Happy New Year!

I know you're thinking: "Who say Happy New Year on January 5th?" I do, well at least this year I do. I have a #great reason why its taken me so long (Hint: its Sinful). 

Anyway, I wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year and wish you well with you resolutions. No particular resolutions for me, but I do have a few things I want to work on this year, namely: Posting More lol. 

This should be easy for the next few days weeks because I can just recap a few things from last year. 

On deck: Vegas vacation, BCS, 2010 Albums and Mixtape recap, Personal Statement excerpt. That by itself will give me more posts than the last two months combined lol. 

It will be a good year!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

So they say that this is the most wonderful time of the year right? Well it used to be for me, but I hasn't been of late. Maybe its because I'm getting older or maybe because its just sucks.

You see there was a time when this time meant something, but not now, especially not this year. Yea I don't like Christmas, its one of my least favorite holidays, but this post has nothing to do with Christmas, I'm talking about Capital One Bowl Week, and Bowl Season in general.



Man I used to love bowl season, football on every day for 2 weeks, it was excellent. I used to watch all the games, see some schools and players I hadn't seen play. It was exciting. Now-a-days not so much. (On an aside, I am happy that Michigan is back in a bowl game #GOBIGBLUE). There are simply too many bowls, 35 in all. That's 70 teams, out of 120 or so who make it to a bowl. What does that say for those who don't make it?

Really though the teams who don't make a bowl aren't the only ones who suck, so many who make games do as well. With all these new bowls sprouting up every year more and more teams get invites who don't deserve them. I know once you get 6 wins you're "Bowl Eligible" but are you really worthy? Some of these bowl games are so bad, you get two 6-6 aka .500 aka average at best teams going at it and its horrible. The damn  Mascot challenge is more competitive than some games. #Ridiculous.

The number of bowls is outrageous but I understand its a money thing, and people are paying to have their name on a bowl so the NCAA obliges, but come on. R+L Carriers, Beef 'O' Brady', the S.D. County Credit Union, Hyundai, GoDaddy.com and BBVA Compass are all sponsoring bowls. #Reallytho. Am I'm supposed to know who half these companies are and use their product once i watch the game? At least get some companies we know.

Man even the damn Yankees have a bowl, the Pinstripe Bowl. #EvilEmpire

Bowl week is supposed to be a nice lead up until January 1st, traditionally when all the premier bowls were played. Now a January 1st game doesn't mean as much because of the nonsense bowls after them. There are only 3 games that should be played after the 1st, the 2 BCS games that aren't played on the 1st and the National championship. In no way should the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl be the night before the National Championship.

Bowl Week, you used to be cool, now your just a joke. You used to be the most wonderful time of the year, now you're just a bunch of mediocre games that I might watch a little bit of.

Give Me My Damn Points!

A couple weeks ago a friend of mine (G) asked could he write a post for my blog...I said no doubt man just let me know. Well here it is:

Give Me My Damn Points!: America’s Selfish Attitude Towards Sports

It’s July 8, 2010. Millions of basketball fans and outsiders tune into ESPN to view Lebron James inevitable decision on what team he will join the following season. The anticipation has been building more than Dr. Dre dropping Detox as fans and "experts" alike have debated with their friends for months as to where Lebron would end up and why he’ll choose to play there.

Now the moment of truth has arrived, people are on the edge of their seats and Lebron makes his well-awaited announcement.

"In this fall, this is very tough I will be taking my talents to South Beach and joining the Miami Heat"

WHAT THE F***!!!!! This is probably what you yelled at your television screen. Unless you were this gentleman:

#bawse

In one horribly articulated moment basketball's golden child turned into America’s public enemy number one. (It has also been documented that at this very moment Tiger Woods hit the dougie for the first time...performing the popular dance number in celebration of him no longer being the most hated figure in sports.)

Every different geographical location in the nation had a different reason for hating Lebron. Chicago scoffed at Lebron who looked to provide the key to a championship with an already well assembled squad, New York fans could not seem to understand how Lebron could ignore the bright lights, big city, and Amare Stoudemire’s proposal to Lebron to "Do something special" and Cleveland...well their anger cannot be articulated with mere words.

Why was everyone so mad? I mean this is about Lebron’s family right, his friends, making the best decision to win a championship right? Right?...WRONG! 

This is about America’s selfish fascination and relationship with athletes. Every player who competes in a sport owes us something. If you get traded to a team in our hometown you better be ready to win a championship, because we need a reason to rock team apparel and brag to all of our friends about how our team won the NBA Finals, Superbowl, or World Series.

Team sports put extreme pressure on athletes to perform already, but then came the creation of Fantasy Football (and for some Basketball). The widely popular virtual competition puts friends against each other as they compete for bragging rights on who makes the better GM.

