Unrelated Thoughts

Top (and bottom) 5 Gamecube Games

2010-10-01T10:06:00.001-07:00

I am loyal to Nintendo. I think they put forth great efforts to make great games and great experience for gamers. So it pains me to say this:

The Gamecube was aweful. Honestly, only 1 game was exceptional and that’s not good. You name it, they screwed it up.

They took the best controller on the market (N64) and took away the underneath trigger but didn’t give it dual analog. Mistake (sports games were aweful). They used mini-DVD sized discs instead of full sized. Mistake. And they ventured off the beaten path with their biggest franchises. Often, this was a mistake.

I was soooo disappointed with my first batch of games that I was extremely hestitant to try out new games. Unfortunately for me, the best games on the Gamecube were new or games I hadn’t played before. So my list will NOT look like mainstream Gamecube lists because I didn’t play the great games. My apologies to the following games I didn’t play: Metroid Prime, Resident Evil 4, Super Smash Bros Melee, Pikmin, Animal Crossing,and Pikmin.

This is why I feel I was a classic consumer case for the Gamecube: loyal fan who couldn’t get past too many disappointments. It also has lead me to create a top and bottom 5 list. So keep reading for my bottom 5 games

1: The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

Ok, this goes against everything I just said. But this is the exception. Zelda took a huge risk by going to this new graphic style. I enjoyed it enough, although it was really weird. What WAS awesome was the gameplay. I felt completely in control of Link at all times. The dungeons were great, the side quests were interesting and the plot was pretty cool. The end fight with Gannon was top notch, one of the best. Traveling by boat sucked a bit, but in the end I completely enjoyed this experience.

2. Super Monkey Ball 2

I bought this game thinking it might be a good party multiplayer game. Turns out it is one of the best overall games I’ve owned. 1 player story mode was challenging and strangely addictive. Monkey racing was also fun by myself or with friends. But the rest of the multiplayer was near perfect. Pick a game and I had friends who wanted to play. Monkey Fight, Monkey Target, Monkey Shot were all great party games and worth the price of admission. Put them all together and you have a surprisingly quality game. This is also the only game I’ve ever lost. Whoever “borrowed” my copy I want it back!

3. Mario Kart Double Dash

I loved Mario Kart 64. So again, this game was a disappointment. The graphics weren’t much better and the play control was actually a little worse. The double-kart feature was neat, but I rarely found anyone who wanted to play co-operative kart racing. Either they were so bad they never wanted to steer or they were good enough to want to challenge me head to head. Also, I'm not sure what this game contributed to the Mario Kart franchise except maybe a few good courses. In the end, it was a fun game which is good enough to make this list.

4. Super Mario Sunshine

Point of reference: this game wouldn’t make my top 5 Mario games. That’s how bad this system was. I had problems with the whole water-cleaning-the-island bit, it didn’t help the game flow all that well (I felt like a janitor). But this game’s biggest problem was Mario 64. This game in no way improved the franchise. Sure the worlds were still beautiful and some of the action was unique, but I never felt like I was playing something special. The best contribution this game made was its gift to the Mario Kart world. And for that we salute you.

5. Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader

I bought this one with my system, so it has a little nostalgia to it. Looking back this game had everything I wanted. It was a Star Wars game, and I am a huge fan. The play control was actually pretty good. It wasn’t Star Fox 64, but it was still a lot of fun. The downfall is the same of all space fighter games: it’s repetitive. But that’s ok, I enjoyed the game for what it was for and sometimes that’s all I can ask for.

My Bottom 5 games:

1. James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire

We all know that Golden Eye was the N64 standard. And after the success of Perfect Dark I really had high hopes for the new Bond game. Big enough hopes that I bought it with the system.

Utter failure.

This game didn’t improve on either of the aforementioned N64 games. The 1 player was forgettable minus the car levels (which is not what I bought the game for). The multiplayer was terribly bland and was barely recognizable compared to Golden Eye. The game play was just lousy, which I think is partially because of the new controller. In a world of Halo and Star Wars Battlefront this game was a complete waste of time.

2. FIFA World Cup 2002

“Hey, I’m a soccer fan and it’s the World Cup time. I think I’ll buy a soccer game. I assume that since the World Cup is the best tournament in the world that the game will be the best soccer experience.”

WRONG!

This was an arcade game. It was meant to keep people interested in a soccer game that wouldn’t normally care. Really hard shots had flames behind them. Fast players had smoke behind them. It was devoid of any actual soccer strategy and I learned nothing about the sport itself. Opportunity wasted.

3. MVP Baseball 2004 (aka the lefty glitch)

Albert Pujols was on the cover. I had to get this game, especially because I hadn’t owned a baseball game since the SNES. I bought it, went home and looked up the new rosters online.

EGADS! There was a glitch in the game that made it near impossible for left handed batters to hit homeruns. Think about that!! Jim Edmonds would go a whole season with 1 or 2 homeruns! HE HIT 40 THAT YEAR! What a ridiculous problem to deal with!

4. Mario Party 6

Mario Party 4 would actually be number 6 on my best games list (sad but true). So when Mario Party 6 came out I thought I would try it out, since I still assumed that newer games improved on the old. Fooled again! They changed everything that worked, most notably the game board. The mini games were still fun, but when they barely counted towards the end result who really cares?

5. FIFA 2004

In truth, this is the game that helped me become a soccer fanatic. The game play was good, they had all the players and teams and I spent most of my time falling in love with Arsenal.

But besides the gameplay, the actual mechanics were lousy. No matter how much money your team spent during the season, it was all replaced next season. Then, when you bought the best players in the world THEY NEVER GOT WORSE! Players improved each season, but nobody got worse because of age or ability. Let’s just say with a regenerating budget and stagnant talent pool I had a pretty sweet team by the end.

So there you have it! Feel free to comment or disagree on my Top 5, bottom 5 or assessment of the Gamecube in general.

Sam the Ram needs to take 5 this year.

2010-09-10T07:23:00.000-07:00

I've never seen a franchise that needs to go 5-11 more. But that's how I feel about the 2010 St. Louis Rams. The last 3 years have been horrible. Unwatchable. Depressing. But....I trust GM Billy Devaney and Head Coach Steve Spagnolo. I believe in 39 Steven Jackson as he has matured into a leader of this team. And from the pre-season I believe that Sam Bradford will make enough plays to get yards and touchdowns from broken plays. That alone will get us into each game and at least make each game interesting. And maybe win some of those games.

I see the Rams going 5-11 with wins over the Cardinals, Seahawks, Lions, Buccaneers, and Browns. That would do enough to show me the Rams are moving in the right direction. It won't be pretty, but at least it is football.

Here are my lovely pre-season predictions:
AFC: New England, Baltimore, Indianapolis, San Diego, Cincinnati, NY Jets

NFC: Washington, Green Bay, New Orleans, San Fransico, Minnesota, Dallas

Superbowl: Indianapolis over Green Bay

Many of the picks I read online are raving about the Ravens. I disagree. All winter leading up to the draft we heard about how this is a quarterback league and how much of a passing league this is. Yet, the "trendy" picks of Baltimore, NY Jets, even Cincy and Atlanta were all running teams last year. Everyone naturally assumes that young quarterbacks get better each year. That is too large of an assumption for me.

Aaron Rodgers looks great. And since I feel the NFC is wide open I find it hard to believe the Saints will just march back to the Superbowl. I feel if Green Bay focuses on defense they will make up for the shootout in Arizona and let their offense shine in the playoffs.

Then there is my doomed pick of the Colts.

Historically, Superbowl losing teams fall apart. Losing the big game has an effect the next season. The team either falls apart mentally, or one injury breaks everything apart (Brady '08, Warner '02). What is different for me is Peyton Manning. All he does is win. He leads. He doesn't allow for a letup. And I've heard from several experts that with a healthy Bob Sanders and other improvements the defense is actually better.

Improved Defense and Peyton Manning equals a Superbowl for me. Hard for me to think anything otherwise, even with the Superbowl letdown.

Jump up and touch the sky

2010-09-03T06:27:00.000-07:00

One of my goals in life is to never become stagnant as a music fan. I don't want to be the guy that 20 years from now still only knows songs from the 90's and spends his days trying to tell people how underrated the band Live is. I feel like since I got out of college I've been able to do that through bands like Coldplay, The Killers, Snow Patrol, Ben Folds and U2. But as I look at these bands I've come to a conclusion: they represent myself as an "adult" music consumer. They bring melodies, harmonies and energy but not the raw energy and game changing music that I found with Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots and Soundgarden.

Which leads me to ask: what band would be 15-year-old me's favorite? What band might change the way I look at music? I might have an answer.

30 Seconds to Mars is a band that certainly caught my ear on the radio. But that's not what everyone sees first. Lead singer/song writer Jared Leto is an established actor. You might remember him as Angel Face in Fight Club. (I wanted to destroy something beautiful). Well, he should drop the acting gig, cause his music is electric for me.

The first thing I notice is that the music grabs me. It's not just 4 chords of distorted guitar or some riff in drop D tuning like you hear in all the anger rock. Alright, I can get into this music. Then the lyrics. Leto is on a mission to fight for the human spirit. His latest album is called "This is War" and has absolutely nothing to do with war, and everything for fighting for the voice of youth and the spirit and love they bring. Hmmm...I think I'm starting to buy in. Then I saw a video of their live performances.

It is clear that 30 Second to Mars and their fans have a spiritual experience at their shows. That's what sealed the deal for me. I believe music has a very spiritual element to it as well. (Although Leto and I differ as to the source of the spirituality) I want to be in a crowd that has a common purpose and that purpose is greater than "I need to let off all this anger." Yes, I think I would like a 30 Seconds to Mars crowd. (Coincidentally, when they came in concert this past May I was at a Pearl Jam concert. Got to wait your turn new guys)

Below is a video that shows it altogether. I encourage you to give it a watch (since I can't embed official videos) If you can get by the emo teens and the pink mohawk you will see a phenomenon. The type of phenomenon 15-year-old-me was looking for. The type of music current-me is thankful to have.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQHv-fhHq9Y

South Africa World Cup remembered

2010-07-12T05:17:00.000-07:00

What a month! What started with 32 nations hopes of a World Cup championship comes down to only 1 victor. A congrats to Spain, a worthy World Cup champion. I am amazed at the composure it takes from a whole team to win that many games 1 - 0. Often, that goal came very late in the game. At any time one player could lose his concentration and make a mistake that leads to conceding a goal. Not Spain. I give tons of credit to captain Iker Casillas. Way to skipper the ship.

One more note on the Final: if that was the USA playing, there would have been 2-3 red cards coming our way. I keep hounding on the word respect. This is the example:

Only a yellow. WHAT!!! In 2006 the US got red cards for much less. And I'm not even arguing that we didn't deserve them, I'm just saying that perceived soccer ability and respect gives you calls that others won't get. Hopefully those days our over with our performance in this year's Cup.

So although I didn't want a European team to win, I am glad a team hoisted the trophy for the first time. Here are my other Break Out Moments.

Diego Forlan - Uruguay.

Even before winning the Golden Ball (player of the tournament) I was saying "He stood out above all others." (David Villa is my number 2 player). Where would Uruguay be without him? Above all others he made goals out of nothing. He will receive a huge payday, and personally I would love to see him at Arsenal.

Germany:

I admit, I never have given Germany the respect they deserve. But following 2 third place finishes and a runners up finish, I am starting to believe. I am probably going to follow a German team in the fall (Schalke) that's how much they impressed. They played solid team defense, held possession of the ball, made solid passes and (most importantly) they put the ball in the net with precision. That is a rare combination. I credit the Bundesliga for their success, they really know how to develop talent and they how to play the game. The MLS could learn a lot from them.

Top 3 games of the World Cup:

Spain v The Netherlands: The Final
It was ugly. It was choppy. But in the end, it was exciting. All the chances in extra time were amazing, especially with any goal almost securing a WORLD TITLE! And then to have the latest World Cup winning goal in history? Amazing. Also, why didn't Spain start Cesc Fabregas? He was a creative beast when he entered the game.

Ghana v Uruguay: The Handball.
I was rooting hard for the last African hope. The game was exciting. The goals were exquisite. Then, with penalties looming the Ghananians threw a barage of shots at the goal. With time running out they gave one last effort only the have it batted off the line.

Listen, this is the truth. 90% of players would have done it too. I really thought "Nice effort, but Ghana wins." The rest is African history. Hitting that crossbar demoralized the whole team. Uruguay advanced, but not without some of the best drama I've ever seen.

USA v Algeria: The Goal.
Both teams could advance with a win. Yet, with England comfortably ahead of Slovenia, Algeria starts playing for a heartless draw. Do they know where they are and what's at stake??? Still the US carries on, creating chance after chance.

Then came the goal.

I admit, I ran around the house. Ran. My kids joined me. It was incredible. Overjoyed. And I wasn't alone. Anyone who witnessed that goal Live knows what I'm talking about. The tension up to that point was unbearable. The release.....will be remembered for generations.

This my favorite game not only because the US won. It is how we won. This is why I love soccer. Sure, you're never really sure the goal is coming. But when it does come.....

I seriously doubt anyone makes fun of how soccer players celebrate goals anymore. Because we've all been there ourselves.

"They can take our goals, but they can never take our freedom!"

2010-07-02T10:23:00.000-07:00

I've had a week to think over the US performance in the World Cup. I wanted an African Nation to make a run in the World Cup, I just didn't want it to be at our expense! It took a great individual effort to take us down, and I applaud that. (I don't blame Bocanegra, he just got beat.) I consider our World Cup effort a success as we made the knock out round and fared better than France, Italy, Mexico and England. And while it was a thrilling run that ended in heartbreak, I think I'm ready for the positives and negatives.

Negatives: The first point is we lack depth at defender. Onyewu and Clark were directly responsible for 3 goals at my count, and we all saw how Clark made the mistake against Ghana. Demerit and Bocanegra played strong in the middle, they just got out run in extra time. More experience and depth could have allowed Bradley more options for replacements. What's more I expect that none of our starting defenders in this World Cup will start in 2014, with no specific replacements on the horizon.

Also, lack of depth at striker was huge. Ideally we would have put Dempsey and Donovan at wide midfield with Altidore and Davies at forward. Well, Davies was injured and Altidore was leveled ineffective without him. We had no answer to either create goals or allow Altidore more space. Hopefully we find some actual goal scorers in the near future.

Positives: Our midfield rocked my world. Michael Bradley was a stud. The ball seemed to be tethered to his foot and he always made timely runs to create chances. Donovan and Dempsey were amazing and the stars of our team. Edu showed great quality, and Feilhaber resurrected his career in spectacular fashion. What's more, I expect all of these players to appear in 2014.

Tim Howard proved he is a top 5 keeper in the World. He had one slight mistake on the early Ghana goal, but still that was a silly position to have to be in.

Finally, the US put on a show. After the first half of the Slovenia game we played great soccer as a team. I was watching a quality football team, not just a squad I hoped would scrap a victory together. I also felt with our performances against Slovenia and Algeria we really gave the World something to cheer about. Imagine that, we were actually gaining support around the world. This translates into an important quality.

Respect.

I think the World saw us as a quality team, and that will translate into future respect. No more cheap fouls because it must be the American's fault. No more tough draws in the World Cup because Mexico undeserving received a number 1 seed. More Americans will get playing time in Europe. It will have an effect.

Soccer also gained respect in the US itself. Landon Donovan gave us a moment we will not soon forget. The goal and reactions across the nation gives us a talking point for not just this World Cup, but for the next 4 years and possibly the 4 after that.

A new nation of fans: How can this one moment change a nation? Well, it was a World Cup that turned me into a soccer fan. In 2002 I watched a young Donovan and company defeat Mexico and controversially lose a chance at the semi-finals at the hands of the Germans. But they had captured my spirit. I started following US players in the MLS. I started watching Champions League and English Premier League games. I was hooked. I bought a FIFA video game. I picked a favorite team. (Arsenal) And I started watching every USA match played. I followed our players on their club teams.

Soccer is now a part of my sports world just like baseball, football and basketball. In 2002 I knew very little about world soccer. 8 years later I own 3 jerseys, countless soccer shirts and I have soccer regularly set on my DVR.

In 2018 the World Cup will probably be in Europe, but the US is trying to land it. Where will your game be in 8 years?

One Cup to rule them all: World Cup Cinderellas, favorites and predictions

2010-06-04T13:53:00.002-07:00

If the NCAA Tournament took steroids and decided to conquer the world, it would look like the World Cup. Then play it once only 4 years. Could you imagine Duke, North Carolina, Kansas and Michigan State going for the tourney title only once every 4 years? That's the best way I can explain it to American sports fans. Lots of big time countries will lose to less talented squads who play with a lot of hustle and heart. Yet the same super star nations end up in the semi finals (final four) every tournament. So if a team like Mexico, the US, England or France bows out early don't think of it as much how they screwed up but how these other nations rose to the occasion. Also, please feel free to bandwagon onto whatever Nation makes a surprise run. It's totally acceptable.

As for my overall preview, one things really sticks out to me.

Location, location location.

Host nations do really well in the Cup. While I personally expect South Africa to make some magic, I consider every African team a host nation and for them to do well because I feel they will be playing with the pride of the entire continent on their shoulder. More importantly European countries play poorly off their continent. It's a fact in my mind. Only two countries have ever won the Cup off their home continent: Brazil and Argentina. My picks reflect this. As much as I enjoy watching England and Spain play I foresee them heading home disappointed.

If the boot fits: Cinderellas in the crowd. These are teams that I feel have the chance to win it all if they catch a break or two. It is my hope that the USA can make a run, but I will use my space to feature other teams.

Ivory Coast: This is the most talented African nation in my mind. They have talented, experienced players all over the field. But they have maybe the most influential player in the Cup: Didier Drogba. Love him or hate him (I double hate him) he is a forward that always finds a way to score. He has carried Chelsea to huge success, and he can do it in South Africa as well. He broke his arm preparing for the Cup which leaves the question: Is the arm going to be the excuse for a bad World Cup, or the inspiration for a spectacular one?

The Netherlands: Consider them those old Roy Williams Kansas teams. All the talent, none of the big victories. The Dutch terrorize Europe during the regular season, but never seem to put it together for the big tournaments. Well, it only takes one tournament to change that perception. They have a top 3 offense and a good enough defense. If they can get their heads straight they could send some big countries home.

The Favorites:

Brazil: Brazil is looking to win its 6th World Cup on its 5th continent. What?? That's the kind of pedigree the Brazilians come from. Lots of people love their home country first, but Brazil is their second team. They have flash and style, but they have focused on defense recently. To the point where they left former world player of the year Ronaldihno at home. (despite the Nike commercial!) Fortunately, they have another former world player of the year in Kaka, and he will be their main creative force. If the defense can hold up and the forwards get some confidence it will be hard to stop the World Domination of Brazil.

Argentina: They boast the current world player of the year in Lionel Messi. How much can one player influence a team? Well, when he can literally dribble around the entire midfield, defense and goalie to score he is a rather important player. Not to say he is alone, there are many talented, experienced player around him. The question is whether their insane manager Maradona can not screw it up. As weird and temperamental as he is, I think he can hold it together for the big one.

Spain: They put on a show winning the European Championship in 2008. Much of that team is in tact for South Africa and they are ready for a World Championship. They have fierce forwards and brilliant midfielders and a top 5 keeper. Their downfall? They have played a ton of games. While those extra games from '08 may not matter now, all the games their talented players participate in the Champions League may take their toll. Also, Spain used to be known as the team that couldn't win the big one. Can they win the big one twice in a row?

And now for my doomed picks:
A1: Mexico
A2: South Africa
B1: Argentina
B2: Nigeria
C1: England
C2: USA
D1: Ghana
D2: Germany
E1: Netherlands
E2: Cameroon
F1: Italy
F2: Paraguay
G1: Brazil
G2: Ivory Coast
H1: Spain
H2: Chile

Quarterfinals
Nigeria V England
Netherlands V Brazil
Argentina V USA
Cameroon V Spain

Semi Finals
England V Brazil
Argentina V Cameroon

Finals
Argentina V Brazil

Champions: Argentina

Obviously I am very hopeful for the African continent. Think of North America, Asia and Africa as the mid-majors where a Final Four is like a championship. I also would like to see a non-European team not named Brazil win. As much as I would like Africa to do it, I see too much talent for Argentina. I see a classic final that is decided by a questionable call just so those two nations can hate each other more.

Enjoy The Cup!!!

One Nation: My USA World Cup Preview

2010-06-04T13:52:00.001-07:00

No sporting event means more to the American sports landscape than the World Cup. That is not an exaggeration: for better or worse it's the truth. True, more Americans will talk about the Super Bowl or will fill out NCAA brackets or stop what they're doing to watch Albert Pujols than talk about soccer. But when it comes down to it, nothing compares to the effect the US Men's result in the World Cup has on the state of soccer in our nation. Lose and people think "wasn't that cute....Americans trying to play with the big boys." But defeat some of the big boys....and US Soccer gets some serious credibility in the eyes of a skeptic nation.

No pressure.

Actually that's more true than you would imagine. The expectations of the US team rides on the coat tails of their performance in the last World Cup. In 2002 the national team shocked the nation by making the quarterfinals. Expectations were high for 2006, some were predicting the semifinals. Well, we scored 2 goals and got knocked out early. This gives our team a "nothing left to lose" attitude. An attitude that fits Americans well. Here is a look at some key players you should know.

Consistent Stars: Great players who just seem to have the knack to rise to the occasion.
Tim Howard: He is an elite keeper, one of the top 5. He played over 40 games in England last year and he is sharp both in form and in decisions. He can clear out corners, get down for low shots and keep our back line organized. You don't have to worry about the keeper making a dumb decision with Howard in the goal. And that's saying a lot.

Landon Donovan: The all-time leading scorer for the US has moved from being a forward or attacking mid to play right wing. At first I was concerned about moving a playmaker to the wing, but Landon has proved my worries unnecessary. He is explosive in space, he makes great runs off the ball and has great touch. He knows how to weave in and out of the defense and that allows him to find his way into the action, often to create a chance on goal. Once a liability, he is clearly a strength now.

Clint Dempsey: His story is similar to Donovan's. A great striker and goal scorer, he now plays wing for the US. And like Donovan, that position suites him well. What he lacks in pace he makes up for in determination. He is always in the right place, always fighting for the ball. He knows when to use a flashy move and when to just muscle it through. And he always ends up in the action. The difference is Dempsey is more likely to get in a fight than Donovan. Not a bad thing mind you.

Need to perform to their abilities: Good players who have something to prove.

Jozy Altidore: He's been great for the national team over the last couple years, but he only played in about half his games this past season, and he didn't exactly perform well. Will we see the Jozy of last summer or last winter? As our most seasoned forward that is an important question for the team.

