We're baaaack. Or at least I am.
IT'S HOCKEY SEASON! FINALLY! Too bad our teams haven't exactly blown up the standings, huh (well, not yet, anyway)?
To the Rangers fans: Be patient with Drury. He's a fantastic player who needs time to adjust to his new surroundings. He'll be fine and remember: He has won a Stanley Cup already (he was on the Avalanche team that won the thing after they picked up Ray Bourque).
To the Sabres fans: Be patient with this team. They're starting to pick up the pace here. Seasons like last year don't happen often and growing pains were bound to happen with this very young team. But hey, how 'bout that Clarke MacArthur?
Sabres at Canadiens tonight. Sabres are going for four wins in a row after beating Montreal twice and Ottawa once at home (the Sabres' only divisional opponent based in the States is the Boston Bruins). This is the fifth meeting between the two teams...and it isn't even December yet. ENOUGH! NO MAS!
In other matters, my new website is up! Check it out: http://www.edklingenberger.com
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Slight Rant, Slight Random Post
Hockey season can't come fast enough. Still. Hell, we've already had a goalie fight and the season hasn't started yet. If that doesn't get you fired up for hockey, then you have no pulse.
But hey - at least the last weekend of the baseball season will prove to be VERY interesting and well worth watching. With the Mets and Diamondbacks collapsing (The Mets just kept finding ways to lose to the Nationals...and what's up with the D-backs losing a September series to the Pirates?!) and the Rockies deciding to kick ass and take names and the Padres...uh...yeah, I'm looking forward to watching THIS whole drama unfold.
Well, there's the slight random post. Now, on to the slight rant.
*ahem*
Donovan McNabb posted a "perfect" quarterback rating on the Lions this past Sunday in what had to have been the most entertaining football game since...well...Cincinnati and Cleveland the week before. Which is great - teams posting 40-plus points on each other or turning the ball over five or six times apiece is my kinda football game.
But here's my problem: The "perfect" quarterback rating is 158.3. Where the hell did THAT number come from?! In baseball, a perfect game is the opposing batters going 0 for 27. A perfect game in bowling is 300. A perfect football quarterback rating is 158.3?! What in the world is that decimal doing there? Earth to Football "Experts": If you want a number to associate with perfection in football, please have the decency to make it a whole number, will ya? Preferably a round number. Please? For the sake of humanity. And oh yeah - you don't make your point or "analysis" clearer by yelling it at us. You just make us hate you and mute our TVs. Kinda defeats the purpose of you even talking, let alone yelling, doesn't it?
Well, that felt good. Now, who's up for a little Street Fighter?
But hey - at least the last weekend of the baseball season will prove to be VERY interesting and well worth watching. With the Mets and Diamondbacks collapsing (The Mets just kept finding ways to lose to the Nationals...and what's up with the D-backs losing a September series to the Pirates?!) and the Rockies deciding to kick ass and take names and the Padres...uh...yeah, I'm looking forward to watching THIS whole drama unfold.
Well, there's the slight random post. Now, on to the slight rant.
*ahem*
Donovan McNabb posted a "perfect" quarterback rating on the Lions this past Sunday in what had to have been the most entertaining football game since...well...Cincinnati and Cleveland the week before. Which is great - teams posting 40-plus points on each other or turning the ball over five or six times apiece is my kinda football game.
But here's my problem: The "perfect" quarterback rating is 158.3. Where the hell did THAT number come from?! In baseball, a perfect game is the opposing batters going 0 for 27. A perfect game in bowling is 300. A perfect football quarterback rating is 158.3?! What in the world is that decimal doing there? Earth to Football "Experts": If you want a number to associate with perfection in football, please have the decency to make it a whole number, will ya? Preferably a round number. Please? For the sake of humanity. And oh yeah - you don't make your point or "analysis" clearer by yelling it at us. You just make us hate you and mute our TVs. Kinda defeats the purpose of you even talking, let alone yelling, doesn't it?
Well, that felt good. Now, who's up for a little Street Fighter?
Monday, September 17, 2007
Home Field Disadvantage
So here's something odd: Only one American League home team won yesterday...and that took a walk-off home run. This means every AL game yesterday went into the bottom of the ninth inning. Your one AL Home Team winner? The White Sox, winning on Jim Thome's walk-off 500th career home run. Every other AL home team lost.
The National League didn't fare all that better at home, either. Milwaukee, Colorado, Houston, and San Diego are your four NL home team winners.
Add that up, and MLB home teams were 5-10 yesterday. Root, root, root for the home team? I guess not...
And no, I'm not writing about football. Why? 'Cause I didn't watch any. Take that, football!
The National League didn't fare all that better at home, either. Milwaukee, Colorado, Houston, and San Diego are your four NL home team winners.
Add that up, and MLB home teams were 5-10 yesterday. Root, root, root for the home team? I guess not...
And no, I'm not writing about football. Why? 'Cause I didn't watch any. Take that, football!
Monday, September 10, 2007
Obligatory Opening Football Week Post
I can't believe I'm about to write about football, but here goes.
OK, OK, I like the start of football season. Why? 'Cause it means that hockey season is only a month away. That and we get to see coaches bust arteries in their heads when things don't go right.
So how bad is it to be a sports fan in Western New York right now? If you saw the absolute "Why don't you just kick me in the balls while you're at it?!" way that the Bills lost to the Broncos yesterday, you would know. By the way: 15-14?! Come on! Score some points, dammit! I know some people might disagree with me, but I don't care about defense! More points, please. Or cause more turnovers. Those are fun...
But speaking as a Western New Yorker forced to follow the Bills...hockey season can't come fast enough. GO SABRES!
So, did anybody else find it strange that the entertaining games were Detroit-Oakland and Giants-Cowboys? Especially the latter?
I have to admit, I kinda started to hate myself while watching Chicago-San Diego. That game would've been more entertaining if it was Cubs at Padres instead of Bears at Chargers.
The new Minus The Bear album "Planet of Ice" is pretty awesome. Probably not the album to start with if you're getting into the band - their previous album ("Menos el Oso") is your best bet there - but pick up the new one after that. One bear claw up
DOOMED!
OK, OK, I like the start of football season. Why? 'Cause it means that hockey season is only a month away. That and we get to see coaches bust arteries in their heads when things don't go right.
So how bad is it to be a sports fan in Western New York right now? If you saw the absolute "Why don't you just kick me in the balls while you're at it?!" way that the Bills lost to the Broncos yesterday, you would know. By the way: 15-14?! Come on! Score some points, dammit! I know some people might disagree with me, but I don't care about defense! More points, please. Or cause more turnovers. Those are fun...
But speaking as a Western New Yorker forced to follow the Bills...hockey season can't come fast enough. GO SABRES!
So, did anybody else find it strange that the entertaining games were Detroit-Oakland and Giants-Cowboys? Especially the latter?
I have to admit, I kinda started to hate myself while watching Chicago-San Diego. That game would've been more entertaining if it was Cubs at Padres instead of Bears at Chargers.
The new Minus The Bear album "Planet of Ice" is pretty awesome. Probably not the album to start with if you're getting into the band - their previous album ("Menos el Oso") is your best bet there - but pick up the new one after that. One bear claw up
DOOMED!
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Amazing...
I just saw part of a headline that read "Big Ben's Hourly Bongs". I first thought that headline referred to a certain quarterback and a drug habit...
...oh wait. The clock in London. Heh heh - never mind...
...oh wait. The clock in London. Heh heh - never mind...
Monday, July 30, 2007
Now THAT Was A Weekend...
Happy Almost August, peoples. This past weekend was home to a festival called BoulderFest here in Rochester. Naturally, since you're dealing with me here, I was one of many musicians pulling at least double duty during the course of the fest.
It all started Friday afternoon. I played drums for Journey of Jasmine late that afternoon (JoJ was the second band to play BoulderFest this year. Not a bad time slot, either). I stuck around to see The Isotopes that night - those guys were awesome. It takes a lot of guts to cover Edgar Winter's "Frankenstein" at all, let alone play it almost note for note perfectly.
Saturday, however, was The Day Of Madness. At around noontime, I took the stage playing percussion for my friend Dan Ball Jr. About three hours later, SMOCK finally took the stage and rocked the crap out of the place. I should know 'cause I definitely had sweat in my eyes a few times during the course of our set. But wait! - it doesn't end there. That night, I was invited to sit in on piano for the band CHEA! for their show (they got the band back together!) outside of the festival. So I did, and beat the crap out of a piano for about an hour and a half or so. At the end of the day, I was exhausted, my hands hurt, my legs were tired, and I probably smelled funny. Such a good day...
It doesn't end there. About 12:30 Sunday afternoon, I got a call from a friend of mine asking me to fill in for his band's percussionist. So, uh...I did. I scrambled down to his place for a quick rehearsal, went to BoulderFest again, and then found out their percussionist was actually going to make the show. But since they still wanted me to play and realized he and I played different hand drums, The Kitchen Sinks took the stage with two percussionists.
So there you have it. Five shows in three days. All in all, the shows went well - Journey of Jasmine especially so - and this weekend was completely amazing. Same time next year?
It all started Friday afternoon. I played drums for Journey of Jasmine late that afternoon (JoJ was the second band to play BoulderFest this year. Not a bad time slot, either). I stuck around to see The Isotopes that night - those guys were awesome. It takes a lot of guts to cover Edgar Winter's "Frankenstein" at all, let alone play it almost note for note perfectly.
Saturday, however, was The Day Of Madness. At around noontime, I took the stage playing percussion for my friend Dan Ball Jr. About three hours later, SMOCK finally took the stage and rocked the crap out of the place. I should know 'cause I definitely had sweat in my eyes a few times during the course of our set. But wait! - it doesn't end there. That night, I was invited to sit in on piano for the band CHEA! for their show (they got the band back together!) outside of the festival. So I did, and beat the crap out of a piano for about an hour and a half or so. At the end of the day, I was exhausted, my hands hurt, my legs were tired, and I probably smelled funny. Such a good day...
It doesn't end there. About 12:30 Sunday afternoon, I got a call from a friend of mine asking me to fill in for his band's percussionist. So, uh...I did. I scrambled down to his place for a quick rehearsal, went to BoulderFest again, and then found out their percussionist was actually going to make the show. But since they still wanted me to play and realized he and I played different hand drums, The Kitchen Sinks took the stage with two percussionists.
So there you have it. Five shows in three days. All in all, the shows went well - Journey of Jasmine especially so - and this weekend was completely amazing. Same time next year?
Monday, July 16, 2007
Spectacular Losing Day
Yesterday - the day after Bastille Day - I witnessed two absolutely spectacular losses on the baseball diamond. I saw a minor league beatdown in person, then a major league milestone on my TV. When it comes to losing, I won yesterday.
Let's start with the afternoon game. Yesterday afternoon, my friend and Journey of Jasmine bandmate Mike and I attended the Rochester Red Wings game against the Indianapolis Indians. The Red Wings got KILLED to the tune of 16-3. Three runs were walked in, one run was plunked in, and a grand slam was hit in the top of the second inning. When the top of the third inning ended with the score 9-0 in favor of Indianapolis, home team devotion quickly turned into morbid fascination for me. That and I almost got the sign language interpreter lady to crack during the singing of "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" by singing one syllable behind everybody else (Mike and I had moved up to the front row in the seventh inning, stealing vacated seats near home plate). All in all, the game was flat-out amazing...and it was Cal Ripken "jersey" night, so I got a free shirt out of it.
But that's not all! There was another team to watch! Last night's baseball game on ESPN (home of Quite Possibly The Dumbest Thing Mankind Has Ever Seen) was the St. Louis Cardinals at the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies were going for the sweep and trying to avoid a spectacular milestone in futility: They were just one loss away from 10,000 defeats as a franchise. However, this was not Philadelphia's night. Albert Pujols, fresh from shaking off his massive (for him) home run drought, crushed a pitch to the deepest part of the ballpark. He'd hit another home run later that night, but that first one was spectacular. That and the next batter went deep on the first pitch he saw after that mammoth blast from Uncle Albert. All told, the Cardinals hit six home runs as a team, won 10-2 (giving up Philadelphia's two runs in the ninth inning), and sent the Phillies into previously uncharted territory: 10,000 losses. Sure, I had to sit through a bunch of stupid tie-ins to the ESPYs during the game - for the record, the guys who made "Coming up next, The ESPYs" signs and held them up at the ballpark in Philadelphia should get the crap kicked out of them - but seeing a milestone loss like that was worth the effort. And then I turned off my TV the instant The ESPYs started.
In summary: I witnessed two big losses yesterday. It was amazing. A fun time was had by me.
UPDATE: As I was link hunting for this post, I stumbled onto this: Not only was my local-ish Really Minor League Team, the Batavia Muckdogs, no-hit yesterday, they were at the receiving end of a perfect game! Yet another spectacular loss from Spectacular Losing Day. Life doesn't get much better than this...
...or does it?
Let's start with the afternoon game. Yesterday afternoon, my friend and Journey of Jasmine bandmate Mike and I attended the Rochester Red Wings game against the Indianapolis Indians. The Red Wings got KILLED to the tune of 16-3. Three runs were walked in, one run was plunked in, and a grand slam was hit in the top of the second inning. When the top of the third inning ended with the score 9-0 in favor of Indianapolis, home team devotion quickly turned into morbid fascination for me. That and I almost got the sign language interpreter lady to crack during the singing of "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" by singing one syllable behind everybody else (Mike and I had moved up to the front row in the seventh inning, stealing vacated seats near home plate). All in all, the game was flat-out amazing...and it was Cal Ripken "jersey" night, so I got a free shirt out of it.
But that's not all! There was another team to watch! Last night's baseball game on ESPN (home of Quite Possibly The Dumbest Thing Mankind Has Ever Seen) was the St. Louis Cardinals at the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies were going for the sweep and trying to avoid a spectacular milestone in futility: They were just one loss away from 10,000 defeats as a franchise. However, this was not Philadelphia's night. Albert Pujols, fresh from shaking off his massive (for him) home run drought, crushed a pitch to the deepest part of the ballpark. He'd hit another home run later that night, but that first one was spectacular. That and the next batter went deep on the first pitch he saw after that mammoth blast from Uncle Albert. All told, the Cardinals hit six home runs as a team, won 10-2 (giving up Philadelphia's two runs in the ninth inning), and sent the Phillies into previously uncharted territory: 10,000 losses. Sure, I had to sit through a bunch of stupid tie-ins to the ESPYs during the game - for the record, the guys who made "Coming up next, The ESPYs" signs and held them up at the ballpark in Philadelphia should get the crap kicked out of them - but seeing a milestone loss like that was worth the effort. And then I turned off my TV the instant The ESPYs started.
In summary: I witnessed two big losses yesterday. It was amazing. A fun time was had by me.
UPDATE: As I was link hunting for this post, I stumbled onto this: Not only was my local-ish Really Minor League Team, the Batavia Muckdogs, no-hit yesterday, they were at the receiving end of a perfect game! Yet another spectacular loss from Spectacular Losing Day. Life doesn't get much better than this...
...or does it?
Thursday, July 12, 2007
OK, Break's Over, Back To Work
How strange was yesterday? No baseball to speak of at all unless you lucked out and found the Triple-A All-Star Game on TV (International League 7, Pacific Coast League 5). But The Most Boring Day In Sports is now behind us, thank God. So, PLAY BALL!
Best record at the break: Boston Red Sox (53-34)
Worst record at the break: Tampa Bay Devil Rays (34-53)
Interestingly enough, the division leaders haven't been able to put much real estate between them and their opponents so far this season. The Red Sox have the biggest division lead at 10 games. The next largest is Milwaukee in the NL Central, 4 and a half games ahead of the Cubs. The other four divisions are much tighter than that - none of those division leaders are ahead by more than 2 and a half games. If this keeps up, then these division titles won't be decided until late September/early October, which is stressful for the teams but great for the fans.