These matchups for ego, bragging rights, and sometimes cash have turned all who participate into unforgiving psychopaths with outlandish expectations. Each week we take our team of virtual soldiers onto the field, and hope and pray that they will produce enough to beat our friends so we can talk smack throughout the whole week. We yell at the TV screen, we slam our computer keyboards, often times yelling "GIVE ME MY DAMN POINTS!"

ESPN Alert: Michael Vick leaves the second quarter of his matchup with the Washington Redskins with a severe injury to his ribs. "WTF MAN, GET UP, GIVE ME MY POINTS!"

ESPN Alert: Austin Collie leaves his matchup against the Eagles with a concussion after taking a vicious blow to the head. "MAN GET YO ASS UP OFF THAT STRETCHER...GIVE ME MY DAMN POINTS!"

ESPN Alert: Detroit Lions lead the NY giants by 7 with 1:00 left in gametime. Looks like they’ll take a knee for the rest of the game to solidify their first road victory since 2008. "MAN F** YOUR FIRST ROAD VICTORY THROW A HAIL MARY TO CALVIN JOHNSON...GIVE ME MY DAMN POINTS!"

Sometimes I feel like the doctor:

 

 

Each and every week we put all consideration and empathy to the side, as we selfishly hope that athletes will give US a victory. It’s not about their families, it’s not about them being stand up guys, it’s not about their emotional and physical health, it’s about them producing enough so we can prove to our friends that we are smarter than them, and know more about sports than the Average Joes.

This is not just limited to Sports. We do this in most vehicles of entertainment. Look at when Kanye produced "808’s and Heartbreaks", or Common produced "Electric Circus" (although those two albums should never be mentioned in the same sentence). I’m sure when they were making the music on those albums it felt good to them. It was an emotional outlet, that helped them express how they felt at the time they recorded it. But because it was against the grain of what we are used to hearing, or what we’re used to them "producing" we felt disrespected and upset with them for their choice of self-expression musically.

Although we have extremely high expectations for all those who participate in these high-pressured forms of entertainment one can argue that they are in fact in the "Entertainment business." Their job day in and day out is to produce a product that is satisfying to the eyes, and pleasing to the ears no matter what personal hardships they have to go through to get there.

This is how we easily justify expecting the most out of these people. We don’t have to be concerned about their personal lives, and well-being, they just need to do their job and consistently achieve greatness the way each and every one of us individually defines it.

But who am I kidding? This is America! We can have whatever we want, whenever we want, our needs consistently being catered to is just part of the game. Because the customer's always right....right?

If you have a question or comment for G email him.

Getting by on Talent

How far does it go?

I was talking with my LB @KingovNY85 this weekend about football like we typically do every week. We talk about a lot of different things but one of the things we always get to is how overrated players are...especially corners. 2 in particular stand out: Antonio Cromartie and DeAngelo Hall. You're probably thinking what am I talking about, they both get mad picks. True they do, Cromartie 10 in '07, Hall 4 in one game a couple weeks ago, but it rarely has to do with their skill levels. 

 

Out of position but talent makes it up

Its mostly talent, supreme talent indeed: they're both freakishly athletic, lightning fast, and have ridiculously hops. A lot of their picks are a result of their talent but they're techniques as cornerbacks are not good. They both spend a lot of time gambling and trying to bait QBs into throwing their way and so they're out of position a lot. Sometimes they're able to pull down a ridiculous pick but most times they're getting picked on and beat. Many people think they are great corners but I think they just get by on talent. 

The risk paid off this time

Corners are the most overrated players in the NFL because people let them get by on talent. Of course talent is a necessity in the league but by itself it can't make you great. The superior corners, the ones who are really great combine technique & skill with their talent to create greatness. Think about Darrelle Revis, whom many consider the best corner in the league. His technique is impeccable, he's very skilled at covering guys. He rarely ever is out of position and rarely leaves his guy with enough space for a QB to throw it his way. If a QB then dares to throw he then uses his talent to make ridiculous picks.

Talent + Skill = Insane

Life operates the same way. There are tons of people who get by on talent, some of which are even confused as great. They can afford to just "show up" and do well and in some cases exceedingly well. They're in the minority though. Most of us won't become great on our talent alone. We'll try though. We'll see how far it will take us. This is how we are, we'll ride our talent because it does just enough for us, its taken us to a "pretty good" place. But what about becoming great? We hear more of people with the potential to be great then we do of people who are great. Few people match their talent with skill. People aren't interested in working hard and developing skill. They're perfectly fine getting by on talent, and we're perfectly fine with it too.

