I Hate Skip Bayless

Everytime theres a big sporting event, a World Series, a NBA Finals or a Superbowl, without some big name (mostly east coast team) someone in the media starts complaining.

"This is boring" they say, no high stakes. You heard it during last years NBA Finals. No Lakers, no New York or Chicago. No Shaq. Boo hoo. It only had the two best teams in the NBA.

During the 97 Series Marlins Manager Jim Leyeland lashed out saying neither team has to apologize for being here.

This Super Bowl has got a team from the midwest versus a team from the northwest. Naturally, Skip Bayless isn't happy.

While Seahawks fans are sleepless in Seattle, media members are sleepy in Detroit. Somehow, the Seahawks and Steelers in Detroit seems like a consolation game. After three sensational weekends of playoffs, this is an anticlimax. Now we're paying the price for all those upsets.

and he actually says that these two teams aren't worthy of the commercials during the game:

How can these teams ever generate enough star power to live up to the telecast's Oscar-worthy commercials?

Bayless then explains that these two teams don't deserve to be here, citing all the 'luck' they had throughout the year:

The Steelers, the first sixth seed to make it to the Super Bowl, barely made the playoffs thanks to a fairly easy closing schedule. They beat Kyle Orton's Bears in a snowstorm in Pittsburgh, then took care of Minnesota, Cleveland and Detroit.

But would they have won their first playoff game, in Cincinnati, if Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer hadn't been hurt on his second play? Doubtful. Would they have finished off the season's most shocking upset, in Indianapolis, if Colts cornerback Nick Harper hadn't weaved back into a sprawling ankle tackle by Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger? No. Would the Steelers have been able to win in Foxborough if the Broncos hadn't upset the Patriots the week before in Denver? Highly doubtful. Would the Steelers have won in Denver if an early poor pass by Roethlisberger had been picked off in the flat by Champ Bailey and returned for a stadium-rocking touchdown? Probably not.

And now the AFC's sixth seed is favored over the NFC's top seed? This feels like a moderately interesting, Week 9 nonconference game.

Would the Seahawks have risen from 2-2 to home-field playoff advantage if Terrell Owens hadn't torn apart the Eagles? If Michael Vick hadn't regressed? If the Giants, Redskins and Cowboys hadn't been forced to do battle twice in the East and the Panthers, Bucs and Falcons hadn't beaten each other up in the South?

Things just kept breaking right for the Seahawks. Without bye weeks, the Redskins and Panthers were banged up before playoff games in Seattle -- where the Seahawks' 12th Man gives them the NFL's loudest and strongest home-field advantage.

Wow. Just wow.

The gall of the Steelers, to win the games they played in the regular season. I mean, those bastards. The Steelers are just lucky, I mean, to win all their games on the road. To beat a 1, 2 and a 3 team? Luck, luck luck. If Big Ben hadn't made that tackle on Nick Harper... lets forget about the horrendous interception replay.

And the only reason the Seahawks are here is because Michael Vick sucks. I mean, who cares that Seattle spanked the Eagles, in Philly on Monday night, 42-0. Or that they beat Atlanta 21-18 early in the year. And the Seahawks are just lucky that other teams play their division opponents twice a year. Those lucky bastards.

Look, you can make these arguments all over the play. Well if that Pats hadn't fumbled vs Denver... or if Jordan missed over Ehlo. Or if the Indians hadn't choked the last week of the year.

Here's all these teams can do, beat the teams infront of them. And thats what these two teams did. They shouldn't have to apologize for not being in bigger markets. Or not having a loud mouth like TO. These are two of the deepest, most balanced teams in football.

I hate Skip Bayless.

The Coco Trade

Some have you (okay, one person) have asked me why I haven't written about the BoSox-Indians trade, and I have a few reasons:

1. I've been busy as all hell. Class, two jobs (one that schedules me whenever the fuck they feel like it), doctor visits and car troubles are part of the reason.

2. I kinda forgot about it. The deal was 'rumored' for so long, when it finally happened, it didn't really get my attention.

But now I'm addressing it.