Here's another attention grabber: The Philadelphia Phillies are about to lose their 10,000th game as a franchise. Right now, they're sitting at 9,999. They aren't playing tonight, but that grand defeat could come as early as tomorrow night when they host the St. Louis Cardinals.
Two other intriguing match-ups this weekend:
Colorado at Milwaukee - the NL West's fourth place Rockies would be in third in the NL Central, but only a half-game behind the Cubs.
Detroit at Seattle - four-game set between one of the best teams in the bigs and the team few people expected to be good out of the AL West.
Speaking of Seattle, did you see Ichiro's inside-the-park home run in the All-Star Game? How friggin' cool was that?! That and the bottom of the ninth made that the most watchable All-Star Game in years. But Paula Cole singing "God Bless America"? Talk about 10 years too late. Between her and Counting Crows (?!) playing at the Home Run Derby, I almost thought I went 10 years back in time or something. Hootie and The Blowfish must've been booked solid this week...
Here's your All-Star Snub: Erik Bedard, starting pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles, leads the majors in strikeouts (149) but wasn't invited to San Francisco. His 3.40 ERA is good for 11th in the AL, just behind Chien-Ming Wang and just ahead of Josh Beckett. Incidentally, fellow Oriole Jeremy Guthrie is second in the AL with a 2.74 ERA. Go figure...
You're a kitty!
Best record at the break: Boston Red Sox (53-34)
Worst record at the break: Tampa Bay Devil Rays (34-53)
Interestingly enough, the division leaders haven't been able to put much real estate between them and their opponents so far this season. The Red Sox have the biggest division lead at 10 games. The next largest is Milwaukee in the NL Central, 4 and a half games ahead of the Cubs. The other four divisions are much tighter than that - none of those division leaders are ahead by more than 2 and a half games. If this keeps up, then these division titles won't be decided until late September/early October, which is stressful for the teams but great for the fans.
Here's another attention grabber: The Philadelphia Phillies are about to lose their 10,000th game as a franchise. Right now, they're sitting at 9,999. They aren't playing tonight, but that grand defeat could come as early as tomorrow night when they host the St. Louis Cardinals.
Two other intriguing match-ups this weekend:
Colorado at Milwaukee - the NL West's fourth place Rockies would be in third in the NL Central, but only a half-game behind the Cubs.
Detroit at Seattle - four-game set between one of the best teams in the bigs and the team few people expected to be good out of the AL West.
Speaking of Seattle, did you see Ichiro's inside-the-park home run in the All-Star Game? How friggin' cool was that?! That and the bottom of the ninth made that the most watchable All-Star Game in years. But Paula Cole singing "God Bless America"? Talk about 10 years too late. Between her and Counting Crows (?!) playing at the Home Run Derby, I almost thought I went 10 years back in time or something. Hootie and The Blowfish must've been booked solid this week...
Here's your All-Star Snub: Erik Bedard, starting pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles, leads the majors in strikeouts (149) but wasn't invited to San Francisco. His 3.40 ERA is good for 11th in the AL, just behind Chien-Ming Wang and just ahead of Josh Beckett. Incidentally, fellow Oriole Jeremy Guthrie is second in the AL with a 2.74 ERA. Go figure...
You're a kitty!
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Requiem For Some Laundry
I'm not the first to say this on the sports blogosphere, but it's worth noting: The Chicago White Sox are bad this year. Really bad. This team merely two years removed from winning a World Series title have aged quickly this season (four everyday players are on the DL right now) and their pitching is not in the same place it was during their championship campaign. Earlier this week, the White Sox took a 6-2 lead into the eighth inning against the Baltimore Orioles. Game over, right? Nope. The Orioles scored three runs in the eighth and two runs in the ninth off of Sox relievers (closer Bobby Jenks officially blew the save in the ninth and took the loss) and won the game 6-5. But here's another scary statistic: The White Sox were 4-14 in interleague play. You know, The National League's Exercise In Futility That The American League Wins Every Year Not Named The All-Star Game. They only won FOUR games against the NL this year! And it's not like they had tough Interleague opponents, either - They played the Cubs (lost five of six, getting swept in the series in their own ballpark), Astros (lost 2 of 3), Phillies (lost all 3), Pirates (lost 2 of 3), and Marlins (lost 2 of 3). Murderers' Row Of Mediocrity right there...
Possibly the scariest statistic of them all: As of today, they only have one more win than the Kansas City Royals. One. That's it.
And then there was yesterday. Yesterday, the Minnesota Twins visited the south side of Chicago for a doubleheader and kicked the crap out of them. The first game was a football score - Minnesota 20, Chicago 14. The Sox committed five errors and the Twins DIDN'T score in the sixth and ninth innings. The scary thing is it would've been more lopsided if a Twins batter didn't ground into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the eighth.
But that was the first game. But what happened in the nightcap? Simply put, the Twins kept hitting but the White Sox stopped. Morneau went deep three times (hat trick?) as the Twins piled up one more home run (six) than Sox hits (five) in game two. Twins 12, Sox 0.
If that wasn't enough, the White Sox will have to deal with BOOF! in today's game. Good luck to 'em. Poor southsiders - they gotta deal with Cubs fans all summer long 'cause the better Chicago team is playing in Wrigleyville this year...
This guy is pretty awesome
Possibly the scariest statistic of them all: As of today, they only have one more win than the Kansas City Royals. One. That's it.
And then there was yesterday. Yesterday, the Minnesota Twins visited the south side of Chicago for a doubleheader and kicked the crap out of them. The first game was a football score - Minnesota 20, Chicago 14. The Sox committed five errors and the Twins DIDN'T score in the sixth and ninth innings. The scary thing is it would've been more lopsided if a Twins batter didn't ground into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the eighth.
But that was the first game. But what happened in the nightcap? Simply put, the Twins kept hitting but the White Sox stopped. Morneau went deep three times (hat trick?) as the Twins piled up one more home run (six) than Sox hits (five) in game two. Twins 12, Sox 0.
If that wasn't enough, the White Sox will have to deal with BOOF! in today's game. Good luck to 'em. Poor southsiders - they gotta deal with Cubs fans all summer long 'cause the better Chicago team is playing in Wrigleyville this year...
This guy is pretty awesome
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Happy Fourth of July!
Woo hoo! It's Independence Day! In honor of America's Founding Fathers, let's celebrate! Drink some beer, cook some meat, watch some baseball, and blow some crap up (or at least watch other people blow crap up)!
Enjoy the holiday.
Enjoy the holiday.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Happy Canada Day!
Yep, you read that right. July 1st is Canada Day. So crack open a Molson or Labatt and watch hockey highlights on YouTube in honor of our neighbors to the north! Beauty, eh?
Speaking of hockey: Apparently, Daniel Briere is a Flyer. He signed a hefty 8-year deal with a "no-movement clause" to play in Philadelphia. That leaves me to say this: What in the world were they thinking? 8 years?! Don't get me wrong - I'm gonna miss seeing him in a Sabres' uniform and I wish him the best of luck in Flyer Country. BUT, you can almost guarantee he doesn't have 8 full seasons left in him. At least not without him turning fragile and missing at least 30 games a year at the tail end of that deal. Yes, Briere is a good offensive presence and should work well with Simon Gagne, but this is almost DiPietro-like insanity from the Flyers' front office here. I'm still completely confused by the deal...
I just found out Chris Drury and Scott Gomez both signed with the New York Rangers. I'll definitely miss Drury in a Slugs jersey. That dude is simply awesome. These are fantastic pickups for the Blueshirts. I'll leave the rest of the analysis from the Rangers' perspective to McNally...especially since I know full well he's probably having a moral quandary because Gomez used to play for the Devils.
So what's next for the Sabres? Slug Country was hoping that at least one of the two co-captains would stick around in Western New York. But since neither of them stayed - but Adam Mair resigned! - this clearly means the team belongs to guys like Tim Connelly, Ales Kotalik, Thomas Vanek, Maxim Afinogenov, and Jason Pominville. In hindsight, the writing was more than likely on the wall for the co-captains last year - Briere in particular - when Connelly got a contract extension before the beginning of last season. So overall, I have very mixed emotions about today. On one hand, I know full well I will miss watching Chris Drury and Daniel Briere. But on the other hand, Pominville-Afinogenov-Connelly is a REALLY scary line, so I still like this team. I'm personally hoping they can keep Vanek (though he's restricted) and Zubrus right now...
I'm watching baseball right now. Because NOTHING says "Canada Day" like a baseball game in Detroit, Michigan. Though reigning AL MVP Justin Morneau is Canadian...
The new Devin Townsend album is friggin' awesome. Full review coming soon.
Do it again Do it again Do it again Do it again Do it again Do it again Do it again Do it again
Speaking of hockey: Apparently, Daniel Briere is a Flyer. He signed a hefty 8-year deal with a "no-movement clause" to play in Philadelphia. That leaves me to say this: What in the world were they thinking? 8 years?! Don't get me wrong - I'm gonna miss seeing him in a Sabres' uniform and I wish him the best of luck in Flyer Country. BUT, you can almost guarantee he doesn't have 8 full seasons left in him. At least not without him turning fragile and missing at least 30 games a year at the tail end of that deal. Yes, Briere is a good offensive presence and should work well with Simon Gagne, but this is almost DiPietro-like insanity from the Flyers' front office here. I'm still completely confused by the deal...
I just found out Chris Drury and Scott Gomez both signed with the New York Rangers. I'll definitely miss Drury in a Slugs jersey. That dude is simply awesome. These are fantastic pickups for the Blueshirts. I'll leave the rest of the analysis from the Rangers' perspective to McNally...especially since I know full well he's probably having a moral quandary because Gomez used to play for the Devils.
So what's next for the Sabres? Slug Country was hoping that at least one of the two co-captains would stick around in Western New York. But since neither of them stayed - but Adam Mair resigned! - this clearly means the team belongs to guys like Tim Connelly, Ales Kotalik, Thomas Vanek, Maxim Afinogenov, and Jason Pominville. In hindsight, the writing was more than likely on the wall for the co-captains last year - Briere in particular - when Connelly got a contract extension before the beginning of last season. So overall, I have very mixed emotions about today. On one hand, I know full well I will miss watching Chris Drury and Daniel Briere. But on the other hand, Pominville-Afinogenov-Connelly is a REALLY scary line, so I still like this team. I'm personally hoping they can keep Vanek (though he's restricted) and Zubrus right now...
I'm watching baseball right now. Because NOTHING says "Canada Day" like a baseball game in Detroit, Michigan. Though reigning AL MVP Justin Morneau is Canadian...
The new Devin Townsend album is friggin' awesome. Full review coming soon.
Do it again Do it again Do it again Do it again Do it again Do it again Do it again Do it again
Monday, June 25, 2007
...And Another Season Of Interleague Play Is In The Books
2007's round of Interleague Play came to a screeching halt last night with the conclusion of the Tigers/Braves and Astros/Rangers games. I watched the former last night and it turns out the latter was the more interesting game. Sigh...
So once again, the AL beat the NL senseless and took its lunch money. In other shocking news from The Vatican, turns out The Pope is catholic. I broke it down by division, and here's what that looks like:
AL East: 45-45, .500
AL Central: 48-42, .533
AL West: 44-28, .611
NL East: 38-43, .469
NL Central: 43-50, .462
NL West: 34-44, .436
So the AL won 137-115. The shining examples of AL's dominance were the Tigers and Angels, who each went 14-4 in Interleague play this season. Meanwhile, only six NL teams finished interleague play with winning records. The only NL teams to finish more than one game over .500 against the AL were the Cubs and the Rockies. The 8-4 Interleague Cubs clearly took advantage of their limited schedule, winning 5 of 6 against the White Sox (including the sweep this weekend), who had their asses handed to them by the NL this year (4-14). You could point out the fact that the Rockies swept the Yankees earlier this week, but they promptly got swept in Toronto this weekend, so that doesn't explain their 10-8 Interleague record. Series wins against Tampa Bay, Baltimore, and Boston explains it. Though they did lose a series to the Royals. Go figure...
So what now? I'm not really a baseball purist, but I'm thinking Interleague Play should be scrapped. The AL has always won Interleague play (please leave a comment if I'm wrong about this) since its inception. The other sad reality is the lack of intriguing matchups. You have five (Mets/Yankees, Cubs/White Sox, Astros/Rangers, Dodgers/Angels, Giants/Athletics) and that's kinda it. I also don't think it's an accurate representation of how a team fares against the opposing league. Think about it: This season, the Yankees play as many games against the Red Sox - 18 - as they did against the entire National League. AND the Cubs only played 12 games against the American League - half of which were against a horrible White Sox team! So yeah - either add more Interleague games to balance it out a little more or scrap the whole thing.
But at least we got to see a no-hitter during Interleague play this year. We almost had two...
So once again, the AL beat the NL senseless and took its lunch money. In other shocking news from The Vatican, turns out The Pope is catholic. I broke it down by division, and here's what that looks like:
AL East: 45-45, .500
AL Central: 48-42, .533
AL West: 44-28, .611
NL East: 38-43, .469
NL Central: 43-50, .462
NL West: 34-44, .436
So the AL won 137-115. The shining examples of AL's dominance were the Tigers and Angels, who each went 14-4 in Interleague play this season. Meanwhile, only six NL teams finished interleague play with winning records. The only NL teams to finish more than one game over .500 against the AL were the Cubs and the Rockies. The 8-4 Interleague Cubs clearly took advantage of their limited schedule, winning 5 of 6 against the White Sox (including the sweep this weekend), who had their asses handed to them by the NL this year (4-14). You could point out the fact that the Rockies swept the Yankees earlier this week, but they promptly got swept in Toronto this weekend, so that doesn't explain their 10-8 Interleague record. Series wins against Tampa Bay, Baltimore, and Boston explains it. Though they did lose a series to the Royals. Go figure...
So what now? I'm not really a baseball purist, but I'm thinking Interleague Play should be scrapped. The AL has always won Interleague play (please leave a comment if I'm wrong about this) since its inception. The other sad reality is the lack of intriguing matchups. You have five (Mets/Yankees, Cubs/White Sox, Astros/Rangers, Dodgers/Angels, Giants/Athletics) and that's kinda it. I also don't think it's an accurate representation of how a team fares against the opposing league. Think about it: This season, the Yankees play as many games against the Red Sox - 18 - as they did against the entire National League. AND the Cubs only played 12 games against the American League - half of which were against a horrible White Sox team! So yeah - either add more Interleague games to balance it out a little more or scrap the whole thing.
But at least we got to see a no-hitter during Interleague play this year. We almost had two...
Saturday, June 23, 2007
A Young Person's Guide To All Things METAL!!!
Have you ever been completely confused by the many subgenres in the world of heavy metal? Do you need help deciphering what is and what isn't metal? Well, fear not, grasshopper, 'cause I'm here to help. With this handy dandy little guide, you should be able to understand what goes where in the world of metal and what is most definitely not metal. So, turn up your computer speakers as loud as you can and let's rock.
First off, let's talk Hard Rock. What's the difference between Hard Rock and Heavy Metal? Well, that's simple. Heavy Metal is metal, while Hard Rock isn't. For example, take AC/DC and Wolfmother. Both are Hard Rock bands. Almost metal, but not quite. I think it has something to do with actual melodies and the distortion pedals not set on full gain. A band like Clutch fits into this category as well.
Now, let's get into METAL!!!. The first stop is the straight-up Traditional Metal.