See how talent is doing on South Beach, 8-6

I don't want to be Hall or Cromartie. I don't want to ride my talent because I know it will blindly lead to people calling me great. I'll admit that I've done so thus far, and I've done pretty well. however, I know I won't get far if I keep doing so, I'll never reach my potential. As I get older and think about Real Life I realize that as talented as I might be its not enough to do what I want to do and become who I want to become. I'm trying to be great and I don't want it to be any doubts concerning my greatness. I want to be Revis, who might not be as talented as some of the other "great" corners but is so skilled that everyone agrees hes great. The only way to get there is to get skilled and combine it with my talents. I'm making a commitment to stop getting by on talent, what about you?

Oh almost forgot to say F*** my LB....he beat me in fantasy this weekend ending my playoff hopes. My talent never showed up lol.

Giants World Series Champs

Congrats to the San Francisco Giants who won the World Series on Monday night.

They defeated the Texas Rangers 3-1 in game 5 to win the series in 5 games (4-1). They defeated soon to be Yankee Cliff Lee on Monday (for the second time in the series) courtesy a Edgar Renteria 3-Run Home Run in the 7th inning. Renteria went on to be named World Series MVP. He's no stranger to World Series heroics though, he had the series winning hit in 1997 for the Marlins. He's been one of my favorite players every since, I pick his batting stance whenever I create myself in any baseball game.

I'm very happy for the Giants, as I was rooting for them. The main reason was because I owe them. Their departure from New York after the 1957 season led to the founding of my NY Mets. Our cap logo and the orange we wear comes from them. Guess I should say thank you.

I had other reasons too though. They're from the National League, where my allegiance lies. They play in one of the most beautiful stadiums in baseball (NL has all the best looking stadiums). Of course they also have Cody Ross (#sayitlikeross) who had a ridiculous postseason (.294 5 HRs 10 RBIs). It was probably because of his beard:

Speaking of #bawse beards, there was Brian Wilson who dyed his joint black:

Fear the Beard

They really represented the team concept: a group of low ego guys working together for the good of the team. They relied on mostly home grown talent,a bunch of cast-offs and journey men, and a rookie sensation: Catcher Buster Posey. They won games with great defense, timely hitting from unlikely sources (Renteria, Ross, Jaun Uribe, Aubrey Huff) and outrageous pitching. 2 time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum (also known as Big Time Timmy Jim) defeated Cliff Lee twice, Matt Cain didn't allow an Earned Run in the postseason and Madison Bumgarner threw 8 shoutout innings in game 4, dude is 21.

Congrats again Giants, you earned it. #Respect

Mets, hope you took notes.

The Return of the NBA

End of October mean NFL is in the swing of things, the BCS starts wrecking havoc, Baseball is preparing to crown their champ via the World Series and the NBA starts up, oh yea Hockey is back too.

Anyway tonight the NBA season begins. You might have heard that a few things happened this offseason. Talents went to South Beach, Boston brings in 2 O'Neals, Knicks land Stat and some new playoff hopes, CP3 requesting to be traded have a better team put around him, the continuous Melo Trade rumors, Kevin Durant's continued emergence as US grabbed Gold, the John Wall dance finds a home in DC, Lakers quietly re-arming....so many stories. (List of Free Agency Moves).

Experts are torn between crowning the Lakers or Heat as champs but most agree that Durant will notch the MVP ending LeBron's run. They are split about the Rookie of the Year battle between John Wall and Blake Griffin but solid on the Defensive Player of the Year. Who really cares about the coach of the year, most improved and 6th man? If you do go to ESPN it aint touching my blog lol.

Nonetheless the season starts tonight with Miami Thrice and suspects taking on the Boston Three Party plus the Sliding punch and the Big Shamrock.

I'll be at the Wagon with the #NYcrew enjoying brews and sending boos.

 

I'll be posting my NBA preview/thoughts/predictions later this week, I'll let you know...

Into The Grey

The majority of the choices we make are based in an extreme. We mostly choose one thing or the opposite, believe one or the other, or we align ourselves wit one set of people or a different, usually opposite set.

Usually these extremes exists in a dichotomous fashion and we are conditioned/socialized/trained to pick one. Either we're Democrat or Republican, Gay or Straight, Religious or don't believe in (a) God. Even on lower level things that we dealt with in schools or our communities we either had to be Cool or Lame, Smart or Popular, the dude whose down with everybody or the one who thinks he's too good.

Of course there are choices that exist outside of the traditional binary lens, but even those exist at extremes. This one, That one or That Other one.

How can we call our self a "smart, forward thinking" society when we force people to choose an extreme? Why must we always be in competition as opposed to collaboration? Is it possible for Democrats and Republicans to collaborate? (How many bipartisan policies have we had?) Is it possible to believe in God but not be religious? Can we be cool, popular and smart? Can I we want to make money and make change? Why can't we acknowledge the grey?

