wichita or Fort Myers, Florida, and knock off a much higher seeded team.

I wish ESPN would stop showing LeBron James dunks over lesser players and glorifying them. And LeBron stop acting like such a fool. Dunking on Jason "Cargo Plane" Terry isn't that impressive for an athlete of your stature. And then last night you dunked on a player that had his back to you and then you gave him the staredown. Really? What was the point of that?

Oh and I saw something about a video of  Tim Legler talking about who the Knicks would match up the best with in the first round of the playoffs. I had to laugh, does it matter? The NBA's Eastern Conference is Miami (Snow White) and the 7 dwarves. As of right now the Knicks would play the Bulls, that's a team that could beat New York in the first round.

College basketball remains so much better than the NBA. I'm so excited that the two March Madness games I want to see the most Thursday and Friday I'll be able to see. I'm looking forward to "my" Shockers taking on the Explorers of La Salle Thursday night. Tim Tebow stop bothering the Shockers, I know you are desperate for publicity. Then on Friday night I'm looking forward to the continuing Cinderella story of FGCU. Just by reaching the Sweet Sixteen as a 15 seed is already amazing. I'm sure they've already overshot all their goals and now are just enjoying the ride. I'm glad I can watch their battle with Florida Friday night. Go Shockers and Eagles! (Also I'll be cheering for Michigan St. to beat the Puke White Devils Friday night!!)

Speaking of March Madness, although a much more muted form of March Madness, congratulations to the BYU Cougars. They defeated Mercer 90-71 last night and now advance to the the third round of the N.I.T. round. They'll play Southern Mississippi on Wednesday night in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Also yet another rant about my formerly beloved Cowboys of the great city of Dallas. Jerry Jones, who loves attention even more than Dwight Howard, says the Cowboys are close to signing Tony Romo to an extension. When that dreaded signing becomes official, that will put yet one more nail in the coffin of my love for the Cowboys. Since Romo has failed so many times in crucial situations, why does the Cowboys "brain trust" think that Romo will all of a sudden come through in the clutch? What is it that they see, that many other Cowboys fans and I don't see in Romo. (Thankfully when the Cowboys kill my love of their team, I'm so thankful I can switch my allegiance to the 49ers. A team that's run so much better and thus has much more success than the Cowboys.)

Because of Jones legacy of terrible player decisions, the Cowboys are only about $105,000 under the salary cap as of right now. They don't even have enough money to sign players. They have to reach agreements with players that they'll sign them once Dallas frees up some money. That's one of the reasons they are trying to sign Romo to an extension so they can count less money towards this seasons cap.

I just wish the Cowboys would take the cap hit this year for Romo and Anthony Spencer. Soon Dallas will be freeing up $2 million since they made Marcus Spears a post June 1st cut. Then they can also cut Doug Free and save themselves $7 million more dollars. That's $9 million to sign all the players they draft and bargain bin free agents. Then next year they'll have more cash to spend. At that point they could decide if they want to resign Romo or not. For instance, if he actually produces in the clutch this time. If Dallas then didn't sign him, that would open up over $16 million for them to go after the quarterback of the future. Of course they should have been looking for that a few years ago. Next season they'll no longer will have that $5 million dollar penalty count against their salary cap. Of course that would suggest the Cowboys look towards the future, which has never been a trademark of Jones. He's all about win now, no matter how bad the team and coaches are that he puts on the field.

I keep on wondering how bad will the Cowboys get before Jerry Jones admits he's an idiot? Yeah I know if it hasn't happened by now, it will never happen.

Finally under the department of why do people hate the Dallas Cowboys so much: Dez Bryant thinks he can be the first person to get over 2,000 receiving yards. This is hilarious on so many fronts. First of all, Bryant is a head case. There's no telling when he's going to do something stupid again. Second his quarterback is Tony Romo. And yes I realized that Romo threw for almost 5,000 yards last season. But still he's Tony Romo, the man that fails in nearly every crucial situation possible. He and Dez would have to perform at a high level all season for Bryant to reach his goal.

No wide receiver has ever had 2,000 yards in one season, not Jerry Rice, not Michael Irvan, not Megatron, not Larry Fitzgerald, not Lynn Swann. If those guys can't do it I highly doubt that Bryant will be the first.