Traditional Metal - This is a good place to start on your journey into all things heavy. To get into Traditional metal, look for early Metallica (of course, it wouldn't be metal of me to say anything nice about more recent Metallica. Too bad we all know damn well every late-period Metallica basher still owns Reload and St. Anger...), Megadeth, Anthrax, Iron Maiden, Testament, Pantera (one of my personal favorites) and - for a more modern example - Avenged Sevenfold. They definitely picked up the Traditional Metal flag in recent years, despite (due to?) the overt cheesiness of their lyrical content. I should probably mention Godsmack here, but I won't because Godsmack sucks.
Thrash/Speed Metal - This is the genre for people who wish NOFX was heavy and Pantera played faster. Sadly for the latter, their only serious foray into speed metal was the awesome "Fucking Hostile". But let's talk bands. Once again, early Metallica comes into play here (specifically, the first two albums). But besides them, look into bands like Slayer, Sepultura, Suicidal Tendencies, and Overkill, with Strapping Young Lad leading the modern charge.
Alternative Metal - This is generally what happened to metal when the 1980's ended. Practitioners Of The Metal started trying new ideas and generally started to slow tempos down, favoring power and groove over raw speed. I'm lumping nu-metal and rap metal in here 'cause I don't wanna talk about them by themselves. Anyway, here is where you look for bands like System of a Down, Snot (who both have their own speed metal tendencies), Rage Against The Machine, Sevendust, Slipknot, Mudvayne, and so on. But not Fall Out Boy. Fall Out Boy is not metal.
Industrial Metal - This is for people who wish their metal sounded more electronic-y and colder than most metal does. Classic examples: Fear Factory and White Zombie. Some people think Strapping Young Lad is Industrial metal, but I'm not buying that one.
Progressive Metal - metal for math geeks (speaking of which, I'm lumping math metal into this one). This is metal for people who can stand some cheese and live for time changes and extended suites. Or, in the case of the most excellent "hardcore meets prog metal" Dillinger Escape Plan, time changes and a purveying sense of confusion. The band long considered the cream of the progressive metal crop is Dream Theater. Judging by the Dream Theater rip-off acts that have sent me friend requests on Myspace, That consideration still holds true. But besides them, look for bands like Symphony X, Evergrey, Mudvayne (math metal), and definitely Opeth (if you don't mind a touch of death in your prog metal). If you also want Progressive metal but you don't want those pesky lyrics and singers getting in the way, then look no further than Liquid Tension Experiment and Planet X.
Hair Metal - I'm just acknowledging its existence. It exists. Now, if you want REAL metal cheese, look no further than...
Power Metal - Demons and Dragons and Swords and the NIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!! Referred to by a few of my friends as "Viking Metal", power metal is just that. Power. And cheese, holy CRAP is there cheese to be found. It's like a metal cheese wheel rolling down a steep cliff (or, uh, hill). Frankly, you wind up asking yourself if they're really being serious with this stuff as you listen to it. The most obvious example is Manowar. But, also check out bands like Blind Guardian, Sonata Arctica (power metal with a progressive edge - see Symphony X), Dragonforce (waaay over the top - you can tell they don't take themselves too seriously), and Mastodon (a band that found a way to make power metal cool).
Death Metal - And here is where you find the "cookie monster" style vocals. This is for metal heads who don't appreciate all that "melody" nonsense. But in reality, you'll find some musicians who know what the hell they're doing in here as well. Your death metal purveyor is, well, Death. But, you'll also find bands like Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Obituary, and Morbid Angel here. And, of course...Dethklok, anyone?
Black metal - Now, I've always thought that this was stretching a little. However, you'll find differences between Black and Death metal if you look hard enough. Black metal is kinda like Death metal's goth-y little brother. And yes, Black metal practitioners tend to wear makeup onstage and in press photos (but no colors outside of black and white. They call it "corpsepaint"). Here, you'll find bands like Dimmu Borgir, Satyricon, Immortal, Mayhem, and Old Man's Child. I probably should talk about Cradle of Filth here, but I'm not going to because nobody listens to Cradle of Filth on their own volition.
Doom/Sludge metal - DOOM! DOOOOOOM! Here is a subgenre that really sacrifices speed for vibe and power. This is also probably the only type of metal that doesn't make for good driving music. The Patient Man's Metal, Doom/Sludge metal works slowly and takes its time, but still knows where it's going. The clearest example is Type O Negative here (though some call them Goth Metal, which is Black Metal with a sense of melody), but also check out bands like Eyehategod, Isis, Corrosion of Conformity, and Cathedral.
Metalcore - Possibly the dumbest name of all the metal subgenres. This is a genre that combines the music of Traditional and Thrash metal with vocals straight out of hardcore. This is probably the logical evolution from a band like Biohazard. If you want Metalcore, you'll be looking for bands like Hatebreed, Chimaira, Diecast (if you want some singing to go with your blood-curdling screams), Evergreen Terrace, and Lamb of God to a lesser extent.
Grindcore - The Metal of Confusion. Noisy, hard to understand, surprisingly nimble, and over before you know what hit you, let alone figure out what the hell is going on. But most of the time, when you dig below the surface, you discover that they don't take themselves as seriously as you might think. Believe me, that can be fun in its own right. Your premier grindcore band is The Locust (I saw them live once. It was confusing but still fun), but also look for bands like A.C. and The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza.
This leaves me with the current crop of metal permeating airwaves as we speak. It has some of the same ideals as Metalcore but with some more Traditional and Thrash elements. That and most of them feature frontmen that can seriously sing as well as scream their brains out. I don't know what to call it, so I won't bother. I'll just enjoy it. For this, check out Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage, God Forbid, Unearth, and Mastodon (if you want some power metal to go with that).
Welp, there you have it. I've probably left some subgenres off of this list, but meh...whatever. To wrap this up, here are my 10 favorite metal bands in no particular order except perhaps for number 1:
1. Pantera
2. Opeth
3. System of a Down
4. Strapping Young Lad
5. Mudvayne
6. Deftones
7. Dillinger Escape Plan
8. Mastodon
9. Metallica
10. Black Sabbath (the legends)
Happy Metaling.
First off, let's talk Hard Rock. What's the difference between Hard Rock and Heavy Metal? Well, that's simple. Heavy Metal is metal, while Hard Rock isn't. For example, take AC/DC and Wolfmother. Both are Hard Rock bands. Almost metal, but not quite. I think it has something to do with actual melodies and the distortion pedals not set on full gain. A band like Clutch fits into this category as well.
Now, let's get into METAL!!!. The first stop is the straight-up Traditional Metal.
Traditional Metal - This is a good place to start on your journey into all things heavy. To get into Traditional metal, look for early Metallica (of course, it wouldn't be metal of me to say anything nice about more recent Metallica. Too bad we all know damn well every late-period Metallica basher still owns Reload and St. Anger...), Megadeth, Anthrax, Iron Maiden, Testament, Pantera (one of my personal favorites) and - for a more modern example - Avenged Sevenfold. They definitely picked up the Traditional Metal flag in recent years, despite (due to?) the overt cheesiness of their lyrical content. I should probably mention Godsmack here, but I won't because Godsmack sucks.
Thrash/Speed Metal - This is the genre for people who wish NOFX was heavy and Pantera played faster. Sadly for the latter, their only serious foray into speed metal was the awesome "Fucking Hostile". But let's talk bands. Once again, early Metallica comes into play here (specifically, the first two albums). But besides them, look into bands like Slayer, Sepultura, Suicidal Tendencies, and Overkill, with Strapping Young Lad leading the modern charge.
Alternative Metal - This is generally what happened to metal when the 1980's ended. Practitioners Of The Metal started trying new ideas and generally started to slow tempos down, favoring power and groove over raw speed. I'm lumping nu-metal and rap metal in here 'cause I don't wanna talk about them by themselves. Anyway, here is where you look for bands like System of a Down, Snot (who both have their own speed metal tendencies), Rage Against The Machine, Sevendust, Slipknot, Mudvayne, and so on. But not Fall Out Boy. Fall Out Boy is not metal.
Industrial Metal - This is for people who wish their metal sounded more electronic-y and colder than most metal does. Classic examples: Fear Factory and White Zombie. Some people think Strapping Young Lad is Industrial metal, but I'm not buying that one.
Progressive Metal - metal for math geeks (speaking of which, I'm lumping math metal into this one). This is metal for people who can stand some cheese and live for time changes and extended suites. Or, in the case of the most excellent "hardcore meets prog metal" Dillinger Escape Plan, time changes and a purveying sense of confusion. The band long considered the cream of the progressive metal crop is Dream Theater. Judging by the Dream Theater rip-off acts that have sent me friend requests on Myspace, That consideration still holds true. But besides them, look for bands like Symphony X, Evergrey, Mudvayne (math metal), and definitely Opeth (if you don't mind a touch of death in your prog metal). If you also want Progressive metal but you don't want those pesky lyrics and singers getting in the way, then look no further than Liquid Tension Experiment and Planet X.
Hair Metal - I'm just acknowledging its existence. It exists. Now, if you want REAL metal cheese, look no further than...
Power Metal - Demons and Dragons and Swords and the NIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!! Referred to by a few of my friends as "Viking Metal", power metal is just that. Power. And cheese, holy CRAP is there cheese to be found. It's like a metal cheese wheel rolling down a steep cliff (or, uh, hill). Frankly, you wind up asking yourself if they're really being serious with this stuff as you listen to it. The most obvious example is Manowar. But, also check out bands like Blind Guardian, Sonata Arctica (power metal with a progressive edge - see Symphony X), Dragonforce (waaay over the top - you can tell they don't take themselves too seriously), and Mastodon (a band that found a way to make power metal cool).
Death Metal - And here is where you find the "cookie monster" style vocals. This is for metal heads who don't appreciate all that "melody" nonsense. But in reality, you'll find some musicians who know what the hell they're doing in here as well. Your death metal purveyor is, well, Death. But, you'll also find bands like Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Obituary, and Morbid Angel here. And, of course...Dethklok, anyone?
Black metal - Now, I've always thought that this was stretching a little. However, you'll find differences between Black and Death metal if you look hard enough. Black metal is kinda like Death metal's goth-y little brother. And yes, Black metal practitioners tend to wear makeup onstage and in press photos (but no colors outside of black and white. They call it "corpsepaint"). Here, you'll find bands like Dimmu Borgir, Satyricon, Immortal, Mayhem, and Old Man's Child. I probably should talk about Cradle of Filth here, but I'm not going to because nobody listens to Cradle of Filth on their own volition.
Doom/Sludge metal - DOOM! DOOOOOOM! Here is a subgenre that really sacrifices speed for vibe and power. This is also probably the only type of metal that doesn't make for good driving music. The Patient Man's Metal, Doom/Sludge metal works slowly and takes its time, but still knows where it's going. The clearest example is Type O Negative here (though some call them Goth Metal, which is Black Metal with a sense of melody), but also check out bands like Eyehategod, Isis, Corrosion of Conformity, and Cathedral.
Metalcore - Possibly the dumbest name of all the metal subgenres. This is a genre that combines the music of Traditional and Thrash metal with vocals straight out of hardcore. This is probably the logical evolution from a band like Biohazard. If you want Metalcore, you'll be looking for bands like Hatebreed, Chimaira, Diecast (if you want some singing to go with your blood-curdling screams), Evergreen Terrace, and Lamb of God to a lesser extent.
Grindcore - The Metal of Confusion. Noisy, hard to understand, surprisingly nimble, and over before you know what hit you, let alone figure out what the hell is going on. But most of the time, when you dig below the surface, you discover that they don't take themselves as seriously as you might think. Believe me, that can be fun in its own right. Your premier grindcore band is The Locust (I saw them live once. It was confusing but still fun), but also look for bands like A.C. and The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza.
This leaves me with the current crop of metal permeating airwaves as we speak. It has some of the same ideals as Metalcore but with some more Traditional and Thrash elements. That and most of them feature frontmen that can seriously sing as well as scream their brains out. I don't know what to call it, so I won't bother. I'll just enjoy it. For this, check out Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage, God Forbid, Unearth, and Mastodon (if you want some power metal to go with that).
Welp, there you have it. I've probably left some subgenres off of this list, but meh...whatever. To wrap this up, here are my 10 favorite metal bands in no particular order except perhaps for number 1:
1. Pantera
2. Opeth
3. System of a Down
4. Strapping Young Lad
5. Mudvayne
6. Deftones
7. Dillinger Escape Plan
8. Mastodon
9. Metallica
10. Black Sabbath (the legends)
Happy Metaling.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Back...
I thought about using something like “McNally’s Back” or “The Return of McNally”, but quite frankly, both of those titles are really dumb. Let’s just say rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. My absence was part writer’s block, and part new girlfriend. Though writers block is easy to dismiss, sports typically becomes secondary in lieu of potential… well you know. Nevertheless I have returned, which will no doubt alleviate the worries of all four readers. Moving on…
Basketball-
Tony Parker won the MVP, and this is why I hate the NBA. What kind of a world do we live in where a French native is a finals MVP? This would never happen if Hunter S. Thompson were still alive. Not that he has direct control over such things, but damnit, he just wouldn’t let it happen. Well at least the series was exciting *insert sarcastic tone here*. Is it me, or have all the Spurs’ championships been the equivalent to watching Classic Curling Competitions (Only on VS)? Is the East just that non-competitive or are the Spurs just that mundane. Probably both, but that’s ok, with both Durant and Oden going to Western Conference teams, the East is due for a comeback in about 10 years. Which reminds me; let us take this moment to mourn the Celtics’ loss. *Ahem* Ha-ha Boston. All that time spent losing, just to lose where it counted the most. Normally I’d be an advocate for teams associated with Irish culture; too bad Boston fans are total Massholes…
Sadly, I don’t think Lebron is ever going to win a championship, at least not with the Cavaliers. I know he evidently made “LeLeap” or whatever transcendence that basketball players make, but he was unable to duplicate his performance in the finals. Just ask A-Rod what its like to have various impressive accolades without a ring. Probably doesn’t seem like much of a consolation. I detest people who are content with just “getting there”. It’s the sports equivalent of getting dumped and saying “Well it’s for the best”. Lebron is too good for the Cav’s to have potential for a high draft pick, which means he’ll probably never find his Pippen or Shaq while he is under the Cleveland organization. It’s really unfortunate because I actually like Lebron. Those “The Lebrons” commercials are hysterical. He’s not a whiny bitch like Kobe, and he doesn’t make those annoying T-Mobile commercials like Dwayne Wade. And he’s not French, although the name Lebron is a little suspect. These are the things that make a champion.
Hockey-
Ladies and Aquatic Mammals with Webbed Feet, may I present your 2007 Stanley Cup Champions! I was thrilled to see the Ducks win, if for no other reason then this was the first time since the Avs beat the Devils that the team I was favoring was the team to hoist the Cup. I just couldn’t get excited about Ottawa, although the H-A-S line was pretty entertaining throughout. Still, Ottawa beat Buffalo, which left a sour taste in my mouth. You kind of always hope the team that sends your team golfing are the ones to win it all. This transference occurs simply because you want to say your team was beaten by the best. Unless of course you team lost to the New Jersey Devils. Have I made enough compulsive anti-Devils comments at this point for readers to just assume their implication? This will save me some time in the future.