Michael Bradley: Honestly Bradley has played really consistently for the US. But even the slightest gaff and he could cost the US a game. He is our strongest defender in the midfield and often kick starts the offense. He connects the back to the front, we need him to be on his game.

Oguchu Onyewu: Gooch busted his knee last October and has shown a lot of heart getting to the World Cup at all. But he is still needed in the back. No offense to Clarence Goodson, but Onyewu (when healthy) is a rock on the back line. Can his knee hold up? Will there be rust? The answers will determine if Tim Howard makes comfortable saves or "hold your breath" saves.

Rise above it: Can these players make a difference?

Jose Torres: To be honest, I didn't know who this guy was before World Cup qualifying. I was surprised he made the team. But after the Turkey game I have really high hopes for him. He doesn't mind doing the dirty work in the midfield: Defending deep, bailing out the defense. This allows the rest of the midfield to focus on their offense a little more which greatly enhances our ball movement. I don't know how much he will play, but a good tournament from Torres could do wonders for the US.

Findley/Gomez/Buddle: Three forwards with little National team experience. Crazy? Crazy like a fox. These three are all playing great right now. They are literally too inexperienced to feel the pressure. All they know is the ball goes in the net. If any combination of these three can score 2 - 4 goals, the US is in great shape.

Success? After the poor performance in '06, the measure of success is hard to gauge. Think of the World Cup as the NCAA tournament, good teams lose and lesser teams make a run. Picking the World Cup is the same. For me, my expectation is for the US to get out of Group C and make the knock out round. I would call the tournament a definitive success. Make the Semifinals and the world will notice.

Win it all? Running around naked would be acceptable. I don't think it will happen, but that's why you play the games.

What are you on?

2010-05-20T10:01:00.000-07:00

Today Floyd Landis came out and admitted he used performance enhancing drugs in his cycling career, including when he won the Tour De France in 2006. He has also implicated many other cyclists to using PED's, including Lance Armstrong.

Two things. First, when Jose Canseco wrote his book Juiced we all thought he was after attention. Turns out he was right, and in fact one of the most creditable sources on steroids in baseball. So Landis's claims deserve to be investigated. He certainly has the level of detail that makes you wonder if in fact Armstrong has been deceiving us. In the past several years when the public receives this level of detail, the information is more often than not true.

However, if it comes down to who to believe, I tend to believe Armstrong. He has been tested more than any athlete. He has never tested positive. He has always denied usage. Oh yeah, he survived death by beating cancer. Who would torment their body after getting a second chance?

Most of all, it reminded me of this Nike commercial. One of the best.

Finish the Job - 2010 Baseball Preview

2010-04-08T11:15:00.000-07:00

Cardinals Preview:

I feel the motto for the 2010 St. Louis Cardinals will be a phrase we were uttering at the end of the 2009 season, "Just finish the job!" I fully expect the Cardinals to have a rip roaring time beating up on the NL Central this season. The only thing that can stop us is what hurt us down the stretch last year: finishing the game. How fragile is our bullpen? Will Franklin be able to hold it together through October? Will McClellan or Motte be able to pick up the slack if Franklin sucks. Shoot, will our current bullpen find its legs and hold on to the leads we have in general? My feeling is that we will trade for some bullpen help. It is easy to get a mid-level closer/set up man at the trade deadline for only a prospect or two. Think Pirates/Nationals.

Also, last summer I applauded the Derosa trade. Now that we crashed out of the playoffs, Derosa is in San Fransisco and Chris Perez is Cleveland's closer that deal doesn't look so hot. Honestly, if Derosa doesn't get hurt in his third at-bat he might be twice as productive and I wouldn't feel so bad seeing Perez in the box score for the Indians.

I am completely looking forward to the first 7 innings of every ball game. Our lineup puts on a clinic - literally. Schumaker, Ryan, Pujols, Holliday, Molina and even Rasmus all work the count and have great at-bats. This will not only wear down pitchers, but it will give each batter a good look at the oppositions pitch selection. By the 4th inning we will see some rallies game in and out. Our starting rotation looks awesome, even if Garcia doesn't work out. Carpenter and Wainwright are a treat to watch. Good season to look forward to.

Season Predictions:
Just for fun, here are my season predictions. I should point out I first made some really boring/obvious picks and actually changed two of them because you never know what's going to happen each season.

AL: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles Angels, Boston
NL: Atlanta, St. Louis, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia

World Series: St. Louis over New York Yankees

First, if I'm going to pick the Cards to make the playoffs, you bet I'm going to pick them to go all the way. That's just how it goes.

I looked hard at the NL East and AL Central. I went with Atlanta because I feel their rotation is built for the regular season. They have 4 quality starters and a unproven Japanese import. Their lineup looks solid and their bullpen is anchored by Billy Wagner. The Phillies have Halladay but some inconsistency after that. And can anyone honestly trust Brad Lidge anymore? I go Atlanta.

It was really a toss up between Chicago and Minnesota. The White Sox have a better rotation, the Twins have a great looking lineup. In the end I went with pitching and variety with the White Sox. (That AL Central is hard to pick, I get it wrong every year).

One last prediction: Pujols will make me say "You can't just go out and do that!" at least 10 more times this season. For example: (Pujols hits homerun in first at bat) "You can't just hit a home run to start the season! Who does that!" (Pujols goes 4 for 5 with 2 homeruns) "You can't win and MVP and then go 4/5 right out of the gates! It's just obsurd!" Get the idea?

NCAA: Change you can scratch your head about.

2010-03-15T08:40:00.000-07:00

The NCAA is starting down a path that I feel could be a very bad precedent for College athletics. Let's review the NCAA post season practices for my two favorite college sports: Football and Men's Basketball.

The BCS: NCAA Football currently uses the BCS to determine the 2 teams that can play in the National Championship game. To be one of the two teams you pretty much a) Have to be from one of the BCS Conferences and b) Have to be a "football powerhouse" to get the votes to get that high in the rankings. It is a flawed system that most coaches and media feels needs to change. Yet, the experts say that this will NOT happen.

NCAA Tournament: I consider this the crown jewel in college athletics where every single teams has a shot at winning the tournament and National Championship. Although it is usually won by a "BCS" Conference, the possibility for smaller conference teams (Memphis) exists. However, the idea that the tournament should expand to 96 teams is gaining momentum. I am against this because I think you should earn your way into the tournament and it's ok for good-not-great teams to be left out. From what I can tell all the media and most of the coaches feel this way too. Yet, the experts say that this expansion WILL happen.

Even though it is March, STOP THE MADNESS! Why would you take something that is not broken and fix it yet leave the broken system in place?

There's an answer. The same answer for almost every bizarre decision in life. Say it with me:

Money.

The BCS makes too much money to change, and the NCAA Tournament can make more money by changing their system to a 96 team field. This sickens me, and I feel it will set a terrible precedent for college athletics.

Why do college fans enjoy the college game more than the professional game? My answer has always been the integrity of the competition. The players are not professional athletes. Yes they receive scholarships and easier course loads, but in the end it makes their life comfortable, not luxurious. They still only have at most 4 years to live out their dreams on the playing surface or there will be no tomorrow. I love the NFL, but I dislike the NBA. Why? Because I feel the entire NBA comes down to only a couple players on every team. College basketball relies on the whole team, and that's what I love.

If the NCAA continues to make decisions based on money, not the product on the field they will start to lose fans. I can't tell you how or why, I just know it will happen. The NFL is possible the top league in the world because they emphasize protecting the product on the field. MLB started gaining respect again when they focused on eliminating steroids to help their integrity on the field.

If the NCAA keeps making decisions based on money, I just have a gut feeling they will lose the passion of the fans. Something nobody; fans, players, or coaches, wants. So please, stop the madness. Think of your fans and athletes, not your pocketbooks.

Super Bowl Ads and other thoughts

2010-02-08T08:43:00.000-08:00

Aint Nobody Better.

The Super Bowl is a special time for me. With an advertising background and a love of football I literally watch the entire game start to finish. Add on a great half-time show and thank God for DVR or I would never get to pee. So here are my thoughts on the ads, entertainment and the game.

The Ads:
First off, they were disappointing to me. I felt that most ads had a good idea that never got developed. Take the Griswold's checking into a hotel for Home Away. I would totally watch a whole movie of that, but the ad just didn't pack enough punch. Even the Clydesdale commercial was completely predictable. In the end my taste in ads vastly differed from what I consider the official rankings from USA Today. I thoughts Denny's did a great job promoting their free give-away. Who knew chickens screamed like girls? My favorite Doritos ad was the one where the boy tells his mom's date "Don't touch my mom, and don't touch my Doritos." That one made me laugh. Otherwise, two ads really left an impression.

The Simpsons and Coca-Cola:
The Simpsons have been around 20 years and in my opinion represent Americana. They tackle all issues, they guest star sooooo many of the best pop figures of the last 20 years. I view them as a classic that has still got it going on. Which is why pairing them with Coke was genious, as they both have the same selling points. "Remember how we were awesome 20 years ago? Still Awesome!" Plus....Burns losing his money and the town not appreciating his collection was just funny. I think in time we will see the beauty of this ad.

Flo TV Ad:
I think this ad aired during half-time so it didn't "count" in the standings, but I loved it. This ad took the biggest TV moments of the last oh 50 years and put them into one ad to the tune of "My Generation" by The Who. I can't begin to describe how genius this is. But I will try. First, props for using The Who when they were playing half-time. Second, what better way to drive home the idea of a hand held TV then to remind people of the "Where were you when" moments of the last 2-3 generations??? Think about it. I mean, this was a history lesson in 1 minute!! It even carried all the way to the present with the Haiti earthquake. Total brilliance, and again the more we see this ad the more we will appreciate it.

The Winner: Snickers Tackles Betty White
I must say, I was surprised that a) Anheuser-Busch lost for the second straight year and b) this is what beat it. I know that seeing Betty White getting slammed was funny, but really that was it. I mean of course seeing old people getting tackled is funny! I guess I felt that ad was too easy of a joke. Maybe that's the beauty of it.

The Who at Halftime:
Ever since Justin killed Janet's career the halftime show has been aging artists who the networks need not worry about doing anything naughty. And while it's fun to sing along to great hits, some of these artists just don't pack the punch they used too. (cough Rolling Stones cough)

Not The Who. They brought it. Roger has his voice, Peter has his windmill. I was really entertained. I was more impressed by how loud the fans were singing along. I had never heard that before and it really added to the performance. Add on that amazing stage and it was definitely the best performance since U2 in '02 and in my opinion a top 5 halftime show up there with Michael Jackson and the Mo-Town tribute.

Special points for almost every song promoting the CSI series which just so happens to air on CBS. Clever.

The Game:
I loved this game. I picked the Saints and was rooting hard for them. I truly felt it was a perfect game up until the Manning interception. Sure there were some drops and a stopped 4th down, but honesly those plays happen. I really felt both teams went and executed their game plans and in the end the Saints made two big plays with the Pick-6 and the onside kick. Those plays literally made up for the difference on the score board.

I think Manning played great. Turns out the Saints defense is really good. Manning made a ton of top notch throws just to put points on the board. He had to be perfect, and most of his completions were perfect. Give credit to the Saint Defense who just made one big play at the right time. I think Drew Brees kept his head and made so many smart decisions. He made safe throws and let his receivers get the yards. That's great football.

How to build a franchise:
I think the St. Louis Rams can learn a lot about how to build a a championship team. Both the Colts and Saints built themselves in impressive manners and here is how I view them.

Indianapolis Colts "The Model" That roster is littered with players who have never played for another team other than the Colts. That means that the Colts have made a killing on great drafts after great drafts. It helps that they drafted future hall-of-famer Peyton Manning early in this development, but still they make the most of what they have in house year after year. This takes some time to build, but once you do you become the winning-est team of the decade. This is what every franchise tries to do.

New Orleans Saints "The Best of what's around" The Saints went out and signed great free agents at key positions and built around them in the draft. This is probably where the Rams are headed since we have drafted so poorly in recent years. I actually think the answer will be in between for the Rams. Find your "franchise" players in the draft and fill in need with quality free agents. At least we have two models to learn from.

The Future:
The Saints have a ton of free agents, and Super Bowl players tend to get money thrown at them. The good news for the Saints is they won, and other quality players will want to get in on this action while the Saints still have a core of great players.

The Colts have a different problem. Losing the Super Bowl hurts. A Lot. Like try forever. Who is the last team to lose a Super Bowl and return? (Answer: The Giants took 7 years to return, the Patriots took 5 and the Steelers took 10. The Bills....lets not talk about the Bills.) Even past Super Bowl winners have troubles recovering from a loss (New England and St. Louis). So keep your chin up, Indianapolis. Keep Peyton Manning protected in the pocket and I think you will be fine. I think he is durable enough that they won't suffer the same fate as the Patriots and Rams.

Finally, I believe I predicted 7 of the 10 Super Bowl winners last decade (before the game, not the season. I didn't get any of those). That's not a bad stat! I missed The Giants/Patriots, the Seahawks/Steelers and of course the Rams/Patriots.

YouTube artist: Pomplamoose

2010-02-04T12:36:00.001-08:00

One day when I pulled up YouTube I saw a suggested video by an artist named Pomplamoose. On this particular day that was enough for me to be interested and check it out. I mean, with a name like that you'd have to be good, right? Totally right. The lady (Nataly) has a relaxed, clear voice. (She also plays bass) All the other instruments (and a few vocals) are recorded by Jack, the gentleman in the video. In fact, they call these videosongs. What that means is that everything you see is what you hear. (No overdubbing) Each instrument or harmony is included in the video at some point, so you get the full picture of what it took to record this song. And given the massive creativity and energy they brought to this song I'm very glad they did. I hope you enjoy it.

St. Louis Rams: 10 players to watch

2010-01-13T10:48:00.000-08:00

This will prove to be a crucial off-season for the St. Louis Rams. While I don't expect the Rams to have a winning record in 2010, history has shown that if you make the right moves your team can drastically improve in one off-season. With so many needs the Rams could go in many directions. So here is my watch list for the Rams 2010 off-season.

1: Michael Vick QB Philadelphia Eagles
One year ago it was a risky move to sign Michael Vick. Nobody knew how the public would view his return to football, and I'm sure people were wondering how Vick would conduct his own behavior. To me those questions have been answered. The Rams need a QB with some mobility, and there's nobody with more mobility that Vick. He would add a much needed playmaker to this offense. Sure he's not the greatest passer, but the Rams aren't going to sign a great passer. Vick might give the 2010 Rams the best chance to win.

Also, if the Rams were to acquire Vick we would instantly become a talking point and relevant to the NFL, something we were not in 2009. Now, he won't come free. The Rams would have to trade for Vick from the Eagles. And if I read between the lines correctly the Rams are interested. The only problem might emerge if other teams desire Vick's services as well. The Rams aren't exactly a desirable place to play right now.....

My prognosis: Make it happen. 60% chance.

2: Ndamukong Suh DT Nebraska
Suh is regarded as the best talent in the 2010 NFL draft. The St. Louis Rams have the first pick in said draft. The Rams had the 4th worst defense in the NFL and 6th worst rush defense. All signs point to drafting Suh. Two reasons why: one is that Suh is being touted as a "special" player that doesn't come around that often. After watching him in college, I agree. Second point is to win in the NFL you need to win the battles on the line both offense and defense. This would go a long way in securing our defense. Let's put it this way, only if the Rams trade down would I be happy if we don't draft Suh.

My prognosis: Please do this. 90% chance.

3: Jimmy Clausen QB Notre Dame
I really think the Rams need a new QB, and Clausen is the best QB in the draft. Drafting him would make the Rams relevant to the national media with everyone looking into his development. Also, the Rams would gain the attention of the loyal Notre Dame alumni which would help our attendance and overall interest.

However, is Clausen the right QB to draft number 1? I don't think so. Sure he's good, but he's no slam dunk. And great QB's don't have to be drafted in the first round, they often get drafted in 2nd and 3rd rounds. However, Clausen will gain lots of media attention especially with the Rams need at QB. In fact, I will say now that if Clausen gets drafted number 1 it's because another team trades up to get him!

My prognosis: Not my choice, but I could see it happening. 10% chance.

4/5/6/7: McCoy/Tebow/Bradford/Pike
As I mentioned before, the Rams need a QB. If we take Suh with the first pick I fully expect the Rams to pick up a QB in round 2 or 3. The real question is who will be available? I like Colt McCoy the best. I like his accuracy, mobility and leadership. Sam Bradford has much to prove, but if he is healthy again he has promise to be a great passer in the NFL. Tim Tebow may not be the prettiest passer available, but his heart and leadership and determination to improve makes him a viable candidate. Tony Pike could move up the boards with some good workouts, but so could other QB's. My point is that there will be some QB's available in this draft. The question is who will still be on the board?

My Prognosis: 90% chance a QB is taken. I rank them McCoy, Tebow, Bradford, Pike.

8. Reggie Bush RB New Orleans Saints
Bush is one of the most electric playmakers in the NFL. At least of the players who are free agents this off-season. Think about what Bush could offer to the Rams. He's a great compliment to Stephen Jackson. He's a playmaker both in the running game and the passing game. In fact, his pass catching ability would help make up for our lack at wide receiver. But I wonder if Reggie would choose to come to St. Louis if he receives multiple offers. (which I think he will) And how much would he cost? How much can the Rams afford for a number 2 back?

My prognosis: A boy can dream. 20% chance.

9. Osi Umenyiora DE New York Giants
Osi made it clear he is unhappy with the Giants. And the Rams just so happen to have his former Defensive Coordinator in our head coach Steve Spagnoulo. Plus think about if we have Umenyiora combined with Suh and Chris Long? Tell me our defense wouldn't be better! The problem is how much would it cost the Rams to trade for him? With all the needs the Rams have it would not be shrewd to give up too many picks on trades this off-season.

My prognosis: Osi will have a better chance to win in NY. 10% chance

10: Danario Alexander WR Missouri Tigers
Fans of Mizzou know about Danario. They know about his speed, his hands and his overall explosiveness. We've heard him compared to Randy Moss and know he could be a first round pick. What puzzles me is how the rest of the nation doesn't seem to get it. I've seen him listed as going in the 4th round! The Rams have great need at the WR position and really need a tall receiver to compliment Donnie Avery. The trick is if he is still on the board in the 3rd or 4th round. I'll say this right now, if Danario does fall to the 4th round the Rams take him with the first pick of the 4th.

My prognosis: Just the luck of the draft. 20% chance.

So there's my watch list. In the end I expect at least 3 of these 10 players to be on our team next year. And frankly, any combination of 3 players should lead to better play on the field next season.

My Top Artists of the Decade

2009-12-22T13:21:00.000-08:00

I waited a little too long to post this, and now every publication has posted their lists. So be it. But I've been working up to this since I posting my top artists of the last 20 and 30 years, and I am glad to post my top 10 artists of the decade.

1: U2 In retrospect, U2 ignited the music of this decade for me. Coming out of the 90's I was bogged down by Eminem, Britney Spears and the boy bands. Rock was looking for a new hero. What they got was an old one. The opening lines of "Beautiful Day" said it all for me: "The Heart is a bloom, shoots up from the stony ground." Rock wasn't dying, it was waiting to be reborn. Throughout the decade U2 provided that combination of spark and poetic lyrics that makes Rock the music that I love. A thank you to U2 for keeping it going 30 plus years after you started.

2: Cold Play It was really hard to choose between U2 and Cold Play. In the end, Cold Play is compared to U2, not the other way around. Chris Martin and company took a familiar sounds (guitar, piano, harmonies) and added their own passion to it. Their albums are great, and their singles are amazing as well. "Fix You" paints such a great picture you can really feel the emotion behind it. That will earn you a place in my music library any time.

3: Beyonce Talented. She can sing, dance, act, whatever you want. Yet what really sets her apart for me is that her songs are all wholesome in a way. When many artists are writing songs about how to score with the girls in the room, Beyonce comes with "Put a ring on it." She's never in controversies and is always smiling. And she has tons of great hits, and maybe the best video of the decade. Oh, and she was in a little group called Destiny's Child which had a pretty good career too. Pretty good decade. Here is her video for "Single Ladies" that Kayne West is such a fan of.

4: Justin Timberlake Justin is on here for all around talent. We found out from N'SYNC that he could sing and at least look good dancing. And between the boy band and his solo career he's had a good number of hits. But I've been most impressed with his work on Saturday Night Live. Seriously, he should be a permanent cast member. Not just the songs he sings, but how he has the comedic timing to pull each gag off is impressive. Remember, it's not common practice for pop star to poke fun of themselves on national TV! Here is a video of Justin on SNL with Beyonce none the less (ignore the first few seconds...and the end...)

5: The Killers I really thought they were a one hit wonder when I heard "Somebody Told Me." Turns out nobody told me how rocking these guys are. I love the passion Brandon Flowers puts into all his vocals on top of the driving music the band lays down. Every album is great loaded with powerful hits. In fact "Sam's Town" is for sure one of my favorite albums of the decade.

6: Snow Patrol I actually first heard Snow Patrol on a PS2 game. But when the hits of "Final Straw" started getting played on the radio I knew this group had something special. And as great as that album was, "Eyes Open" was special. It is the album from this decade I most enjoy listening start to finish with the way it ebbs and flows. A great band I hope to hear much more from.

7.: Green Day What I like the most about Green Day was their confidence to try new things in a big way. While their music sounded similar, their approach was different. "America Idiot" was supposed to be an album to show people Green Day's frustration with the Bush administration. Think about that, a punk group made a heavily political rock opera. AND it sounded pretty dang good. That's how I will remember Green Day.

8: John Mayer In a decade when songs started sounding predictable and trite, Mayer was able to raise the bar in my mind. His songs were a great blend of interesting chords and catchy melodies. And he has some skills on the guitar. The fact that I hear people complain that he rips off Stevie Ray Vaughn and Jimi Hendrix tells me he's doing something right!

9: Radiohead As I have mentioned, I am still in the discovery phase as a fan of Radiohead. But what I can tell you is that I missed out on them, and I am making up for lost time. A great band full of outside-of-the-box songwriting.

10: The Strokes Why include a band that only had one great album? Because that album is a great example of alternative music of the decade. Gone were the riffs and screams of grunge, replaced by driving guitars and tactful guitar solos. I hear a lot of the influence of The Strokes in Snow Patrol and The Killers, so I must give props to a band that gave me hope for the decade. Ok, I wasn't thinking about the entire decade at the time, but it did give me hope!

BCS Playoff Plan - 2009 Edition (Updated)

2009-12-07T08:20:00.001-08:00

The end of the college football season means another bowl season of questions. In previous seasons the question was "Which 1 loss team deserves to play for the championship?" This season we have FIVE undefeated teams, three of which cannot win the title. For shame.