I didn't like the trade to begin with, and I'm still not completely sold on it. I knew the Tribe was getting an outfielder who to play this season, but I still felt like they were creating a hole, when there were other areas to address (1B and a power hitting OF).

Plus, I wasn't sure if Crisp needed to be traded, some people think he could develop a power stroke, and if thats the case, the Indians blew their wad a year too soon. At the same time, the argument could be made that Crisp was at his peak, it was a weak OF market and the Indians would never see a better deal.

Also, I was kinda worried about Marte, if he really was the real deal. I mean, the kid has been traded twice in the past few months. First he was traded for Edgar Renteria and now hes gone again. I dunno what to think about that.

But my biggest protest about the deal was the perception that it creates. Event though this deal wasn't about money, it looks that way. The Indians trading for prospects again. Dolan afraid to pay for a player. Blah blah blah.

What the Indians need is for Michaels (the OF from the Phillies) to have a good year and not miss a beat. The team played great last year and still didn't draw. If it looks like that the Dolans won't spend money to keep this team together, why would some (fickle) fans think that they would ever put up for a winner (even though the highest Tribe payroll was under Dolan).

So what now? It finally happened, what do I think. Well, I am encourged by the Sports Guy's take on it:

One problem: They overpaid for him. Crisp was worth more to the Red Sox than he was for the Indians, the Indians knew it ... and they squeezed the Sox in the process. Cleveland's GM Mark Shapiro, (not the same Mark Shapiro who once greenlighted "ESPN Hollywood") even said as much, explaining that they knew Crisp has the most value as a centerfielder, but since they already had Grady Sizemore there, Crisp was stuck in left field (diminishing his intrinsic value as a player). But since the Sox desperately needed a centerfielder, and since the organization didn't want to look bad after the whole Theo-leaves-Theo-waffles-Theo-returns soap opera, they wanted to get this trade done so everyone back home would stop complaining, "It's almost February, we don't have a centerfielder or shortstop yet!" So they overpaid for a guy Cleveland didn't really need. Shapiro even said as much, telling reporters this weekend, "It was too much to turn down."

Here's the problem: To obtain Crisp, the Sox gave up a package including young third baseman Andy Marte, who's considered one of the best prospects in the league and someone with Scott Rolen's ceiling. Trading Marte straight-up for Crisp would have been slightly overpaying the Indians -- Crisp has a B-plus/A-minus celing, while Marte has an A/A-plus ceiling. But because the Indians were holding them hostage, the Sox had to sweeten the deal even beyond Marte (it turned out to be a 7-player trade). Everyone in Boston seems to be okay with this. In fact, I was okay with it ... until I read Shapiro's "it was too much to turn down" quote.

So if the Red Sox think the overpaid for Crisp, I'm all good. I also enjoyed this:

I just wonder if, at some point down the line, it's going to sink in that the Great Andy Marte belonged to the Red Sox for seven weeks ... and then they traded him away in a package for Coco Crisp that was so loaded, it resulted in the other GM saying, "It was too much to turn down."

Because that would suck.

Peter King also weighed in as well (in his Non-Football Thoughts of the Week, in another excellent MMQB):

b. Re: the Coco Crisp trade. A year ago, Crisp was Cleveland's fourth outfielder. He had a pretty good year. And now the Red Sox trade third baseman Andy Marte -- one of the top, say, 20 minor league prospects in baseball -- plus a reliever, Guillermo Mota, and $1 million, for Crisp. I think there's a reason Cleveland's Mark Shapiro is a great general manager.

But what really sold me on the deal was this analysis of trade by Let's Go Tribe.

So, if Michaels can pan out in the short term... I'm all about it. And here's hopin that Marte is as good as everyone thinks he is.

Cavs Halfway Point

Everyone is going to make a big deal about how the Cavs have (close to) the same record this year at the halfway point as they did last year.

It means nothing.

First of all, the Cavs are better this year. Just having Marshall and Hughes makes them better. And last season, the Cavs had a really weak schedule to start the year. Really weak, they played the Bobcats and Hornets practically every other night. Not so this year.