In actuality there are very few things in life that are indeed black and white, mostly everything lives in the grey area. Nothing is completely right or completely wrong. No method is the correct one all the time. Sometimes a mixture of black and white is needed, sometimes the answers are in the grey. But what happens when we go into the grey? Ostracism from society?

In statistics we learned about the Bell Normal Distribution Curve and how most ppl (95%) fall under the curve. Those who fall in the extreme areas are called outliers, exceptions to the rule. However, in real life its the opposite. If you not on an extreme you're an outlier. People who see both sides of an argument are "confused" "indecisive" "wishy-washy." We might say that we appreciate those who are able to compromise, that find middle ground but secretly we question them. We call them weak and say how they're not able to defend their position, stand up for what they believe in.

We need to move away from this line of thinking and become comfortable going into the grey. If we can truly appreciate compromise and middle grounds then we can collaborate more. Collaboration would lead to a lot more change, both sides would work together instead of fighting. We might make our choices in the black and white but change happens in the grey. If we are serious about making changes and getting better we need to go there.

Moss, Vikings...Peaches and Herb

No More

Once Again

Randy Moss and the Minnesota Vikings will be playing Peaches and Herb for a while. The Vikings pulled off a deal to bring back Moss, pairing him up with Brett Favre as they gear up for Super Bowl Run. Moss was great during his first stint with the Viks (90 TDs) but of course had several issues (over $100,000 in fines).

If he stays out of trouble and Favre regains his fire (probably will) the Vikings are going to be:

I hope this trade increases his numbers, I have him on 2 of my Fantasy teams lol

College Football, Much More Than A Game

Saw this story on E:60 about the Mealer family. Its a real powerful story of perseverance and shows the power of family, college football and Michigan Football.





Proud to be a Wolverine fan...

Been A Month...

When September rolls around something great happens, football takes over the planet. The start of the NFL season and of College Football greatly overshadows the final month of baseball. You know that battle between Football and baseball is a tough one, ask George Carlin. Well baseball doesn't come back on to the scene until October when it matters, Playoffs. Yes Coach Mora, Playoffs.

The road to the playoffs did go through September though. You may have missed all the excitement while watching football. Its okay I don't blame you, I haven't watched a baseball game since my NY Mess, uh Mets were in contention (Early August when they were 6 games out). Anyway here is a look at what you may have missed in September.

In the American League the Twins and Rangers had a pretty easy time closing their divisions out, clinching on the 21st and 26th respectively. The AL East race went down to the final weekend. The Yankees and Rays both clinched playoff births on the 28th but the Rays wound up winning the division on the last day of the season.

#respect

The AL Cy Young race was in full effect as the 3 leading candidates tried to make their cases. Felix Hernandez had a solid month, 5 starts, 38.1 innings and only allowing 7 runs. He picked up 3 wins, taking his season total to 13 (low for a Cy Young contender). He was denied a shot at 14 when the Mariners shut him down early. The other 2 contenders CC Sabathia and David Price faced off 2 times, on the 13th and then again on the 23rd. In the 1st meeting they both were dominate, each pitched scoreless 8 innings before giving way to the bullpens. The Rays ended up winning in extras. The second meeting was not as good for either but worse for CC as he gave up 7 Runs (and probably lost the Cy Young).

Jose Bautista hit his 50th Homerun on September 23rd  becoming the first player to hit 50 since 2007 when A-Rod (54) and Prince Fielder (50) did it. Of course it didn't come without PED use questions/suspicions. Bautista finished with 54 HRs. A-Rod had a pretty good month belting 9 HRs and driving in 26 Runs earning him AL Player of the month honors.

A-Rod's month was cool but Troy Tulowitzki had the best month of all-time. Tulo hit 16 HRs, including a stretch in which he hit 14 in 15 games. He also drove in 40 Runs while hitting .322 and slugging at .800. The month was so good it pushed him into the NL MVP race. Doubt he'll win it but he did get player of the month honors. Only one word to describe that month:

#BAWSE

The pennant races were equally crazy in the NL, aside from Cincinnati which clinched on the 28th. In the East Philly, which began September 3 games back of the Braves, went on to go 21-6 in the month, clinching the East on 27th and winning the division by 6 games. 

The battle in the West was like the final scenes of great western movie. The Padres entered their final 3 games against the Giants with a chance to either win the wild card or the division as they were.  After the first 2 games the Padres were down one game to the Giants for the NL West and tied with the Braves for the Wild card. The final day of the season had 3 teams fighting for 2 playoff spots, but the Padres had their bubble burst as they lost to the Giants and the Braves won vs the Phils, sending the Braves into the playoffs and the Pads packing.

#jealoused

Well the playoff matches are set: NL: Braves vs Giants and Phillies vs Reds. AL: Yanks vs Twins and Rangers vs Rays. Let the games begin....