Shouldn't he be more focused on team goals anyway? Sure Romo has great regular season numbers, but no fans cares about that. The only thing fans care about is how many playoffs your team has gone to and how many Super Bowls their team is won.

themusicaddict

My Chemical Romance Breaks Up

Hello,

A couple of days ago came the sad news that My Chemical Romance had broken up. They weren't my favorite band ever and I've only got into them the last couple of years, but this is still a sad day. They were a band for 12 years and sold over 5 million CDs. Good luck to each of the band members until their inevitable reunion in the next few years. Here are some of my favorite MCR songs:

"The Sharpest Lives":



"Sing":



"Bulletproof Heart":



"Welcome To The Black Parade" (Live):



"This Is How I Disappear":



"Planetary (Go!)":



"Cancer":



themusicaddict

Thoughts On First 3 Days of 2013 March Madness, Preview of Day 4

Hello,

Yesterday I spent the day at Energy Solutions Arena as part of the University of Utah's support team for the NCAA Tournament. Being there in an official capacity with an All Access pass certainly had it's advantages. Where we were located I was right next to the Wichita State Shockers locker room. I was able to ask one of their reps what exactly a Shocker is. He told me a shock is a binding of wheat (I'm guessing something similar to a bale of hay?). Back in the olden days, as he said, to earn money the football players would bale up the wheat in these shocks. Thus they became the Shockers. And obviously Wichita State shocked the nation yesterday with their inspired 76-70 victory over Gonzaga.

Of course anyone that saw part of the Southern-Gonzaga game knew that Gonzaga was vulnerable. And this comes from someone who was cheering for the Bulldogs entering the tournament, but hadn't seen them very much during the season. The Southern Jaguars big men were able to block Zags center Kelly Olynyk many times in that game. I also knew that the Shockers were tenacious defenders, if not the best shooters.

Going into the WSU-Gonzaga game I still thought the Zags would win. However following their ugly, but tenacious, victory over Pittsburgh my allegiances swung to the Shockers. I was cheering for them. I'll proudly be wearing my Shocker shirt. For the second straight game Gonzaga showed that they are completely overrated. And as for Olynyk on the cover of Sports Illustrated, wow that's a major fail. Not that you could blame SI for their jinx affecting the Zags. The Zags fought valiantly, but clearly the Shockers wanted it more.

As for Olynyk, I hope he never ends up on the roster of the Jazz. If he's in the NBA for extended it will only be a a fringe player, basically a taller version of Jimmer Fredette. The thing I was most surprised about Olynky is that he's soft. You'd never know that he's a 7 footer based on how much his shot get blocks. Also yesterday his shot selection was terrible. He only made 8 of 22 field goals and was 0-3 from the 3 point line. He did make 10-14 free throws, but those 4 free throws he missed were huge. He should be a complimentary player, never the main player. He does seem to be a good ball handler for a man of his size.

Anyway it was a hard fought game that had all the excitement of two evenly matched teams. This is one of those games that shows the magic of March Madness, where any thing can happen. Anything can happen is one of the things that makes the college game so much more exciting than the NBA. In college there are 10 or 15 teams that could win the national title. In the NBA there are 3 teams that can win the title- Miami, San Antonio and Oklahoma City.

Another thing that I love about college basketball is how both teams line up after the game and shake hands. College basketball players also care a lot more, many of them knowing realizing they won't make it to the League.

Shockers coach, Gregg Marshall, rotates his players constantly throughout the game. It seemed like new players rotated in every clock stoppage. I'm not sure why he does that, but it seems to be effective. And the Shockers are one of those teams that depend on the three pointer, sometimes too much. But when they got it going, watch out. It was very impressive when they hit 5 straight free throws in clutch time. Now the Shockers, who upset the #1 team in the nation, will next play the winner of LaSalle- Ole Miss. Both of those teams scored upsets in their second round games.

Other games on Saturday:

The other game in Salt Lake City yesterday was Harvard-Arizona. It was quickly clear that Arizona is a much better and more athletic team. Arizona won easily 74-51, but Harvard never stopped fighting. I liked the heart and tough play of Harvard's Steve Moundou-Missi. The Wildcat player that seems to get all the attention is Mark Lyons. But the player that may have the most potential is Soloman Hill. Hill had an impressive baseline to baseline power dunk. Arizona next plays the winner of Iowa St.-Ohio St., the game going on as I'm writing this blog. (Speaking of Arizona, whatever happened to Derrick Williams? Oh he went to the Timberwolves? Enough said.)

Other games of note yesterday, well really there weren't that many. It was blowout Saturday, let's hope the games are much more competitive on Sunday. Michigan destroyed VCU, Oregon dispatched of St. Louis relatively easily and Louisville handled (mishandled?) Colorado State. I saw a little of that game, Louisville is very impressive. Unlike Gonzaga, Louisville is a No. 1 seed that scares me. Especially with their tenacious, relentless defense.

I'm also glad that Notre Dame and their ugly uniforms have been eliminated.

Games of note today: I'm hoping for another incredible upset today when Creighton plays Duke. Although I don't think the Blue Jays have a chance, I'll be cheering for them tonight. (Hmm Should I watch "The Walking Dead" or the Puke White Devils?) How will FGSU do in their third round game against the Aztecs of San Diego State.  Who's going to win the Roy Williams game, North Carolina vs. Kansas.