Plus, the Cavs are actually buckling down on defense this time around. So I highly doubt that they'll fold like last year.

Also, I heard a Drew Gooden for Andre Miller rumor on the radio today. Let me say this: yes please.

Just signed up

to myspace, I already prefer Facebook, but for that you need a school email, so some people aren't on it.

But so far, at least, I still prefer the Facebook.

Been busy

work is fuckin me over, classes are a bitch, i may need shoudler surgery and theres a ton of shit... but this is the stuff i've been devouring lately.

Wrong Way Ricky Davis

Is traded for Wally-World. Nice deal for both teams, plus they traded shit for crap, The Kandi Man for Mark Blount, whoo whee.

Whats weird, is the Davis signed with the Wolves a few years ago as a restricted free agent, only to have the Cavs match the deal. Now hes finally there.

It's been a good year

So right now I'm home for a funeral, which is tomorrow morning. Earlier today I went to the doctors to check on my shoulder; I'm having an MRI on Tuesday and right now theres a 50% chance I'll need surgery.

Also, when I left for the office today, I found a note on my car apologizing for the giant dent in the side of it. She "slid into my car." Right, with that lack of snow on the ground. "Slid"

Also, I'm pretty sure my bosses are pissed off at me for telling them I'm coming in late tomorrow due to the funeral (and I'm pretty sure they are pissed at me because I had the audacity to complain that they sheduled me both Saturdays and Sundays when I explictly told them I couldn't work both Saturdays and Sundays)

Hooray for 2006!

The Crisp Trade is Off

I guess.

I wasn't too thrilled with the trade to begin with, but it wasn't a terrible deal, especially if Marte (the 3B prospect the Tribe would be getting) worked out. But I felt like they were opening up a hole they didn't need to, but maybe they have more confidence in the farm system than I do.

Also, check out this Tribe blog for all your rumor needs.

Terry Pluto Also Agrees with Me

From his newsletter:

• All the West Coast trip did was prove LeBron James is human. He was pressing, and I also think the big minutes that he has already played this season have made him a little tired, even if he won't admit it.

• When Michael Jordan was 21, he was majoring in geography at North Carolina, where he was a junior averaging 19.6 points for Dean Smith. I've been hearing more and more that LeBron hasn't measured up to Jordan, or Michael would have made that shot that LeBron missed. Too many people compare a 30-year-old Jordan with a 21-year-old James.

• Many fans have trouble thinking of James as 21 because he looks 30, sounds 30 and usually acts 30. He has not gotten enough credit for the way he has handled himself in the public eye.

heh

oh spying

Gilmore and I saw this live

and it was hilarious.

not that this is anywhere near as important as my previous post

but kobe scored 81 points tonight. holy shit.

For the longest time I've only known two people who have commited suicide. As of last night that number grew to 3.

During my first quarter at college, a former pastor of mine hung himself. I loved that man, he was great. He taught my confirmation class at my church and we went on some retreats and stuff. He could always talk to you, and you could challenge him to debates and shit. Debates like "Is God real," and you'd have an intelligent discussion. He's the one who really opened me up to spirituallity and religion. It was a shocked me to learn he hung himself.

The second person I knew was a kid a year older than me. I had some friends who knew him better, I knew him when I was younger, like 2nd grade, but I never really talked him much. But it still is a shock. Just takes the wind out of you. To hear someone you know took their own life. Wow.

Well, today I got a call at work from Sepe. A kid we knew committed suicide. His girlfriend and him broke up, I guess he drank a bottle of wine and sat down on some train tracks and let the train do the work.

He was a freshman my senior year in highschool. He was in our section in band, he played football every Friday with the rest of the Trombones. He also worked at the Hudson Library with us. I helped train him there, and we worked together whenever I was back on breaks during my first couple years of school. Damn. Just a punch in the gut.