Last year I wrote an extensive blog articulating a BCS playoff format. You can read it here. The goal of this model is to give every team a chance to win the championship every year via a playoff system. To summarize, it calls for a 16 team playoff including the 11 conference champions and 5 at-large bids based on the BCS rankings. Seed the tournament based on the BCS rankings as well. Use existing bowl games to play the tournament, half the bracket on Thursday nights and half on Saturdays. Play the semi-finals on New Years Day and the Championship a week later.

Since this is the second season I've been using this model, some interesting facts came forth putting this together. We have 11 returning participants with only five newcomers. I thought there would be much more turnover than that. The highest ranked newcomer is Oregon with the 7 seed. It just goes to show you how hard it is to win a NCAA Football Championship. I will also point out that in creating my fictional outcomes only three teams from last year returned to the Elite Eight with only one team (Alabama) returned to the Final Four. That seems very likely.

The teams who qualify by winning their conference championship are Alabama, Troy, Ohio State, Georgia Tech, TCU, Boise St, Cincinnati, Central Michigan, Oregon, Texas and East Carolina. Wild Cards are Florida, Penn St, Virginia Tech, Iowa and LSU.

Here is this season's playoff schedule. Results are chosen for scheduling purposes.

First Round:
(1)Alabama (SEC) v (16)Troy (Sun Belt)
in the St. Petersburg Bowl Thurs Dec. 17th

(8)Ohio St (Big 10) v (9)Georgia Tech( ACC)
in the Little Caesars Bowl Thurs Dec. 17th

(5)Florida (Wild Card) v (12)LSU (Wild Card) SEC Showdown!
in the Meineke Bowl Thurs Dec. 17th

(4)TCU (Mountain West) v (13)Penn St (Wild Card)
in the Las Vegas Bowl Thurs Dec. 17th

(6)Boise St. (WAC) v (11)Virginia Tech (Wild Card)
in the New Mexico Bowl Sat Dec. 19th

(3)Cincinnati (Big East) v (14)Central Michigan (MAC)
in the Music City Bowl Sat Dec. 19th

(7)Oregon (Pac 10) v (10)Iowa (Wild Card)
in the Poinsetta Bowl Sat Dec. 19th

(2)Texas (Big 12) v (15)East Carolina (C-USA) Rematch from last year.
in the New Orleans Bowl Sat Dec. 19th

Round of Eight:
(1)Alabama v (9) Georgia Tech
in the Sugar Bowl Wed Dec. 23rd

(5)Florida v (4)TCU
in the Emerald Bowl Wed Dec. 23rd

(11)Virginia Tech v (3)Cincinnati
in the EagleBank Bowl Sat Dec. 26th

(7)Oregon v (2)Texas
in the Rose Bowl Sat Dec. 26th

Semi-Final Round:
(1)Alabama v (4)TCU
in the Orange Bowl Friday Jan. 1st

(3)Cincinnati v (7)Oregon (the Cinderella Story)
in the Fiesta Bowl Friday Jan. 1st

National Championship:
(1)Alabama v (7)Oregon
BCS National Championship game Thursday Jan. 7th

Using these bowl games would eliminate 14 of the current 66 teams set to play bowl games this season. I have already stated that 6-6 teams should not qualify for a bowl game, so the following 6-6 teams would be bumped this year: Wyoming, Texas A&M, UCLA, Minnesota, Iowa St., Florida St., Michigan St., and Marshall.

This leaves us needing six 7-5 teams to be cut. Since the bowl committees love big schools that can travel, I would imagine the following teams would be cut as well: Southern Miss, SMU, Bowling Green, Idaho, Air Force, Northern Illinois. While losing these schools is sad, I think the end result of a true national champion is worth it.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. As a parting note, I want your opinion on something. The only tweak I am considering is making it a 14 team tournament. This would eliminate two wild cards (this year would be Penn St. and LSU) and would give the 1 and 2 seed a first round bye. So I ask you, which would be better? 16 seeds with more wild cards or 14 teams and rewarding the top 2 seeds?

UPDATE:
Turns out 14 of my 16 playoff teams played another playoff team in a bowl game. Although it wasn't a true tournament it gave a little insight as to who might be good enough to advance. Just for fun, using my seeds here would be the match-ups of those teams who won their bowl games.

(1)Alamaba v (14)Central Michigan

(8)Ohio St v (10)Iowa in a regular season rematch

(6)Boise St v (11)Virginia Tech....which was a first round match-up. whatever.

(5)Florida v (13)Penn St

So I'd say it was a good showing from the Big 10 who has three teams on this list. Also, only 2 non-BCS schools made it. But that is a misleading stat because of the 5 non-BCS schools in the tournament, four of them played each other in bowl games. Also, four of the five Wild Card teams won their games. Not much I can read out of these stats except that it seems the Wild Card teams showed their quality and gives me something to think about for next season.

My Top 10 St. Louis Sports moments of the Decade

2009-11-25T12:31:00.000-08:00

It has been a crazy decade for St. Louis sports. For the Blues and Rams it has been the best of times (2000) and the worst of times (2007). For the Cardinals it has been the decade of Pujols and La Russa and has been constantly great. Mizzou Football started as a floor mat to the Big 12 and has emerged as a consistent North contender. And Mizzou Basketball has survived Ricky Clemons and Coach Q to rebuild itself under Mike Anderson. With all that said, here are my top 10 "moments" of the last decade in St. Louis sports.

1. The Tackle '00: In the most exciting and probably most underrated Superbowl, the Rams defeated the Titans by 1 yard. When Mike Jones made the tackle, I was in disbelief. We didn't blow it. The clock struck midnight, but Cinderella still danced. This is my number one moment because of the excellence the Rams gave all season. The '99/2000 season was as special as we'll ever know, and it was all preserved by "The Tackle."

2. Wainwright wins the World Series 'o6: Wow. Clutch. Huge. Just some words of how great Adam Wainwright was in the '06 postseason. The Cardinals limped into the playoffs and when Izzy got injured we turned to a rookie starting pitcher as our closer. Not only did he buckle Carlos Beltran's knee, but he got the job done in the World Series. It is an image I will not forget.

3. Warner to Bruce '00: You know, watching the second half of the Superbowl in 2000 was REALLY distressing. The Rams weren't scoring touchdowns and Eddie George had rushed his way back into the game. Late in the 4th quarter the Rams needed some magic. And got it. Warner took a huge hit delivering the ball, and Isaac Bruce made the adjustment to make the winning score.

4. Yadi's home run '06: With the game tied 1-1 in the ninth I was getting nervous. I was really afraid the Met were gonna hit a walk-off home run. Especially because I didn't think the bottom of our lineup was gonna score. Then Yadi hit a long fly ball. My first reaction was "It's just a fly out." It turned into "I swear on everything Holy if Endy Chavez catches ANOTHER homer I will break a wall!!" When it cleared the wall it was jubilation. Out of the entire '06 playoff run this play made me yell the loudest.

5. Eat Turf Kansas '07: What turned out to be the height of Mizzou's football program this decade gave us a lasting image. In 2007 Mizzou came into the Border War the ranked #4 team with the Kansas Jayhawks ranked #2 on a nationally televised game (ESPN Gameday was there too!) It was a great game, but the defining moment was when KU's quarterback Todd Reesing was sacked for a safety, only to emerge with the turf still in his grill. Mizzou won the game and woke up on Monday the #1 team in the land.

6. Touchdown Rams: Ricky Proehl '00: The road to the Superbowl wasn't a total cakewalk. Although we demolished the Vikings, the Buccaneers and their dominant defense posed a great challenge. In fact, late in the 4th quarter the Rams found themselves trailing 6-5. A strange place for the greatest show on turf to be. Until Warner threw one up and Ricky Proehl came down with it. I was at that game, and it still is the greatest moment I have ever been in attendance.

7. Jim Edmonds walk-off '04: Despite how the '04 ended, the NLCS was classic. The Cardinals and Astros had battled often in previous years and this was the first meeting in the playoffs. After Jeff Kent hit a walk-off in Houston, it was easy to think the 'stros would finish the job in St. Louis. In extra innings game 6 remained tied until Jimmy Ballgame came up big. We all knew it when it came off his bat. A great moment in Cardinals history.

8. Pujols shocks Houston '05: It was looking depressing in game 5 of the '05 NLCS. The Cardinals were going to lose in Houston, losing a chance to give Old Busch one last game. 2 outs and Eckstein hits a gritty single. Ok. Edmonds works a great walk, to bring up Pujols. If only hit could hit one. CRACK. Silence. The best silence you will ever hear. I personally was running around the house about to explode because I was trying not to wake up my wife. It was a great moment, but it would be one of the greatest in baseball history if the Cards could have won the series. Turns out the mojo was lost and all Pujols gave St. Louis was a proper good bye to Busch. A great gift indeed.

9. Great 8 in '02 and '09: Ok, not so much a moment but an accomplishment. Mizzou basketball had two Elite 8 seasons this decade, but they couldn't have looked different. In '02 the Tigers were ranked high in the pre-season polls, but stumbled out of the gates and snuck into the tournament as a 12 seed. Well Kareem Rush and company put it together to make a run that nearly ended with a Final Four. In contrast, the '09 season was a "make it or break it" season for Mike Anderson in his third year. A team that got better as the season went on, nobody wanted to play the Tigers in the tournament. It took a tree in Thabeet and UCONN to take out the Tigers, but not after revitalizing a long historic program.

10. USA vs Mexico '02 World Cup: Alright, it's not technically a St. Louis team. But when US Soccer plays we should all be fans you know? US v Mexico is as great of a rivalry as there is. Cards/Cubs, MU/KU, it is just as passionate. Add to it that these two rivals met in the World Cup and extreme bragging rights were up for grabs. A great performance by the US put them into the quarter finals against Germany (and if it weren't for a non-call on a handball we might have made the semi's?) Here is a clip if you don't remember.

Honorable Mention: Presidents Trophy 2000: What a long, difficult decade for the Blues. It started with such great promise. Captained by Chris Pronger, the Blues had the best record in the NHL in 2000, only to be knocked out in the first round. It was a painful end to the season, and while the Blues did make the Conference Finals the next season it really wasn't the same after that. Hopefully the current management and roster will make this next decade more memorable!

Ok, those are my moments. Comment on the order or if I left any out! I will admit up front, I left out some of the more painful moments so I could include the success of the Blues and US Soccer. That's why you don't see anything about the '02 Superbowl. Still too painful.

My top 10 artists of the last 20 years

2009-11-09T09:05:00.001-08:00

Continuing my reflections at the end of a decade, I now turn my attention to the top artists of the last 20 years. This was a particularly difficult list to put together. First, I really started getting into music in 1993, therefore grunge had a huge impact on my taste. On the other hand, most of the grunge bands didn't make it out of the 90's, making their lasting effect a little more difficult to judge. But still, I am happy with my list. My criteria again:

Quality: Obviously, you had to be good. Since quality is subjective, I will again proclaim my affection for Rock and Alternative music. I can recognize good pop acts and have little experience judging country and rap. My apologies upfront.
Longevity: For this list you pretty much need to have had success in both 90's and 2000's. Exceptions to artists who couldn't make it due to death.
Trailblazers: If you changed music, you score bonus points. If you were able to change your own style and remain successful you get points as well.

My choices:
1. Dave Matthews Band: One of those bands that the first time I heard them I knew they were special. The depth of their music can take in anyone. Dancers/partyers love them. Those who just want a catchy tune love them. If you love great solos and progressions you love them. And nobody sounds like them. Nobody has the guts to try. You can identify a Dave song pretty quickly and chances are by the end of the song you will enjoy it. In fact, the only reason people don't like DMB is because they are too popular. People used to say that about the Beatles. Didn't make sense then, doesn't make sense now. Here is a video of DMB playing Ants Marching live in Central Park.

2. Nirvana: Quite simply, Nirvana changed the rules of the game. They took powerful/distorted guitars and laid some great hooks to them. But instead of making it pretty, they went with the emotional ridden screeching vocals that caused a generation to realize that music was more than teeny bopper pop music. I am still sad that Kurt Cobain had to die so early. I understand he had troubled life and it would have been hard for him to survive. But he was a musical genious. Nobody has made the quality of grunge Nirvana did. And since bands have been trying to replicate that magical sounds for almost 20 years, that's saying something.

Here is a video of Nirvana playing the 1992 MTV VMA's. They started playing "Rape Me" just to make MTV mad, then went on to play a classic version of "Litium." Watch the most epic fail of a bass toss at the end.

3. Red Hot Chili Peppers: I feel there are two categories of RHCP songs. Those that rock hard (Give it away Now) and those that rock soft (Under the Bridge, Scar Tissue). Both have a huge infusion of funk that is carried by the music of bassist Flea and guitarist John Frusciante. It is this use of funk and great melodies that makes the Chili Peppers a great band. They're one of those bands I always catch myself listening to on the radio. I never change it because they always brings quality. Again, nobody sounds like these guys because they do it so well.

4. Pearl Jam: My personal favorite band, these guys are still rocking almost 20 years later. How to describe why I love them? Their music is timeless to me. No matter how much I listen to an album the progressions and riffs still speak to me. Plus Eddie Vedder's lyrics are always heart felt and well thought out (even if you don't understand a word). Two things Pearl Jam did to last this long. First they make music for the music, not for sales. They write stuff they enjoy and hope others enjoy it, instead of trying to write hits. Second, they follow their hearts which leads them to be politically active. When Pearl Jam started most "hair bands" were singing about sex drugs and rock n roll. Pearl Jam didn't just write from the heart, but they followed it in their lives supporting their causes. It's something that didn't exist back then, and I'm glad they spoke their minds. It made me make up my own.

5. Green Day: Green Day made Punk popular. They took fast/sloppy music and put some great melodies and hooks to them. Later they showed their writing abilities with songs like "Time of your life" and "When September Ends." They too chose to become politically active late in their careers, which to me shows a sign of maturity. Who would have used the word maturity to describe Green Day when they released "Dookie?" Not me, but that's why they are successful. They allowed themselves to grow.

6. Jay Z: Poser alert: I do not listen to much rap. But I know talent. Jay Z is on a very short list of Rap artists I can listen to. Mostly because I hear music when I hear his songs, not just a rapper trying to draw attention to himself. Fun Fact: Jay Z has the most number 1 albums of the last 20 years.

7. Weezer: When Emo bands started becoming popular earlier this decade, I was unimpressed. Mostly because Weezer had already done it 10 years ago. Distorted guitars with downer lyrics? Please that was soooo 1996. Although Weezer is a little more hit and miss with their songs and albums, their hits are legendary. Sweater Song. Buddy Holly. Hash Pipe. Beverly Hills. Pork and Beans. All quality above and beyond what most bands reach. They have a special place in my heart, and every good alternative fan better have the Blue Album. Their video for Pork and Beans cleverly utilizes youtube and its popularity.

8. Radiohead: I admit, I am just now getting into these guys. And I am impressed. It's like a grunge time capsule I just got to open. Crazy good songwriting, crazy good vocals. Probably a little off-the-wall for the average fan. But if you want 15 years of solid gold grunge, Radiohead is a great place to turn.

9. Mariah Carey: I know she went crazy. But she has 18 number 1 hits. Eighteen! That's the most for any female artist, and second only to the Beatles. Some day, when they crazy fades away a new generation will discover her only to say "why doesn't anyone ever talk about her?" Well, crazy does that. Unless your Michael Jackson. Then we talk more.

10. Foo Fighters: They rock hard, and I love it. Another group that every time I hear them on the radio I never change the channel. Their hits are just that awesome. Their biggest knock: As much as their singles rock, the rest of each album sucks. Sorry guys, but just not enough quality all the way around. Still, Foo Fighters carry the banner of Hard Rock well. That's enough for my list.

Special Mention: Dave Grohl The man amazed me. He was the drummer for Nirvana (who changed music as I mentioned) then goes on to have an amazing career and a singer/songwriter. Not many people not named Ben Folds can do that.

My top 10 artists of the last 30 years

2009-09-29T10:12:00.000-07:00

As another decade comes to a close I like to reflect. And since I am a child of the 80's, I felt a recap of the artists of the last 30 years would be appropriate. My criteria:
Quality: Obviously, you had to be good. Since quality is subjective, I will say that I am a fan of rock and alternative. I can recognize good pop acts and have little experience judging country and rap. My apologies upfront.
Longevity: For this list you pretty much need to have had success in each decade. Exceptions to artists who couldn't make it due to death.
Trailblazers: If you changed music, you score bonus points. If you were able to change your own style and remain successful you get points as well.

Here is goes. Please feel free to argue in the comments. That's what top 10 lists are for!

1. U2: Is there any doubt? They've been the biggest band in the world twice! They made politically challenging music when nobody else was. They sneak Christianity into their music in a way that is meaningful for anyone. Oh, nobody sounds quite like them. In the 80's they created a fresh new sound. In the 90's they wrote music that will take us years still to understand. In the 2000's they came roaring back. I could go on. Here is a clip from their Superbowl halftime show in Feb 2002. I consider this the most meaningful live performance since the Beatles on Ed Sullivan.

2. Metallica: These guys have had 3 careers. In the 80's they defined metal. They played faster and harder than anyone, and most metal bands still can't compete. In the 90's they went more mainstream and managed to dominate in a way nobody thought metal could. In the 2000's I think they just started making music for themselves again with nothing to prove. If you want to dismiss them as just playing loud and fast, listen to some of their 80's stuff. They were totally into arpeggios and solos that are more musically interesting than any metal I've heard. This is the music video for their song "One." (of Guitar Hero fame) It tells the story of a man who loses his arms, legs, sight and hearing in war. And it has one of my favorite guitar solos ever.

3. Michael Jackson The King of Pop. Thriller is the highest selling album of all time by a lot. He could be the single most talented performer of the century. The only reason he's not at the top is because he went nuts somewhere in the 90's. Still, there's no denying he did what nobody did before and what only few dare to try now. This is the performance that put Moonwalk on the map and made Jackson a star above all the others.

4. Madonna: Before Madonna woman singers were talented, but usually stayed conservative with their music (outside of jazz, do some homework on that) Madonna pushed the envelope of what a female pop star could be, both musically and with her live performances. How good has she been? Well, most of the stars who have followed her have gone crazy from all the pressure of being so controversial. There have been better singers, but no better female performers. This is her famous performance of "Like a Virgin" at the 1984 MTV Awards (this is copied by Princess Fiona at the end of Shrek 1) (This also has the 2003 performance with Madonna, you can ignore that if you wish)

5. Bruce Springstein: The Boss. While his individual hits might not be as huge as some of these other artists, his body of work is pretty awesome. He was huge in the 80's, strayed away from the E Street Band in the 90's only to come charging back in the 2000's. His song "The Rising" was a great tribute to the spirit of America following 9-11-2001.

6. Weird Al: Why Weird Al? Not only was he the first to do the comedy parodies of songs, but he has been the best. So good that he owns the market all to himself. Quick, name another parody artist. No one. Weird Al created and perfected a genre in one fell swoop. Here is an example of his brilliance. In 1999 the whole country (world?) was super pumped about the release of the new Star Wars film The Phantom Menace. I mean crazy excited. So what did Weird Al do? He took "American Pie" by Don Mclean and sumarized the whole movie in "The Saga Begins." You can watch it here.

7. REM This band was pretty huge at the end of the 80's and beginning of the 90's. When hair bands and grunge were dominating the air waves REM took simple guitars and awesome melodies to make a variety of hits. Seriously, they had hits in "Shiny Happy People" and "Losing My Religion." Can't get much more different than that! Most alternative bands didn't survive the advent of grunge. REM did, and for that I salute you.

8. Queen: Ok, technically they were a 70's band. But they made some great tracks in the 80's and I feel their music still reaches us today. Bands will always be compared to Queen because Queen did it best. Freddie Mercury had a voice that is like no other. Seriously. I've only heard one that comes close. (Mika, duh) The rest of the band did their part too, providing great sounds to add to whatever bizarrely brilliant vocal tracks Freddie was working on. Freddie Mercury died of AIDS at the age of 45. Who knows what else he could have given to the world of music, but what he did give is still cherished today.

9. Prince I admit, I don't know Prince as well as these other artists. But when you are dubbed the next Jimi Hendrix, you still get some respect from me. He was a talented guitarist and could have written some killer rock songs. But he thrived in pop. He took all his musical knowledge and made pop songs that were interesting, not redundant. He has slowed up on the creation of new music lately, but his music still stands tall. By the way, partying like it's 1999 is soooo 10 years ago.

10. The Police If only they could have stopped fighting. Again, a band whose sound is still unparalleled. Combine a jazz guitarist to a creative song writer and add a dynamic drummer and you get the Police. Although the lyrics don't seem to fit the music, Sting wrote tunes that we are still singing today. And if I ever have to send out an SOS, you know it's gonna be a message in a bottle.

2009 NFL Predictions

2009-09-09T09:03:00.000-07:00

Last year I wrote a blog warning Rams fans that if we didn't support our team they would move.

I still stand by that statement, but this time for whole new reasons.

Last year was bad. I am a pretty die-hard fan and I didn't watch several games. It wasn't football. The Rams were taking up space on the field. I wasn't watching competition, I was wasting my time. So went the 2008 Rams to a 2-14 season. It was hard for me to convince people to care.

Start caring again. The Rams did everything right this off season. We promoted the right guy Billy Devaney as our GM. We hired the absolute best available head coaching candidate in Steve Spagnuolo. Together they have made tons of smart decisions for this franchise. We may not win this year, but it is time to pay attention. We will look like a different team.

I have the Rams going 5-11 this year. I feel our defense will be much improved and keep games close. I think our offensive line is improved and Steven Jackson and Marc Bulger will sneak out a couple games maybe we shouldn't win. It will be painful, but at least it will look better this year.

NFC picks: Philadephia, New Orleans, Minnesota and San Fransisco with Green Bay and the New York Giants as wild cards.

AFC picks: New England, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, San Diego with Baltimore and Houston as wild cards.

New England over Philly in the Super Bowl. Wow, how original of me.

The Man and El Hombre

2009-08-19T14:04:00.001-07:00

Can anyone under the age of 45 ever truly understand how great Stan Musial was? We all know the legend and the respect he commands. But can any of us rattle off the top of our heads why he was so good? Let's start with some general numbers.

3630 hits, 4th all time behind Pete Rose, Ty Cobb and Hank Aaron.
7-time Batting Champ
3-time MVP
4-time World Champion
24-time All Star. (They played 2 a few years)
All this while missing the 1945 season in the Armed Forces.

Those numbers in themselves show great longevity and talent. Specifically, the 7 batting championships stand out. In comparison Ichiro, Albert Pujols and Todd Helton have the active highest batting averages in MLB today. They have a combined 4 batting titles. Musial has a .331 career mark and 475 homers to go with it. The only left handed batters with a .330 average and more home runs are Ted Williams, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

But there are two lesser know stats that make Stan "The Man". 475 home runs may not be all that many these days, but I'm sure Stan could have hit more if he wanted to. Stan retired with 725 doubles, THIRD all-time(Tris Speaker, Rose). If I were playing a video game, I would just push the up button more. Musial had the contact but played in an era where homers were not the phenomenon they are now.