Although I enjoyed the Duck’s winning the Cup, I was a little disappointed in the series. 5 games isn’t very exciting, although each individual game was great to watch. Especially game 3, I enjoyed that one tremendously. I was also tremendously wasted at the time, which might account for some entertainment value. I hate to admit it, but I don’t particularly like Chris Pronger anymore. I understand that he is a defenseman, and a certain amount of physicality is a requisite for the position, but two playoff (PLAYOFFS? PLAYOFFS? Sorry random Mora moment) suspensions are two too many. There wasn’t much doubt as to the appropriateness of each suspension either, unless you’re a resident of Southern California. Scott Burnside put it best, he’s lucky he didn’t cost his team the championship. And I hate agreeing with Burnside, which just adds to my dislike of Pronger.
Before I get to Baseball, I would like to designate this part of the blog as a moment of silence for the recently incarcerated Paris Hilton.
Wait for it…
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL! You know, its circumstances like these that really make me believe in a higher power. There’s enough media coverage to start calling this “The Simple Life: Prison Sentence”. I mean really, how great is this? All we’re missing is a Lindsey Lohan/Britney Spears telethon called “Live from Rehab: Free Paris Now!” I really believe society needs events like these, to remind us that there are a lot of stupid people out there, so live with caution.
Baseball-
The New York Yankees have won 9 straight. 9 Straight! That’s quite an accomplishment considering these particulars:
1) Their pitching staff is the most diluted and overworked in baseball.
2) Both John Sterling and Michael Kay are still employed, which is detrimental to team morale.
3) Their level of play has been wildly inconsistent, which is what you want with a 200 million dollar payroll.
4) George Steinbrenner has been eerily quiet, which leads me to believe he has either been killed or kidnapped.
5) Joe Torre is a flat out narcoleptic. Not that I don’t like Joe. Seriously though, get help Mr. Torre.
Are the Yankees finally turning things around? Possibly, although they did just get shut out by the Mets. I don’t know it’s too early to tell, too many question marks, too many geriatric starters. They have been playing some fantastic baseball lately, it’s really a shame they just can’t play the Pirates and the D-Backs for the rest of the regular season.
Basketball-
Tony Parker won the MVP, and this is why I hate the NBA. What kind of a world do we live in where a French native is a finals MVP? This would never happen if Hunter S. Thompson were still alive. Not that he has direct control over such things, but damnit, he just wouldn’t let it happen. Well at least the series was exciting *insert sarcastic tone here*. Is it me, or have all the Spurs’ championships been the equivalent to watching Classic Curling Competitions (Only on VS)? Is the East just that non-competitive or are the Spurs just that mundane. Probably both, but that’s ok, with both Durant and Oden going to Western Conference teams, the East is due for a comeback in about 10 years. Which reminds me; let us take this moment to mourn the Celtics’ loss. *Ahem* Ha-ha Boston. All that time spent losing, just to lose where it counted the most. Normally I’d be an advocate for teams associated with Irish culture; too bad Boston fans are total Massholes…
Sadly, I don’t think Lebron is ever going to win a championship, at least not with the Cavaliers. I know he evidently made “LeLeap” or whatever transcendence that basketball players make, but he was unable to duplicate his performance in the finals. Just ask A-Rod what its like to have various impressive accolades without a ring. Probably doesn’t seem like much of a consolation. I detest people who are content with just “getting there”. It’s the sports equivalent of getting dumped and saying “Well it’s for the best”. Lebron is too good for the Cav’s to have potential for a high draft pick, which means he’ll probably never find his Pippen or Shaq while he is under the Cleveland organization. It’s really unfortunate because I actually like Lebron. Those “The Lebrons” commercials are hysterical. He’s not a whiny bitch like Kobe, and he doesn’t make those annoying T-Mobile commercials like Dwayne Wade. And he’s not French, although the name Lebron is a little suspect. These are the things that make a champion.
Hockey-
Ladies and Aquatic Mammals with Webbed Feet, may I present your 2007 Stanley Cup Champions! I was thrilled to see the Ducks win, if for no other reason then this was the first time since the Avs beat the Devils that the team I was favoring was the team to hoist the Cup. I just couldn’t get excited about Ottawa, although the H-A-S line was pretty entertaining throughout. Still, Ottawa beat Buffalo, which left a sour taste in my mouth. You kind of always hope the team that sends your team golfing are the ones to win it all. This transference occurs simply because you want to say your team was beaten by the best. Unless of course you team lost to the New Jersey Devils. Have I made enough compulsive anti-Devils comments at this point for readers to just assume their implication? This will save me some time in the future.
Although I enjoyed the Duck’s winning the Cup, I was a little disappointed in the series. 5 games isn’t very exciting, although each individual game was great to watch. Especially game 3, I enjoyed that one tremendously. I was also tremendously wasted at the time, which might account for some entertainment value. I hate to admit it, but I don’t particularly like Chris Pronger anymore. I understand that he is a defenseman, and a certain amount of physicality is a requisite for the position, but two playoff (PLAYOFFS? PLAYOFFS? Sorry random Mora moment) suspensions are two too many. There wasn’t much doubt as to the appropriateness of each suspension either, unless you’re a resident of Southern California. Scott Burnside put it best, he’s lucky he didn’t cost his team the championship. And I hate agreeing with Burnside, which just adds to my dislike of Pronger.
Before I get to Baseball, I would like to designate this part of the blog as a moment of silence for the recently incarcerated Paris Hilton.
Wait for it…
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL! You know, its circumstances like these that really make me believe in a higher power. There’s enough media coverage to start calling this “The Simple Life: Prison Sentence”. I mean really, how great is this? All we’re missing is a Lindsey Lohan/Britney Spears telethon called “Live from Rehab: Free Paris Now!” I really believe society needs events like these, to remind us that there are a lot of stupid people out there, so live with caution.
Baseball-
The New York Yankees have won 9 straight. 9 Straight! That’s quite an accomplishment considering these particulars:
1) Their pitching staff is the most diluted and overworked in baseball.
2) Both John Sterling and Michael Kay are still employed, which is detrimental to team morale.
3) Their level of play has been wildly inconsistent, which is what you want with a 200 million dollar payroll.
4) George Steinbrenner has been eerily quiet, which leads me to believe he has either been killed or kidnapped.
5) Joe Torre is a flat out narcoleptic. Not that I don’t like Joe. Seriously though, get help Mr. Torre.
Are the Yankees finally turning things around? Possibly, although they did just get shut out by the Mets. I don’t know it’s too early to tell, too many question marks, too many geriatric starters. They have been playing some fantastic baseball lately, it’s really a shame they just can’t play the Pirates and the D-Backs for the rest of the regular season.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
We Have A No-Hitter!
I tuned into ESPN tonight just in time to see whatever they were showing pre-empted by Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander trying to complete a no-hitter against the Milwaukee Brewers with two outs in the ninth inning. Aaaannnd.... HE DID IT! 112 pitches, 0 hits, 4 walks, 12 strikeouts. The interesting stat line belongs to Brewers center fielder Bill Hall. He went 0 for 0 at the plate, drawing three out of the four walks issued by Verlander. But still, a certainly masterful performance by a HIGHLY promising young pitcher.
And then, hours later, I witnessed three Los Angeles Dodgers hit home runs on consecutive pitches. Not only that, but the third home run hitter was their pitcher! AND, the shortest home run travelled 408 feet, so those baseballs were hit HARD. That was friggin' COOL...
WHERE ARE THE CHEETOS?!?!?!
And then, hours later, I witnessed three Los Angeles Dodgers hit home runs on consecutive pitches. Not only that, but the third home run hitter was their pitcher! AND, the shortest home run travelled 408 feet, so those baseballs were hit HARD. That was friggin' COOL...
WHERE ARE THE CHEETOS?!?!?!
Saturday, June 9, 2007
BergerReview: The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza
Come on - just look at the band name! That was enough to get me interested. The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza is, by far, one of the most amazingly ridiculous band names I've ever seen (in a very good way, I must add). Couple that with a fondness for metal and an ear recently turned on to Dillinger Escape Plan, and I simply had to check these guys out. Sure, the band name can be easily seen as a gimmick, but if that's what draws people to this startlingly good band, then by it's a damn good gimmick. These guys are fantastic.
Clocking in at 10 tracks and a whopping 28:39, TTDTE drives their message home quite clearly in their self-titled album's short time frame. It's confusing, it's aggressive, it's pretty silly in places (come on - could a band with a name like this REALLY take themselves seriously?!), and it's far more in control than one might think. Throughout the album, the guitar work is nimble, vicious, and most importantly, extremely tight. Complimenting that is drummer Mason Crooks, who plays with so much ferocity and speed that I wonder if his hair was on fire during the recording process. The whole band is clearly on the same page, sharply working their way through a ton of time changes, left turns, and sudden starts and stops like it's nothing more than old habit. And oh yeah - the song titles are incredible, too.
In short, a VERY solid album from a new entry into the hardcore/grindcore world. Naturally, this type of music isn't for everybody - Hell, I can tell you at least two of my other band members would flat out hate this - But you can't go wrong with TTDTE if you're into hardcore and metal in the first place. A fine entry into what I call "Music Guaranteed To Piss Off Your Parents", aka "What Is This Crap?!" music (which I think should be a separate section in CD stores just to help metalheads and other kids out - you don't wanna be looking through Toto or Tower of Power just to find The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, do you?).
The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza (Corrosive Recordings, 2005)
Highlights: "My Bowling Ball's Frozen In A Footlocker In Chicago", "God Ain't Got No Use For No 180 Lb. Bag Of Sugar", "Cliff Burton Surprise"
Berger Rating: Two Angry Parents Up
Upcoming Reviews: Umphrey's McGee, Devin Townsend (whenever I can get my hands on his new album)
Smock is playing a show tonight. It's gonna be fun. But that's all I'm gonna say 'cause I don't wanna use the "Shamless self promotion..." label. Just follow that link there to get some details if ya wanna go, k?
Detroit Tigers 8, New York Mets 3 in the top of the seventh. That's the game I watched as I wrote this. One must wonder if the Tigers are starting to really find their offense here...
Clocking in at 10 tracks and a whopping 28:39, TTDTE drives their message home quite clearly in their self-titled album's short time frame. It's confusing, it's aggressive, it's pretty silly in places (come on - could a band with a name like this REALLY take themselves seriously?!), and it's far more in control than one might think. Throughout the album, the guitar work is nimble, vicious, and most importantly, extremely tight. Complimenting that is drummer Mason Crooks, who plays with so much ferocity and speed that I wonder if his hair was on fire during the recording process. The whole band is clearly on the same page, sharply working their way through a ton of time changes, left turns, and sudden starts and stops like it's nothing more than old habit. And oh yeah - the song titles are incredible, too.
In short, a VERY solid album from a new entry into the hardcore/grindcore world. Naturally, this type of music isn't for everybody - Hell, I can tell you at least two of my other band members would flat out hate this - But you can't go wrong with TTDTE if you're into hardcore and metal in the first place. A fine entry into what I call "Music Guaranteed To Piss Off Your Parents", aka "What Is This Crap?!" music (which I think should be a separate section in CD stores just to help metalheads and other kids out - you don't wanna be looking through Toto or Tower of Power just to find The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, do you?).
The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza (Corrosive Recordings, 2005)
Highlights: "My Bowling Ball's Frozen In A Footlocker In Chicago", "God Ain't Got No Use For No 180 Lb. Bag Of Sugar", "Cliff Burton Surprise"
Berger Rating: Two Angry Parents Up
Upcoming Reviews: Umphrey's McGee, Devin Townsend (whenever I can get my hands on his new album)
Smock is playing a show tonight. It's gonna be fun. But that's all I'm gonna say 'cause I don't wanna use the "Shamless self promotion..." label. Just follow that link there to get some details if ya wanna go, k?
Detroit Tigers 8, New York Mets 3 in the top of the seventh. That's the game I watched as I wrote this. One must wonder if the Tigers are starting to really find their offense here...
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Enter The Withdrawl Mode
So it's over. The Anaheim Ducks won the Stanley Cup, bludgeoning the Ottawa Senators 6-2 in the game and 4-1 in the series. And thus ends the 2006-07 NHL season. So, uh...now what? No more hockey until OCTOBER?! What the hell am I gonna do with myself?!
Well, there's always baseball. I've already attended three Rochester Red Wings games this year. And apparently, the MLB draft started today. Well, let me be the first to say: WHOOPTY CRAP!
Seriously, though, who watches this stuff? This thing was TELEVISED this year! Just like the NBA and NFL drafts - and maybe the NHL draft as well - are every year. BOOOOOORIIIINNG! If I wanted to be that bored while watching TV, I'd watch Golf or The World Series of Poker or The Best Damn Sports Show Period (Oh, wait - no I wouldn't. I avoid those like the plague in the first place). So yep - baseball it is. That and my band has a nice little schedule booked at the moment, so that'll distract me nicely from the fact that there's... no... more... hockey... 'til... OCTOBER?!?! Aw, man... Well, I usually find a way to make it through the summer. Hockey Withdrawl Mode, Activate! *sigh*...
Well, there's always baseball. I've already attended three Rochester Red Wings games this year. And apparently, the MLB draft started today. Well, let me be the first to say: WHOOPTY CRAP!
Seriously, though, who watches this stuff? This thing was TELEVISED this year! Just like the NBA and NFL drafts - and maybe the NHL draft as well - are every year. BOOOOOORIIIINNG! If I wanted to be that bored while watching TV, I'd watch Golf or The World Series of Poker or The Best Damn Sports Show Period (Oh, wait - no I wouldn't. I avoid those like the plague in the first place). So yep - baseball it is. That and my band has a nice little schedule booked at the moment, so that'll distract me nicely from the fact that there's... no... more... hockey... 'til... OCTOBER?!?! Aw, man... Well, I usually find a way to make it through the summer. Hockey Withdrawl Mode, Activate! *sigh*...
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Pronger? We Don't Need No Stinking Pronger!
So I caught a bunch of Game Four last night in Ottawa (I wasn't in Ottawa. The game was. I just watched it on my TV.) after I got home from a Red Wings baseball game (more on that later). The Anaheim Ducks, without Chris Pronger, won the game anyway and are heading back to their home building up 3 games to 1. And oh, by the way, they have yet to lose a Stanley Cup Final home game (They were winless on the road in the SCF until last night). But even without that fun little statistic, we can still say the Ottawa Senators are in a highly precarious position. Erasing a 3-1 deficit is definitely possible, but the Ducks just might be playing too well for the Sens to even try it. Hell, Ottawa had major stretches in Game Four where they were dictating play on the ice and they still lost. But really, they lost because Anaheim was able to control traffic in front of Jean-Sebastien Giguere, which wasn't the case on the other end of the rink. Three other things from this game:
1. Anaheim's third goal was friggin' beautiful. Go find a replay of it if you missed it. What looked like a completely busted play at the blue line turned into a 2 on 1 deep in Ottawa territory and the defenseman was too concerned about Teemu Selanne, which left Dustin Penner wide open in front of a vacated net. Penner made no mistakes with that feed...
2. What in the world was Daniel Alfredsson thinking at the end of the second period? The Ducks were on their heels, the momentum was clearly Ottawa's...and he shot the puck right into Scott Neidermeyer. Good going, moron. All that did was fire up the Ducks and give them every reason in the world to come out flying in the third. AND he got lucky that he didn't get called for a penalty in the post-shot scrum 'cause he clearly punched somebody, which was seen by everybody apparently except the referees (though I can't blame 'em - they were busy trying to break up everybody else).
3. Don Cherry ruled in the second intermission. NBC executives had to be SQUIRMING with both Cherry and Brett Hull behind the same desk thingy, but it didn't matter. Don Cherry is awesome.
Before I watched Game Four, I saw last night's Rochester Red Wings game hosting the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees. I saw four or five home runs, two plunkings, and four errors. And oh yeah, Red Wings won 7-2. That game was awesome. My friends and I were loud and obnoxious almost the whole time, which is always fun. And one of them gave me something to try the next time I get to sing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" - sing one syllable behind everybody else. I can sing one syllable ahead allright, but this could be an interesting challenge...