------------------

I've thought about suicide. I have, but never seriously. I think everyone has at one point. Bad day. Bad week. Bad month. Shit happens. I get depressed, I do. Again, I think everyone does. I struggle with a my weight a lot, or work or girls and lack the thereof. Or I get to wondering if I'll ever make in the real world. Did I pick a dumb major? Should I do grad school? Could I make it in grad school? Can I handle the work load I sign myself up for?

And sometimes I start to think that the answers to those questions are 'no'. And I wonder what it would be like to just rest and not worry anymore. But ya know what? Everytime I think that thought, everytime, I think about my family. And how much I would hurt them. How sad my parents would be, my brother and sister. How that would hurt my friends. And everytime I think about that, I know I could never do it.

Ever.

But every now and then the thought creeps into my head again. After a bad day or bad week, it happens. I'm sure that happens to everyone. But nothing is worth taking your life. No girl is worth killing yourself for.

And I can't imagine how that girl feels now. Or his parents. I just can't. They must be devastated.

It's weird that he's gone. Everytime I hear that someone has died I always don't believe it. Even if its a celebrity and I read it on CNN, my first thought is that the story is wrong. They'll pull out of it. And today when I heard the voicemail Sepe left me, I thought, "No, he's wrong, he fucked up the story."

It's rough, it's hard to just think he's gone. *Poof* from here on out you can never talk to him again. Just like that.

All I can say is that my thoughts and prayers are with his family. I can't possibly imagine what they're going through.

--------------

From what I've heard, the funeral is sometime on Friday. I'm going to try to make it up to Hudson. I do have to work on Friday, and I'm not sure how they'll like me missing another day, after I missed last weeked because of the shoulder (which still hurts like a bitch, though only when I move it a certain way, and I do my best not to move it that way). But I'm going to do my best to make it up.

Songs that Sound the Same

This came up at work the other day, and I started to think of songs that sound really really alike, and heres what I got so far:

Puddle of Mud - She Fucking Hates Me and REM - Stand

Jet - Are You Gonna be My Girl and Iggy Pop - Lust for Life

Offspring - Why Don't You Get a Job and The Beatles - Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

Anyone got any more?

Oscar Robertson and Rick Barry Agree with Me

From the PD:

James said he has to make the adjustment to become more selfish late in games. Barry, however, said it is not about being selfish.

"It's about being smart," said Barry, who was the only man to lead the NCAA, NBA and old ABA in scoring. "It's about being smart enough to take the open shot and only passing if your man is open for a layup. It's about being smart enough to go to the hole and possibly drawing the foul and working on your free throws. I can help him with that by showing him how to do it underhanded."

Robertson, the only man to average a triple double for an entire NBA season, said the game-winning shots will come. Learning how to play during those crucial seconds takes time.

"It's something you have to learn," Robertson said. "You can't worry about missing a shot or a free throw because it's going to happen.

"The criticism he's receiving comes with being a great player . . . Cleveland has not won in a long time and if [the fans] think one player is going to take them to the promised land, they're mistaken. You need complementary players and a bench. They're not there yet."

LeBron and Not Being Clutch

There's been a lot of talk recently (on the air, online and at the local bars) about how LeBron isn't clutch. He's had a pretty shitty road trip in the clutch department (he has been averaging something like 34-8-8, so this criticism is kinda nit picking). Even the The Sports Guy took a mailbag question and brought up Kobe airballing in the 97 Jazz Series.

He missed a game tying free throw and the game winning shot in LA and he missed another tying free throw in Denver and passed the last shot to Sasha Pavlovic.

And with Melo hitting a few big shots lately and Kobe seemingly doing it nightly, there's a ton of talk of LeBron either having the marbles or the fortitude or whatever in the closing seconds.

So far? Ya, I can see the point. But I've heard people talk about how he'll never be clutch or how some people have it and some people don't. This my friends, is bullshit.

I think the game winning shot is what LeBron missed the most out of skipping college. Overall, LeBrons game is far supierors to Melo, however, Melo went through a NCAA Tournament. Pressure packed games, win or go home, buzzer beaters. The Fuckin Tourney.

LeBron missed this experience. Lord knows what LeBron could've done in college. He obviously didn't need college ball for the most part. But I think missing the pressure of the tourney may have stunted his late game growth a little bit.