The Mountain West Conference sent 5 teams to the NCAA Tournament and their only team remaining is the Aztecs. They'll play the upstart Eagles of FGSU. Meanwhile the Pac 12 sent 4 teams to the NCAAs and two have reached the Sweet Sixteen. Meanwhile the Big Ten (they are still called the Big 10 right?) could have 6 teams reach the Sweet 16. Through the first game on Sunday, Michigan, Ohio St. and Michigan St. have made the Sweet 16. Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota also all play today to join their Big 10 conference mates. Preceding Sunday's game are there really only 3 ACC teams left? It's possible, but highly doubtful, that no ACC teams will reach the Sweet 16.

I have to admit that my favorite basketball result of the weekend was the Lakers losing to the terrible Wizards in LA. Seriously all you delusional Lakers fans, isn't it time you admit this isn't a good team? The Lakers will claim the 8th seed in the playoffs, that's because the three closest teams are even worse than them. The pathetic Jazz who have no clue what they are doing, the undermanned Mavericks and the inconsistent Trailblazers. Being the 8th seed in NBA playoffs is about exciting as going to the execution chamber with a ruthlessly efficient executor. I'll enjoy watching the Lakers being picked apart and destroyed by the Spurs in the first round of the playoffs.

themusicaddict

Thoughts On The First 11/2 Days of 2013 March Madness

Hello,

I was very fortunate yesterday in being able to be at the Energy Solutions Arena for Day 1 of the NCAA Tournament in Salt Lake City. I was able to see some great games. I almost saw NCAA history made, saw the end of the biggest upset of the day and fell in love with the Shockers. The games in SLC yesterday were #9 Wichita State-#8 Pittsburgh, #16 Southern-#1 Gonzaga, #11 Belmont-#6 Arizona and in what was the biggest upset  of the day #14 Harvard-#3 New Mexico.

I was at the ESA working tech support. Due to that I got in the games free, but I also had some work responsibilities. I completely missed the Arizona-Belmont game and only saw the end of New Mexico- Harvard game. So I spent time in the stands but also in the bowels of the ESA. Here are some thoughts from my day traveling all over the Energy Solutions Arena.

1) Probably the biggest celebrity in the ESA yesterday was Pat Riley. It seems he's in town to do some scouting for the Heat. At one point he was just about 30 feet from me. And if you were wondering, no I didn't bother him. In fact most people left him alone. Someone I was working with commented on his gigantic Miami Heat championship ring he was wearing. Probably the next biggest celebrity in the ESA yesterday was John Stockton. He was there to watch Gonzaga, the team he played for collegially and the team his son David now plays for. The announcing crews in Salt Lake aren't the top flight crews and none of the coaches are really big name coaches. There were no Coach K, Tom Izzo or Roy Williams in SLC.

2) Speaking of Gonzaga, I wasn't real impressed with the Zags. Honestly their opponent, the Southern Jaguars, were much more athletic. They kept on blocking Kelly Olynyk's shot. Other than playing with his hair and pulling down the net, I didn't see much that Olynyk was good at. I was very disappointed by his and his teammates performance. I know it's only one game and things can change quickly. However the Zags won't be around long if they play like they did again yesterday.

In fact for much of that game I thought I could be witnessing history. A # 16 seed has never beat a # 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. However Gonzaga had ice water in their veins, they calmly hit big shots in crunch time.

3) Now Southern on the other hand I was very impressed with. Not only did their team look every bit as good as the #1 Zags, but their band kicked butt. Their band is nicknamed The Human Jukebox and they were very good. They played a lot of great songs and they really seem to enjoy performing. Also their cheerleaders were anything but superfluous. I think they should be invited back for tomorrow although their team isn't in the tourney anymore.

They have a player named Derick Beltran, I have a feeling you'll be hearing from him again.

4) Going into the Tournament the teams I was cheering for were Gonzaga and North Carolina. Oh yeah and whoever plays the Puke White Devils. The first game of the day was Wichita State vs. the perennially underachieving Pitt Panthers. In watching the Shockers I discovered another team that I'm now cheering for. The Wichita State Shockers are the alma mater of Antoine The Original Big Dog Carr and Xavier McDaniel. Not that either team looked real great and both had trouble scoring the Shockers were clearly the better team. Wichita State has a few great players to watch out for when they take on the Zags on Saturday. Keep your eye on Cleanthony Early, Malcolm Armstead and Tekele Cotton.

It's easy to see where the Shockers fans are. Not only are they loud, but it would be impossible to miss their bright yellow shirts. They love their Shockers and it's easy to see why.

Although I do have three questions about the Shockers. What the hell is a Shocker? What is their mascot suppose to be? Why does their mascot look like he has a muffin on his head?

Other thoughts:

- Media timeouts sure take a long time, they are good to go to the bathroom and get something to eat.

- Due to those frequent and lengthy media timeouts that takes away from some of the magic of March Madness. But watching the games in person has some advantages as well. I was able to see the Southern band play. Also it's fun when the crowd gets behind a team and starts cheering for them. Both Southern and Harvard had a lot of fans adopt them yesterday.

- The Harvard cheerleaders are the least attractive. Also seeing many of the cheerleaders very close, I realized how much make up they wear. They almost take it to the Tammy Faye Baker level.