This gave Musial 6134 total bases....second behind Hank Aaron. Think about it, nobody has touched the bases more than Stan Musial save one man. Not Ruth or Williams. Not Mays or Bonds. That my friends is an accomplishment worth remembering.

And then there is the man, the character that Stan Musial brings. It's hard to explain, but the quote that is engraved on his statue at Busch Stadium says it all:

"Here stands baseball's perfect warrior. Here stands baseball's perfect knight."

First, Albert hates being called "El Hombre." He says he has too much respect for Stan the Man to take the moniker given to him.

All the more reason to embrace it.

Albert (God willing) is probably only halfway through his career. And yet it is impossible to not dream of how the numbers will stack up when he's finished. Let's look at those.

First is the obvious 9 seasons with .300 average, 30 homers and 100 RBI's to start a career. Yeah...nobody. Nobody has done it. First. Holy Crap. Albert says he is a contact hitter who happens to hit for power(Much like Musial with all his doubles). For one, I believe him. His average is what sets him apart.

Pujols career average to date is .333. He also currently has 358 career home runs. We know the names with a higher batting average and more career home runs: Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig. Notice anything?

Pujols has the highest average and home run combination of any right handed batter. Period. There are four right handed batters that stick out. Rogers Hornsby with a .358 average (second all time) and 301 homers (he could have hit more). Joe Dimaggio and Jimmy Foxx both hit .325 with 361 and 532 homers respectively. I should also mention Hank Aaron had a .305 average with his 755 homers.

Now, the trick to this stat is that most career batting averages drop significantly at the end of a player's career when they don't quite have the skills they used to (Musial included). But who's to say Pujols won't hit for MORE average before its all said and done. My point is that Pujols already can legimately be in the conversation for best right handed hitter of all time.(since Manny and A-Rod wrote themselves off with their steroids use)

Then there is the man who is Albert Pujols. He is extremely charitable off the field. He is a deeply spiritual and faithful man but is not in your face about it. And he is a fiery competitor. The kind of guy everyone wants on their team because he makes everyone better. He will steal a base when needed, he will lay out on the infield for a ground ball. It is all about the team for Albert.

ESPN has dubbed Albert "The Machine." They are so wrong. It's Albert's heart that seperates him from the rest, both on and off the field. He is no machine to St. Louis. He is a man in every sense of the word. He is "El Hombre."

(This blog is inspired from several conversations with my Dad about the legacy of both Musial and Pujols.)

"Pardon me for a moment while I stand and applaud."

2009-08-04T11:29:00.000-07:00

In the Summer of 1966 the All-Star game came to St. Louis and Busch Stadium. There, my father and grandfather watched Tim McCarver score the winning run as the National League won 2-1 in extra innings.

It took a while, but I was able to go to the All-Star game with my dad on July 14th. To say I looked forward to it would be an understatement. I was looking forward to celebrating baseball, honoring baseball, honoring St. Louis, honoring the way St. Louis celebrates baseball etc. And I was also going to be in the presence of President Obama who was close enough in the broadcast booth I could see him smile and wave...literally.

First, we saw the players drive by with their families in the red carpet parade. Pretty much we got pictures of the back of their heads but great pics of their families. We then got inside for batting practice which was actually really exciting. We were close enough to a couple homers that I got beers spilled on my pants at 5pm. Eh, whats a ballgame without the smell of beer? (I dislike beer fyi)

We got settled into our seats (middle deck one section off home plate). We had our hot dogs and I had my scorecard knowing it would be the most challenging scorecard of my life. When the Clydesdales came out we were ready.

The staring lineups were fun. First, to show some respect for the AL. Then to boo the only Cub. But mostly for Albert and Yadi. The applause given for Albert was incredible and he has said it even surprised him. That's saying a lot I think.

The biggest surprise came from the President himself. His video about serving America was pretty special. The living Presidents (Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush Carter) all joined together to support those who serve our communities and are All-Stars among us. A worthy cause and I'm glad it happened. I point that out because it took 10 minutes and pretty much used up all the time.

The one regret for all St. Louis fans was the lack of focus on our great hall-of-famers. When they walked out together I knew the ball was dropped. They should have been brought out individually. Ozzie Smith. Bruce Sutter. Lou Brock. Bob Gibson. Red Schoendienst. These men and ball players are as much the reason St. Louis is a great baseball town as any. Parents want to tell stories of these guys and want their children to play ball and live life in their image.

And finally there had to be more for Stan Musial. From the seat all you saw was him being carted out to applause. We didn't know Joe Buck was listing his credentials on the broadcast. There could have been a video montage before he came out or have all the All Stars greet him on the cart a la Ted Williams. Anything. The only thing I can say is it is hard to be top bill when the President is there. I think Stan, Lou, Red, Bob, Bruce and Ozzie know how much they mean to us, regardless of that one night.

The lineups were great. I enjoyed watching Ichiro, Jeter, Halladay, Buehrle, Papelbon and Rivera from the AL. I enjoyed Howard, Pujols, Buehrle, Molina and Franklin get the home town treatment. 20 years from now I will get to tell about all the Hall of Famers I saw play in one night. That is special.

The game itself was....a little dry. Good defense. Bad defense. A triple. Actually, they best be glad this particular game was played in St. Louis. I'm not sure other fans could have sat through it and loved it like we did.

In the end, it truly was the celebration of St. Louis Baseball I envisioned. I left that game thinking how glad I am to be a fan of the greatest game in the greatest town.

My trade for the Cardinals

2009-07-07T12:53:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago the Cardinals made a good trade in my opinion. While Mark Derosa has never been an All-Star caliber third baseman, he is a certain upgrade at the position and a veteran with some playoff experience (even though it was with the Cubs the last two years!) And while it solves our weakness at third base, it may not solve the weakness in the four spot in our lineup.

I was looking at Pujols career stats and saw the usual awesomeness in homers and RBI's. But the stat that has had the biggest dropoff is runs scored. Back in the day s of Pujols/Edmonds/Rolen Albert would score 130+ runs a year. Now he is lucky to get just over the 100 mark. For as often as he gets on base he should be scoring 120 easy. We need an RBI guy in the four slot and I don't think we should rely on Rasmus this year.

Some names have floated around, mainly Matt Holliday. Heck, even Larussa has expressed an interest in Holliday. It's easy to see why. Last year he got hurt, but for the most part in Colorado he was a 30+ homer, 130 RBI and .320 average guy. Awesome. The question mark is how does he hit away from Coors Field? And for me the question is will the Cards pick up his 13 million dollar salary? Oakland is in last place and would probably deal Holliday, although their GM has a history of taking great players from teams in trades (Dan Haren anyone?)

Enter my solution: Adam Dunn of Washington. Dunn plays for a last place team. He is 29, the same age as Holliday. And he makes 8 mil, or 5 million less than Holliday. Adam Dunn is a production machine. He has hit 40 homers FIVE YEARS in a row, and looks to add a sixth this year. He walks a lot, but his RBI totals are down. (probably because he played in Cincinatti) His average this year is in the .260's which would be 6th on the team and a huge upgrade from Ludwick/Ankiel/Duncan. He has strikes out a lot, but only 160 which is down from his 195 SO days.

So Holliday has the average and RBI's but comes at a price both in trade value and salary. Dunn has the homerun factor and is cheaper both in salary and probably in asking price. Oh, and Holliday is right handed which the Cardinals want also. I really like Matt Holliday but he will cost some future prospects. If we could get Dunn for say Ankiel/Duncan and a minor league pitcher I would take it.

That would give us a lineup of say Schumaker-Rasmus-Pujols-Dunn-Derosa-Ludwick-Molina-Pitcher-Ryan. I would take that lineup into the post season. I think with a little more offense our pitching staff will settle down and we could start to put some streaks together. Thoughts? Comments?

UPDATED: I heard a few things on the radio today. First, the Cardinals have expressed interest in Roy Halladay at a price tag of 4 top prospects and like 20 million dollars to sign long term. In a word: NO. Second, one MLB GM told ESPN's Buster Olney that they think the Cardinals spent all their trading money on Mark Derosa. So looks like any further trades would take special owner approval. Third, it sounds like Mark Derosa is out 4-8 weeks and could require surgery. Seriously, we might only have gotten 3 games out of the guy.

My non-trade solution......is Brett Wallace. I know it's not good to rush a guy to the big leagues and if he doesn't get a call up I will trust Tony's and Mo's decisions. But if he can hit like everyone says he can....let him play.

Youtube star: Julia Nunes

2009-06-12T10:05:00.000-07:00

June is a busy month for me, so I will do a simple blog of sharing other people's talents. This one's about Julia Nunes, a college student somewhere in NY I think who's simple videos has earned her 100,000 subscribers on youtube.

I came across one of Julia Nunes videos on youtube a couple months ago and it's a little embarrassing to say I think I've seen all her videos now. Her voice is pure, her harmonies are amazing and her creativity is entertaining. I mean, she uses a slinky for percussion on one of her songs! She is most known for covering songs on her ukulele, but she has written two CD's that I plan on purchasing at some point this year. She is also very quirky and weird in her video commentaries which again is something I enjoy.

This is her version of "You're My Best Friend" by Queen. The song is only about 3 minutes and the rest are her humorous promotions from whenever she made this video. I hope you enjoy it!

Free time must be nice.

2009-05-28T08:57:00.001-07:00

This video brings up a few thoughts:

1) Usually playing guitar gets you a girlfriend, but this might lose you one.

2) Or if he didn't have one before he probably has one now because he is a "youtube star."

3) Free time like this must be nice. Of course he does have 3 million views and something like 80,000+ subscribers, so I'm sure it was worth it in some way.

Enjoy!

In the end, it's all about how much I love Scrubs.

2009-05-07T12:17:00.000-07:00

I love Scrubs, and have for a while. But I am now going to venture out and say it is my all-time favorite show, over the Simpsons and Friends. It probably has been for a couple seasons, all the signs are there. I made the whole cast as Mii's on my Wii. I totally plan on naming my first dog Turk Turkleton. It all fits.

The "series" finale was last night and it was by far the best finale I've ever seen. I mean, JD's daydreaming lead to some great moments over the years, but nobody could have prepared me for the last 5 minutes. Seeing all the old faces was amazing and is a scene for the ages. In their final moments Scrubs did what it always did: it made you laugh at the ordinary all while showing the depth of reality. I am a sentimental guy, so it is no wonder that this episode (and series) always got me hooked. It was the perfect finale. Period.

I will miss the awkward bro-hugs, the super-slick floors, the fricks, the a capella band, the dancing, the high fives, the girls names, the free muffins, the interns, the sweater lawyer, the nurses manipulating to get their way and the comment coming out of a daydream. It was a great ride.

Not to say that Scrubs is totally over. There is a substantial rumor that Scrubs will return without JD and have as much of the current cast participate as possible. The idea of focusing on the new interns is the likely direction with Denise and Sunny being two engaging personalities. While my head tells me this was the perfect ending my heart tells me I will watch whatever show Bill Lawrence develops.

Let me ask you this: Could any Scrubs fan pass on a show with The Janitor, The Tod, Ted and Dr. Cox walking the halls? I will be there when the day comes ready to put the penny in the door all over again.

Top 10 PS1 games (Guest Blogger)

2009-04-30T13:21:00.000-07:00

So I am ashamed to admit that I only played 3 or 4 games on the PS1. Mostly because my sister owned the system at home and I was too cheap to buy games in college. But I didn't want to leave the system out because I REALLY enjoyed the games I did play. So here to guest blog for me is my sister Maureen. I approve of her rankings, and I will add my own thoughts in parentheses at the end of each summary.

1. Final Fantasy VII

Anyone who doesn't think this game deserves first place probably didn't play it when it first came out and has since been jaded by the hype. It was the first game I ever played with cinemagraphic cut scenes, which was like, unheard of at the time, and also incredibly awesome. This is all without even taking into consideration the mind blowing plot (it blew my mind at least three times, for the record), the memorable characters and music, and the best magic/equipment system of all time: materia. If you didn't like materia, you don't have a soul. Period. (For me, this is the game that made Video Games an art form, not just a hobby. Probably my favorite game ever. Plus it had a dude with a gun for a hand. Sweet!)

2. Chrono Cross

If you didn't play Chrono Trigger, then you missed out. If you didn't play Chrono Cross, then I will cut you. 45 possible playable characters? Multiple endings? New game +? Are you serious? This game kicked so much butt I didn't know what to do with myself. As a sequel, I thought it was going more down the Final Fantasy road in that it didn't really have much to do with Chrono Trigger, but -- well, not to spoil anything, but it totally does. And it is awesome. (I did not play this game, but I watched my roommate play it a lot. I would like to get to this game in my lifetime. I anticipate having lots of free time when my kids go to college....)

3. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

This was the first Castlevania game I really played, mostly because I sucked at all other previous versions. It opens by giving you a taste of Alucard's best equipment and abilities, and then Death pulls a totally jerk move and steals your powers. So not cool. You basically spend the game exploring this gigantic castle and building up equipment and abilities, and if you can get past the side-scrolling 2D style, it's a worthy investment. It even has multiple endings! PS, here's a protip that took me 22 years to figure out: ALUCARD IS DRACLUA BACKWARDS. (I played Castlevania 1...it was really hard! The last Castlevania game I ever played.....)

4: Metal Gear Solid

Would you rather sneak around on your belly and hide in boxes than take on a room full of terrorists? Then this game is for you. It's pretty much the first and only series of "stealth action" video games I've ever played, but even if there were more, it would still probably be the best. It introduced voice acting in video games to me, and although Mei Ling's voice made me want to go on a shooting spree more than once, it was still great. The protagonist Snake is still popular enough to be included in games like Super Smash Bros., which is a freaking Nintendo game. Yeah, it's that good. (Note: Castlevania also had voice acting, but I didn't play that until I was 20 or so. Also, it sucked. The words "HAVE AT YOU!" were actually said.)(My note: I suck at stealth games. I am more of a "guns blazin'" gamer. I would make a terrible soldier in real life.)

5: Tekken 3

I'm not gonna lie: I call this the Street Fighter of the Playstation. Is it as good as Street Fighter II? Debatable. Is it still really freaking good? Yes. Completely worthy of having friends over to have epic tournaments. It's still a fan favorite online, too -- I believe you can download an emulator and battle with like, kids in Tokyo, if you're feeling particularly like getting your butt kicked. Definitely the best fighter game on the system. (How did I never play this game? Oh yeah, I sucked at fighter games and always conveniently convinced friends to play NFL 2k1 instead.)

6. Final Fantasy VIII

A lot of people take issue with the junction system in this, but you know what? Those people probably didn't read the tutorial, because it wasn't really that hard. Junctioning systems aside, this game tried to live up to FF7 in plot twists, and possibly went a little overboard. Time-traveling sorceresses and endless paradoxes? Eesh. Luckily, it made up for it with a love story that didn't end tragically in death, and also a gun-toting redhead in a cowboy hat. Other highlights include the Ragnarok, one of my favorite airships of all time, going into freakin' space, and traveling back in time to play as your dad. Yeah, you read that right. It was cool. (I am ashamed I didn't play this one either. Again, when you don't own the system in college, its hard to convince your buddies to let you play a 40 hour RPG on their system)

7. Final Fantasy IX

This game was basically a big bundle of references and tips of the hat to all its predecessors, but it still managed to keep its own plot interesting without being trite. I still take issue with the fact that the main character's limit break turns him pink and naked, but no game is perfect, I suppose. Because this game was a big homage to all the others, it had all the stuff I enjoyed: going to the moon, performing in a play/opera, and an older brother who wears a thong. ...Wait. Not that last one. That was still weird. (I liked this game, although the big drama moment was a haircut. For the record I would not and should not ever wear a thong)

8. Resident Evil 2

Worst voice acting of all time? Yes. First game that legitimately scared the crap out of me? Yes. This game had me so scared of zombies that I had to ask my friend to stand outside the door while I went to the bathroom after the first time I played it. It offered you a choice between two characters, Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield, and also gave you the chance to play the same scenario from the other character's point of view after you completed it. Lickers still scare the crap out of me. (I have also never played a survival/horror game. Honestly, I blame it on all the Mario Kart, Mario Golf, Perfect Dark, Madden and NCAA Football I have played in my life. I wished I hadn't played so much sports.)

9. Tomb Raider

Girls enjoyed having a female main character to kick butt with. Boys enjoyed the view. Duel-pistol wielding Lara Croft was pretty but deadly, and it was awesome to watch her backflip her way through a dungeon while shooting bears. Overall, the game had a good balance of general butt-kicking vs puzzles and stealth. Oddly enough, one of the things I enjoyed most was the various ways in which Lara could die. Falling, drowning, electrocution -- the whole game was a deathtrap. And I liked it. (....I saw the movie? Sounds like I would have liked this game, but I feared the repercussions of the "Lara factor" from both girls and guys alike.)

10. Dance Dance Revolution: Konamix

You know the crazy people on the DDR machines at the bowling alley and movie theatres? Yeah, there was a home version, too. The DDR mat was flimsy and I frequently had to adjust mid-song, but I still enjoyed it. DDR continues to be a unique experience that only jerkwads like Dave and Busters try to recreate. Also the only game I know to measure difficulty in feet. Also good for exercise! (I like this game, even though I am below average at it. It got gamers to say "Tonight, I just wanna dance!")

The Golden Compass review.

2009-04-24T07:54:00.000-07:00

After thinking about my friend Robert's resolution to read 2 books a month, I noticed that I think I read 2-3 books a month. That's more than the movies and video games I go through combined. Although that's a little sad, it is parenthood. So...against every fiber in my soul that tells me this sounds like school...I am writing book reviews. It doesn't matter how old they are, I just like to share opinions.

The Golden Compass

I was drawn to this book mostly because the Catholic Church has issues with it, and I like to see for myself how bad it really is. For example, I rather enjoyed The Da Vinci Code because I felt that it was totally fiction, yet a good mystery. But I am glad I read it because now I have a good reference for all those who doubted their whole experience of faith because of it.

The Golden Compass received a similar warning, and personally I agree to an extent. The first book of His Dark Materials challenges the idea of soul, destiny and reason in a way that is meant to dispute Church teachings. I should note that although I think everyone who reads this blog already knows it, I come to this topic as a man of Catholic faith and therefore am biased in favor of the Church.

So I read the book with one thought in mind: how damaging could one book be? After only reading one book of three I can say that I believe the author Philip Pullman's goal is to attack the Church and therefore could be damaging depending on how it all ends. (This review is meant for those who have either already read or don't plan on reading this book.)

The story begins before it begins with a quote from Paradise Lost considered to be one of the finest piece of literature in the English language. A book that I surprisingly remember from College! Paradise Lost re-tells the tale from a different perspective of the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden giving us a more detailed look into the interactions of God, Adam, Eve, and especially Satan. The themes of reason, knowledge, destiny and sin are certainly shared by each story.

The Golden Compass takes place in Europe, but not our Europe. More like an alternate universe how things could have turned out with some big differences. One such is the massive "unnamed" religion called The Magisterium who control pretty much everything and persecutes scientists. Listen, sure the Church made some mistakes in the field of science. Sorry. Has a few hundred years healed any wounds?

The biggest difference are Daemons. Daemons are a personal companion each human has. These daemons take the form of an animal and share a unique connection straight down to shared emotions. You can tell what kind of a person is if their daemon is a dog, weasel or even a snake. The daemon represents the soul. While I'm sure the Church objects to it, I don't really mind. I think people need to recognize what affects their souls a little more, and the presence of daemons sort of does that.

Then there is this mysterious Dust. (SPOILERS) Dust is likened to a proton or electron, but nobody knows what it does. What is known is that Dust is attracted to adults, yet does not settle on children until adolescence. Therefore, the Magisterium deduces that this Dust represents original sin and the loss of innocence and must be eliminated. Leading members of the Magisterium try to halt "puberty" by splitting children from their daemon. Essentially stating that the Church will do outrageous acts to prevent sin, even hurting children.

A third part of the story revolves around destiny and knowledge. It is clear to us and all characters that the little girl protagonist Lyra has a special and profound destiny....but we don't know what that is. Except that it is special and profound. But there is also this notion that there is power in knowledge...not the power we were taught in school. There is power in information that can be learned so great that the Magisterium will crush you from obtaining it. To the point that at the end of the book Lyra decides to go forth on her journey with the thought "if the everybody thinks it is bad, maybe it is really good!"

To recap: The Magisterium is controlling knowledge to support its theories to the point it will make unnatural sacrifices to obtain it. The fact that this Dust (ie sin) is deemed bad means it is probably good. And your soul is no more than a furry little companion on your journey. It is no wonder the Church opposes this book.

I am of the opinion that while the story is captivating, it is the attitude of the book that disturbs me. The way that knowledge is glorified and the soul and faith is minimilized really doesn't sit right with me. I plan on finishing the series, but right now my assessment is The Golden Compass is a one-sided story of how many Atheist view the Church and wisdom.

Nintendo 64: Top 10 Games

2009-04-13T12:27:00.001-07:00

If the SNES defined my dorm days of college, the N64 defined those college days (and beyond) after the dorms. This system had amazing solo-games and equally awesome multi-player games. Also, the N64 features the best games for many franchises (Mario, Zelda, Mario Kart) although the Wii might change all that. Still, the N64 was a great system that surpassed both predecessors and those that followed.

1: Mario 64

I vividly remember the first time I played this game. It changed gaming for me. The 3D worlds you explored were so vast, varying and just fun to hop around. Oh, and the play control of Mario is possibly the best of any game I've ever played. I really felt I was in control of Mario and could make him jump in ways even I didn't think possible. Add on the crazy puzzles of each world and you have a winner. I beat this game, and collected tons of star, although that fire world still intimidates me.

2. Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Considered by most the best game on the N64, maybe ever. I consider it of the highest quality, I just enjoyed Mario 64 more. This game made adventuring easy and battling fun. It took it up a notch so to speak. It is hard to find any faults in this game. I guess my problem is I never got past the Shadow Temple. Not because it was hard....my game got erased while I was in the Temple. Twice. I have never gotten the nerve to go back either. My loss.

3. Perfect Dark

This is the best multi-player game ever, period. (and I will punch you in the teeth if you start talking about GoldenEye) First, this game was a top notch First Person Shooter, much like 007. But the Co-op function was amazing, and it really helped having your buddies play with you (even if you shot your friend and the President with the sniper in the dark.....) Next, the multi-player had the absolute most options ever seen, and it hasn't been outdone since. You want to play every man for themself? Check. How about 2 players versus 20 Sims just to see who can mow the most sims down? Check. Then there were the challenges!!! I get excited thinking about how awesome it was to develop a strategy, assign roles and complete each challenge to various difficulties! Why oh why hasn't there been another game even close to these options???