----------

I was watching a little documentary on Magic and Bird's 1979 NCAA title game, how it set the stage for their NBA careers. Both Magic and Bird talked about how they were at the top of their games and how that season was a product of their previous college years. They both emphasised that they and their teams had to "learn how to win." Magic especially talked about how Michigan State fell short the season before, and they had to learn how to close out teams.

Both Magic and Bird played on the big stage in college. Jordan hit a game winning shot in college. Melo played on the big stage as well. NCAA Championship games, tournament runs, this helped them.

People forget before the Lakers won, Kobe airballed some huge potential game winning shots versus Utah. He had to learn too (and the learning accelerates with Shaq as your teammate and Phil Jackson as your coach- not that I'm not fans of Z and coach Brown, they just aren't Hall of Famers).

--------

So my point is this. Do I think LeBron needs to step up more in the clutch? Yes. Do I think its a huge deal right now? No. It's a tough time in the year right now, a losing streak on a west coast trip. And lets not forget that the Cavaliers starting two guard and power forward are out. Oh, and neither point guard can shoot. Not the defensive pass first pg (Snow) nor the 'shooter' (Jones). So its a rough patch.

At the same time, LeBron is younger than me. He just turned 21. I'm pretty sure Bird, Magic and Jordan were still in college. The Cavaliers and LeBron are still learning how to win, and it takes time. Think about the playoffs.

The Pistons lost to the Celtics for years before breaking through. Bulls were the same to the Pistons. These things take time. Winning is learned. Closing out games/teams is a learning curve.

The Cavs and LeBron are light years away from where they were 2 years ago. They still have dead weight (Newble, Jones, Snow kinda, Gooden kinda). Fans want LeBron to bring the championship rings yesterday. The Cavs have gone from complete shit, to mediocre to above average in 3 years. Thats pretty good.

So I wouldn't worry about LeBron, though, if he's still missing free throws when hes old enough to rent a car (25) then I might start.

Billy West (Frye) Says Futurama is Back

4 DVD movies. Yes. And. Yes.

(the 2nd to last post)

IQ Test

Found this on Digg, its a bit biased (meaning people who grew up in Britain may have it a little bit easier), so its not exactly inate intelligence. But still, its fun.

19+ is supposed to be a genius, I got 18, well, it might be 17, I couldn't get number 32 to count, but I don't know what else it could be. Also, I got 90% of number 6, but for the life of me couldn't figure out the last part (but looking back, I think I could've gotten it had I had any patience).

Still, pretty neat.

Friday Random 10

I've seen a few other blogs doin this, and I figured, "Hey, that looks neat, I'll copy them"

Bird House in Your Soul - They Might Be Giants (off of Flood)

Rosalita - Bruce Springsteen (off of The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle)

Catch My Disease - Ben Lee (off of Awake is the New Sleep)

Smile - Robert Randolph and the Family Band (off of Unclassified)

Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder (off of Songs in the Key of Life)

In My Life - The Beatles (off of Rubber Soul)

Mudfootball (For Moe Lerner) - Jack Johnson (off of Brushfire Fairytails)

Paul McCartney - SR-71 (off of Now You See Inside)

One Hit Wonderful - Reel Big Fish (off of We're Not Happy 'til You're Happy)

American Music - Violent Femmes (off of Why Do Birds Sing?)

Cavs lose again

This has been on bad road trip.

If there's a bright side, its that they aren't getting blown out. They lost to the Lakers by 1, Blazers by 2 and the Nuggets by 1. I mean, its not good, but its not awful.

There's going to be a lot of talk about LeBron not hitting game winners comin up. "Can LeBron handle the pressure?" "Is LeBron the next Michael?" you'll see.

LeBron will hit his shots, don't worry.

AIM Triton

So I had to restart my computer today (its not something I do regularly)and when AIM came up, and AIM Today window came up, with a little blurb about upgrading to AIM Triton. I checked it out and decided, why not?