- I'm not the biggest fan of referees, but I thought they have been incredibly consistent and fair in the games I've watched.

- The U of A, U of A chant that the University of Arizona fans is annoying. It sounds a lot like the USA, USA chant.

Day 2 thoughts:

- I hate the Puke White Devils. It makes me laugh that they depend so much on Mason Plumlee and Bryan Kelly. Due to that I guarantee they won't be winning the NCAA Championship. I watched Creighton today and I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be. I expect that Duke will get past the Blue Jays. However if Duke somehow make it to the regional final, they won't get past Louisville. I think the Cardinals will make short work of the Blue Devils.

- I enjoyed watching the LaSalle-Kansas State and Creighton-Cincinnati games, especially since both went down to the final minute. I'm not sure what the Kansas State point guard was doing where he ran behind the basket and then forced up a shot.

- I'm very surprised by how boring the slate of NCAA games are on tonight. Other than North Carolina -Villanova I'm not excited about any of the other games tonight.

I'll be at the ESA again for the Wichita State- Gonzaga and Harvard-Arizona games tomorrow. It's highly likely there will be no blog tomorrow. But enjoy some great basketball. Along with what should be two great games in SLC, there is also VCU-Michigan. That should be a bloodbath, two very good teams that seemed to have underperformed throughout the season. After Cal knocked off UNLV, can they beat Syracuse? Butler vs. Marquette could also be a very good game.

themusicaddict

This Blog Is Closed Today Due to March Madness!

Hello,

Due to the fact that I'll be at the Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City watching March Madness, this will serve as my blog today. I plan on taking notes and I hope I can capture a bit the greatness of March Madness.

themusicaddict

The Magic of March Madness: NIT Edition

Hello,

I didn't want to write about the Dallas Cowboys today, but it irritates me so much when Jerry Jones is on the verge of making yet another bad move.

What I really wanted to write about is the magic of March Madness. Yesterday I got home in time to see the last several seconds of the Robert Morris-Kentucky NIT game. The Robert Morris player, Mike McFadden, went to the free throw line and calmly hit probably what will be the two biggest free throws of his life. The Colonials, yes I had to look up their nickname,  held on to beat the defending NCAA Tourney champs. Sometimes fans and students rushing on to the court feels contrived, but when RMU fans rushed the court last night that was truly a great moment.

I also love how much teams like St. Johns, La. Tech, BYU get so excited about the NIT. While I'm not sure how much motivation Kentucky had, I could tell most of these teams wanted to win. I loved the game winning shot by St. John's Sir'Dominic Pointer. Pointer made that very tough fadeaway shot look easy. Then to see how excited he and his teammates were after that shot went in was also fun to watch. This is exhibit 6,000,006 why college basketball is so much more fun to watch than NBA basketball.

I also watched most of the first half of BYU-Washington game. I didn't know if the Cougars had it in them to win that game, but they did. They won a good game over a mediocre opponent. Tyler Haws needs to get some help though. He's a great player, but he can't do it by himself. Not only that, but I don't want to do it by himself. Jimmer Fredette was a great player for BYU, but the Cougars were way too one dimensional when he was at BYU.

The Cougars should use all these games as practice for next season. By Dave Rose's rotation last night, that seems to be what he's doing. (When will the Jazz give up on this terd of a season and start building for next season?) BYU will next host the winner of Mercer-Tennessee.

I was also glad to see BYU's conference mate, St. Mary's, advance in the NCAA Tournament. And of course I'll be cheering for Gonzaga tomorrow. With that game in Salt Lake and with me being at the ESA tomorrow I may be able to even see that game. I may or may not have time to post a blog tomorrow.

themusicaddict

Dallas Cowboys: #fail, San Francisco 49ers: #2014superbowlchamps

Hello,

The Cowboys continue to masquerade as a NFL team. As the 49ers store draft picks and sign free agents to upgrade their weaknesses, the Cowboys continue to flounder. As the 49ers sign Phil Dawson, the Cowboys sign Ernie Sims. Yes, I realize that the 49ers have a lot more cap room. Of course the 49ers extra cap room is because their decision makers are much smarter than Jerry Jones. It would be so nice to have one's franchise not run by an egotistical owner.

Now Jones is saying that the Cowboys are getting closer to signing Tony Romo to an extension. Let's review Tim Tebow has as many playoff wins as Tony Romo. The Cowboys want to extend Romo for a couple reasons. The first is that they think he's a great quarterback. Second, it would lower the Cowboys cap amount for this season so they could sign other players. My wish is that they would let Romo finish out the final year of his contract and let him enter free agency. Then at that time the Cowboys would know better if they would want to keep him. I don't know how and I don't know when, but I know that Romo is going to fail yet again this upcoming season. Isn't about time for him to fail for another team?

No matter how poorly Romo performs, someone always makes an excuse in saying the failures aren't his fault. Well how many times is he going to fail before the Cowboys finally make a change?