4. Mario Kart 64
Dominant play control and great multi-player options made this a winner. You just never got tired of playing this game with friends. It also marked the advent of most of the items in the game you have seen in the Cube, DS and Wii versions. Classic.

5. GoldenEye: 007
Probably the most famous FPS this side of Halo. It was revolutionary for a home console to play 4 of your friends in such epic combats. The only place you would ever hear the phrase: "Stop shooting me, I don't have a weapon!" "Well, then don't slap me in the neck!"

6. Mario Golf
The best golf game if you just want to have fun. I have a special place for this game in my heart because I became dominant at this game. I was a superb putter and rarely ever missed inside of 30 feet. I lost maybe a handful of matches, so of course I love this game!

7. Zelda: Majora's Mask
This game gets tons of points for just being different. The premise of the game was that the moon was going to crash into the Earth and Link had 3 days to save it. If by the 3rd day you couldn't get it done, you just put on your mask and start again at day one. Each time you would learn a little more and figure out what to do next. A little bit like the movie Groundhog's Day, really.

8. Star Fox 64
A great space shooter, this took the game play of Star Fox and the graphics of the 64 and made such a great game. Add on the multi-player dog fight and this game had a lot to offer.

9. Mario Tennis
Strangely, my favorite tennis game of all-time. Great gameplay allowed most anyone to pick up and play. I believe I am undefeated in singles play still to this day.

10. Pokemon Snap
Again, props for creativity. In this game you were placed on a track and given the challenge of taking the best pictures of the passing Pokemon while you threw crap at them to make them do crazy stuff. It had great charm, and getting that perfect picture was so rewarding. Plus....come on, Pokemon are just fun, especially when they say their names. Bulbusaur. Psy....Psy.....geodude.

Lacking entries: Sports
If the N64 had a fault, it was the lack of quality for the sports games. I don't know if it was the new joystick or what but developers just couldn't make a sports game worth playing, leading most gamers to the PS1 for sports games. (and RPG's)

Again, please comment about the games I missed or just don't like as much as you! (Notable games I just didn't play include Smash Bros and Conker: Bad Fur Day.)

The Spirit in St. Louis

2009-04-06T08:48:00.000-07:00

What a time to be a St. Louis sports fan. We've been through some tough times recently. The Rams went from the Greatest Show to "now selecting with the Number 2 pick in the Draft" territory. The Blues got screwed during the strike and haven't seen the playoffs since. The Cardinals have been solid, but aren't the dominating team they were for most of the decade. But things are looking up....way up for all of St. Louis sports.

St. Louis Cardinals: It has been only 2 seasons since we won it all, but it hasn't been all that great since. Although we won more games last season than in '06, watching the Cubs (briefly) in Oct. still hurts. But hope isn't just at the horizon, it's at the front door. Young pitching (Motte) and young hitting (Rasmus) is showing that we are in for a long term overhaul, not just patching up with free agents. And our minor leagues look great too (This Wallace guy sounds like a power hitting 3B...can't wait to see him.) If the kids learn on the job we could win this year. I think it will come down to who gets more injuries between the Cubs and Cards. But whether it is '09 or '10, Cardinal baseball will yet again be a joy to watch.

As for my predictions, I have the Yankees, Red Sox, Indians and Angels in the AL. The Phillies, Cubs, Dodgers and Mets in the NL. Give me the Red Sox over the Dodgers in the series. I know it isn't original, but it's not my fault the Sox are solid. As for the Cards, I will say a second place finish with 89 wins. 94 wins if Carp gets 30 starts and Motte is the real deal.

The St. Louis Blues: It is true. I have yet to recover from the strike. The Blues had made the playoffs every year of my life before the strike. We were a shell of ourselves when the NHL restarted, and I am still bitter. However, I hear about the Blues everyday on the radio. About the work ethic and smart drafting. Now, without our best defensemen the Blues are almost in the playoffs against all odds. Frankly, the Blues have been playing like it is the playoffs for the last month. So even though they might not make it, they have shown great integrity for a young team. A young team that will make some noise next season.

The St. Louis Rams: How craptastic was it to watch the Rams last year? I am a solid fan, and even I didn't bother to watch most games on TiVo. But then we promote Billy Devaney to GM and hire Steve Spagnuolo, and anything is possible. Think about it, our blundering Rams hired the number 1 head coach prospect. Huge. He then hires staff based on talent, not friendship. Huge. He then gathers players based on heart, not name. Huge. My only regret is we cut Holt and Pace. But I think that regret will be short lived. We will win 5-7 games this year, and compete for years to come. This will be a dynasty for the Rams. We may not win Superbowls, but we will make playoffs.

St. Louis Athletica: So the WPS started up this month with the St. Louis Athletica being an inaugural team in the 7 team league. While it is hard to judge one expansion team, let alone 7, I am excited for the Athletica. We have the best keeper in the world in Hope Solo, a world class defender in Lori Chalupny and 2 up and coming strikers. And then some Brazilians including the Brazilian coach. I expect the Athlectica to make the playoffs and truthfully they should be in the finals.

MLS? Yeah, I could tell a sad story about how St. Louis has been passed up for 4 expansion spots now since we passed a stadium plan in Collinsville. But here is why I am still hopeful: They are looking at using Soccer Park for the soccer stadium plan. This would be awesome, because most soccer fans think of 2 places in St. Louis to watch soccer: SLU and Soccer Park. If this happens we should get an expansion team for 2012. But even beyond that, St. Louis is coming up as a possible relocation destination for some troubled MLS squads, including the 4 time champs DC United. While I would hate to get a relocated team, it would be super awesome to watch the quality of DC United for years to come. It could happen!

Bracketology? Where was this degree when I was in college?

2009-03-20T07:03:00.000-07:00

What a season for my Mizzou Tigers. First, the football team followed up a great season with another 10-win season, something I really never thought I would see. Then our basketball team has exceeded all expectations (except my Dad, who predicted success)to earn a number 3 seed in the tourney. I will say it right now, I don't care how the Tigers finish. This has been one of my favorite seasons to watch Mizzou basketball, and I will remember this team for years.

As for the tourney, I picked Mizzou to reach the Elite 8, although if Lyons and Carroll find their shooting touch we could go all the way. Seriously. As for my final 4, I got North Carolina, Duke, Louisville and UConn, with LOUISVILLE beating UNC for the championship.

But I have a new question. Since Mizzou has had great success with both football and basketball, which do you think is harder: Making the Elite 8 (8 teams out of 347) or a BCS Bowl (10 out of 119). My answer is it is harder to make a BCS bowl because you have to be top 16 in the rankings and then have to woo the selection boards. In basketball all you have to do is make the field of 65 and win a few games. Let me put it this way, Mizzou has made the elite 8 a few times at least twice, but probably hasn't been BCS worthy since the 60's. Thoughts?

Happy Green Day

2009-03-17T10:49:00.000-07:00

One of my very favorite videos by a band I really didn't expect to make more than one album, let alone be the featured rock band in "The Simpsons Movie". Rock on Billy Joe and company.

The Spring Classic

2009-03-10T08:55:00.000-07:00

The World Baseball Classic is in full swing, and for better or worse I love this event. As a soccer fan there is no greater event than watching the players compete for their nations in the World Cup. For those who participate in the WBC, it is clear they have the same passion. Here are my pros and cons of the WBC.

Pros:

The Concept: I love this competition just for the fact it exists. It just shows how widespread baseball has grown while the US has been focused on the "World Series." South Africa? Australia? Crowning a true world champion is such a great concept, and I will watch as much as I can.
The atmosphere: You want to know how much this event means? Check out the crowds in Tokyo or Puerto Rico. These fans are desperate for their country to win and I think that passion feeds the players.
The underdogs: This year has already treated us to 3 rather impressive upsets with the Netherlands, Australia and Italy all winning games against some good competition. I really hope just one of these teams advance, proving that passion can often offset talent.

The Cons:

The timing: Everyone and their mother has commented on how spring training is a bad time for this event. While some writers suggest playing the final four play over the All-Star break, I have a different option: do it like soccer. Play it in November after the season (in the same warm weather locations) Seriously, instead of players worrying about ruining their upcoming MLB season, they can redeem themselves for the season that was. The only teams that might not be available are the World Series teams, and they will be happy enough as it is. Also, playing in November would avoid the NCAA bowl season and the NFL playoffs.
Missing Athletes: This would go away with my November idea, but it is still ridiculous how many player opted out of this event. What happened to playing for the love of the game?
Switching Nationalities: It bothered me a little when some players who have lived their whole lives in the US played for the Dominican Republic. That's fine. But you should absolutely have to stay with a nationality when you choose one. Who let Alex Rodriguez switch from the US to the Dominicans? Seriously, every international competition from soccer to the Olympics ties you to a nationality once you perform on the world-wide level. Get it together WBC.

Predictions:Well, these are kind of suspect since we are a week into the Classic, but I expect the US, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Japan to make the final 4 this year.(Leaving the Dominican Republic to pick up the pieces) I wouldn't be surprised if Japan repeats, but I will pick Puerto Rico to win because of their national pride and because they have a secret weapon in manager Jose Oquendo.

Poll: The Killers or Snow Patrol

2009-02-26T09:25:00.000-08:00

Your choices are a) The Killers b) Snow Patrol c) I don't care for either d) Coldplay rules! e) U2 called and wants their sound back.

I am going with Snow Patrol. Although the Killers have incredibly explosive and entertaining singles, Snow Patrol gives me a better depth of quality music. I know when I queue up a Snow Patrol album I will enjoy the entire experience. When I hear the first chords of pretty much any song it takes me someplace new. I can't explain it, except that it is an exceptional experience that few bands offer me.

But those are my thoughts. Let me know what you think of the Killers and Snow Patrol, or if you think we will even think of them 20 years from now.

"All these places feel like home."

2009-02-20T08:18:00.000-08:00

Snow Patrol

Sounds like: If Jack Johnson or Jason Mraz got a kickin' band and became Scottish, they might sound like this.

Why I like them: Snow Patrol has great lyrics, great music and great melodies. The lyrics are like poetry using great vocabulary and imagery to really paint a picture. But unlike Johnson or Mraz, the lyrics do more than sit on top of the music. The band is a driving force, making each song bigger and better than the lyrics alone.

Dislikes: Because of the emphasis on lyrics and music it sometimes takes 3 minutes to get to a chorus. (most radio songs are 3 minutes long total). Also, because Snow Patrol has a distinctive sound the songs each sound similar.

Final Straw (2004)
4.5 out of 5

This album establishes the Snow Patrol sound right away. The first 5 songs have that mix of drive and lyrics that I love. However, "Chocolate" is the best song for sure. The line "All these places feel like home" is how I feel about this album. Anytime I put it on I know it will make me happy.

Favorite songs: Chocolate, Run, How To Be Dead.

Eyes Open (2006)
5 out of 5

This is a complete album, this is Snow Patrol at their very best. The album is a story of a relationship that starts great, falls apart and looks to be reconciled. The lyrics are more poetic, the music is bolder and the result is remarkable. One of those albums I listen to every time I have a long drive because it makes the time go by faster. And probably one of my 5 favorite albums all-time.

Favorite songs: Hands open, You're All I Have, Open Your Eyes.

A Hundred Million Suns (2008)
3 out of 5

I think the best way to describe this album is solid, but not spectacular. There are a couple of outstanding songs, but otherwise the songs are just each good in there own way. Which makes for a good album, but maybe not one you rave about to your friends. I think this album showcases Snow Patrol's musical abilities more than other albums. The lyrics are....well they exist, but I can't tell you what the songs are about. It happens a lot to me actually.

Favorite Songs: Crack the Shutters, If There is a Rocket Tie Me To It, Take Back the City.

Top 5 Songs by Snow Patrol
Hands Open
Chocolate
Run
Open Your Eyes
Crack the Shutters

Are we human, or are we 80's?

2009-02-09T08:43:00.000-08:00

I've been listening to the most recent albums by both the Killers and Snow Patrol, and have decided these are by far my favorite bands to come out of the 2000's. (I never caught fire with Coldplay. I like them, just don't buy their stuff.) So I've decided to review their careers up to this point, both as a whole and album by album. Starting with the Killers.

The Killers

Comparison: If U2 added a synthesizer and became American, they might sound like this.
Why I like them: The first thing that stood out about the Killers was the diversity they get out of just the 4(or 5 counting the synth) instruments they have. Much like U2 all parts (guitar bass drums and vocals) play something rather interesting, yet it all comes together beautifully. But in the end, I love this band for the vocals of Brandon Flowers. Although he doesn't have the best voice, the way he just puts his voice out there song in and song out captivates me. Explosive is probably the best word.
Dislikes: While their best songs are amazing and powerful, there are always a few "throw away" tracks on each album. Songs that just don't measure up the rest. I usually skip these tracks which is a huge let down for me as I usually listen to albums straight through.

Hot Fuss (2004)
Rating: 4 out of 5

To be honest, the first time I heard "Somebody Told Me" I really thought they would be a one hit wonder. The whole "I may have dated a man....who you are now dating" seemed too much like a novelty song than actual talent. Then I heard "Mr. Brightside" on the radio. Whoa buddy. Now there is a hit. I think this album does a fantastic job of mixing a little bit of synth with a whole lot of rock. Not alot of depth, I lose interest towards the end of the album.
Favorite tracks: Mr. Brightside, All these things that I have done, Smile Like You Mean It.

Sam's Town (2006)
5 out of 5

This is a complete album. It has killer hits and continuity throughout. The fact that it has an Enterlude that says "We hope you enjoy your stay" makes me say "Yeah, I can sit down and enjoy this one. There are still a couple of tracks that don't measure up, but in the end each song has powerful music and Flowers driving the vocals home track after track.
Favorite Tracks: When You Were Young, For Reasons Unknown, Sam's Town, Read My Mind, Bones

Sawdust (2007)
2.5 out of 5

This is actually the first Killers CD I owned (Christmas Present in 2007). It was over a year later when I learned this was actually a CD of B-sides, covers and previously unreleased tracks. That explains alot, because this album lacks continuity like a mofo. However, there are several amazing tracks in this mix of 17 songs. Flowers sings the daylights out of several of these songs, making decent tracks great ones. In the end, I'm glad they released it.
Favorite tracks: Glamorous Indie Rock n Roll, Tranquilize, Romeo and Juliet, Sam's Town(Abbey Road Version).

Day and Age (2008)
3.5 out of 5

This is the studio follow up to "Sam's Town." After listening to it several times it begs the question "Are we human, or are we 80's?" The synthesizer has taken over! "Losing Touch" sounds like Robert Palmer to start. "This Is Your Life" reeks of Talking Heads. Call this album the anti-grunge of Rock. But in the end, The Killers still rely on their strengths to create a quality album. Call this their "experimental album." A great sound as a band backed by great vocals. Just lacks the energy of the previous albums leading to more mellow singles like "Human". A track that gets stuck in my head CONSTANTLY!
Favorite Tracks: Human, Spaceman, This is Your Life, The World We Live In.

Top 5 Tracks by The Killers
1. When You Were Young
2. Mr. Brightside
3. Reasons Unknown
4. Human
5. The Things That I Have Done

Let's a go!

2009-01-21T12:15:00.000-08:00

What do I want for my birthday? Some quality time with Mario Kart Wii. Why? Because, like many of us, I love Mario Kart.

This song is amazing for so many reasons. Mostly because it sounds like it could be used in as the background music for one of JD's "In the end" moments on Scrubs. But did anyone else notice that Peach is cheating on Mario with Toad? No wonder she keeps getting captured by Bowser! She feels trapped in her relationship with Mario and sees no other way out!

Top 10 Super NES games.

2008-12-17T13:33:00.000-08:00

My memory tells me the SNES came out in the fall of 1991. I can't recall too much hype surrounding it, most people were still satisfied with Super Mario Bros 3. But the SNES stands out with a great depth of quality that put other 16 bit systems on the brink of failure. And (as you will see) it was a fantatastic system for RPG lovers like me. This system has a special place in my heart for being the system I played in the dorm room at college.

1. Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: If the NES Zelda introduced the concept of world map/dungeon adventure games, A Link to the Past perfected it (in 2-D at least). First, this game was bigger with more ground to cover and more items which lead to more puzzles. Next, this game actually had a running plot complete with the light world/ dark world that this game is famous for. This game sunk its hooks in you, and before you knew it you were battling Ganon. I believe I beat this game as a kid and again in college.

2. Super Mario World: It was hard to imagine how Nintendo was gonna follow up the smash hit that was Super Mario 3. The answer: Yoshi. Yoshi saved my butt more than a few times with his enemy eating, fire spitting apetite for destruction! Also, this game had great depth by adding alternate routes to many levels giving you more than one path for Mario to follow. I completely beat this game.

3. Final Fantasy II: Most of the gaming world will say FF3 is the superior game. But FF2 has a special place in my heart. Games like Zelda and FF1 said they had a plot, but they pailed in comparison to Final Fantasy II. The betrayals, the sacrifices and the plot twists were captivating. So it is a little cheesy that you have to travel to the moon, but hey big games have to do big things. I also really enjoy that you have to play with the characters the plot gives you (no switching out party members) This added a challenge that made me a better RPG player for years to come. If I could only play 1 RPG on Nintendo, this would probably be it. I believe I beat this twice as a kid and twice in college.

4. Final Fantasy III: After declaring my love for FF2, I would like to state how big of a BEAST this game is and how groundbreaking it was. Female lead? Check. (Samus doesn't count, you didn't know she was a lady.) Bad guys betraying bad guys? Check. Opera scene? Check. Whole world collapsing? Check. I think the strength of this game is recollecting all your party members after the world destruction. This game allowed you to really tailor you characters abilities to their strengths.

Sadly, I never beat this game. I got to the final level....and my game was erased. (I think my sister did that one.) I then got all the way back again! And it was erased again. (accident I believe). I then got to the world destruction again and it erased again, this time because the game was getting old. So I never beat this game. Maybe if I had I would rank it higher.

5. Chrono Trigger: So this is one of the most under-appreciated games of all time. The fact that it is number 5 probably shows I under-appreciate it too. This game spans something like 6 eras of history to help defeat the same enemy. That in itself is pretty dang awesome. The other strength of this game is you could develop combo moves if you used characters enough with each other. Instead of single attacks you could use double (or even triple) attacks on enemies. If you've never played an RPG, that just sounded nerdy. But if you do love RPG's, that just sounded amazing. I, er....never beat this game either. I got to the last level and never got around to it. I think the N64 came out and I just forgot about it. Again, under-appreciated.

6. Secret of Mana: My last RPG entry is actually part Zelda part Chrono Trigger. 3 main characters roam an overworld much like Zelda. But each character has spells and abilities that grow as you gain expereince like all RPG's. This new approach was awesome, but the best part was your buddies could control the other characters. So instead of just playing this one by yourself you had a multi-player RPG! The plot was great, except I think your father turned out to be a tree. Oh well, still awesome. I beat this as a kid, in college and almost beat with my sister a couple summers ago. I also watched my roomate Robert beat this game one finals week. (Who needs to study?)

7. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island: This might be the most annoying game to be in the room with, but it was a blast to play. This story takes place when Mario is a baby and Yoshi has to take care of him through dangerous levels (for some reason, I think Bowser was kidnapping him again) Your goal was to make it through the level without losing Mario. If he fell off your back, Mario would cry (FOR 20 SECONDS!) until you reached him again. Despite that, the gameplay was really fun including the awesome egg-throwing mechanics. This game also introduced the checklist of things to collect to pass a level 100%. I beat this game once through the plot, then beat it 100% with the help of my buddy Robert. Again, who needs to study!

8. Street Fighter 2: I am terrible at fighter games. Aweful. But this game was too much fun not to play. 15 years later I could probably still recite the controller combos for most of the moves. The gameplay was quick, the characters were memorable, and the battles were epic. HADOUKEN!

9. Tecmo Super Bowl III: Although Madden had games on the Super NES, it was Tecmo Bowl that was my favorite sports games. It took simple/arcade gameplay and added real-life NFL teams and players and threw in recording stats. This game had it all, to the point where Robert and I played an entire season together. He was the Packers, I was the Bills. We met in the Super Bowl which we played at 3:25pm one Friday afternoon. I think I won 24-21 on an interception at the goalline that would have given Robert the victory. If that isn't a memorable video game moment, I don't know what is.

10. Super Tetris:I know that Tetris is on every system, but this is the one we had. If there was ever an argument or decision, we played Tetris over it. Who took out the trash? Loser. Will you put away the meat from the grocery store? I'll play you in Tetris for it. Plus, this game is just so easy to pick up it is a great party game. "This one is for the meat!"

Game I was so dominant at I got kicked out: Super BomberMan. This was a great 4 player game where each person starts in a corner and tries to blow each other up. The only problem was I was amazing. People wouldn't play with me amazing. So I said I would play with the controller upside down. I still won. Finally they said go play something in our room so we can win for once. I am good at alot of games, but this is probably the game I dominate the best. I wish it was Madden or Smash Bro or Halo, but alas it is Super Bomber Man.

BCS Playoff Plan

2008-12-11T10:45:00.000-08:00

I am of the opinion that the current BCS system is not a fair system. There will always be a handful of teams that deserve a chance to win the title, but for various reasons do not get a shot. I used to think that a 4 team or 8 team playoff would solve the problem. And it would. But it would still not be fair.

Every college sport outside football has the same format in essence: Every school has a chance to win when the season starts. In basketball if you win your conference you go to the big dance. You may not win, but you have a chance (Memphis). In football, unless you are a BCS conference you don't have a realistic chance unless you go undefeated two years in a row. THIS GOES AGAINST THE HEART OF COLLEGE ATHLETICS! My proposal is fair to everyone.

16 Team Playoff: Every Conference champion gets in, plus 5 wild cards to be determined by the current BCS format. Seed the tournament by their BCS rankings as well.

The teams that would get in this year by winning their conference would be Oklahoma, Florida, Penn St, Utah, USC, Troy, Boise St, Cincinatti, East Carolina, Virginia Tech and Buffalo. the 5 wild cards would be Texas, Alabama, Texas Tech, Ohio St, and TCU. I know that TCU might come as a surprise, but it is better than the next team Oklahoma St which would give the Big 12 South 4 entries.

Eliminate the "12 Team Rule" and make each conference play a championship game. First, I would do this for the fairness of the conferences without title games currently. It would give a clear winner on the field, which is what we are looking for. Also, it evens the field between teams who have extremely challenging games at the end of their calendar and the teams with easy games to finish the season (SEC, Big 12 versus the Pac 10) This also makes every conference championship game EXTREMELY exciting if it means going to the tourney.