Couple things I don't like right off the bat:

1) All the sounds and crap were on default, so I had to go back and redo my preferences. Not a big deal, but still...

2) If I want to get a file from someone, instead of just right-clicking on their screan name in my buddy list, I have to IM them. I dislike this. I'm not sure how it will work for people downloading off of me, (besides them having to IM me). Also, I'm not sure if people on regular AIM can download off of AIM Triton.

3) color change, my when I talk, the letter of my name are green, stead of red.

4) runs a little slow

5) when I right click on a name to view their away message/profile, I have to move the mouse down (instead of left). I know, it sounds lame, but its the little things.

Though there are some things I like, for instance:

Tabbed IMs. this is nice, so I don't have a tonof IM screens all over the place. (Not that I talk on this as much as I used to, but still).

It intergrates address and phone numbers pretty easily. And works with yahoo.com for emails.

AIM Triton may be the next generation of AIM, I dunno. But there are some good ideas in this, and some shitty ones (the having to IM to get a file feature really stinks).

CNET has a review as well

Don't Piss Off Isiah Thomas

or he'll get ya

Wanna be even MORE Jealous of NBA players?

check this out.

$102 per day for food!

It's not just me who feels the Pats gave the game away

Gene Wojciechowski thinks so too.

Whats on my TV

since the shoulder incident:

2 Cavs games. Both losses, and both extremely frustrating. Cavs guards still go under picks, instead of through them. Eddie House hit 12 straight points at one time today, I have no idea how that even happens. And they looked terrible versus a bad Lakers team. They kept giving up offensive rebounds and turned the ball over when they were pressured. Oh, and Damon Jone sucks. Z has really stepped it up with Hughes out. I can't say the same for Donyell Marshall. Luke Jackson had a good game vs the Lakers (11pts and 3/3 from 3pt range) but pretty much stunk tonight vs the Suns.

2 NFL Playoff Games. Now, I hate the Patriots and I almost always want them to lose. However, if they're going to lose, I want them to at least be beaten. First of all, the pass interference call in the endzone was horseshit, it really was. Talk about a game changing call, the ball was 10 yards over thrown and if there was contact it was A) incidnental or B) caused by the reciever. Just a bullshit call. Denver got a 1 yard touchdown run on the next play. But make no mistake, the Pats lost that game, the Broncos didn't win it. The Patriots (and the refs on that one call) handed it to them with 5 turnovers. The fumbles weren't well caused, Brady interception was a dumb throw. I hope the Broncos get spanked by the Colts like they have in the past 2 post seasons.

In the other game, Seattle won a game that shouldn't of been that close. They dodged a bullet
with Alexander's injury.

2 Godfather movies. 1 and 2, I haven't seen 3, but I'll probably get around to it at some point.

War of the Worlds. I liked it, except for the overly happy ending. But I really liked the beginning.

Sin City, the directors cut. Awesome, I've never seen it, that was badass.

40 Year Old Virgin. Funny shit, but I slept through most of it.

Wedding Crashers. Ditto.

The Shield. First episode of season 5. This show is great. FX makes some good shows (Rescue Me, Nip/Tuck). It's a bit violent, but it rings a bit truer than some other cop shows.

Star Wars Episode III. I like the new trilogy. Even 1 and 2. There, I said it.

A lot of Law and Order, SVU and normal. I can't really get into CI.

I also watched the first half of tonights SNL, which was awful, just awful. I just couldn't watch any more.

That's been my life the past few days. Its awesome. Not really.

Shoulder and Stuff

For those who didn't hear: I dislocated my left shoulder last night playing hockey. Since I only have use of one hand AND its hard to type while on drugs, updates will be scarce for the next few days. I'll be watching a lot of movies and reading a lot.

All is well, don't worry too hard.

Cavs lose to the Knicks

and Damon Jones struggles:

With the exception of Damon Jones, the Cavs have played well enough on
defense to stay in the games since Hughes departed. On offense, their once
never-ending river of points has begun to dry up.

.....