See what I wrote yesterday about how bad is it for a team to be mediocre. The Cowboys get so close to the playoffs each year, without quite making it. They think they are only 1 or 2 moves from making it, but those moves don't pan out enough. That leads to another mediocre season and the trend has continued for several years. This season I'm hoping for a 2-14 Cowboys season. The Cowboys need to get rid of a lot of dead weight, which includes their GM.

From the mastermind of the Cowboys destruction, Mr. Jerry Jones himself:

"Stay tuned. He is going to have high expectations, I expect him to be used. We didn't extend Troy Aikman although Troy had won three Super Bowls. We didn't make the financial commitment to Troy not to have Troy be a critical, if not the critical, part of what our team was about and our ability to move the ball. That is going to be the kind of emphasis we have with Romo. He is not going to be paid to be a bus driver.

"Tony sees remarkably. He sees the cars on the highway, so to speak. He reacts well on what he sees. And he is real good at taking his eye away from it and going back to it and throwing it. Those are really unique skills. We ought to be winning with that. Have we maximized everything that he is about to get it done?"

First of all does anyone know what Jones garbled syntax means? What the hell is he talking about? (A commenter said on ESPN wrote that "Romo would probably be better as a bus driver". Agreed.) It must be fun to be rich and make up things to fit your view. Who needs facts when you're a billionaire. I'm sure his lackeys are telling Jones how good of a job he's doing.

As always fan comments are coming fast about this story on ESPN. As the quoted comment above is funny, so many of these comments are funny. Roughly about 70% of the commenters are against this potential move, 20% are for it and 10% are neutral.

I wish I could remember who said it, so that I could credit the source. I stumbled across something the other day that said "When I die I want Tony Romo to be my pallbearer, so that he can let me down again." Although funny, it is exactly how many other Dallas Cowboys fans and I feel.

As the Cowboys continue to plumb the depths of mediocrity, the 49ers continue to thrive and improve. The 49ers have a league high 14 draft picks in the upcoming NFL draft. Now only that but they signed a player to take care of one of their very few weaknesses last season. The 49ers have signed kicker Phil Dawson to take the place of the inconsistent David Akers. Dawson had made 27 of 29 field goals over 40 yards the last two seasons. That's very good, it will make a loaded team all that much more loaded. Dawson at 38 won't be the long-term solution, but he can help the 49ers win a couple of Super Bowls. (Thanks as always to ESPN.com.)

Some of the funnier comments. From who dat tiger: "The two most evident things wrong with the Cowboys are highlighted in the title of this article. JONES & ROMO"

From Tebrina: "The cowboys are the most profitable team in the nfl. that's ironic."

 From dmstluka: "I'm not always intercepted but when I am Tony Romo throws me." 
-The Most Interesting Football in the NFL"

From Johnny Ringo 32: "Top 5 Cowboy accomplishments since last SB win  

1- 
2- 
3- 
4- 
5- New Stadium"

From larshook: "Tony Romo makes some of the best handoffs in the league. The Cowboys really need to take advantage of that!"

From jimmymc5858: "Romo gets more chances than an exgirlfriend with great $@%!...."

From blue line_999_x: "Q) Do you know how to say Tony Romo in Spanish?

A) Mark Sanchez

From st.peterclaver: "Oh, please, please, please sign Romo to a long term deal! 
 
-Signed, The Rest of the League"

themusicaddict

2012-2013 Jazz Season Hits Nadir, Heat Continues To Roll

Hello,

The Jazz welcomed the Knicks to the Energy Solutions Arena last night. The Jazz last played Saturday, a gritty victory over the Grizzlies. For the Knicks it was their last game on a 5 game Western road swing. The Knicks had been blitzed on national TV Sunday afternoon. They lost their first 4 games by about an average of 20 points. Also the Knicks were playing without 3 key players: Tyson Chandler, Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire. Did I mention that the game was a home game for the Jazz? If that isn't enough to play for, the Jazz are also trying to make the playoffs. Even on a good day the Knicks are only slightly better than average. If the Knicks played in the Western Conference, I don't know that they would even qualify for the playoffs.

With all those things going in the favor of the Jazz, the Jazz weren't going to have any problems at all. Right? Anyone that believes that hasn't followed the Jazz very closely over the years. The Jazz started out poorly and didn't really get any better during the game. The tired and injury depleted Knicks were able to beat the pathetic Jazz 90-83.

What an embarrassment to basketball, to Utah and of course for the Jazz.

Not that I give total credence to stats, there were some telling stats in this game.  The Jazz only shot 28.9% in the second half and 38% for the whole game. Most telling the Jazz missed 8 of their last 9 shots. Essentially the Jazz were shooting worse as the game went on.

All I've got to say is that I'm glad that March Madness will be in SLC Thursday, that's the only way to guarantee that good basketball will be played in that building this season. Last night's uninspired effort was after the Jazz actually beat a very good Memphis team last Saturday.