1. Anaheim's third goal was friggin' beautiful. Go find a replay of it if you missed it. What looked like a completely busted play at the blue line turned into a 2 on 1 deep in Ottawa territory and the defenseman was too concerned about Teemu Selanne, which left Dustin Penner wide open in front of a vacated net. Penner made no mistakes with that feed...
2. What in the world was Daniel Alfredsson thinking at the end of the second period? The Ducks were on their heels, the momentum was clearly Ottawa's...and he shot the puck right into Scott Neidermeyer. Good going, moron. All that did was fire up the Ducks and give them every reason in the world to come out flying in the third. AND he got lucky that he didn't get called for a penalty in the post-shot scrum 'cause he clearly punched somebody, which was seen by everybody apparently except the referees (though I can't blame 'em - they were busy trying to break up everybody else).
3. Don Cherry ruled in the second intermission. NBC executives had to be SQUIRMING with both Cherry and Brett Hull behind the same desk thingy, but it didn't matter. Don Cherry is awesome.
Before I watched Game Four, I saw last night's Rochester Red Wings game hosting the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees. I saw four or five home runs, two plunkings, and four errors. And oh yeah, Red Wings won 7-2. That game was awesome. My friends and I were loud and obnoxious almost the whole time, which is always fun. And one of them gave me something to try the next time I get to sing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" - sing one syllable behind everybody else. I can sing one syllable ahead allright, but this could be an interesting challenge...
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Gaaaaaaame Threeeeeeeee
Game Three is tonight in Ottawa. Ducks are completely sticking it to the Senators so far. Apparently, Ottawa newspapers were blaming bad ice for Ottawa's losses, but come on - the NHL is littered with bad ice, right, MSG? Think about it. It's JUNE and you're in Southern California. Is the ice gonna be bad? Of course it is. If Ottawa wants to do something about that, then they should make sure their home ice is in good condition. We'll find out tonight if they did or not. Either way, they NEED this game tonight or they're pretty much done before the hardware is handed out. But hell - given the way Pahlsson and Moen are playing against The Big Sens Line, they might be done already.
So Armando "Two Balk" Benitez was traded to the Marlins earlier this week. Hands up - who's shocked? OK, now put your hands down 'cause you're lying.
You know, I still love baseball. I also love the fact that five batters got plunked in Boston Friday night. But let's face it - if the Yankees (or, more accurately, Yankees fans) were mad about being plunked by Tim Wakefield - a knuckleballer - than they're morons. Just thought I'd say that for the record.
You know what we need? More bench clearing brawls. Those are amazing because nobody really knows what to do in those. I still love seeing a batter charge the mound being all "RAAH I'M ANGRY!" and then turn into "Oh, crap! NOW what do I do?!" when he actually gets there. It just doesn't get much better than that (except for throwing errors).
I get to play piano for who knows how long at an art exhibit opening tomorrow afternoon in downtown Rochester. The kinda fun part was putting a CD together to sell just in case people were curious enough to spend some money on my music. Since it's a bit of a compilation, I decided to call it "You're Just Making This Up As You Go, Aren't You?"
I'm playing for this person.
It's happing HERE starting at 2pm.
GAAAAAAH!!!
So Armando "Two Balk" Benitez was traded to the Marlins earlier this week. Hands up - who's shocked? OK, now put your hands down 'cause you're lying.
You know, I still love baseball. I also love the fact that five batters got plunked in Boston Friday night. But let's face it - if the Yankees (or, more accurately, Yankees fans) were mad about being plunked by Tim Wakefield - a knuckleballer - than they're morons. Just thought I'd say that for the record.
You know what we need? More bench clearing brawls. Those are amazing because nobody really knows what to do in those. I still love seeing a batter charge the mound being all "RAAH I'M ANGRY!" and then turn into "Oh, crap! NOW what do I do?!" when he actually gets there. It just doesn't get much better than that (except for throwing errors).
I get to play piano for who knows how long at an art exhibit opening tomorrow afternoon in downtown Rochester. The kinda fun part was putting a CD together to sell just in case people were curious enough to spend some money on my music. Since it's a bit of a compilation, I decided to call it "You're Just Making This Up As You Go, Aren't You?"
I'm playing for this person.
It's happing HERE starting at 2pm.
GAAAAAAH!!!
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Armando Benitez Gags Again
I just saw one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in a baseball game. Bottom of the 12th inning, 4-3 San Francisco Giants over the host New York Mets, Giants "closer" Armando Benitez in to try to seal the deal. However, the Mets had the top of their lineup due up in the 12th. Lead-off hitter Jose Reyes drew a walk (always a bad omen for a team trying to hold a lead) to start the inning. But then, things got interesting.
Reyes, a noted threat to steal bases, distracted Benitez enough to draw...a BALK! When the hell was the last time you've seen that?! A nice sacrifice bunt put Reyes - the tying run - on third base with one out. Carlos Beltran screwed up a contact-type play, holding Reyes at third while being rung up for the second out. But then, with Carlos Delgado at bat...Benitez balked again! TWO balks by the same pitcher in the same inning! Not only that, but the second balk sent Reyes home, tying the game and tacking another blown save into Benitez' career statistics. But wait! Carlos Delgado was still at the plate! AND, on a 2-2 pitch...BOOM. Home run to right-center, Mets win 5-4. That was awesome.
Aaron Hill of the Toronto Blue Jays stole home against the Yankees. How cool is that?
Ducks won Game One last night. Sorry, Ottawa, but when you leave ANYBODY wide open in the slot in your defensive zone, it doesn't matter who has the puck - it's more than likely gonna end up in the back of your net. That's exactly what happened when Travis Moen scored the game winning goal with 2:51 left in the third. That and if you wanna win a road game in the Stanley Cup Finals, then find a way to score a goal when you have a two-man advantage for a minute and 35 seconds in the second period. For the Ducks, that was a very solid game overall. They didn't allow an even-strength goal and even their fourth line had some great scoring chances. When Brad May gets quality scoring chances, things are going right for your team.
This band rules.
Reyes, a noted threat to steal bases, distracted Benitez enough to draw...a BALK! When the hell was the last time you've seen that?! A nice sacrifice bunt put Reyes - the tying run - on third base with one out. Carlos Beltran screwed up a contact-type play, holding Reyes at third while being rung up for the second out. But then, with Carlos Delgado at bat...Benitez balked again! TWO balks by the same pitcher in the same inning! Not only that, but the second balk sent Reyes home, tying the game and tacking another blown save into Benitez' career statistics. But wait! Carlos Delgado was still at the plate! AND, on a 2-2 pitch...BOOM. Home run to right-center, Mets win 5-4. That was awesome.
Aaron Hill of the Toronto Blue Jays stole home against the Yankees. How cool is that?
Ducks won Game One last night. Sorry, Ottawa, but when you leave ANYBODY wide open in the slot in your defensive zone, it doesn't matter who has the puck - it's more than likely gonna end up in the back of your net. That's exactly what happened when Travis Moen scored the game winning goal with 2:51 left in the third. That and if you wanna win a road game in the Stanley Cup Finals, then find a way to score a goal when you have a two-man advantage for a minute and 35 seconds in the second period. For the Ducks, that was a very solid game overall. They didn't allow an even-strength goal and even their fourth line had some great scoring chances. When Brad May gets quality scoring chances, things are going right for your team.
This band rules.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Home, Home Again... I Like To Be Here When I Can...
Hey all. I JUST got back from a long weekend in Boston, and since the Red Sox were out of town, I didn't have to deal with any of THAT craziness. But the trip was awesome, and I saw Porcupine Tree this past Friday night. I gotta tell ya, if you get the chance to see them play live... take it. There isn't anything really truly fancy about their shows, but they just smoke their material on the stage. During their set, they played every song off the new album, Fear of a Blank Planet (Just as I hoped, the middle section to "Anesthetize" RULED in the live setting), but they also touched on older material in between the new songs, such as "Blackest Eyes" and "Trains" from In Absentia and "Mellotron Scratch", "Open Car", and "Halo" (the last song of the night including encores) off of Deadwing. All in all, an extremely well played show from a band that kicks ass live even the second time around.
Game One of the Stanley Cup Finals is tonight. GO DUCKS!
Game One of the Stanley Cup Finals is tonight. GO DUCKS!
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
More Fun From The Pond of Frozenness And Other Places
Game Six of the Western Conference Finals was everything I could've hoped for...and then some. BOTH teams getting called for too many men on the ice, Lotsa goals, chaos with one net empty for the last minute and a half... It just doesn't get better than this. The third period, in particular, was worth the price of admission alone. The Red Wings started the period trailing 3-0 and outshot 26-13 (a 2:1 ratio, for you math nerds out there). Naturally, Detroit did everything they could to take the lead (or at least force overtime) and almost succeeded. Sometimes, outscoring your opponent 3-1 and outshooting them 16-3 in one period just isn't enough. Anaheim won the game 4-3 and the series 4-2. For the record, Detroit goalie Dominik Hasek had a .667 save percentage in the third period tonight...
Right before the game started, I was able to catch the NBA Draft Lottery. A rather mundane event, but still oddly captivating. What probably helped was the fact that the draft order was announced pretty quickly, with the deputy commissioner rattling off picks 14 through 4 in the span of two or three minutes. Naturally, they cut to commercial to manufacture some "drama" before revealing the top three picks in the draft. Did it work? Well...no, not really, because every friggin' countdown/list show in the universe does that. But hey, thanks for playing, ESPN and NBA. Incidentally, the number one pick in the draft went to the Portland Trail Blazers, which means that the Boston Celtics' little tanking strategy DIDN'T WORK!
And the Yankees lost to the Red Sox. Whoopty crap. But hey, the Twins won! Woo hoo!
Altanta Braves center fielder Andruw Jones went 0 for 5 at the plate with 5 strikeouts Sunday afternoon in Boston. Now THAT takes talent.
Words really can't describe this.
Right before the game started, I was able to catch the NBA Draft Lottery. A rather mundane event, but still oddly captivating. What probably helped was the fact that the draft order was announced pretty quickly, with the deputy commissioner rattling off picks 14 through 4 in the span of two or three minutes. Naturally, they cut to commercial to manufacture some "drama" before revealing the top three picks in the draft. Did it work? Well...no, not really, because every friggin' countdown/list show in the universe does that. But hey, thanks for playing, ESPN and NBA. Incidentally, the number one pick in the draft went to the Portland Trail Blazers, which means that the Boston Celtics' little tanking strategy DIDN'T WORK!
And the Yankees lost to the Red Sox. Whoopty crap. But hey, the Twins won! Woo hoo!
Altanta Braves center fielder Andruw Jones went 0 for 5 at the plate with 5 strikeouts Sunday afternoon in Boston. Now THAT takes talent.
Words really can't describe this.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
"Let a man do what he wants..."
Clinton Portis was officially removed from the I’m Smarter than Paris Hilton Society (ISTPHS) earlier today after thoughtless comments regarding the innocence of Michael Vick. For those of you unaware of the membership criteria, ISTPHS maintains that all “individuals with an IQ over 60” are considered full fledged affiliates…
Let me bring you up to speed. As you probably already know, Michael Vick has been linked with an apparent dog fighting syndicate located in Virginia. And by linked, I mean complete ownership of the house where the dog fighting took place. Vick supporters are still skeptical whether or not there is enough evidence to sustain such accusations, as scarred pit bulls and sixty plus on site kennels are evidently not ample testimony.
Vick has since sold the house, asserting that his cousin (who had been occupying the property) was responsible for set dog fighting ring. He is also renouncing his old college nick-name of “Mike ‘I have an up and coming dog fighting syndicate in Virginia’ Vick”. Adding to Vick's troubles is an alleged law suit by the Versus network for "interfering" with their "Virginia Dog Fighting Weekly" late night programming. Scary Stuff.
All this slandering of Vick has gotten long time friend and current Time Man of the Year candidate Clinton Portis very upset. He came to Vick’s defense in an ESPN televised interview despite his agent’s warning against speaking on camera. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but it went something along the lines of “Let a man do what he wants, it’s his business”.
The reporter then reminded Mr. Portis that dog fighting was a felony.
But Mr. Portis didn’t stop there. He solidified his ejection from ISTPHS by adding “I know plenty of roads in Virginia where you can find dog fighting”. This was the part where all the Redskins lawyers who were watching went “AAAAUUGGHHH” collectively. It’s really just unbelievable.
Since then Mr. Portis has retracted his sentiments on the Washington Redskins’ Website, stating “I do not condone dog fighting in any way”. He then asked the guy typing what “condone” meant. Currently there has been no appeal on his ejection from the ISTPHS.
Let me bring you up to speed. As you probably already know, Michael Vick has been linked with an apparent dog fighting syndicate located in Virginia. And by linked, I mean complete ownership of the house where the dog fighting took place. Vick supporters are still skeptical whether or not there is enough evidence to sustain such accusations, as scarred pit bulls and sixty plus on site kennels are evidently not ample testimony.
Vick has since sold the house, asserting that his cousin (who had been occupying the property) was responsible for set dog fighting ring. He is also renouncing his old college nick-name of “Mike ‘I have an up and coming dog fighting syndicate in Virginia’ Vick”. Adding to Vick's troubles is an alleged law suit by the Versus network for "interfering" with their "Virginia Dog Fighting Weekly" late night programming. Scary Stuff.
All this slandering of Vick has gotten long time friend and current Time Man of the Year candidate Clinton Portis very upset. He came to Vick’s defense in an ESPN televised interview despite his agent’s warning against speaking on camera. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but it went something along the lines of “Let a man do what he wants, it’s his business”.
The reporter then reminded Mr. Portis that dog fighting was a felony.
But Mr. Portis didn’t stop there. He solidified his ejection from ISTPHS by adding “I know plenty of roads in Virginia where you can find dog fighting”. This was the part where all the Redskins lawyers who were watching went “AAAAUUGGHHH” collectively. It’s really just unbelievable.
Since then Mr. Portis has retracted his sentiments on the Washington Redskins’ Website, stating “I do not condone dog fighting in any way”. He then asked the guy typing what “condone” meant. Currently there has been no appeal on his ejection from the ISTPHS.
Tuesday At The Couch
Game Six! I'm not sure if I need to say anything more than that. Game friggin' Six, where Anaheim can win The Other Trophy Nobody Touches Out Of Severe Superstition and their place - and home ice - in the Stanley Cup Finals with a win tonight. Considering how well Giguere is playing, I'd be a little worried if I was a Red Wings fan. For the record, I'm technically a Red Wings fan, but not a fan of this team. My Red Wings allegiance goes to the Rochester AAA baseball team.
GO HOCKEY! I'll definitely be watching this one tonight. Better that than another dull-ass Red Sox / Yankees game...
GO HOCKEY! I'll definitely be watching this one tonight. Better that than another dull-ass Red Sox / Yankees game...
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Theft of a Hockey Game, Waterfowl Style
The Anaheim Ducks just stole Game Five on the road in overtime. Shots on goal, scoring chances, and face-off wins all favored the Detroit Red Wings, but the Ducks simply took advantage of the opportunities given to them late in the game and they're going home with the chance to close this series out Tuesday night. Jean-Sebastien Giguere was PHENOMENAL in a game Anaheim didn't deserve to win. HOWEVER, overtime games are decided on mistakes. The Red Wings coughed up the puck deep in their zone...which is bad enough, but what made matters worse is the puck ended up on Teemu Selanne's stick with only Dominik Hasek to beat...and Selanne made no mistake. He got Hasek to bite on the forehand fake, then knocked the water bottle off the net (I love that) on his backhand. Game over.