It hasn't helped that their shooters have gone cold. Donyell Marshall had
15 points, but was 3-of-11 on 3-pointers. Jones was horrid again, going 1-of-5
on 3s. He's now 6-of-33 on them over his last seven games.
On defense, Jones
was even worse. He was often burned by Jamal Crawford (26 points) again and
again. Meanwhile, Stephon Marbury's 22 points and rookie Channing Frye's 16
showed the Cavs how team offense is supposed to work

Billmon

His blog isn't updated often, but when it is....

Page 2 Creates a Misery Index for NFL Teams

And deservedly, Cleveland is on top.

When the subject of unlucky fans have come up over the years, the Cubs and Red Sox have always been the top two. Oh poor Boston and Chicago fans, their baseball teams haven't won in 80+ years.

Of course, Boston has also had the greatest pro-basketball teams ever. Also some guy named Bird. And those Patriots have won some important games lately.

And Chicago? Damn, they also had their own dynasty in pro-basketball, AND they had the guy regarded as the greatest player of all time, that Jordan character. Oh, and they're home to the NFL regarded as the Greatest of All Time, the 85 Bears.

Cleveland's baseball team hasn't won a World Series since the 40s. Their football team hasn't won since the 60s and their basketball team has never won. And the Sports Guy wonders why Cleveland fans send him angry emails whenever he assumes that LeBron is just going to run off to some other city.

Penn State's Posluszny to return for senior year

Now, I got nothing against Polsuszny, hes a great player, and he got hurt during his bowl game, so it makes sense to come back for another year. But to pick him over AJ Hawk for the Butkus Award is just criminal. Am I a homer? Yes. But am I wrong...

Larry Brown is in Cleveland Tonight

but its only for one game

Wilbon said yesterday on PTI that he thinks the Knicks will make the playoffs... well... I doubt that. However, will Brown make them better in a few years? Yes. Like the Cavs, I expect them to finish the season better than they began it.

Feast of Crows

So I just finished George RR Martin's Feast of Crows, and let me say this: its good.

But... it wasn't done.

Now, Martin himself says as much, he had written so much that he had to break the book off into 2 parts. And he had a choice, tell half the story for all of the characters or tell the whole story half the characters. He chose the latter.

I'll admit, this is a lose-lose situation.

Now, that being said, the book is awesome. It's well written, it's interesting and its nice a long (I need large books or I get through them too fast).

Martin is one of the only writers I know who takes a character you've followed for a few chapters, seen their point of view, and then you have their point of view of death. It is really a different experience. For most stories I've read and movies I've seen, I always know the good guy wins. That some how, someone will make it out, that they'll escape. Maybe not unharmed or without losses, but they escape the hangman's noose. But not Martin.

Another refreshing part of Martin's writing is the vulgarness. Now that may seem crude or childish of me, but hear me out. In most fantasy I (at least what I've read), the swearing is tame (or made up) and the sex is glossed over. Marin's characters are real, they're dirty, they're human.

I'll admit, it took me a little while to get into Feast of Crows; I had forgotten most of characters and was too lazy to start the series over. But I caught up pretty quickly. Characters I hated at first (mostly Jaime) I now like, and characters I've loved to hate (Cersi) I still hate. I love reading about the Starks and I could've used more, however, what was there was awesome.

Finally, this is 'fantasy' series, I guess. There isn't a whole lot of 'action' persay. There's not quests, no mythical beasts and no magic. The series is mostly grounded in realism, there are some fantastic things here or there, but they really aren't that magical or glorified.

Anyways, the book is awesome though it felt half complete, I'll basically this book and the next (Dance of Dragons) as one big book.

Wanna Feel Sick?

Read this (the headline is dumb/outlandish, but the info is sickening)

Murdoch buys MySpace

and apparently all is not well

Cavs Win, but Damon Jones is a Douchebag

the Cavs beat the Bucks, but Jones....

Cavs reserve guard Mike Wilks played a season-high 26 minutes and most of the fourth quarter as coach Mike Brown chose to keep Damon Jones, who is starting in place of Hughes, on the bench for the entire final period.