Every day driving to work I see a billboard advertising season tickets for the Jazz next year. I can't afford them, but even if I could I wouldn't buy them. That is unless I received some kind of guarantee that the Jazz are going to sweep out at least half of this underacheiving roster. They need to dump Al Jefferson and Marvin Williams, get a real point guard, a solid backup point guard and get a new head coach. Mo Williams would be a good back up point guard.

I'm tired of this mediocre run the Jazz are on. There are three kinds of seasons: really good, really bad and mediocre. If you can't be really good, then you should be really bad. Mediocre shouldn't be an option unless you are a team on the rise and being mediocre is a step to being very good. Other than on the rise teams, mediocre doesn't help anyone. What does mediocre get for the Jazz, Mavericks or Lakers? One of those three teams will probably be the Western Conference's 8th seed. For that honor that team will get punched in the mouth by the Spurs as the 8th seeded team gets swept out of the playoffs. Also they'll get a lesser draft pick than if they had missed the playoffs.

That's exactly why I don't want the Jazz to make the playoffs. But it would be fun to see the Lakers make the playoffs and get punched in the mouth by the Spurs for 4 games.

The Jazz were so fortunate back in the day when they had John Stockton and Karl Malone and all the other great players they had then. I don't think the Jazz will ever have another team like that ever again.

Look at what mediocre has got the Dallas Cowboys. They are 8-8 the last two seasons, only have made the playoffs once in the last 5 years and are barely under this season's salary cap. They also have a terrible owner, a mediocre head coach and a mediocre quarterback. In ESPN's pre-draft NFL Power Rankings, the Cowboys are #18. And with how poorly Jerrah drafts, look for them to fall in the next power rankings. Mediocre has had no upside for the Cowboys.

Speaking of the Lakers I had to laugh as were absolutely whipped by the Suns last night. That would have been a good game for a Lakers hater to go to. The Suns outscored the Lakers 28-10 in the fourth quarter. The Lakers are a bunch of nobodies without Kobe. The Artest formerly known as Ron had yet another miserable night. He missed 12 of 17 shots and the Lakers were outscored by 17 points when he was on the court. Artest was 2 for 9 from the three point line, I'm sure Coach D'Antoni wasn't drawing those plays up in the huddle. How average is your team when Artest is one of the starters. He's a man that hasn't ever met a shot he didn't like, that in spite the fact that he's not a very good shooter.

Good news for Lakers fans though, Dwight "The Brick" Howard made 4 of 5 free throws. Bad news he missed 12 of 18 field goals. He also added 4 turnovers as the Lakers were outscored by 14 points when he was on the court. He has one very marketable skill, he continues to be a solid rebounder. Howard grabbed 11 more rebounds last night. If stats don't lie, then why do people think that Howard is such a great player? Other than rebounds, what does he bring to the table?

Also how does ESPN's Mark Stein have the Lakers #8 in the NBA power rankings, record wise they are only 8th in the Western Conference. I bet Stein feels a little sheepish after the Lakers lost by 23 points last night to the terrible Suns.

From the doldrums to the cream of the crop in the NBA. In a close and hard fought game, the Heat beat the Knicks 105-103. The Heat have now won 23 games in a row and still haven't lost in March. They also broke their 10 game losing streak in Boston. In an era of over entitled NBA players it's fun to watch the scrappy Heat who continue to do the little things to make sure they continue to win. They just rarely give up on plays.

Although I did get tired of ESPN showing LeBron James dunk over Jason Terry this morning. They must have showed that play at least 20 times from multiple angles. Let's be honest the Cargo Plane (see below) isn't even in the same class as James. There's no way that the Cargo Plane was going to stop James on that play.

LBJ please show a little more class when you dunk on someone that you should easily dunk on. And ESPN we don't need to say an over hyped dunk like that several times. It's that kind of thing that leads so much to the sense of entitlement that many pro athletes have now.

I'm surprised the Celtics are above .500 considering that Jason "The Jet" Terry plays such extensive minutes for them. It's time to change his nickname, I don't think anyone has the nickname Cargo Plane yet. Seriously Terry was past his prime when he was with the Mavericks, how is he still playing such big minutes? I also wonder just how did that Mavericks team win a NBA title. They had Dirk Nowitski, Tyson Chandler and Jason Kidd, but who else. Please don't give me the laughable name of JJ Barea.

Of the three way Andre Iguodola, "The Brick" Howard and Andrew Bynum trade, more and more it looks like the Nuggets got the best part of that deal. While Iguodala was making the 3 point winning basket last night, Howard has been a shadow of his former self and Bynum is going to miss the full season.

It makes me laugh that people are even considering about bringing the injury plagued, head case Bynum to their team next season. Seriously why would anyone want a player on your team that injured himself while bowling? If I was Philadelphia, I would say good riddance. Yes, I realize that Bynum is only 24 years old and has a ton of upside. However without the commitment to hard work and to being a better player, who cares. How good could Bynum be if he had the will of Kobe Bryant? Too bad he has the will of Andrew Bynum.