And oh yeah - Anaheim tied the game with 45 seconds left on the power play and with their net empty. Hockey is a better experience when seen live, but team down by one with their net empty and on the power play makes for some darn good television. Needless to say, I'm gonna be watching Game Six of this series.
And oh yeah - Anaheim tied the game with 45 seconds left on the power play and with their net empty. Hockey is a better experience when seen live, but team down by one with their net empty and on the power play makes for some darn good television. Needless to say, I'm gonna be watching Game Six of this series.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
The End Of A Season, The Start Of A New One
Well, there we have it. Sabres lost in overtime today. The Senators won The Prince Of Wales Trophy That Nobody Touches Out Of Severe Superstition and the right to play for the Stanley Cup. Tough loss for the Sabres, perhaps poetic justice for Ottawa. Last season, fourth seeded Buffalo eliminated top seeded Ottawa in five games, winning all three contests in ScotiaBank Place. This season, the exact opposite happened - fourth seeded Ottawa eliminated top seeded Buffalo in five games, winning all three contests in HSBC Arena. But it's not like this Sabres team was worse than last year. The problem this year was the fact that the Senators were a much tougher defensive team than I ever remember. In my opinion (and I know I share this one), Ryan Miller is still a better goaltender than Ray Emery, but Emery played well enough to win and his defensemen frustrated Buffalo every night.
Now, with that out of the way: I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Buffalo Sabres this season. This team was fast, aggressive, lethal with the puck, and a LOT of fun to watch. When a team finishes a regular season with six 30 goal scorers, you know they're good. This team fully captivated the Western New York region from October 'til May and certainly made many new hockey fans in this area. I'm a little concerned about the pending free agencies of both Daniel Briere and Chris Drury, I must admit. But otherwise, I'm looking forward to seeing how well this team rebounds next season.
BUT since the Sabres are done...it's baseball season! As I was typing this, I saw the conclusion of today's Yankees / Mets game. Mets won. I saw two errors. I was happy. Unfortunately, Tim McCarver was in the broadcast booth. He sucks.
"But what team does Berger follow?", you might be asking. Well, I follow two: the Minnesota Twins and the Milwaukee Brewers. I have my reasons, but that's another post.
And no, I have no idea who's gonna win the Red Wings / Ducks series. But I'll keep watching it. Go sports!
My band made a music video. It's completely ridiculous, but that's the point.
Now, with that out of the way: I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Buffalo Sabres this season. This team was fast, aggressive, lethal with the puck, and a LOT of fun to watch. When a team finishes a regular season with six 30 goal scorers, you know they're good. This team fully captivated the Western New York region from October 'til May and certainly made many new hockey fans in this area. I'm a little concerned about the pending free agencies of both Daniel Briere and Chris Drury, I must admit. But otherwise, I'm looking forward to seeing how well this team rebounds next season.
BUT since the Sabres are done...it's baseball season! As I was typing this, I saw the conclusion of today's Yankees / Mets game. Mets won. I saw two errors. I was happy. Unfortunately, Tim McCarver was in the broadcast booth. He sucks.
"But what team does Berger follow?", you might be asking. Well, I follow two: the Minnesota Twins and the Milwaukee Brewers. I have my reasons, but that's another post.
And no, I have no idea who's gonna win the Red Wings / Ducks series. But I'll keep watching it. Go sports!
My band made a music video. It's completely ridiculous, but that's the point.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Baseball. Beautiful, Beautiful Baseball...
I’ve felt so dejected from baseball the last couple of weeks. The Yankee’s suck, as it’s finally sunk in that the rebuilding years are upon us. I mean, I know Clemens is going to win 22 games and yet another Cy Young, but still…
Yet neither the Hypocritical Red Sox, nor the AARP Yankees are what truly make me feel disconsolate this year. I have become absolutely LIVID at ESPN’s coverage of “Chasing Aaron”, as Barry “I obviously did steroids “Bonds closes in on the record. It actually makes me nauseous. What’s worse is there are actually people who still believe that Bonds was entirely clean. Bonds’ defense is the baseball equivalent to OJ “finding the real killers”. Actually that might be next. “No, I did not do steroids. But I will not rest until I out every doper in MLB”. It’s just unbelievable. The only thing that could make this situation worse is if Aaron were not African-American. Nothing infuriates me more than race issues in sports.
As for the solution to the steroid problem? I say give it to them all. Let everybody do it, no, MAKE everybody do it. I mean everybody. Players, Managers (Lou Pinnella anyone?), Umpires, General Managers, Owners, Ball Boys, even the Announcers. Can you imagine John Sterling on steroids?
Wait, I think I just have. Ok, here is a hypothetical Steroid John Sterling commentary-
Susan- Well John, I think the Yankee fans are somewhat justified in booing Alex Rodriguez. He makes an awful lot of money to not produce and-
John- LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING SUSAN! If I ever caught a Yankee fan booing A-Rod, I’d crack them across the mouth. I’m telling you, he’s gonna do something here, he’s gonna fu****** nail one.
Susan- We’ll see John, he’s down 0-2 in the count, and 0 for the century against this guy, I-
John- You watch Susan. High fastball and swing- THAT BALL IS HIGH! IT IS FAR! IT IS…GONE! GONE BI***. AND IT’S A GODDAMN A-BOMB… FROM GODDAMN A-ROD!!! I FU***** TOLD YOU SUSAN!!!!!
Oh my god this needs to happen…
Meanwhile, enjoy this....
What?! You've Got To Be Kidding Me!
I can't believe it. There's no NHL hockey tonight! There's an AHL game going on (Hamilton Bulldogs vs. Chicago Wolves), but good luck finding it outside of those two cities. So, we're probably stuck watching baseball. Talk about a serious threat of hockey withdrawl! If my band didn't have a show tonight, I wouldn't know what to do with myself...
It's a Smock show.
We're playing here.
Best. Beer Commercial. EVER.
It's a Smock show.
We're playing here.
Best. Beer Commercial. EVER.
BergerReview: Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet
As McNally would know, I've been a fan of British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree for a few years now. My acquaintance with the band started with In Absentia, their American major label debut. That was an album I kinda dug at first, then turned into one of my Top 20 Favorite Albums after it grew on me. Deadwing followed in 2005, another grower album. Though it didn't vault into my favorite albums list, I still thoroughly enjoyed the disc. Great songs ("Blackest Eyes", "Trains", and "Gravity Eyelids" from In Absentia, The first four tracks and "Open Car" from Deadwing), fantastic production values, and solid playing (Drummer Gavin Harrison, in particular, has made his way into my Top 10 Drummers list through these recordings) are found on both albums. Still, the odd thing to me was the fact that neither of them hit me immediately and made me think "This is awesome!" on first listen.
Earlier this year, Porcupine Tree released a brand new album, Fear of a Blank Planet. With this album, that odd thing has been remedied. Ironically enough, Porcupine Tree succeeded at making an album with a more immediate impact while writing a somewhat veiled (you'll only notice this by reading the lyrics) concept record and reducing the track count to a mere 6 this time around. The centerpiece of this dichotomy is "Anesthetize", a sprawling epic broken up into 3 sections and clocking in at nearly 18 minutes in length. For those without the patience to sit through the full near-18 minutes on first listen, I encourage you to skim to the 11:00 mark of the track. At this point, you'll find a "Holy shit!" moment - an absolute musical freakout guaranteed to send your jaw to the floor the first time you hear it. Elsewhere, the title track (and opening cut) is a solid rock tune that summarizes the band quite well and is good enough to use as a single to boot (A music video for it does indeed exist). "Sleep Together" and "Way Out of Here" flat-out rock as well. The other two tracks are more atmospheric, but fit in with the rest of the album very smoothly.
Overall, the album's mood is incredibly dark (The lyrics are focused on unnamed teenagers over-prescribed on antidepressants and completely indifferent to the world around them) with atmospheric elements/samples providing a nice backdrop until the band starts to play at full volume. The musicianship is superb, the vocals are brilliant (I must admit I really like bandleader Steven Wilson's voice), and the production is nothing short of fantastic. Fear of a Blank Planet is, simply put, an incredible effort which exceeded my expectations from an already amazing band. Awesome, awesome stuff.
Pocupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet (Atlantic, 2007)
Highlights: "Fear of a Blank Planet", "Anesthetize" (especially the middle part), "Way Out of Here"
Berger Rating: Two iPods up
The fun part for me? I'm gonna see Porcupine Tree live in Boston next Friday. I'll review the show as well.
Earlier this year, Porcupine Tree released a brand new album, Fear of a Blank Planet. With this album, that odd thing has been remedied. Ironically enough, Porcupine Tree succeeded at making an album with a more immediate impact while writing a somewhat veiled (you'll only notice this by reading the lyrics) concept record and reducing the track count to a mere 6 this time around. The centerpiece of this dichotomy is "Anesthetize", a sprawling epic broken up into 3 sections and clocking in at nearly 18 minutes in length. For those without the patience to sit through the full near-18 minutes on first listen, I encourage you to skim to the 11:00 mark of the track. At this point, you'll find a "Holy shit!" moment - an absolute musical freakout guaranteed to send your jaw to the floor the first time you hear it. Elsewhere, the title track (and opening cut) is a solid rock tune that summarizes the band quite well and is good enough to use as a single to boot (A music video for it does indeed exist). "Sleep Together" and "Way Out of Here" flat-out rock as well. The other two tracks are more atmospheric, but fit in with the rest of the album very smoothly.
Overall, the album's mood is incredibly dark (The lyrics are focused on unnamed teenagers over-prescribed on antidepressants and completely indifferent to the world around them) with atmospheric elements/samples providing a nice backdrop until the band starts to play at full volume. The musicianship is superb, the vocals are brilliant (I must admit I really like bandleader Steven Wilson's voice), and the production is nothing short of fantastic. Fear of a Blank Planet is, simply put, an incredible effort which exceeded my expectations from an already amazing band. Awesome, awesome stuff.
Pocupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet (Atlantic, 2007)
Highlights: "Fear of a Blank Planet", "Anesthetize" (especially the middle part), "Way Out of Here"
Berger Rating: Two iPods up
The fun part for me? I'm gonna see Porcupine Tree live in Boston next Friday. I'll review the show as well.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
"BergerMcNally"
We're kind of like the guys from PTI. Only with a more extensive knowledge of sports. And less perverted. And way more hair. Ok maybe we're nothing like the guys from PTI.
Catching Up...
Over the past few days, I’ve started approximately 4.6 blogs (Berger will appreciate that number), but never really developed the initiative to finish. Time constraint was a bit of a contributing factor, but realistically my problem is an inherent attention span of a seven year old newly diagnosed with ADD. Hmm, I wonder if atheists are still obligated to swear on the bible in court… Anyway, these 4.6 semi-complete blogs have now morphed into one super-blog, destined to unite all other blogs in a war against… wow too much caffeine. On that admission, here’s a collection of thoughts from the last couple of days…
Hockey- I hate to admit it, but I’ve been somewhat disappointed in the conference finals this year. The Anaheim-Detroit series started off rather enthrallingly, but I found game three to be disappointing. Playoff blowouts are only exciting if your preferential team is the one doing the… you thought I was going to say blowing, didn’t you? Seriously though, I do have a soft spot for the Ducks, if for no other reason than I have a penchant for randomly starting “quack…quack” chants at the most inopportune times.
As for the hit and suspension… one word: ouch. Soft spot or no, I don’t think Anaheim fans have an ethical leg to stand on here. That was undoubtedly a vicious hit. Add Scott Neidermayer for the exclamation point and you’ve got a Hanson Brothers highlight. I’m all for physical, “Eddie Shore old-time hockey” play and all, but you can’t go after a guy like that. Unless it’s a Devil, as I’m sure Colin Campbell would agree. As for boarding calls being subjective? The 15 stitches on Holstrom’s forehead make this a pretty objective call. Still, I must admit that a certain…exhilaration did take place the moment of the tag team check. I remember thinking, “Well about time, it’s four-nothing”.
The suspension was a little rough, but I really think this was the proper course of action. First, the game was 4-0 at that point, so throwing Pronger and R. Neidermayer out would have been the equivalent to a very effeminate slap on the wrist. This sends a much more dynamic message. Even so, the absence of Pronger does not cripple Anaheim’s defense. They still have Neidermayer with Giguere at the backstop, and maybe Giguere will get hot if he faces more shots. He really hasn’t show up yet for this series.
As for Buffalo-Ottawa, utterly disappointed. I knew Ottawa would make this a series, but I didn’t expect this. This feels worse than the Creed/Drago fight from Rocky IV. Although Buffalo has regained some life (that goal 9 seconds in was downright spectacular), 3 straight against a team who’s already given ample evidence that they can beat you seems a little improbable I mean, just what the hell happened? Only a cataclysmic event can explain Buffalo’s implosion. It’s a completely different team out there. Watching them play the Rangers (as hurtful as it was) was simply incredible. They’ve had flashes of that brilliance sporadically throughout the series, but have yet to grasp it long enough to have any effect. Game 4 was the longest they’ve been able to sustain their President Trophy stature, and that was still a bit too close. Still, there is hope. Games 5 and 7 are slated for Buffalo; all they need is one in Ottawa.
Basketball- Ok… admittedly so, I’m not much of a basketball fan. I mostly pay attention to post season hoops, and that more or less fills my quota for the year. I was however, a devout Knicks fan at one point and time. Sadly, the 1-2 punch of Spike Lee and Isaiah Thomas sort of disfigured that attachment. Yet imagine my surprise to discover that my connection had not been completely severed, as I found myself oddly indignant during the “Robert Horry hip checks Steve Nash” story. Clearly Horry feels that Nash should be playing the sport that Canadians are bred for. What bothers me most about this story is how incensed the commentators have been towards Stoudemier’s suspension for leaving the bench, yet not one mention of the Knicks-Heat debacle 10 years ago. My friend Scott pointed out that the Suns-Spurs incident was 10 years TO THE DAY of the Knicks-Heat fight. I’m sorry, but not only did that cost the Knick’s the series, it cost them a potential championship. They definitely could have beaten the Bulls that year. And yet again we have the “leaving the bench issue”, with no remembrance of the occurrence that originated the debate. And you know what? Because I am co-founder/contributor of this blog, I get to say this. Robert Horry, you’re a dick. You’re a tumbling, tumbling dickweed, and I hope Steve Nash gets those brothers from the Molson commercials to give you a Canadian Beat-down… whatever that entails.
Spider-Man 3- Ok, I’ve gotten this question from like 30 people so far, so I’ve decided to write about it here. No, 30 is not an exaggeration. See, I’m something of a Spider-Man fan (huge, haahuuge understatement) so people tend to be curious about my impression of the movie. Or course, this is probably to make fun of me for taking something so sophomoric, so seriously. Nevertheless, I’ve decided to formulate two perspectives. The first is that of the super-geek, namely the Spider-Man purist who believes the movies should follow the comics stringently. The second, is the objective movie viewer who judges the film on nothing more than entertainment value. Of course, this is how I saw the movie, but nobody believes that. I swear, I didn’t see it opening night, I’m not going to see it again in theaters, and I have grown up the past couple of years. Moving on…
My first complaint, which is intrinsic to both perspectives, is the over loaded, and often overworked plot. Way too much going on. The seven different sub-plots were at times detrimental to the movie, although it did help maintain a consistent pace. I could have done without the Mary-Jane jealousy, the majority of the Jazz Club scene, etc.. Honestly the Sand-man/Harry villains should have been a separate movie. The black costume/Venom plot is such a huge part of the Spider-Man mythos, it really deserved it’s own storyline.