We would see better non-conference games. This is probably debatable, and we wouldn't know for sure for a few years. But if a team could lose a non-conference game and still make the BCS tournament, you would have more incentive to play better teams to better prepare your team for the conference schedule.

Use current bowl games as playoff games. This is where things get hairy. There is too much money in bowl games to eliminate them, so I propose using them (like has been said many times before.) The biggest challenge to this in my mind is getting the fans of participating teams to each game, especially if they go deep into the playoff. Although I bet they work that one out just fine. The alternative is to scrap these bowl games altogether and have the higher seed host the game, but again I bet the bowl games commitees would veto that.

Play the games on Thursdays and Saturdays. One half of the bracket on Thursdays, one half on Saturdays with the semi-finals on new years.

Here is my playoff schedule for this year. I am picking winners just for scheduling/matchup purposes.

(1)Oklahoma(Big 12) vs. (16) Troy (Sun Belt)
in the Insight Bowl Thursday Dec. 18th

(8) Penn St. (Big 10) vs. (9) Boise St. (WAC)
in the Motor City Bowl Thursday Dec. 18th

(5) USC (Pac 10) vs. (12) Cincinatti (Big East)
in the Papajohns.com Bowl Thursday Dec. 18th

(4) Alabama (Wild Card) vs. (13)Virginia Tech (ACC)
in the Independence Bowl Thursday Dec. 18th

(6) Utah (Mountain West) vs (11)TCU (Wild Card)(also in the MWC, but too bad)
in the New Mexico Bowl Sat. Dec. 20th

(3) Texas (Wild Card) vs. (14) East Carolina (C-USA)
in the St. Petersburgh Bowl Sat. Dec. 20th

(7) Texas Tech (Wild Card) vs. Ohio St. (Wild Card)
in the New Orleans Bowl Sat. Dec. 20th

(2) Florida (SEC) vs (15) Buffalo (MAC)
in the Poinsetta Bowl Sat. Dec 20th

ROUND OF 8
(1) Oklahoma vs (9) Boise St
in the Fiesta Bowl Friday Dec. 26th

(5) USC vs (4) Alabama
in the International Bowl Friday Dec. 26th

(2) Florida vs (10) Ohio St
in the Orange Bowl Saturday Dec. 27th

(6) Utah vs (3) Texas
in the Liberty Bowl Saturday Dec. 27th

SEMI-FINALS
(1)Oklahoma vs (5) USC
in the Rose Bowl Thursday Jan 1

(2)Florida vs (3)Texas
in the Sugar Bowl Thursday Jan 1

FINAL
(1)Oklahoma vs (3) Texas (I know we've seen it before, but the hype would be amazing)

15 bowl games would be used in the playoff, which eliminates 14 teams (of the current 68) from having a bowl game. But do 6-6 teams really deserve a bowl game these days? Even some 7-5 teams don't deserve it with their cupcake non-conference schedule.

The following 6-6 teams would miss games this year: Vanderbilt, Kentucky, NC State, Northern Illinois, Florida Atlantic, Notre Dame, Southern Miss, Memphis, Colorado St. I would also pass on the following 7-5 teams: UConn, USF, Wisconsin, Minnesota and LSU.

And for those schools not in the tournament, we still have the following 19 bowl games still on the schedule: Cotton, Gator, Capital One, Outback, Chic-Fil-A, Music City, Sun Bowl, Armed Forces, Holiday, Texas, Alamo, Emerald, Champ Sports, Meineke, Hawaii, Las Vegas, Eagle Bank, Humanitarian, and GMAC Bowls.

So there it is. Thanks for reading it all, I got a little excited about this. But I really do think this is the most fair way to decide a championship on the field by student athletes.

Please add comments on what works, doesn't work. And if you like it and know anyone in sports broadcast, journalism or someone that works for the BCS be sure to pass it on. Because for real, once someone reads this you can't go back!

Best Senior Skip Day Ever

2008-12-09T10:14:00.000-08:00

Senior skip day is a rite of passage. I don't know why everyone does it, but once during your senior year all the seniors don't show up when everyone else has to just to say "Hey, we are seniors. Pay attention." Like that is needed to be said.

Unless, of course, you participate in some sport/activity and have a game/performance that day and the rules state that you have to attend school to participate. I was in the backing band for our show choir of my school that happened to have a performance that night. So my buddies and I had to attend school. But nobody were in our classes. (They were all skipping)

So what did we do?

10 minutes of hilarity, trying to "discover" the Possible Theories as to why people weren't in our classes.

A thanks to Klick's Corner for posting the video. I recommend watching all of it (over 2 clips) just to watch me stab myself, hit myself with a pole (twice) and play the gong with my head.

As yes, I had really long hair in high school, no beard, and no gut. Good times.

Apple: Hero or Villain?

2008-12-01T09:23:00.000-08:00

It is well know that I am a huge fan of the Simpsons. It provides witty humor that can be slapstick and crude one second and then very smart and intelligent the next. Last night the Simpsons episode began by mocking the popularity of Apple (or Mapple). Here is the clip. Simply brilliant.

My favorite part is at the 2:30 mark when the Comic Book Guy throws a sledgehammer into the wall in a DIRECT PARODY of the famous "1984" commercial. As an Advertising major I cannot tell you how impressed I was at the intellegence of this reference. But I will try.

Never heard of the "1984" Apple commercial? You know the effects. The ad itself was for the Apple "Macintosh". But in actuality this was THE Super Bowl Ad that created all the hype that surrounds the current Super Bowl commercials. Apple had ran ads stating "Don't miss the first break of the third quarter." The commercial was a "smash" and the hype lives on.

Here is the ad that made the Super Bowl a must see event for non-football fans.

Ok so the ad doesn't make sense if you haven't read the book 1984 and that woman clearly is not an Olympic athlete. But it was timely for that generation. My point is: The Simpsons Rule.

Sing Alongs

2008-11-25T09:20:00.000-08:00

After spending some time reflecting on the popularity of a certain song I have decided to rank my top 10 sing alongs.

My criteria: first a song gets major props for being singable without music. This would be the "long bus drive back from a float trip/retreat" scenario. Next is the participation of the guests when a song comes on at a wedding reception. Here is my verdict.

1. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen: Party on Wayne, Party on Garth. It changes tempo, the lyrics are simple, you can bust your falcetto out and even sing the guitar solo. Winner, hands down.

2. Don't Stop Believin' - Journey: I had to see it to believe it. You just have to mention a small town girl and watch the song burst forth from pretty much everyone in the room. Try it sometime.

3. Undone, the Sweater Song - Weezer: again, simple lyrics and a good melody do the trick. Everyone wants to sing River's descant part, nobody wants to sing melody. Everyone wants Superman Skivies.

4.Piano Man - Billy Joel: This is where the gap begins on my list. This song has a great chorus, but too many words for the average person to know all the verses. You can still pretend and still get half of them, which still counts. It also contains the misheard lyric "Making love to his tiny cat Jim" instead of "Tonic and Gin."

5. Hey Jude - The Beatles: We all know the first verse. After that....I'm pretty sure we only know the "Na-Na" part. Which is ok, because that vamp at the end makes up about 5 minutes of the 8 minute song.

6. Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison: This is a classic wedding song to which every guy has to sing to his girl. (Change the eye color in the song if your girl doesn't have brown eyes, it can score you more points) Again, lyrics like "Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-ti-da" help it be a sing along.

7. Grease Medley - John Travolta, Olivia Newton John: "Hey, lets make a medley of Grease songs that only includes the parts that everyone knows!" Brilliant. "Summer Lovin" and "You're the one that I want" are both guy/girl songs and that always helps.

8. I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor: Girls know every lyric. Guys can fake it. We can all sing the strings part. Beauty. Plus, I am a fan of the Cake version as well.

9. Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond: If this wasn't played at every Red Sox game would it still be as popular? Doesn't matter. The fact that everyone knows the added parts makes this song "So good, so good, so good." (hmmm....that was a little hokie.)

10. Wonderwall - Oasis: This might be more for my generation, but I think it will last. First, the chorus is very meaningful and often very true in a healthy relationship. Add on that it is very singable and you have a solid sing along.

There it is. My apologies to Meatloaf and the Village People. Let me know what I left out!

My Top 10 Old-school Nintendo games

2008-11-10T09:19:00.001-08:00

The Virtual Console on the Wii has sparked an interest in all those old-school games of Nintendo systems of the past. And since I have fond memories of all those games I thought I would rank them just to create conversation.

A little background. My family purchased the NES in 1986, when I was six years old. It came with R.O.B and Gyromite, which means we had to buy Duck Hunt and Super Mario Brothers on our own. My parents were clearly the better players in the beginning, but by the time the NES was getting phased out in 1991 I was beating pretty much every game I owned. (which is no small feat since these games were incredibly tough).

So here are the top ten NES games according to my own nostalgia.

1. The Legend of Zelda: In the days well before online walkthroughs this game captured the imagination of all Nintendo fans. A giant map. 9 Dungeons. Bosses. New weapons and items. And when you finally thwarted Ganon...SECOND QUEST!!! This game caused friends to compare notes, otherwise you would never complete the game. Conversations like: "Did you try burning the third bush over?" "Try using arrows instead of your sword." "Yeah I beat level 7, and I even drew a map!"

My confession is that although I beat the first quest, I got stuck on Death Mountain of the second quest cause I could never find the master key on level 8. Bastards.

2. Super Mario Brothers 3:This game created video game hype. Between getting publicity in movies and retailers charging over $70 for the game everyone wanted this game. It didn't disappoint with 8 levels of creative platforming, flying and even the rare Tanooki Suit. Without a save feature this game posed a great challenge until the world discovered you could warp using the "Zelda Whistle." And yes, I beat this game.

3. Final Fantasy(1): I know, how can it be a Final Fantasy if they made 11 more? (think of it as the Ultimate Fantasy but with alliteration) Although Dragon Warrior was an important RPG series, Final Fantasy defined what RPG's would be in the future. What stands out from this game? IT IS THE FREAKING HARDEST GAME OF MY LIFE!!! Leveling up: tedious and deadly. Dungeons: Grueling and deadly. Bosses: Mean and deadly. Let's put it this way, if you died you couldn't be revived at a save point(if you didn't have a spell). We had to drag your dead, worthless body through battlefields to a freaking TOWN to get you revived. Imagine that your White Mage takes a hard knock deep in a dungeon....if I would have been older I would have cussed this game out. Alot. Still, thoroughly enjoyable and I challenge every RPG fan to give it a go. And Yes, I beat this game. (Chaos had nothing on me!)

4. Mike Tyson's Punch Out:Before Tyson became a punch line, he was the most feared boxer both in real life and in video games. The lead up to Tyson is alot of fun. Each of the colorful characters you face has a tell, once you figure it out you can win the bout. Except with Tyson. His tell was a split second, and if he hit you he knocked you down. Thanks for playing, see you later. It was so stressful playing Tyson I would have to do it alone so I could concentrate.

And yes, I beat Tyson. Twice. Once by decision as an 8-year-old. Once by TKO when I was 18 at the challenge of my buddies. (Robert, Pat and David were my witnesses). In the world of video gaming I still hold beating Tyson and beating Chaos as two of the greatest feats.

5. Super Mario Bros.: The platformer that changed gaming. This game is so good I could pick it up now and still enjoy the challenge of it. Do I wants to use 2 warps and go straight to world 8, or do I want to slow play it and enjoy all the other levels. Yes I beat this game, but the Hammer Bros are still jerks.

6. TMNT II the Arcade Game: This was such a good game, we would actually go to arcades to play it. When it came to the NES.....Oh buddy. Good times. First, this was like the best cartoon series of its day. I mean seriously, who wasn't a Ninja Turtle for Halloween at least once? (I was Leonardo) Besides that, this was an awesome side scrolling fighter, with nice levels and competent bosses. The challenge of the game was just surviving, which I did. (Cause I beat this one too.)

7. Metroid: One part platformer, one part adventure. 35 parts freaky Sci-fi. This game was long and challenging. There is nothing worse than reaching your destination only to realize you need the freeze ray or wave beam or something crazy like that. And the actual Metroids.....totally unnecessary to make that many of them that difficult. I remember getting to Mother Brain, and I don't imagine myself giving up so close to the end, so I imagine I beat this one too (although I have no specific memory of it.....)

8. Mega Man 2: This is the only game on my list I didn't own. But I had friends that did, friends I visited often. Again, with no save feature this game was hard. Getting through 8 bosses just to get to the end levels was quite and accomplishment.....one that I didn't do. But still, stealing bosses weaponry and using them on other bosses? That's like an American dream of sorts.

9. RBI Baseball: I know there were tons of great (and not so great) baseball games on the NES, but this one stands out. This game was easy to pick-up and easy to enjoy with a friend. So what that the infielders couldn't make a throw across the diamond without it bouncing. Who cares? All I know is pick the Cardinals and steal some bases. You can't beat this game, but I was always second best to my base running maniac of a cousin John, who is still a jerk for all those defeats.

10. Gradius: Ok, clearly this and RBI baseball aren't the greatest games of all time. But they were really fun for me. This is a side-scrolling space shooting that included lots of power ups. The levels were very cool, even if the boss at the end was...well the same each time. But it was so addicting my extended family would fight over who got to play next (Until the 8 year-olds became the best, then the adults quit.) I know I beat this one, cause I think we took a picture!

Worst Game I owned: 10 Yard Fight. This game is an abomination to all things considered gaming. I wanted a football game, what I got was what the Japanese thought was football. Here is how the game worked. Snap to the quarterback who has a running back on each side who mimics your every move. You can either a) lateral it to a RB b) run upfield c) or throw it to the one receiver streaking downfield. If you passed and even one defender was in the line of flight, he intercepted it. (ridiculous) If you got a safety, they gave the wrong team the points (ridiculous) If you were kicking a field goal you could run all the way to your own end zone, kick it, and it would fly most slowly through the uprights (flubber?) A mistake of a purchase, I made up for it by buying Zelda next go around. And yes, I beat this game.

I hope this starts some discussion. If not, at least you know that I am awesome at video games.

I can't stop believin'

2008-11-03T09:44:00.000-08:00

I can't let go of the phenomenon that is "Don't Stop Believin.'" Growing up this song was a bit of a joke in my mind. This was a pop song written by an 80's hair band that featured the trite saying of "Don't Stop Believing." If he was singing about Civil Rights or Faith in God or something of depth I could have bought in. But all it speaks to is that someday my crappy life will turn around. Seriously? That's why the blues were invented, not 80's hair bands.

Fast forward. On at least three occasions I have witnessed hundreds of teenagers sing-along to this song. They know every word. I have since learned that it is the #1 downloaded song on iTunes. Huh? How did it come to this? How did "Don't stop believin'" become the ultimate sing along? Sure, it has a lethal combination of both catchy verses and chorus, but 25 year-old songs that only reached #9 on the Billboard charts don't get reborn without some help. Here are my theories.

2005 Chicago White Sox: In need of some inspiration during the playoffs catcher A.J. Pierzynski started playing this song in the clubhouse before games. I heard an interview with Pierzyski and Dan Patrick at this time. Pretty much Patrick wanted to know of all the songs in the world to inspire, you pick Journey? See, he thought it was a joke too, but it got some coverage.

The Sopranos Series Finale (2007) When the Sopranos called it quits, they did so controversally by leaving you wondering who was walking through the diner door. The background music was "Don't Stop Believin.'" I was surprised this was the final selection for such a tough guy show. I thought ESPN was joking when they played the final clip on the radio. But again, national exposure.

But nothing I found in my research goes back farther than one instance....

"My Journey" - Scrubs (2003) This is one of my very favorite shows, it is up there with the Simpsons and House. Zach Braff is responsible for the change in alot of people's taste in music over the years, both through his movie soundtracks and from the show. Here is the clip that I can't help but believe started the phenominon.

And, because I like that JD is nerdy like me sometimes:

World Series Preview, Season Review

2008-10-22T11:49:00.000-07:00

Cardinals: In my season preview I said the Cardinals would finish third, but fourth would be acceptable. Well, 86 wins is a successful season in my book. That is alot of wins for 4th place! (Toronto did it too). The Lineup was great all season, but the pitching couldn't hold any consistancy down the stretch. Still better than the 5th place finish I saw some people predict.

NEEDS: Bullpen!!!!!! A lefty reliever for sure, but the Cards need to decide if Chris Perez is our closer next season (I think he is) because if not we need a closer too, and those are expensive. I feel we should keep Felipe Lopez and Cesar Izturis in the middle infield. They were dependable and effective and the right price, leaving us money for other positions such as Starting Pitching. We know better than to count on Carpenter this year. Is Jake Peavy the answer? I don't think so, he only has two 15 win seasons in his career. I'm sure we can find a good, young arm for a lesser price. Unless we all forgot the name Mark Mulder. I think the outfield played very well, and maybe we should leave it alone. As much as I would want to see Matt Holiday in our lineup.....hmmmm.....Ok, I would take Holiday still. Just make sure we get another pitcher too, ok?

Pre-Season Picks: My preseason picks were an absolute joke. I got Philly, Milwakee and Boston correct. However, I picked Seattle, Detroit and San Diego all of whom finished in last place. At least the Cubs choked!

World Series Preview: History has shown that the team with the giant layoff (Philly) struggles mightily in the World Series. I give the hitting advantage to the Rays because hot bats can beat out big sluggers who are streaky. Bullpen I give to Philly for their consistancy, but TB has some good arms. Starting pitching I give to the Rays because after Cole Hamels the Phillies are outmatched.

Prediction: Rays in 6 (Hamels will keep it closer than it should be). I would be happy for Philly if they win, they only have one World Championship ever. Like 100 years ever.

But I want the Rays to win because they represent what is right in baseball. A bunch of young guys going out and playing to win. It gives hope to all franchises, especially the Royals, the Pirates, and even those Cubbies.

UPDATE: Ok, so the experienced Phillies won out in the end. Congrats to Philly, an uber sports town that usually needs a chill pill. You now have as many Championships as the Marlins!

Coach Linehan, step into your office. And bring your playbook.

2008-09-29T11:57:00.001-07:00

I think we can all safely say that this is a good move. I predicted we would fire Linehan before we won a game, and I was right. Linehan may end up with a great head coaching gig, but it wasn't here and now. He was just beat: by the opponents and by his own squad. I feel the team had quit on him.

Or at least Jim Haslett hopes so, cause now he wears the big head set. Which kind of worries me because he is in charge of the lifeless defense. My only hope is that Linehan played guys who lacked hustle and discipline, and Haslett can insert personel that will play 4 quarters of football.

Something else to mention. Chris Mortenson of ESPN mentioned today that despite what ownership is saying, the Rams are definitely for sale and are being shopped around. Lets hope Rams fans can rally behind these coaching moves, because I am still nervous that this team will be in LA in two years.

My Top 10 Songs of the 90's

2008-09-23T11:20:00.000-07:00

Last month 105.7 the Point did their top 500 songs of the 90's. I loved it. I heard many songs I had forgotten about. It also inspired me to give my own top 10 songs of the 90's.

A unique aspect of the 90's is everyone knows the number one song of the decade. Can you say that about any other decade? "Satisfaction" for the 60's? "Imagine" for the 70's? "Billy Jean" for the 80's? They are all debatable. The 90's is not.

Obviously, this is technically a Top 10 Alternative/Rock songs of the 90's. So my apologies to Alanis Morisette, Hootie and the Blowfish, Maria Carey and Boyz II Men for being left off the list.

#1 Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana The Anthem. This song not only changed the face of music, it ended many artists careers because their sound was made obsolete overnight by Nirvana. So many have tried to imitate the sound, but still there is only one Nirvana. I am still sad that Kurt had to leave the music scene so early.

#2 Alive - Pearl Jam My favorite song by my favorite band. This song is versitile. A catchy chorus. Lyrics that make you think, and have even inspired people to change their own lives because for one reason or another "I'm still alive." And the kickin' extended guitar solo at the end, something that is missing from today's scene.

#3 Under the Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers Anthony Kiedis's poem to the city of Los Angeles, brought to life by Flea and the band. Melodic, creative and beautiful.

#4 Today - Smashing Pumpkins Before Billy Corgan was just a rat in a cage he penned a classic grunge song about seizing the day. The opening guitar riff is learned by most aspiring guitarists. It captured the grunge sound perfectly.

#5 Enter Sandman - Metallica The song that brought heavy metal to the masses(as is still evident in today's scene). It has hooks all over the place and still rocks as hard as any Metallica song. NOTE: Just because you like "Enter Sandman" doesn't mean you are a metal fan.

#6 Basket Case - Green Day The song that brought Punk to the masses. (as is still evident in today's scene) It was fast, it was catchy and it was about crazy people. You don't have to be a math major to figure this one out. You Win!

#7 Undone: The Sweater Song - Weezer The best sing along the 90's has to offer in my opinion. Bonus points for working the phrase "Superman Skivies" into a song. Nice.

#8 Interstate Love Song - Stone Temple Pilots STP had several hits in the early 90's, but this song is the most melodic. Which is a fancy way of saying you can understand what he's singing. My only regret is that there was no solo on this song. That guy can play.

#9 Everlong - Foo Fighters Dave Grohl is a remarkable musician. He not only drummed for Nirvana, he started his own rock band in Foo Fighters. If was tough choosing just one FF song, but this is the one I always end up singing hours after I hear it. Because if they don't fight Foo, then who will?!?

#10 One - U2 U2 had an interesting decade, but it all started with this song. Bono has told the story that they were thinking of breaking up until they wrote this song. Beautiful and simple.

That's it, let me know what I forgot. To close, here is a live performance of "Alive" by Pearl Jam from 1992. (I think)

Lion on the Floor

2008-09-10T13:49:00.000-07:00

After my little Weezer obsession over the summer I started thinking back to the first time I ever heard a song by Weezer. It was their video for "Undone - The Sweater Song." This video starts out normal and just gets stranger and funnier. I mean, why have your instruments plugged in while you are lip synching? And the drummer is just a little to into his drumming. And, as always, it poses one of life's great questions:

Why does he keep singing about a Lion on the Floor?

NFL Preview

2008-09-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO ST. LOUIS RAMS FANS: If we want to keep our team, the time to support them is now. Here is the deal. We all know that the dome is a dump. I know personally that the Rams have done nothing to improve the stadium experience.(They still use the same graphics from '95) But if we don't start supoprting our franchise they will be the LA Rams again. That means watching games even if we suck. That means going to games even if we will probably lose. Anything. Because if the city/NFL sees no reason to get a new dome built the Rams will be moved and we will never see the NFL again. I urge any and all Rams fans to find a way to make a difference. If you can't go to games, encourage those who can. I know STL is a baseball city, but we are smart enough to be great football fans too.