I also love how people are referring to the surgery on both of Bynum's knee as season ending. Well if his season never started, how can it end?

Speaking of the Nuggets, they've won 12 games in a row and haven't lost in March also. But that streak is going to come to a screeching halt tonight when they run into the buzzsaw Thunder. It's hard to believe that even though the Nuggets have won 12 in a row, they still are only 5th place in the Western Conference. Just a side note, if the Nuggets were in the Eastern Conference they'd be in second place. They would lead the now second place Pacers by 4.5 games.

It looks like the Eastern Conference playoffs will be a bunch of bad teams battling it out before Miami reaches the NBA Finals. In the Western Conference, it looks like it will be a bunch of good teams battling it out in a "Hunger Games" like bloodbath. Your guess is as good as mine who will represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals. I would think it will be either the Spurs or the Thunder.

themusicaddict

"The Walking Dead", Season 3 Episode "Prey"

Hello,

I love me some "The Walking Dead", but I've got to say last night's episode was sort of ridiculous. This clearly was an episode that was suppose to build tension.

Sorry I don't know if having an episode mainly about Andrea is a good idea. I don't know what it is, but there's something about her that bugs. She realized that the Governor's plan was a sham, I'm not sure why she hasn't figured that out before. The Governor is a pathological liar. Why does she take anything at face value from him? Is that the final straw that she wanted to leave Woodbury.

She talks her way past Tyrese and his sister and leaves Woodbury. (Tyrese, one of my favorite characters from the graphic novel, so far has been completely wasted. If he was anymore anonymous I would guess that he's the next zombie snack. I think I need to read the next of the "Walking Dead" graphic novels. I think I've read the first three so far. )

Andrea takes off to the prison, with only a knife. Good thing that Martinez didn't frisk her. Anyway this trip that has always seen so quick from Woodbury to the prison in this episode became monumentally longer. (I'm not going to even mention how she's running out on the road, but has to get off the road because a truck is coming. After the truck passes, she's able to rest up without looking around. And these zombies that are always making that guttural sound isn't making it as it sneaks up on Andrea. Of course a convenient zombie grabs her through a tree. The zombie doesn't go around the tree. #rollingeyes Through her knife and her wits Andrea is able to escape. You'd think someone living in the zombie apocalypse would be much more careful.)  I realize she was on foot, but come on. The crazy Governor goes out after her. And of course he sees her while she's laying out in the field. However that's not the most unbelievable thing that happens in this scene. He heads towards her to get her and she somehow outruns his truck to escape into the forest. Is Andrea really the bionic woman? :)

Andrea makes her way to an abandoned building, the same building that the Governor happens to show up at. I realize there are probably not that many buildings in that part of the area, but come on. We see nothing to indicate that he should know that she's there, but he seems to sense that she is. Then of course the convenient zombies show up there too. One nice touch in this episode was that Andrea realized there was a stairwell of zombies and she releases them on the Governor. Sadly he's able to escape. I haven't read in the graphic novels about the Governor, but he must be much more compelling there. However in the show, he bores me to death. I can't wait for him to die. If he's still around for Season 4, I don't know how much of the show I'd want to watch.

Andrea leaves the building with the Governor's fate unknown. This journey to the prison is so long, it nearly took the whole episode! She's finally able to see the prison and sees Rick on a guard tower. She's raising her hand, out of nowhere the Governor tackles her. Rick thinks he sees something, but then thinks it must have been just his imagination. (Speaking of which, are we going to be seeing more of Lori in the final two episodes of this season? Another plot point that needs to die asap.)

The Governor gets her back to Woodbury and his new torture chamber, no one knows he has Andrea. She had at least two chances to kill him, she's probably regretting that she didn't. And so are many fans like myself. He very cleverly snuck her in. The final shot is of her in the torture chamber with a very worried look on her face.

I hope all this sets up for a finale that was as good as Season Two's finale.

themusicaddict.

2013 Pittsburgh Pirates Preview

Hello,

This is the fourth of my hopefully 5 previews of the MLB teams I cheer for. Previously I've written about the Red Sox, the Cubs, the Braves. Then probably coming in the next couple of weeks will be my preview for the Dodgers, a team I have limited expectations for. Although my expectations for the Dodgers are a lot higher than they are for the Pirates.

On this chilly Spring day in Salt Lake City, on Selection Sunday, here's my 2013 Pirates preview.

Let's review the Pirates a bit. The last season the Pirates finished above. 500 was in 1992, when Barry Bonds still played for them! They've had 20 consecutive losing seasons, yes 20! To give you some perspective of how long that's been, 1993 is 20 years ago. That's the same year that Bill Clinton became President. Also that was the first time that the World Trade Center was bombed. Six people were killed  and over 1000 people were injured, which was a precursor for what happened 8 years later.