Next observation. They NAILED the Venom costume, from both perspectives. But… but. Here comes the super-geek. TOPHER GRACE?!? The dorky whiny kid from “That 70’s Show”? Eddie Brock was the size of the governator in the steroid days, not some retro emo kid. Weak. Very, very weak. They didn’t even change his voice when the suit took over. I kept hearing the clueless poker player from Ocean’s 11 behind the toothy snarl.
have a question. When they make the toys from this movie, are they going to have “Emo Peter Parker”? With “Real Crying and Tears Action” and “Masochistic Damage”? I understand that what makes Spider-Man/Peter Parker so compelling is the very human angst of a theoretical super-human. That doesn’t mean he listens to Bright Eyes and Death Cab for Cutie. I liked the dichotomy theme they were going for, but they never seemed to perfect it.
This all being said, I did enjoy the movie. It’s still Spider-Man, it’s still Sam Raimi, and no matter how unpolished the movie seemed, the Bruce Campbell scene made the movie completely worth it. Still worth seeing, for both the geek and the movie watcher.
Hockey- I hate to admit it, but I’ve been somewhat disappointed in the conference finals this year. The Anaheim-Detroit series started off rather enthrallingly, but I found game three to be disappointing. Playoff blowouts are only exciting if your preferential team is the one doing the… you thought I was going to say blowing, didn’t you? Seriously though, I do have a soft spot for the Ducks, if for no other reason than I have a penchant for randomly starting “quack…quack” chants at the most inopportune times.
As for the hit and suspension… one word: ouch. Soft spot or no, I don’t think Anaheim fans have an ethical leg to stand on here. That was undoubtedly a vicious hit. Add Scott Neidermayer for the exclamation point and you’ve got a Hanson Brothers highlight. I’m all for physical, “Eddie Shore old-time hockey” play and all, but you can’t go after a guy like that. Unless it’s a Devil, as I’m sure Colin Campbell would agree. As for boarding calls being subjective? The 15 stitches on Holstrom’s forehead make this a pretty objective call. Still, I must admit that a certain…exhilaration did take place the moment of the tag team check. I remember thinking, “Well about time, it’s four-nothing”.
The suspension was a little rough, but I really think this was the proper course of action. First, the game was 4-0 at that point, so throwing Pronger and R. Neidermayer out would have been the equivalent to a very effeminate slap on the wrist. This sends a much more dynamic message. Even so, the absence of Pronger does not cripple Anaheim’s defense. They still have Neidermayer with Giguere at the backstop, and maybe Giguere will get hot if he faces more shots. He really hasn’t show up yet for this series.
As for Buffalo-Ottawa, utterly disappointed. I knew Ottawa would make this a series, but I didn’t expect this. This feels worse than the Creed/Drago fight from Rocky IV. Although Buffalo has regained some life (that goal 9 seconds in was downright spectacular), 3 straight against a team who’s already given ample evidence that they can beat you seems a little improbable I mean, just what the hell happened? Only a cataclysmic event can explain Buffalo’s implosion. It’s a completely different team out there. Watching them play the Rangers (as hurtful as it was) was simply incredible. They’ve had flashes of that brilliance sporadically throughout the series, but have yet to grasp it long enough to have any effect. Game 4 was the longest they’ve been able to sustain their President Trophy stature, and that was still a bit too close. Still, there is hope. Games 5 and 7 are slated for Buffalo; all they need is one in Ottawa.
Basketball- Ok… admittedly so, I’m not much of a basketball fan. I mostly pay attention to post season hoops, and that more or less fills my quota for the year. I was however, a devout Knicks fan at one point and time. Sadly, the 1-2 punch of Spike Lee and Isaiah Thomas sort of disfigured that attachment. Yet imagine my surprise to discover that my connection had not been completely severed, as I found myself oddly indignant during the “Robert Horry hip checks Steve Nash” story. Clearly Horry feels that Nash should be playing the sport that Canadians are bred for. What bothers me most about this story is how incensed the commentators have been towards Stoudemier’s suspension for leaving the bench, yet not one mention of the Knicks-Heat debacle 10 years ago. My friend Scott pointed out that the Suns-Spurs incident was 10 years TO THE DAY of the Knicks-Heat fight. I’m sorry, but not only did that cost the Knick’s the series, it cost them a potential championship. They definitely could have beaten the Bulls that year. And yet again we have the “leaving the bench issue”, with no remembrance of the occurrence that originated the debate. And you know what? Because I am co-founder/contributor of this blog, I get to say this. Robert Horry, you’re a dick. You’re a tumbling, tumbling dickweed, and I hope Steve Nash gets those brothers from the Molson commercials to give you a Canadian Beat-down… whatever that entails.
Spider-Man 3- Ok, I’ve gotten this question from like 30 people so far, so I’ve decided to write about it here. No, 30 is not an exaggeration. See, I’m something of a Spider-Man fan (huge, haahuuge understatement) so people tend to be curious about my impression of the movie. Or course, this is probably to make fun of me for taking something so sophomoric, so seriously. Nevertheless, I’ve decided to formulate two perspectives. The first is that of the super-geek, namely the Spider-Man purist who believes the movies should follow the comics stringently. The second, is the objective movie viewer who judges the film on nothing more than entertainment value. Of course, this is how I saw the movie, but nobody believes that. I swear, I didn’t see it opening night, I’m not going to see it again in theaters, and I have grown up the past couple of years. Moving on…
My first complaint, which is intrinsic to both perspectives, is the over loaded, and often overworked plot. Way too much going on. The seven different sub-plots were at times detrimental to the movie, although it did help maintain a consistent pace. I could have done without the Mary-Jane jealousy, the majority of the Jazz Club scene, etc.. Honestly the Sand-man/Harry villains should have been a separate movie. The black costume/Venom plot is such a huge part of the Spider-Man mythos, it really deserved it’s own storyline.
Next observation. They NAILED the Venom costume, from both perspectives. But… but. Here comes the super-geek. TOPHER GRACE?!? The dorky whiny kid from “That 70’s Show”? Eddie Brock was the size of the governator in the steroid days, not some retro emo kid. Weak. Very, very weak. They didn’t even change his voice when the suit took over. I kept hearing the clueless poker player from Ocean’s 11 behind the toothy snarl.
have a question. When they make the toys from this movie, are they going to have “Emo Peter Parker”? With “Real Crying and Tears Action” and “Masochistic Damage”? I understand that what makes Spider-Man/Peter Parker so compelling is the very human angst of a theoretical super-human. That doesn’t mean he listens to Bright Eyes and Death Cab for Cutie. I liked the dichotomy theme they were going for, but they never seemed to perfect it.
This all being said, I did enjoy the movie. It’s still Spider-Man, it’s still Sam Raimi, and no matter how unpolished the movie seemed, the Bruce Campbell scene made the movie completely worth it. Still worth seeing, for both the geek and the movie watcher.
Hooray Staying Alive!
I missed last night's game, but I was hoping the Sabres wouldn't get swept...and they didn't! WOO HOO! When I first checked on a computer to see how the game was going, I saw a headline to a blurb pointing out the fact that Derek Roy scored nine seconds into the game. How awesome is that (well, for everyone except Senators fans)?
Sadly, I'm going to miss tonight's game as well. The news that Chris Pronger was suspended for tonight's game didn't surprise me that much. My guess is if the penalty was called on Pronger, then Niedermeyer would've been suspended. For a vicious hit like that - which made Daniel Alfredsson's hit on Henrik Tallinder look like a love tap - they both deserved some sort of discipline. Either way, things are looking pretty good for Detroit right now.
Go hockey! I'll post a real CD review pretty soon.
Sadly, I'm going to miss tonight's game as well. The news that Chris Pronger was suspended for tonight's game didn't surprise me that much. My guess is if the penalty was called on Pronger, then Niedermeyer would've been suspended. For a vicious hit like that - which made Daniel Alfredsson's hit on Henrik Tallinder look like a love tap - they both deserved some sort of discipline. Either way, things are looking pretty good for Detroit right now.
Go hockey! I'll post a real CD review pretty soon.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Almost Like A Cooking Show, But In Hockey Form
Last night's game was probably bound to happen. The Anaheim Ducks received the beating of a lifetime, losing 5-0 at home to Detroit. Anaheim outshot the Red Wings in the first period, but still went to the dressing room down 2-0. Frustration seemed to take over the host Ducks in period 2 after Detroit chased Anaheim goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere. The Ducks were already starting a march to the penalty box in the first period, but The Dumb Parade just continued throughout the whole game for them. Surprisingly, Detroit only scored once on the power play, but they had 9 chances last night, including a full five-minute opportunity after Chris Pronger and Rob Niedermeyer drilled Thomas Holmstrom into the glass from behind, giving him two cuts on his forehead (Holstrom had scored twice before this incident in the second period. He missed the rest of the second, but was stitched up and back on the ice for period three). Niedermeyer received the boarding major and game misconduct, though it could've gone to either of them.
Lesson learned: When Todd Bertuzzi scores in a game, things are going right for the Red Wings.
Go Sabres! I'm gonna miss tonight's game due to the Wednesday post-work open mic a couple of guys in my band and I attend. So chant it with me now: DON'T GET SWEPT! DON'T GET SWEPT! DON'T GET SWEPT! DON'T GET SWEPT!
No Duh. (starring two guys from Smock)
Lesson learned: When Todd Bertuzzi scores in a game, things are going right for the Red Wings.
Go Sabres! I'm gonna miss tonight's game due to the Wednesday post-work open mic a couple of guys in my band and I attend. So chant it with me now: DON'T GET SWEPT! DON'T GET SWEPT! DON'T GET SWEPT! DON'T GET SWEPT!
No Duh. (starring two guys from Smock)
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Aaarrrrgh... and Explaining Berger's Rating System
So, uh... last night's game. Ryan Miller was friggin' awesome, only coughing up one fluky-ass goal in the second period. Sabres, as a whole, were also much better killing penalties. But other than that, the better team clearly won. When a team only fires 15, 16 shots on goal for an entire game, they kinda deserve to lose it...
I'd never thought I'd hear (see?) myself say (type?) this, but the Senators have been playing fantastic defense this series. When Dany Heatley backchecks, you know they really mean business on the defensive end. So now the Sabres must do the near-impossible to snag the Prince of Wales Trophy that nobody even touches anymore out of superstition and reach the Stanley Cup Final. If they don't, well...it's been a fun season. When this Sabres team was on its game, they made for some real good television.
On a completely different subject: Berger's Rating System! I'm a hopeless music nerd (some of the links I've posted will attest to that) who owns way too many CDs for his own good. So, while I'm here, I'll review albums and shows. Let's face it - music and movie reviews aren't definitive - they're just opinions. So, why not stage dive into the Music Critic Mosh Pit myself?
So here's how Berger's Rating System works: It's based on the Siskel/Ebert/Roeper thumb system, but the "thumbs" will be replaced with a different thing that I feel is appropriate for whatever music / band I'm reviewing (i.e. "metal horns" for the Strapping Young Lad album in my last post). Here's the scale:
Two (thumbs) up - AwesomeOne (thumb) up - Solid
One (thumb) down - Okay
Two (thumbs) down - Coaster
Happy listening!
My cousin in all his stop motion glory
I'd never thought I'd hear (see?) myself say (type?) this, but the Senators have been playing fantastic defense this series. When Dany Heatley backchecks, you know they really mean business on the defensive end. So now the Sabres must do the near-impossible to snag the Prince of Wales Trophy that nobody even touches anymore out of superstition and reach the Stanley Cup Final. If they don't, well...it's been a fun season. When this Sabres team was on its game, they made for some real good television.
On a completely different subject: Berger's Rating System! I'm a hopeless music nerd (some of the links I've posted will attest to that) who owns way too many CDs for his own good. So, while I'm here, I'll review albums and shows. Let's face it - music and movie reviews aren't definitive - they're just opinions. So, why not stage dive into the Music Critic Mosh Pit myself?
So here's how Berger's Rating System works: It's based on the Siskel/Ebert/Roeper thumb system, but the "thumbs" will be replaced with a different thing that I feel is appropriate for whatever music / band I'm reviewing (i.e. "metal horns" for the Strapping Young Lad album in my last post). Here's the scale:
Two (thumbs) up - AwesomeOne (thumb) up - Solid
One (thumb) down - Okay
Two (thumbs) down - Coaster
Happy listening!
My cousin in all his stop motion glory
Monday, May 14, 2007
Oddly Conflicted...
I hate the New Jersey Devils. To an extent, though common sensical to some (mostly other NY Rangers fans) often considered somewhat… unhinged. Though my reasons for such loathing are defensible, they are also numerous, so I will spare you the details of my admittedly maniacal disposition. My point? Imagine my surprise last night, when I leapt from my couch in joy after Scott Niedermayer scored the Duck’s overtime goal, bringing their series against Detroit to one apiece. I immediately sat back down, and questioned out loud, “Did I just applaud for Scott Niedermayer?”
That’s Scott Niedermayer…
Former Defenseman for the New Jersey Devils.
This brought about a few interesting inquiries, the most relevant of which is “How much significance does a player’s former team association have, specifically in your decision to root for a player once he has left set team?”
Needless to say, I felt slightly uncomfortable with the realization that I had just cheered a former Devil’s defenseman. This prompted me to consider how I felt about other former Devils once they left the leagues most droning and monotonous team since the NHL’s inception.
Bill Guerin- Traded to Edmonton for Jason Arnot in the 97-98 season. For me, Bill Guerin was the Devil you hated to hate. A smart player who wasn’t noticeably dirty, he also played for a few USA Hockey teams. Part of the reason I had been rooting for the Sharks this playoffs was because I had spotted Guerin on the roster.
Claude Lemieux- Total expletive. Dirty as he was efficient, the only blemish on a fantastically stacked Colorado Avalanche cup team. I enthusiastically rooted for the Av’s in 96, but a serious and potential career ending injury to Lemieux would have been well received.
Bobby Holik- Former Devil, eventual Ranger, current Thrasher. Following that same vein, my feelings on Holik went something like “detestation, indifference, and disgust”. Obvious disdain for when he wore the red and black, although he certainly wasn’t one of the most odious. When Johnny Damon game over from the Red Sox, I felt the familiar déjà vu of the Holik signing; contented to snub the rival, but realistic as to expectations. Bobby helped, but never really got comfortable. Watching him against the Rangers in this year’s playoffs, I saw an intensity which had only been duplicated while he played for New Jersey. This same intensity was inexplicably absent during his stint with the Rangers, hence the lack of a New York contract.
That brings us back to Niedermayer. Can I root for a Ducks team that proudly employ’s a former intricate piece of the New York Rangers’ bane? The answer is a resounding yes. My contempt is ultimately for the Devils organization, not for its former players. There are plenty of a-holes on the current roster to be the objects of my disparagement. Besides, Niedermayer is certainly no Scott Stevens, current front runner for Biggest Douche in the Universe Award. If he couldn’t beat the ever loving crap out of me, I’d totally kick his ass.
As for the game, no complaints here. A split two games in is always indicative of a great series, and there is still plenty of hockey left. Meanwhile, Buffalo has quite the task ahead of them in Ottawa. Will someone put out an APB on Buffalo Power Play?
“Goals are like insults, they don’t count unless they cross the line…”- Don Taylor
That’s Scott Niedermayer…
Former Defenseman for the New Jersey Devils.
This brought about a few interesting inquiries, the most relevant of which is “How much significance does a player’s former team association have, specifically in your decision to root for a player once he has left set team?”