My picks for the season. I don't like how many teams I have returning to the playoffs, but this is what I got.

AFC: New England, Cleveland, Indianapolis, San Diego. Wild Cards: Jacksonville and New York Jets

NFC: Dallas, New Orleans, Green Bay, Seattle. Wild Cards: New York Giants, Minnesota

Superbowl: New England over New Orleans

In my mind New England can do 2 things. 1)Live in disbelief about how close they came to the perfect season and blow this one (eg 2002 Rams) or 2)Go out and show what kind of champions they are. I believe the Patriots are like any true champions that hate to lose and will destroy you to prove it. In the NFC I like Dallas alot but Romo looks like a choker to me, so i go with the talented Saints. We shall see how poorly these picks are come playoff time.

EDIT: What a difference a day makes. I forgot to blog that I think the Rams will finish 6-10 and finish third. Now I am predicting Linehan gets fired before the Rams win a game. Rams front office better start investing in the fans, cause even this die-hard is getting annoyed.

Tom Brady is out for the year. Not only my superbowl pick, but my #1 fantasy football pick. I still like the Pats to make the playoffs, but if I get a mulligan on my Super Bowl pick I would like to take San Diego now please.

Beijing: Lasting Memories

2008-08-25T20:40:00.000-07:00

Wow. What a great Olympics. Sets the bar pretty high for London in 2012.(I'm sure they will do awesome) So I give you my personal lasting images from the Beijing Games.

1. Michael Phelps 8 gold medals: I wrote an entire blog about this already, comparing Phelps' domination only to Tiger Woods. A performance for the ages.

2. Usain Bolt: Fastest man ever? It is a ridiculous question to ask, but as far as athletics goes it could be Bolt. He set world records in the two fastest sprint events in the 100m and 200m. And he made it look easy. A huge congrats to Bolt and the entire Jamaican track team. They put on a show.

3. Nastia Luikin and Shawn Johnson Although they didn't win team gold, Luikin and Johnson performed with precision. In fact, I feel every event could have been won by either gymnast (I don't follow the scoring, too inconsistant). They were clutch with style. Great to watch.

4.Kerry Walsh/Misty May-Treanor: Nobody had gone gold in back to back Olympics until they did. Watching them celebrate was like watching the Olympic spirit. You could tell they are ecstatic to start their families with Olympic gold. The entire US volleyball did amazing with 3 gold and 1 silver.

5. The Host Nation: The government may have tried to hide the poverty, but the people showed their pride. The opening and closing ceremonies were the best ever, and the athletes won an incredible amount of gold medals. A great perfomance, even if they do have athlete factories.

6. US Women win gold in soccer: without Abbey Wambauch I thought the US would still medal. Their complete team performance to win gold against Brazil ushered in a new era of US soccer.

7. The Redeem Team: Not only did they dominate, they represented themselves as great Olympians by attending a variety of other sports. Class.

8. Swimming success, Track tribulations: Even without Michael Phelps, our swimming team has great success. They won a fair share of gold and silver. The track team has some answering to do. I believe their training was very poor, and half our athletes looked flat. We won a fair amount of medals, but clearly we struggled in some strong events.

Did I forget anything? I look forward now to Vancouver in 2010. And don't forget the World Baseball Classic next spring.

Michael Phelps: World Domination

2008-08-21T06:07:00.000-07:00

We love sports for two reasons: for love of the game and to become a champion. I love watching championships being won. I watch any championship game that's on, which means I watch lacrosse only once a year. There are two types of champions: the surprise team/player who just seazed the moment and the heavy favorite that lives up to potential.

Michael Phelps redefined what it means to live up to potential. I've heard plenty of people say how difficult it is to win when everyone expects you to. That covers teams like The Patriots, The Spurs and the Yankees of the last 10 years. What Phelps did was different. He destroyed the competition. It was Phelps vs the field, and you gotta take Phelps. Only few athletes have done that in my lifetime. Here are the athletes I put Phelps with(from my lifetime).

Pete Sampras/Roger Federer: You knew what the Grand Slams looked like before the year started. They would win the Australian, Wimbeldon and US Open. It was all about the French Open. They dominated in an individual sport that had hundreds of professionals aiming at them.

Michael Jordan: It took a whole team, but we all know that Michael Jordan essentially single handedly won 6 NBA championships, and if he hadn't retired it would have been 8 straight. But he did it during an era when it was predominantly a US game, not the worldwide game we see now.

Michael Phelps: He didn't lose. He found that extra gear to get the clutch victory. He set a record for gold medals when literally the whole world is challenging him. And he did it in a competition held only once every 4 years. And he will swim again in 2012. The next 30 years will help us understand how remarkable this really is.

Tiger Woods: In tennis you play one man each match. Basketball is about 12 with subs. Phelps swam against 7 at a time. Tiger Woods faces over a hundred each tournament and has dominated. He blows people away. He wins the close call. He wins hurt. I remember saying to myself during his "Tiger Slam" you can't just say "I'm gonna win" and then go do it! Phelps really only compares to Tiger. Both are men who have changed their sports for a nation. You can't give a bigger compliment than that.

EDIT: Lance Armstrong: How could I forget the 7 time champion following cancer? Probably because it's cycling. Doesn't always come to mind. Still, it is hard for any athlete to dominate for 4 years, let alone 7.

The boys are back in town!

2008-08-15T05:21:00.000-07:00

So, I am now the pround Papa of two boys! Now, let it be clear that boy or girl I have the same sports philosophy: start with baseball/softball and soccer and let the child choose other sports as they like. Or no sports if the child is more musical/artistic/smart. You get the idea.

As far as the sports go, you dream big for your child. US Men's National team player. Starting pitcher for the Cardinals. The next Tiger Tiger Woods y'all. But because this blog is all about fun, I have the following question: What is the most attainable/durable career you can have in sports. My choices are:

The left handed middle reliever: If you are left handed, can throw a fast ball in the high 80's and a curveball you can have a 15 years pro career getting one out a game. I'd take it.

NFL Place Kicker/Punter: Can you kick the ball really frickin' far? You're hired. Shoot, you could play for 15 years at this job also! Just don't blow the point spread or some drunk guy will push you into his hibatchi after the game.

Three Point Specialist: Too short to dunk and play defense? Just keep hitting the three-pointers once every three tries and you too can play for the Memphis Grizzlies.

For me I would go with the place-kicker. You don't even have to run. But I will put it up to a poll. Tell me what you think!

US Men's Soccer: How to shoot yourself in the foot.

2008-08-13T08:58:00.000-07:00

At least I didn't lose any sleep over this one. Wait, I was up at 4am watching. Crap.

Being a soccer enthusiast, I know the US Men's team is talented. I know we have great players and when we play together we can do great things. Which is why it sucks so bad when we don't advance in World Cup and now the Olympics. At the World Cup I thought we played hard but the refs could have been a little more lenient. Today....we have nobody to blame but ourselves. My (brief) recap.

US vs Japan: 1-0 The result we needed. Japan was the weakest team in the group and the US put in a scrappy goal. Otherwise all I wondered was if the ref would ever call a foul in favor of Freddy Adu. It was silly.

US vs Netherlands: 2-2 If you would have told me before the tourney that we would tie Holland, I would have been extatic. But its how we tied that was crushing. We were up 2-1 with 45 seconds to go. A win and we are through. Stuart Holden commits a silly foul in a bad location. The Dutch put in the free kick. 3 points melts to 1, and we have to play Nigeria without two stars in Freddy Adu and Michael Bradley. But we are still very alive.

US vs Nigeria: 1-2 Mike Orozco better hope he doesn't run into American soccer fans for a while, maybe years. His red card for throwing an elbow to the chest of a Nigerian in the THIRD FREAKING MINUTE all but eliminated us. We only needed a tie, so maybe we could hold on. After the first goal, I knew we were sunk and only have ourselves to blame.

So I maintain that the US is a good soccer nation. These tournaments are just tough (and the referees never give our players the benefit of the doubt). Although we dominate our continent, it will still be at least two more years until we gain some worldwide respect. I hate getting knocked out so fast. It hurts. We are better than that. In fact, I don't know if I will watch another match with all the other events. So I will wait for the World Cup in South Africa to hedge our Men's American Soccer hopes.

Olympics Junkie

2008-08-09T20:06:00.000-07:00

The Olympics are a drug. A sweet sweet drug, and I am an addict. Think I am exagerating? Look at my symptoms. Whenever I watch the Olympics I immediately feel great and all warm inside. I want to watch more and more and it affects my daily schedule. And it may affect my marriage (being on 20 hours a day).

I love the Olympics because of 2 reasons. 1)I love the Olympic spirit and the fact that we talk about the competition and not contracts and agents. Everyone is on a level playing field, may the best athlete win. 2)I love watching the top competition of any sport. Which leads me to watch almost every sport. I've been known to watch everything from rowing to curling. (Curling is awesome btw. look it up). What I am watching this Olympics:

Men's and Women's Soccer: I know, I am a nerd but I love soccer. The women are looking to rebound from a poor World Cup. Well, they are without their top scorer and lost their first match. It would be a great accomplishment to make the gold medal match. The men's tourney is under-23 with 3 overage players, so it is not quite a World Cup. But a medal for the US would show our increase in quality and gain some well deserved respect.

Michael Phelps: He could destroy not only World records, but the record for most gold medals by any athlete. Ever. Gotta watch it.

Women's Gymnastics: Alright, not the most manly sport to follow. But the women's gymnastics often gives the best story lines. I watched Kerry Strug limp away from the vault victorious. Anything can happen, and I will try to watch it.

Men and Women's Basketball: I am interested if we can maintain and regain our dominance in this now world-wide sport.

Team Handball: Let's call this the Curling event of the summer Olympics. It looks awesome, and I totally want to play it but there is no place to play in Mid America. It intrigues me and I will learn what I can from the next two weeks.

Anyone else have an event they are embarassed to be caught watching?

J-E-T-S Jet Favre!

2008-08-07T11:50:00.001-07:00

The soap opera is over. The divorce is finalized. Brett Favre is a Jet. While I truly thought he would end up in Minnesota in the end the Jets get their superstar QB they have been looking for since Broadway Joe (sorry Boomer Esiason).

I feel for the Packer faithful: You lost your all-time great over.....well we're not sure why. I also feel for EA Sports, who probably never dreamed that their cover boy would be with another franchise!

Pork and Beans

2008-07-28T11:26:00.000-07:00

I want to get it out right now: I am grateful YouTube didn't exist when I was in school. No doubt I would have spent hours watching videos only to spend hours making videos. As much fun as that still sounds, I'm not sure my grades would have survived.

Anyways, I came across the latest video for Weezer called "Pork and Beans." To make the video Weezer flew in most of the top YouTube artists in the website's history. Brilliant idea and they pulled it off.

Here is YouTube star Tay Zonday singing an acoustic version of the song. It is a little freaky how that deep voice comes out of that skinny guy. I think Tay could have a long career doing voiceovers for animations or something.

The End of Mark Mulder.

2008-07-10T09:57:00.000-07:00

Last night Mark Mulder injured his pitching shoulder in his first start of the '08 season. This was only his 6th appearance since the 2006 season in which he was injured as well. Barring a miraculous comeback I think Mark Mulder is done. In St. Louis anyways.

Which leads me to the question: When was the last time the Cards flopped so badly on a trade? While I'm thinking, let's look over the timeline that lead to this deal.

When the Cards got swept in the '04 series our weakness were a) we lacked a power pitcher and b) we lacked a lefty in the rotation. So when the Cards pulled the trigger on the Mulder deal I was extactic. Mulder had won 15 games or more the previous 4 seasons and was a dominant pitcher in the AL.

We gave up 3 players, but the one to focus on is Dan Haren. Haren was viewed as a mediocre pitcher although he was still young (24 when we dealt him). He had 6 career victories at the time. I actually thought we were giving away our future closer in Kiko Calero, but I still thought the trade was worth it.

Mulder gave us 1 good year. In 2005 he went 16 - 8 with a 3.64 ERA and pitched ok in the post-season. But that is it. Over the next 3 seasons Mark Mulder notched 6 victories. Six. Kip Wells won more than that many LAST SEASON! Now, it wasn't Mulder's fault, its not like he started pitching poorly and we had to bench him. But still, the Cards had bigger dreams than a pitcher getting 22 wins over 4 years. We wanted 20 wins in one season!

Dan Haren was placed in the A's starting rotation and figured things out pretty quickly. He has won 14 games each season since the trade and is looking like a Cy Young candidate with the Diamondbacks this season. He has won 51 games in the 3 plus seasons since the trade, and that number will only increase until the current season ends.

51 wins to 22 wins. And Haren gets paid half as much. That could be the flop of my generation.

But somehow the Cardinals are in the playoff hunt in July. La Russa just called out the Cards management asking for a boost through a trade. I couldn't agree more. The Cards would be World Series contenders if we pulled off the Holliday/Fuentes trade with Colorado. Holliday is a pure hitter and Fuentes is a left handed reliever with experience. I know we value our own prospects, but I value rewarding a hard working team with a chance to win it all even more.

I don't have extensive knowledge of the farm system, so I can't conjure up AA talent that would be included in a trade. I would include in any talk the names Ryan, Duncan, Ludwick and Reyes. I think the Cards would be extactic if any team took Reyes or Duncan off our hands, but I doubt that happens. I think Ludwick is having a career year and we should get good value for him. The Cards are loaded at middle infield right now, and Brendan Ryan has good hustle and average talent. Get the value now!

I would not include Rick Ankiel. Look what he has done this year. Good defense. Great arm strength. .270 average. On pace for 30 homers. All in his SECOND year full time outfield. This guy is only gonna get better, and frankly the Cardinals and the fans should really be the ones to reap the benefits.

The last name is Colby Rasmus. He was almost our starting centerfielder and is still our top prospect in our organization. I would try to create any deal that does not include this kid. I believe in protecting our top prospects. But, if the Rockies say "no Rasmus, no deal" I would make the deal. Sure he is talented, but there is no guarentee he will make it at the Big League level. If we want to make this team work we need to take a risk. And pray we don't have another flop.

Chopping Broccoli

2008-06-30T13:50:00.000-07:00

Looks like I missed a month of blogging. Oops. Instead of apologizing I give you the reason why in high school I wanted to be a rock star and comedian.

Top 10 Christian CD's that will rock your socks.

2008-05-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

I have a feeling blogs were born for top 10 lists just to get discussions started. This top 10 is about the Christian CD's that are amazing and have helped progress the Christian music scene. They "rock my socks" so to speak. Like all top tens I am ranking them on artistic merits, not whether I have listened to the CD in the last 5 years. Now clearly I don't listen to absolutely every Christian artist, so really you are learning more about me than about the music. But hey, it's fun!

I am rating them based on their musical presentation(can we sing along?), spirituality of the CD (powerful message?) and creativity of the music(not just the same 3 chords). Here is what I came to.

#1 Matt Maher - "Welcome to Life"
High Scores in: Music, Spirituality and Creativity.

I can hear someone saying "Big surprise, the Catholic picked the Catholic." Well, it's not my fault he's Catholic, but I sure am glad he is. I can't say enough about this CD. The depth of the lyrics are ridiculous. The versatility of each song makes each one a candidate to be sung at Church. The variety and creativity of the songs rivals the Beatles, and that's not an overstatement. This album reminds me of "Revolver" without Ringo singing a track. "Welcome to Life" starts the musical journey and takes you all the way to the cross with "Lead Me Home." It is a masterpiece.

>#2 David Crowder Band - "Illuminate"
High Scores in: Music, Creativity and Spirituality

When I started listening to Christian music I always had the same question, "Is this CD going to be all lyrics/boring music or creative music but lacking lyrics?" This album was a revelation to me. Right away this felt like the CD I had always been looking for. It sounded like an alternative album. I could sing to it like a pop album, and it certainly had lyrical depth. History might only remember it for "O Praise Him" but I know it to have been a milestone in Praise and Worship and Christian music as a whole.

#3 David Crowder Band - "A Collision"
High Scores in: Creativity, Spirituality, Music

If "Illuminate" opened my eyes, "A Collision" blew my mind. This album is also a journey, but like no journey a Christian CD had taken me on before. It has pop hooks, country, old Christian hymns and guitar riffs to fall in love with. For me, part of the spirituality of the album was to open myself to the variety of music it presented. "You Are My Joy" combines music and energy in such a way I haven't seen replicated. It is certainly a journey worth listening to all the way through.

#4 Jars of Clay - Self Titled
High Scores in: Spirituality, Music

The first Christian CD I bought and still one of the best. Before, I didn't know any Christian music outside of Church. This album taught me the power of Christian lyrics set to music I could identify with. "Flood" made secular radio, but to me this CD is epitimized by "Worlds Apart." To me this is a conversion moment caught on record and is one of my favorite songs for its emotion and honesty.

#5 DC Talk - "Jesus Freak"
High Scores in: Music, Spirituality

10 years ago this might have been #1. But it still stands the test of time for its variety and quality. "Jesus Freak" was the alternative album by DC Talk, but really only a handful of songs were truly rock. The rest of the songs were really pop songs that had killer lyrics. Songs like "What if I Stumble" and "In the Light" are songs that each Christian can relate to. Most of all, these were high quality songs and performers. In fact, if I could have one band get back together and cut an album it would be DC Talk. One of my top 5 concerts too.

#6 Chris Tomlin - "Arriving"
High Scores in: Spirituality, Music

Check out this song list: "Indescribable," "Holy is the Lord," "How Great is Our God," and "Your Grace is Enough." These are the first 4 tracks on this disc. Check out praise and worship binders across the country and most of them will have all 4. Now, Tomlin didn't write all these songs, but that's ok. He brought them to a wider audience, and for that I am thankful.

#7 Matt Maher - "Overflow"
High Scores in" Spirituality, Music

Maybe in a couple of years I will replace this with "Empty and Beautiful." But for now "Overflow" has its place on my list. When I first listened to this disc I wasn't thrilled. But over time the depth of its lyrics and the power of the melodies dug in. One of those CD's that "feels like home" when I listen to it. "Ressurection Day" could be the best Easter song. Ever.

#8 Third Day - "Offerings"
High Scores in: Spirituality

Praise and Worship music has a special place in my heart, as it does in the hearts of Christians all over. This was a landmark album in the sense that a major Christian Rock group took the time to cut an all worship album. Sure, they had been playing these songs for while, but putting these songs on an album showed the trend Christian music was moving towards. This album is more than a trend, it is qualtiy P&W rock up and down the song list. The first song "King of Glory" is all you need to hear to know the quality of the disc.

#9 Casting Crowns - "Lifesong"
High Scores in: Spirituality

By the time Casting Crowns hit the scene Christian Music and Praise and Worship had exploded. Everyone was making P&W albums, but it was starting to sound a little tired. Casting Crowns brought a simple, fresh view to the music scene. The songs sing of situations we can all relate to. The title track "Lifesong" simply sings of us each singing our praises to God through our lives.

#10 Relient K - "Two Lefts Don't Make a Right, But Three Do"
High Scores in: Creativity

This is my "say what?" choice. The lyrics aren't overly Christian, although the song "Getting Into You" is a great song of prayer. This CD is fun, creative and totally catchy. I find myself singing it hours after I listen to it. Great innocent fun and worthy of a mention.

There is my list. My regrets to influential artists like Steven Curtis Chapman, Michael W Smith and Mercy Me. Please comment and let me know how you agree/disagree!

Ka-Ching!

2008-05-14T09:21:00.000-07:00

Mark this blog up as "more creative/weird music I like." Last week I was introduced to the music of Mika, who has great popularity in Europe but hasn't caught on with Americans. Lots of things to be impressed with. Most of all his vocal range is amazing. Add on that he writes his own songs and its hard not to be a fan. He can be compared to a pop combination of Freddie Mercury and the Beatles but often with a dance groove.

This is the video for Mika's song "Grace Kelly." It is about how many artists change who they are for record companies. The video itself is nonsense, really. But the vocal range will impress you and the tune will be stuck in your head. Enjoy!

Man Utd vs Chelsea

2008-05-01T09:02:00.000-07:00

Most Americans don't realize the sheer depth of soccer the world has to offer. So let me catch you up on a situation that I can't imagine ever happening again. (note: as an Arsenal fan this pains me to blog about)

First, the English Premier league. The standings read Man Utd and Chelsea tied at 81 points with 2 games to go. Last week they faced off with Chelsea pulling off a great victory scoring a PK in the waning minutes to even the standings. Both have lower table opponents remaining. It should be noted there is no playoff, this is a winner take all regular season. Prediction: both teams should win out, so Man Utd will be crowned champions on goal differential for the 9th time in 13 seasons.

Now to the big one: The UEFA Champions League. This is what drew me to European soccer. They take the top 2-4 teams from all the European leagues and play a tournament. You take all these styles of football and clash them together and greatness happens. In the 50+ year history there has never been an all English final...until May 21st when Man Utd and Chelsea face off. Man Utd is in their third final having last won the cup in '99. Chelsea is in their first final but has been on the doorstep the last few years. I encourage you to watch it at 1:30pm on Wed May 21st on ESPN, you will see a sporting event like no other.

Players to watch:
Man Utd: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)He is creative, he is explosive, and he knows how to finish and set up the assist. He makes other players better. He could be world footballer of the year. I hate his guts.

Chelsea: Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)He will do anything to get the ball in the net. He is strong, always in position and can finish when even given a half a chance. And if he doesn't score, well you can bet he is on the ground getting the PK call. He always rises to the occasion. I hate his guts.

Prediction: Pain. Seriously, as an Arsenal fan I just wish the stadium would blow up on gameday (game is being played in Moscow) This would be like the Yankees and Cubs playing in the world series for a Cards fan. It makes me sick. I think it will come down to 1 moment of brilliance where a superstar makes his pressence known. So I will choose Chelsea and will predict 2-1 victory with goals from Essien and the game winner from Drogba.

And because I can't stand Arsenal being out of it, here is a Nike ad that makes me proud to be a Gunner. One of these years Arsenal will mature together and we will win trophies for years to come.

5 against 1.

2008-04-21T07:34:00.000-07:00

One of my passions and favorite topics to nerd out on is music. Mostly I am intrigued by music history and how one style of music has blended into another. If you want to know sometime how Country, Elvis and Grunge are related I would be glad to tell you. But that is not what this blog is all about.

See, I myself have had my own musical evolution. In Jr. High if a song didn't have a distorted guitar then it wasn't worth the CD it was recorded on (or tape in my case). The reason was grunge had turned me on to an entire universe of music I had never known. Growing up my parents listened to classic rock, but all my friends listened to pop. Shoot, what 10-12 year old doesn't listen to pop?

Eventually my cousin John desperately tried to get me to listen to rock and grunge. He got it. He saw the energy and effort put into the music. It wasn't about popularity, it was about a message. I listened along trying to understand the lyrics. But CD's alone weren't doing the trick.