By Pirates standards the last two seasons started out well and then Pittsburgh cooled down about mid-season. Although last season their winning run lasted longer than the previous season. So two questions for the Pirates this season. Will they finally be able to break .500 this season and will they continue to improve?

From Jayson Stark's article at ESPN.com:

"But let's remind you where the Pirates were two-thirds of the way through last season: 

• They were 16 games over .500 -- for the first time in 20 years. 

• They had a better record than the team that would go on to win the World Series -- the Giants. 

• They had a better record than the Cardinals, Orioles, Rays, Angels and the other team that played in the World Series -- the Tigers. 

And then … hoo boy. For the second season in a row, the Buccos stumbled into a cliff dive they never saw coming. 

Of the last 52 games they played, they lost 36. ... they became, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the first team in history to finish with a losing record after being at least 16 games over .500 after 108 games. "

That mid-season fade followed the same pattern that happened the year before. Fading so dramatically is only something the Pirates or Cubs could do.

Some other thoughts for this Pirates team. I know that Russell Martin had 21 home runs and brings some veteran leadership. But when this is your biggest free agent pickup, what does that say about you as an organization? And $17 million for two years? for Martin? Really? Of course I also mocked the Pirates for signing A.J. Burnett the previous season and that turned out to be a great deal. Burnett went 16-10 with a 3.51 ERA last season.

I do realize that the Pirates have a limited budget and they have to build mainly through the draft and free agency leftovers. I'm glad they extended Andrew McCutchen to a long term deal. The Pirates are waiting on contributions from Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon and Starling Marte. Also what kind of impact, if any, will Brandon Inge have, he of the free agency leftovers.

The Pirates start their season on April 1st, as do most MLB teams. They start off with a 3 game home stand vs. the Cubs. Next they embark on a 6 game road swing, playing 3 games against the Dodgers and 3 games against the Diamondbacks. (The series against the Dodgers will be an interesting contrast for the Pirates. The Dodgers seem to have unlimited money, but not necessarily make unlimited wise moves. But when LA messes up, they can spend a lot of money to hopefully cover up their mistakes. Compare that to the Pirates who have to make due on a very tight budget and nearly all their decisions have to work for them to be successful. That's a very delicate high wire act and one of the reasons for them having 20 consecutive years finishing below .500.)

Then on Friday, April 12th the Pirates return to PNC Park for a 10 game home stand. They welcome the Reds for 3 games, St. Louis for 3 games and Atlanta for 4 games.

My predictions and hopes for the 2013 Pirates include hoping for them to be a better team than they were last year as they continue to build for the future. In 2013 they might not have a better record than last season's 79-83 record, but that doesn't mean they won't be a better team. As ESPN's David Schonefield so aptly points out the Pirates will miss beating up on the Astros.

I don't think that Pittsburgh will battle for the NL Central this season, but I hope that won't be their focus. I hope their focus is that they get better and that they actually do.

themusicaddict

80's Heavy Metal #5: More Classics G'NR, Metallica, Queensryche and Whitesnake

Hello,

Some of these songs came out in the early 90's, but I consider them all as part of the heavy metal era. That era roughly ran from about 1983-1993.

Before I get to more heavy metal classics, I thought I would add this song that tweaks classic 80's videos. They are clearly tweaking Robert Palmer, George Michael, Motley Crue, Whitesnake and is that Heavy D and the Boys they are also mocking?



How about some Motley Crue? "Home Sweet Home":



Bang Tango's "Someone Like You":



The Guns N' Roses section:

"Paradise City":



My favorite G N' R song: "Mr. Brownstone":



The either could be incredibly magical or incredibly sloppy "Knocking On Heaven's Door":



"What's so civil about war anyway?" "Civil War":



Thank you for having "Patience" with me before I got to this video :)



The Queensryche section:

The "Empire" subsection:

"Best I Can":



"Empire":



"Another Rainy Night":



"Jet City Woman":



The "Operation Mindcrime 1" subsection: "I Don't Believe In Love":



"Spreading The Disease": (Explicit: Will Offend Some)



"Suite Sister Mary":



The Metallica Section:

"Enter Sandman":



One of the most kickass songs of all-time, "One":



"Harvester of Sorrow";



"Through The Never":



"Sad But True":



"Unforgiven":



The Whitesnake section:

"Slide It In":



"Still Of The Night":



"Love Ain't No Stranger":



"Fool For Your Loving":



Whitesnake isn't just a metal band. "Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City":



"Is This Love":



This is probably the last of my heavy metal blogs for now. I realize I haven't included several classic bands, but I do only have so much time. I haven't included anything by the Scorpions, Dio and many great songs by lesser known metal bands. The bands I have featured reflect my prejudices. Not all metal bands were great. Having said that I still did my best to have a fairly wide range of metal songs. I hope you enjoyed them, I love hearing many of these songs again.

And although many people consider Black Sabbath the fathers of heavy metal, I've never been a big Sabbath fan.

themusicaddict