Needless to say, I felt slightly uncomfortable with the realization that I had just cheered a former Devil’s defenseman. This prompted me to consider how I felt about other former Devils once they left the leagues most droning and monotonous team since the NHL’s inception.
Bill Guerin- Traded to Edmonton for Jason Arnot in the 97-98 season. For me, Bill Guerin was the Devil you hated to hate. A smart player who wasn’t noticeably dirty, he also played for a few USA Hockey teams. Part of the reason I had been rooting for the Sharks this playoffs was because I had spotted Guerin on the roster.
Claude Lemieux- Total expletive. Dirty as he was efficient, the only blemish on a fantastically stacked Colorado Avalanche cup team. I enthusiastically rooted for the Av’s in 96, but a serious and potential career ending injury to Lemieux would have been well received.
Bobby Holik- Former Devil, eventual Ranger, current Thrasher. Following that same vein, my feelings on Holik went something like “detestation, indifference, and disgust”. Obvious disdain for when he wore the red and black, although he certainly wasn’t one of the most odious. When Johnny Damon game over from the Red Sox, I felt the familiar déjà vu of the Holik signing; contented to snub the rival, but realistic as to expectations. Bobby helped, but never really got comfortable. Watching him against the Rangers in this year’s playoffs, I saw an intensity which had only been duplicated while he played for New Jersey. This same intensity was inexplicably absent during his stint with the Rangers, hence the lack of a New York contract.
That brings us back to Niedermayer. Can I root for a Ducks team that proudly employ’s a former intricate piece of the New York Rangers’ bane? The answer is a resounding yes. My contempt is ultimately for the Devils organization, not for its former players. There are plenty of a-holes on the current roster to be the objects of my disparagement. Besides, Niedermayer is certainly no Scott Stevens, current front runner for Biggest Douche in the Universe Award. If he couldn’t beat the ever loving crap out of me, I’d totally kick his ass.
As for the game, no complaints here. A split two games in is always indicative of a great series, and there is still plenty of hockey left. Meanwhile, Buffalo has quite the task ahead of them in Ottawa. Will someone put out an APB on Buffalo Power Play?
“Goals are like insults, they don’t count unless they cross the line…”- Don Taylor
Friggin' Metal
When I got home from work, I immediately turned on the TV to check on the Sabres game... and saw a glut of commercials. Must be intermission... which is sad, 'cause I was friggin' PUMPED when I got back here. But then again, I was also listening to Strapping Young Lad in the car. If you can't get pumped up on adrenaline after listening to an over-the-top Canadian speed metal band, then I don't know what to tell you.
Strapping Young Lad - "The New Black" (Century Media, 2006)
Highlights: "You Suck", "Monument", "Wrong Side"
Berger Rating: Two metal horns up
Go Sabres! Time to get that power play clicking again...
Strapping Young Lad - "The New Black" (Century Media, 2006)
Highlights: "You Suck", "Monument", "Wrong Side"
Berger Rating: Two metal horns up
Go Sabres! Time to get that power play clicking again...
Sunday, May 13, 2007
The Ecstasy, The Agony, The Ecstasy Again, The Agony Again
Wow. So much to talk about from last night's game...
Congratulations to the Senators for making some team history. I still can't believe they've never held a 2-0 series lead before. Needless to say, the Sabres are in a rough spot right now, but this series isn't over yet. However, if their power play knew which way was up, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
Thomas Vanek was awesome last night. If he keeps that up, his line will take the series over. Hell, if he had just been able to control the puck when Emery decided to go on an adventure outside his crease (apparently, Emery graduated from the Dominik Hasek School of Puckhandling), this series would be 1-1. Briere also played much better than he did in Game One and has probably never scored an easier big goal in his life than his game-tying tally with 5 seconds left in regulation. I bet his eyes were like friggin' dinner plates when that puck got to him with Emery that far out of position...
On the other side of Lake Ontario, Chris Neil took the dumbest penalty I've ever seen in a playoff game. He pinned Derek Roy against the boards until he drew the Sabres offsides. How could he possibly think he could've gotten away with that? What a moron. Anyway, the Heatley / Alfredsson / Spezza line was amazing again. Normally, it's detrimental to a playoff team to have a one line offense. But, when that one line is clicking as well as these guys are, they can get away with it. An Ottawa / Anaheim final could be interesting - I'd kinda like to see how this line would fare against Chris Pronger and Rob Neidermeyer.
Normally, I'm not one to complain about officiating, but how the hell did Daniel Alfredsson NOT get called for boarding Henrik Tallinder in the first overtime period? That hit was a textbook boarding penalty. I know Don VanMassenhoven was out of position when that happened, but what was the other referee doing? Napping? I know full well that the refs can't catch everything, and I'm fine with that. But completely missing what could have been a major and game misconduct call is completely inexcusable.
Western Conference Final Game Two tonight. I'd watch - and I want to, believe me - but my guitar player is throwing a "housecooling" party tonight, so I should probably go to that and drink some beer. Darn. And, of course, Happy Mother's Day!
It's on.
Congratulations to the Senators for making some team history. I still can't believe they've never held a 2-0 series lead before. Needless to say, the Sabres are in a rough spot right now, but this series isn't over yet. However, if their power play knew which way was up, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
Thomas Vanek was awesome last night. If he keeps that up, his line will take the series over. Hell, if he had just been able to control the puck when Emery decided to go on an adventure outside his crease (apparently, Emery graduated from the Dominik Hasek School of Puckhandling), this series would be 1-1. Briere also played much better than he did in Game One and has probably never scored an easier big goal in his life than his game-tying tally with 5 seconds left in regulation. I bet his eyes were like friggin' dinner plates when that puck got to him with Emery that far out of position...
On the other side of Lake Ontario, Chris Neil took the dumbest penalty I've ever seen in a playoff game. He pinned Derek Roy against the boards until he drew the Sabres offsides. How could he possibly think he could've gotten away with that? What a moron. Anyway, the Heatley / Alfredsson / Spezza line was amazing again. Normally, it's detrimental to a playoff team to have a one line offense. But, when that one line is clicking as well as these guys are, they can get away with it. An Ottawa / Anaheim final could be interesting - I'd kinda like to see how this line would fare against Chris Pronger and Rob Neidermeyer.
Normally, I'm not one to complain about officiating, but how the hell did Daniel Alfredsson NOT get called for boarding Henrik Tallinder in the first overtime period? That hit was a textbook boarding penalty. I know Don VanMassenhoven was out of position when that happened, but what was the other referee doing? Napping? I know full well that the refs can't catch everything, and I'm fine with that. But completely missing what could have been a major and game misconduct call is completely inexcusable.
Western Conference Final Game Two tonight. I'd watch - and I want to, believe me - but my guitar player is throwing a "housecooling" party tonight, so I should probably go to that and drink some beer. Darn. And, of course, Happy Mother's Day!
It's on.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Well, That Was Awesome: Getting Reacquainted With A Sport I Kinda Liked In The First Place
Damn, that was cool. I gotta watch this stuff more often... This afternoon on Versus, I caught the National Lacrosse League* Championship game between my hometown Rochester Knighthawks and the Arizona Sting (?). The game was well played and extremely exciting throughout, helped along by the really good crowd in Phoenix's poorly named hockey arena (Jobing.com Arena?! You gotta be friggin' kidding me!). The Sting played hard and tightened up on defense in the second half, but the Knighthawks were just too strong and just always had the answering goal whenever Arizona got close. Knighthawks won, 13-11. WOO HOO!!!! I'm DEFINITELY checking this team out live next season...
And now, from one playoff to another. Heard an interesting factoid on ESPNEWS a few days ago (ESPNEWS: SportsCenter For Those Who Can't Stomach A Full Hour Of Shameless Self-Promotion). Interestingly enough, four out of the last five teams who won Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals have gone on to lose the series. That includes the '03 Senators and last year's Sabres. So hmmm... and, of course, it's Game Two tonight. GO SABRES!
*For those not in the know, the NLL is an indoor lacrosse league that's played 5-on-5 (not counting goalies) and feels a lot more like hockey than the 11-on-11 outdoor game played on school campuses this time of year (professionals play outdoors in the summer, too).
LINKS: NLL
Major League Lacrosse (summer outdoor league)
Rochester Knighthawks (cue the Queen song)
And now, from one playoff to another. Heard an interesting factoid on ESPNEWS a few days ago (ESPNEWS: SportsCenter For Those Who Can't Stomach A Full Hour Of Shameless Self-Promotion). Interestingly enough, four out of the last five teams who won Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals have gone on to lose the series. That includes the '03 Senators and last year's Sabres. So hmmm... and, of course, it's Game Two tonight. GO SABRES!
*For those not in the know, the NLL is an indoor lacrosse league that's played 5-on-5 (not counting goalies) and feels a lot more like hockey than the 11-on-11 outdoor game played on school campuses this time of year (professionals play outdoors in the summer, too).
LINKS: NLL
Major League Lacrosse (summer outdoor league)
Rochester Knighthawks (cue the Queen song)
Indeed
LOL. Eat babies, that's great. Berger's right, if you can watch the end of that game, and not walk away a full fledged hockey fan, then you should have your brain checked. Wild, wild stuff *Dana Carvey doing Johnny Carson voice*. I was a little surprised at the outcome however. Anaheim were getting their shots, but Hasek was a little too... well, Hasek. I didn't care for the Wings' goals either. One was a shot off of Giguere that trickled in, and the other was a deflection off a Duck (You know, this sounds pretty inhumane if you take it out of context). Garbage goals if you ask me, but don't worry, no one will. Detroit had less that twenty shots, and only five in the first period. The funny thing is, goal number 1 was scored in the first period, leaving Giguere with a save percentage of 80 percent. Ouch.
With the loss in Buffalo, and the Ducks formerly known as Mighty dropping game one, that makes me a stellar 0-2 in my game one predictions. But I'm not worried. Buffalo will have woken up by game two and the Ducks will have had that inspirational talk by Coach Bombay.
With the loss in Buffalo, and the Ducks formerly known as Mighty dropping game one, that makes me a stellar 0-2 in my game one predictions. But I'm not worried. Buffalo will have woken up by game two and the Ducks will have had that inspirational talk by Coach Bombay.
Now There's An Ending For You
Holy crap. I missed about half of last night's Anaheim / Detroit game, but I did catch the last 10 minutes or so. I gotta tell ya - the last 17 seconds of that game were nothing short of SPECTACULAR (Anaheim had their goalie pulled and Detroit was shorthanded). If you saw the end of that game and didn't like hockey afterwards, then you have no soul and probably eat babies.
I wonder how Henrik Zetterberg felt watching those 17 seconds from the penalty box after being called for delay of game...
DIE.
I wonder how Henrik Zetterberg felt watching those 17 seconds from the penalty box after being called for delay of game...
DIE.
Friday, May 11, 2007
I'm So Glad I Got to This First...
NFL sources have reported that Miami Dolphins and High Times Man of the Year running back Ricky Williams has tested positive for marijuana.
Wait for it...
Wait for it...
SURPRISE!!!!
Seriously, this is my surprise face. I mean, fucking duh. The only thing funnier about this situation is the fact that his Achilles heal is just pot. Not Coke. Not Heroin. Not Crunk Juice. Ricky Williams is addicted to weed.
This couldn't come at a better time for the Dolphins. They had a stellar draft day, what with the passing of Brady Quinn and all (although to be fair, they did pick up a decent quarterback in 2nd rounder John Beck. It's just that, well Beck is not Quinn). Dante Culpepper is set to have a tremendous season, all 6 games of it before he gets injured. Oh yeah, Nick Sabin just sent a "Thanks for all the Memories" post card from Alabama. Yep, things are great in Dolphin Country. Like my good friends in Buffalo say, "Squish the Fish". And yes I am aware that dolphins are not fish.
Wait for it...
Wait for it...
SURPRISE!!!!
Seriously, this is my surprise face. I mean, fucking duh. The only thing funnier about this situation is the fact that his Achilles heal is just pot. Not Coke. Not Heroin. Not Crunk Juice. Ricky Williams is addicted to weed.
This couldn't come at a better time for the Dolphins. They had a stellar draft day, what with the passing of Brady Quinn and all (although to be fair, they did pick up a decent quarterback in 2nd rounder John Beck. It's just that, well Beck is not Quinn). Dante Culpepper is set to have a tremendous season, all 6 games of it before he gets injured. Oh yeah, Nick Sabin just sent a "Thanks for all the Memories" post card from Alabama. Yep, things are great in Dolphin Country. Like my good friends in Buffalo say, "Squish the Fish". And yes I am aware that dolphins are not fish.
More Blowouts, Please
Maybe I'm sick, but I like to see blowouts. If I tune to a baseball game where one team is down by 10 runs, I tend to stick around 'cause I wanna see how bad it gets. Hell, I stuck around in the stands for the whole game where a local minor league team lost 16-3. So, imagine my joy when I saw "Texas 14, NY Yankees 2" and "Oakland 17, Kansas City 3" from yesterday's action. Too bad I wasn't able to actually watch either of those games...
Oh yeah - Sabres lost last night. Bummer. Sabres just weren't together - especially on the power play - and the Senators took advantage of that. But if Toni Lydman's goal is any indication - they just let him walk into the front of the net! - I'm not too worried. At least not for now...
In the meantime, enjoy THIS.
Oh yeah - Sabres lost last night. Bummer. Sabres just weren't together - especially on the power play - and the Senators took advantage of that. But if Toni Lydman's goal is any indication - they just let him walk into the front of the net! - I'm not too worried. At least not for now...
In the meantime, enjoy THIS.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Start Spreading the News...
You have to feel real good if you are a Yankee fan right now. 200 million plus payroll definitely buys you a solid product as we have seen thus far this season. They proudly boast a 16-17 record, just shy of that coveted .500 mark. Their bullpen needs a rehab session from being over worked. Which really isn't a problem, especially since the starters are barely making it to the 6th inning. And speaking of starters, how about the signing of Roger Clemens? 45 years old and still going strong. He's been pitching the last two seasons in a league with inferior hitting, and one less batter in the lineup, so his return should definitely help the Yankees' starters total ERA. Which is i think 27th in the league. Great, great numbers. And while the front office is still hot, lets trade away Phillip Hughes to make way for a Randy Johnson homecoming. I mean the Yankee's have a chance for something historic here. When is the last time a teams entire starting rotation were official members of AARP?
I loathe myself...
I loathe myself...
Yep... This is gonna be an interesting game
When I got home from work, I immediately turned on the TV... 2-0 Senators, about halfway through the first period. Dammit! Slightly dejected, I wandered back out to my car to grab my bass and drum sticks. I wandered back into my apartment to find the Sabres had scored while I was gone. Woo hoo! This game is gonna get interesting...
Welcome my friends to the show that...um just started
See what happens when two former college roommates and avid hockey fans stop blogging, and start being real. Mad Real. Could not have picked a better start date; Game one of the Senators/Sabres series is just hours away. What the hell's a senator anyway? I actually know the answer to that question, I just couldn't think of a better insult. Though hockey will undoubtedly be the preferred topic of discussion for a while (hockey fans to an admittedly psychotic extent, and it's the playoffs) this blog will eventually include Life, the Universe, and Everything. Just from our point of view...
Go Sabres!
Brought to you by BergerMcNally Enterprises
Go Sabres!
Brought to you by BergerMcNally Enterprises
IT'S ALIVE! ALIIIIVE!!!
Hello there, all you happy people. Welcome to yet another blog. But THIS is just the start of something. I'd talk about what this blog is going to be about, but I'll get back to you on that as soon as we figure out what the hell we're doing here. But for now: Hi. Welcome. And GO SABRES!
(Sorry. Couldn't resist that last one.)
(Sorry. Couldn't resist that last one.)
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