Then Pearl Jam broke the doors wide open. I already enjoyed songs like Alive and Jeremy (still my two favorite songs). But it was a live performance on MTV that changed my musical taste forever. Seeing the energy and just sheer joy of playing the music is probably the reason I picked up a guitar.

The two youtube clips are from the same performance: MTV's '93 VMA's. The first is the song Animal from the at the time forthcoming "VS" album. Then, unknown to anyone but the band, Neil Young joined them for Rocking in the Free World. That's rock and roll baby.

Mario Superstar, that is what you are.

2008-04-09T09:43:00.000-07:00

Game: Super Mario Galaxy
Score: 10
Scale: 10 Everyone will enjoy this 1 Don't even Rent it

I should note that I didn't purchase Zelda: Twilight Princess when I got my Wii. So when I started playing Super Mario Galaxy I was blown away. Previous to that I had only played Wii Sports, Wii Play, Trauma Center, Wario Ware, Mario Party 8. Super Mario Galaxy was the first game that exploited the shortcomings of the Nintendo Gamecube. It is the best game I have played since Super Mario 64, hands down.

This game is imaginitive. The main attraction of this game is that it is played in "galaxies" and therefore the gravity changes on each level. Many levels are just a bunch of little planets grouped together. Some are entire worlds. Each level had a moment where I would stop and say: Wow, did that just happen? Seriously, I was in awe of some of the things Mario was required to do.

But a perfect 10? Absolutely. It is easy enough to beat, but very challenging to finish the entire game. There are 120 known stars in the game. You can finish "the plot" at 60. I'm pretty sure any gamer could get to this point. (In fact, I'm pretty sure my 10-year-old self could do it). Getting 120 Stars is a different story. I got to 95 without looking up any cheats, but the last 15 would have me pulling my hair out, which we all know I can't afford to do.

The only criticism I could come up with was that the individual galaxies were relatively small compared to 64 and Sunshine. But that was it. The play control was phenominal and not gimmicky (it wasn't overly motion based to fit the wiimote) But it was easily better than any Gamecube game, that is a fact.

I now turn my attention to Super Smash Bros Brawl. And Mario Kart Wii is due out in a couple of months. And something about a Star Wars game this year too. Add on the Zelda title I still need to get to and I am set for the rest of this year it seems!

I've got Baseball Fever....

2008-03-27T13:31:00.001-07:00

....and the only prescription is more Cowbell! If that video was made available by NBC it would so be on this blog. Instead you get my picks and insights for the upcoming season.

For the Cardinals I expect an exciting, well played season of baseball. I like that we have a youth movement on our hands and I look forward to Wainwright, Rasmus and Ankiel establishing themselves as the next generation of Cardinals greats (clearly Wainwright is well on his way). But I think injuries will keep us well short of the playoffs. You can't take Carpenter and Mulder out of a rotation and expect a team to excel. Plus I feel Pujols elbow problem will land him on the DL at least once, if not off/on all season. Therefore my optimistic prediction for the Redbirds is a third place finish, although I will accept a fourth place standing as well. It will be fun, but not always a victory.

As for the rest of the league here are my playoff predictions:
NL
Philadelphia, Milwakee, Arizona and San Diego as my suprise wild card.
AL
Boston, Detroit, Seattle and Cleveland as my non-Yankee wild card.

World Series:
Detroit over Arizona.

The NL is hard to pick, but I really like the pitching staff of Arizona regardless of Randy Johnson. I think that team can put it together for a full season and grow as a team.

In the AL it was a tough choice between Detroit and Boston. Both teams look fantastic this season. But I put Detroit because I like their pitching more and because it would be great for the game. It was about 5 years ago Detroit lost almost 120 games. If they can turn it around and win there is hope for the Washingtons, Pittsburghs, Kansas Citys and Tampa Bays of the world. I want to see it happen.

Also, the Cubs will choke and it will be glorious. Play Ball!

Sheet of Futility

2008-03-20T08:42:00.000-07:00

I love the first weekend of March Madness. If I could, I would watch 4 days of basketball. Usually I catch about 2 games a day, but with Holy Week and Easter this year I doubt I will get that many. But it's still one of the best sports weekends of the year.

For the first time ever I filled out two brackets (for an office pool). So I have my #1 bracket to share with you, or my Sheet of Integrity. I am really good at picking Final 4 teams, and not so great at picking the winner. Here it goes:

My Final 4 are North Carolina, Kansas, Texas and UCLA with North Carolina beating UCLA. Not very exciting, but I went with some solid picks. I can't show you my whole bracket, but some of my upset picks are Villanova in the sweet 16 and both Pitt and Purdue in the Great 8.

"Good Luck, to ME!"

Happy Green Day!

2008-03-17T07:51:00.000-07:00

Today is the day when everybody is Irish. As someone with an entire side of a family that is Irish, let me tell you what it means to be Irish:
- You have several relatives with red hair. (Given)
- Family events involve consuming alcohol no later than 1pm (including big holidays)
- Funerals have more laughter than you would ever expect.
- You wear extra green on St. Patrick's day to prove your ethnicity.
- You own Notre Dame apparel because they are the Fighting Irish when in actuality you don't even know where the school is located.
- You have very pale skin and either turn red or orange in the sun.
- You are probably Catholic and therefore are probably related to a priest or a nun.
- You can't hold your alcohol, you just like to drink it.

There is your cheat sheet for the day. Enjoy! Since Green is the color of the day, here is the best Green Screen bit from Whose Line is it Anyways?

Here it goes again

2008-03-06T09:42:00.000-08:00

Spring Training is in full swing, and I am excited. My prediction is that the Cardinals will play hard and play well, but still fall short of the post-season. We just don't have the overall talent to win consistantly enough. Throw in the Pujols is already hurting and I think we are a 4th place team. Let's have those Cards prove me wrong!

Spring training makes me think of all those players getting in shape. Exercise leads to treadmills. Treadmills lead to OK GO. Somehow this song feels like an apropriate spring training song.

You get to play Plinko!

2008-02-25T10:36:00.000-08:00

What does every good American do on a sick/snow day? The Price is Right baby. I know Bob is gone, but I think Drew is awesome and is getting better everyday. And for some reason he still asks America to spay and neuter your pets after every show. You know, that might have been a good cause in the 70's. Can't Drew find a little more modern cause than controlling the pet population?

Anyways, here is a great video of the new Price is Right with Drew Carey. I get excited when someone gets to play Plinko, but I never have this problem. She might need professional help!

It's gotta be the shoes.

2008-02-14T09:53:00.000-08:00

About 10 years ago Jamiroquai released the video for "Virtual Insanity." (before they were "that band from the Napolean Dynamite song") Well, it is still one of my favorite videos. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was this video that inspired me to wear indoor soccer shoes for casual wear. (In fact, I'm wearing my Pumas today).

When they won the VMA for Video of the Year Chris Rock said "How bout an award for the hat!" Ok, that's funnier if you say it with Chris Rock's voice. Here's the video. Don't be alarmed if you suddenly feel that your couch is gliding across the room.

Febtober!

2008-02-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

These are not accurate impressions of anybody. But they are too much fun.

Cheaters Proof?

2008-02-04T10:25:00.000-08:00

I fully planned on blogging today about how the Patriots completed the Playstation season by going undeafeted and setting records on the way.

Now I bet they wish they could hit the reset button.

Going into the Superbowl I really thought the atmosphere was the same as the Rams/Pats game. One team was destined to win, the other had to play a perfect game to get the job done. Well, congrats to the Giants whose defense was amazing and offense got enough done. They won a Superbowl that will be remembered for all times.

So where does this leave the Pats? To be honest, before this weekend I really admired the Patriots. It's about the system, not the player. They take scrub players and make them better. They take superstars and make them one of the guys. They win without a lot of talk and flash. To me, they represented what was right in sports. They were a true team.

Until Spygate 2 broke this weekend. Now, it might all change.

I speak of the allegations of the Patriots video taping the Rams final walkthrough before the Superbowl in '02. I think it's fair to ask if they used illegal videos from the regular season game too. Either way, there is a question as to whether the Patriots had a illegal advantage before entering that Superbowl.

This should be a massive investigation. I'm talking Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens huge. Why? Because that game changed the shape of the NFL. The Rams and spiraled, and save one season haven't had a winning record in any one season since. The Patriots have become the crown jewel of the NFL, winning two more Superbowls. They set records on the way. If the result had been different......lets just say the league would be different.

Listen, I hope they are innocent. Just like I hope that Roger is innocent. (Barry admitted he took "the clear" but didn't know what it was. He may not be guilty in court, but he isn't innocent in my book either). But I want a thourough investigation of the Patriots, just like Roger is getting a full shake-down. This is too big to let go unturned.

I predict the Patriots will have evidence against them, but it will be left up to interpretation as to how much damage it caused. I also predict Roger will come up clean. But I tell you this, I am very skeptical and very troubled about all this until all the dust has settled in both cases.

Craptastic.

2008-01-28T10:35:00.000-08:00

Review: The Simpsons Game
Score: 4.0
Scale 10 - everyone should own this. 1- Don't even rent it.

The Simpsons have had quite a history in video games, stemming from their debut on the NES all the way to today. As a rule of thumb, I only buy games that have the writing staff and voice actors of the Simpsons doing all the work. Well, The Simpsons game had all of this, so I was ready to play. Let's just say the Simpsons staff help up their end of the bargain.

This game is hilarious. The plot is ridiculous: The Simpsons discover they aren't living in real life but in a video game, giving them super powers they didn't know they had. The real gem of this game is the level design. In this game you will see: The French retreating over and over again, Sonic and Mario powering video games, Homer in an eating contest, Marge destroying violent video games, Moe as an Elf, Lisa saving the trees and God playing DDR. I'm telling you, I was constantly laughing while playing the game. Which wasn't very helpful because.....

THE GAME-PLAY SUCKED!!!!!!!! I cannot emphasize that enough. This was the hardest game I played (based on controls) in 15 years. Some puzzles were challenging. But most of the time I was pissed because I couldn't make a simple jump. This happened all the time. Levels that were supposed to take 15 minutes took 45 minutes. It was ridiculous.

My recommendation: If you are a Simpsons collector you should buy this game. Otherwise just rent it or borrow it from someone who has beaten it (like me). Instead, I recommend Simpsons: Hit and Run (for the PS2, XBOX I think). This game is hilarious as well, but it plays really well and is a lot of fun.

Could I be so white and nerdy?

2008-01-22T08:24:00.000-08:00

So, I had my birthday this weekend. Thank you to all that messaged and called me. We didn't have a party this year, so I got to work my schedule around all the stuff I wanted to do.

I watched lots of sports. I watched Arsenal beat Fulham and the US beat Sweden. I watched Mizzou lose to they-who-must-not-be-named. And I watched the 3 quarters of the Patriots game and the last quarter+ of the Giants game. Throw in some Wii action with my family, and it was a good weekend.

Which proves what we already know: I am white and nerdy.

Seriously, who knew Weird Al could rap so well? Unfortunately, I have participated in at least half of the references in this song. Donny Osmond is obvious in the video, but did you catch the Seth Green cameo?

The State of the Leagues

2008-01-16T10:58:00.000-08:00

I should note that I was inspired to write about this after Mike and Mike in the Morning brought this point up on monday.

MLB and the NFL couldn't be in different situations this week. Football's greatest players are getting set to battle for a spot in the Superbowl. Baseball's greatest players are gearing up to testify in front of Congress. The NFL is clearly the most popular league in the nation. Howie Long put it best during his Hall-of-Fame speech "Baseball is the national pastime. But football is its passion."

It's like the fans were Baseball's date to the dance for years, but one year Baseball called in sick with the flu. No sooner did the fans hang up the phone when Football showed up at the door, dressed in a tux. The fans haven't been returning baseball's calls.

Both football and baseball have had stars busted for steroids and HGH, yet only baseaball is taking the heat. How did we get here? I believe it can be traced to 1994.

Baseball was clearly hurting. The players strike damaged the image of the sport. It seemed to be "all about the money." I think if they could have salvaged a World Series the pain would have been less, but that hole in baseball history will always exist.

Football was reaping the benefits of their frugalness. They were expanding for the first time in 20 years. They were moving franchises out of shaky markets and planning to keep teams in solid markets. They had branded themselves world-wide so that Europeans at least knew what American Football was. And, probably the biggest point, they became the No Fun League. They had rules. Lots of them. If you didn't follow them you were suspended or fined. If you were too much trouble, teams could cut you. This helped keep the focus on the game and not distractions. These eliments have lifted the NFL to one of the top 3 leagues in the world, if not number 1.

The results carry on today. Baseball's "dirty laundry" is out for all to see. Since the players and owners can't agree, every dispute is out in the open. Which means when the steroids/HGH stories break the media sees everything. There is no sympathy towards players, maybe because they have guarenteed contracts and don't fear getting cut. Still, even if a player wants to apologize they are persecuted.

The NFL's problems are veiled behind their rules. They have drug testing in place and players could lose their jobs at any moment. Does the NFL have an HGH problem? Who knows? Because the NFL has a steroid policy we assume they are hard on HGH. That makes it so when NFL players get busted and make an apology we are glad the system worked and can learn to forgive the player.

To me, it is all about the commishioner. Paul Tagliabu and Roger Goodell have been strong and proactive. Bud Selig looks like the type of guy that has troubles ordering his lunch. Is it fair the way we treat the NFL and MLB? I don't think so, but baseball has noone to blame but themselves.

I rock harder than Slash. I got the proof.

2008-01-09T09:02:00.000-08:00

REVIEW: Guitar Hero III - 9.0

(1 - 10 scale
1 - don't even rent it
10 - Everyone will enjoy this)

I love the guitar. I play it. I can sing more guitar parts than lyrics to my favorite songs. I also have played Guitar Hero 1 and 2 and thouroughly enjoyed the experience. Guitar Hero III has many changes but still gives meaning to the phrase "You Rock."

If Guitar Hero 2 was the "break out hit" then GH3 is the high budgeted and highly anticipated follow up. It was given a facelift as different producers tried to give the presentation a new feel without changing the gameplay. I will say they did a great job. The "story" behind the career mode was a nice addition, as was the new venues.

The other major addition was the battle mode where you can go head to head with Tom Morrelo, Slash or just a buddy. It is a fun addition, but if you never use this feature the game is still awesome.

The best feature for me was the new songs. Great variety of new and old ranging from 1970 to 2006. I personally enjoyed the inclusion of Pearl Jam, Metallica and Smashing Pumpkins. Long overdue in my mind.

The only detraction for me is you have to unlock songs in co-op one by one, unlike the previous games. So I can't just go straight to "One" by Metallica with a friend. Still, a minor complaint in the grand-scheme of things. I beat the game on medium and I found it challenging enough to think twice before playing on hard.

For all those who think I play too many video games, here is someone playing through fire and flames on expert. Simply stunning.

The Feel of Cotton.

2008-01-07T07:56:00.000-08:00

It's a little late, but I wanted to give my response to the butt-whooping we dropped on Arkansas. The SEC has played well this bowl season, but we dominated the Razorbacks. Tony Temple set a rushing record, not Run DMC. This win didn't help Chase Daniel's career, but helped cement Mizzou as a team to reckon with next season. But what I REALLY want to talk about.......

THE ANNOUNCERS! When the coverage started and I saw Pat Summerall and Brian Baldinger I said "This is going to be terrible." These two are bad at NFL games, let alone college. Pat can't see and Baldy can't think. Here are the worst/funniest moments I can remember.

Summerall: "I beg your pardon." He couldn't get the names right. Couldn't see the numbers, and when he did he was calling defensive players when we were on offense. It's like he just showed up that day to prepare. Also, he is an Arkansas alumn and called it like it was an Arkasas home game. "No big plays today....except if you are a Mizzou fan...."

Baldy: (while talking about the new Cowboy stadium) "Those Arches are bigger than the one in St. Louis that crosses the Missippi River." No way that just happened. Fire him. Immediately. Besides the fact that the stadium "arches" were NOT as big as the STL Arch, if the real Arch DID cross the Missippi it sure as hell would be bigger than the stadium arches!!!!!!

Combined effort: "Tony Temple has 180 rushing yards which is good for second all time in Cotton bowl history." This had me scratching my head. I said to my dad that with all the Running Backs in Cotton bowl history there had to be a 250 yard rusher. My dad said "I bet number 1 does have 250, and there was just a gap in between." Well, he was right. Later in the game they showed a graphic when Temple held the record. The top 5 had 280, 250 all the way down to number 5 with Ricky Willams rushing for 202 with Texas. Which of course means that Temple was NOT number 2 at 180. I don't like to rip on announcers(i prefer to rip on refs), but this was a joke for the biggest bowl game of my life time.

National Championship is tonight, I think LSU will beat Ohio State. To me these are now legitimately the two best teams. If there was a 4 team playoff this year, Virginia Tech and Oklahoma would have both been killed. (both lost bowl games.)

Good news is I think Mizzou will finish at #3!!!!

EDIT: Looks like Mizzou will only get to #4 in the AP. I forgot that the BCS doesn't give a final standing. Even better, Mizzou is being projected to open at #4 next season.

Merry Christmas, yo.

2007-12-24T08:56:00.000-08:00

Good will towards me. I mean men. Maybe both? Here is the best Christmas video. Merry Christmas everyone!

One week and counting.

2007-12-19T10:05:00.000-08:00

I am getting pumped for Christmas. The food, the presents, the people, sneaking off to watch bowl games: I love it. To get into the mood for a Christmas feast here is a "helping hands" clip from Whose Line. I wish we all could have a dancing turkey with our Christmas dinner.

Welcome to baseball's vacation home.

2007-12-15T07:43:00.001-08:00

One chapter in Cardinals history was closed this weekend as the Cardinals traded one of the "big three." Surprisingly it was Jim Edmonds, not Scott Rolen. (I still feel Rolen will be gone by the start of the season) With Jimmy's declining power and average and a giant salary I can't disagree with the decision. Personally, Jim was on my "possible steroid use" list. But as he wasn't in the Mitchell Report it was a good time to pull the trigger on this deal. I don't think the Cardinals will miss Jimmy: this deal feels like the Ray Lankford deal we also pulled with the Padres. At least he got sent to San Diego. It could have been somewhere like.....Pittsburgh. (our regrets to Matt Morris.)

But Edmonds was a huge part of this team for the past 8 years, and without his leadership I don't think we win the World Series. And for that, we salute you over-the-hill-centerfield-man. My favorite mmemory of Jim was the walk-off homerun against the Astros in the 2004 NLCS. Here is the "I Live For This" commercial Jimmy shot in 2005 including some of his best catches.

Dark, Dank and Dreary.

2007-12-13T09:28:00.001-08:00

Yesterday the weather was gray. I woke up today, AND IT WAS GRAYER! (props to Lewis Black). It feels like the sun went on Christmas break early. And with the Mitchell Report ready to rock the baseball world, it looks like things are just going to get darker.

So I will provide a pick-me-up. This is a live performance from The Polyphonic Spree from a show in Japan. You may have seen them in a Scrubs episode. I always refer to them in my head as "The Hippy Orchestra." I have heard them be called "prozac for my soul." Good stuff. And yes, the lead singer is very weird.

ps I will be very impressed(and slighty embarrassed) if anyone can figure out where I got my post-title from.

All alone in my white-boy pain.

2007-12-10T08:44:00.000-08:00

If you are like me, this is how your sports weekend went.
Saturday night was spent without Mizzou football, which only re-opened the wounds of Oklahoma and the BCS. The Cardinals have only signed a poor hitting shortstop in the off season. The Rams trotted Brock Berlin for his first NFL action as we lost to a under-achieving Bengals team. Even Arsenal lost in England.

I got a little frustration with my sports world, so I felt a de-stresser was needed for my white-boy angst. This is one of Weird Al's polkas where he takes radio songs and makes one giant polka out of it. Totally awesome even if you don't know the songs. Takes me back to 2002.

The BCS are bum-lookers.

2007-12-04T11:18:00.000-08:00

The BCS is set and clearly this season didn't end for Mizzou fans the way we wanted it to. Last week we were headed to the National Championship, this week we are not in a BCS bowl. But everything is not as bad as I first thought they were. I like that the Rose Bowl kept their tradition and picked Illinois out of the Big 10 to play USC in the Rose Bowl. I hope Illinois upsets USC just like they did with Ohio State.

The Orange Bowl has no excuse. If they can't see through Kansas like Mizzou fans did they will get what they deserve. Virginia Tech will kill them, and Mizzou fans will have a good time watching it. I hope KU fans travel as well as they think they do, cause I wouldn't expect their team to show up.(yeah, I said it.) On the other hand, Mizzou v. Arkansas is a good matchup for Mizzou. We play a bowl on New Years day in a game that will feature two Heisman finalists. If we win we finish the season in the top 5. Not so bad in the end.

As for the BCS itself, I am in favor of a playoff. There are 3 options in my mind.
1) 4 Teams. This is my favorite. Keep the current BCS rankings and have the top 4 teams play 2 games to decide the championship. In any given season there are only 3 teams that would have a claim to be in the championship game, and this format gives them a chance. This year would be Ohio State v. Oklahoma, LSU v. Virginia Tech. Pretty good games if you ask me. Also, it would make teams play hard each week, because any loss would most likely push you out of the top 4.

2)8 teams. I don't like this one so much. 8 teams could mean alot of things. 2 or 3 teams in a conference qualifying(SEC and Big 12). Teams who have easy schedule making it (KU). Would teams like Hawaii make it? Would there be a selection commitee? Could a team take it easy in the final weeks because they have "qualified?" Too many questions for me.

3) 11 teams. 11 teams? Yes, one for each conference champion, both major and mid-major. This is the most fair option: it gives absolutely every FBS school a chance at the national championship (much like basketball) Also, each game is still meaningful because most of the time one loss will lose you a conference. The problem is it makes the non-conference schedule less important. But maybe that's good. Maybe teams will play other teams for experience and not just an easy win.

The NCAA will probably go with a "plus 1" format which means they will pick the 2 teams after all the "normal" BCS bowls. It's better than what we have, but until football lets the student-athletes win on the field (like every other sport) there will still be flaws.

Just what I wanted! Another Blog I have to read!

2007-11-29T13:32:00.000-08:00

Ok, in a world where everyone has a blog, I just couldn't be left out anymore. So here I am creating my very own blog. I hope to make this an entertaining blog filling it with TV and music clips to help get you through your day (youtube is my friend!) Also, I will clearly be posting my thoughts on sports since my wife can only take my extrovertedness so much. (I'm pretty sure extrovertedness isn't a word). Please feel free to comment on any posting, your thoughts are just as enjoyable to read as mine.

To get things started, here is a classic clip from Whose Line is it Anyways? (When Drew laughs, it always gets funnier)