After Jones missed two 3s early in the third, some aggravated Cavs fans booed the self-described "best shooter in the world," who is a combined 5-for-28 on 3-pointers in his last six games.Jones made his next one, and promptly covered his ears with his hands before running back on defense. A few seconds later, Jones shouted, "Boo that!" and as he checked in following a timeout, he said, "Put that in your newspaper, I don't want no more applause."

He stood by his comments after the game."I'm still the best shooter in the world," he said. "I'm not going to pass up shots. I've never done that in my life. If you are going to boo, boo. Don't be fair weather. I'd rather not be applauded."

Here's the thing, I don't consider booing a guy to be fairweather. When a guy has a bad game, don't boo. When he has a two bad games, don't boo. But when a guy proclaims himself to be the best shooter in the world, and proceeds to a) shoot poorly b) showboat when he makes one and c) not play defense, I believe its okay to boo.

Was Donyell Marshall booed? I don't think so, and he had a crappy last few games. Maybe Damon Jones is cranky that Snow is starting ahead of him, or maybe he misses Miami's weather, now that hes into the deep Cleveland winter; I dunno.

But Jones took the money to sign with Cleveland, then ran his mouth aobut how sweet he was. Maybe he didn't talk to coach Brown and his love of defense, cause Jones doesn't play it. He's been getting minutes, just not starting (Snow plays GREAT defense).

And don't worry Damon, if you keep talkin like that, making shots or not, you may not hear the cheers.

Nice Livingston Colum

I agree with this:

Best Game Ever? - Texas-Southern Cal is at least 1(a) to Ohio State-Miami's 1. The Buckeyes' upset was bigger and featured two tense overtimes. Defense and kicking meant a lot more then than in the Really Big Shootout in the Rose Bowl. USC-Texas, however, had Super Bowl-level hype to live up to. Like LeBron James, the result was even better than forecast

Wanna Feel Sick?

Read this

NFL Stuff

Well, Marcus Vick is goin pro.... I guess his college career really didn't work out like everyone hoped (aka right handed Michael).

Also, sorry Nick (and Skip Bayless) but Bill Parcells is staying in Dallas.

But don't worry, Mornhinweg is staying with the Eagles (as the OC). (I've joked that the Lions should just rehire Marty, that'd be fun, kinda like Gibbs coming back to Washington.)

Futurama Returning? (part II)

yes

Have the 2 hour Sunday night goodness please....

Simpsons
Futurama
Family Guy
American Dad

I need this.

You need this.

Letterman to O'Reilly:

I have the feeling that about 60 percent of what you say is crap

Lions next coach

While Nick said he heard a "Bill Parcells to coach the Lions" from none other than Skip Bayless, a "Jim Haslet to coach the Lions" rumor seems much more like Millen's style.

Savage Stays as Browns GM

John Collins, the guy who would 'share' duties with Savage has left the team.

It looks like Romeo helped save Savage's job.

Good, Savage hasn't even been on the job for a year, I have no idea why this talk even got started. Just when the Browns looked like they were becoming a stable franchise, this shit came out of nowhere.

'New' Beatles Album?

take this with a grain of salt, but I got it off whatsgoeson.com, which is one of the best (if not the) best Beatles news sites.

That being said, if they're lookin to release some Beatle stuff, I have a suggestion or two:

a live album, I'm sure one of the concerts they did was recorded, and I'm pretty sure there's been bootlegs of the Shea Stadium concerts around for awhile, lets release an 'official' cleaned up version.

or a Christmas album, the Beatles recorded Christmas songs/random stuff for their fanclub throughout their years as band, you can get some of it online (I have) why not release those.

Or how about they finally remaster their albums, throw some bonus tracks and liner notes and go at it. The CDs are all from the 80s, the first batches of CDs. With all the sweet editions of stuff out now, why not digitally remaster some of their stuff. Come on SACD Abby Road or Sgt Pepper? Come on.

Buckeyes

Nice game today, I'm not much for bowls, but it is nice to see OSU take it to Notre Dame.

I didn't get too see all of the game due to work, but what I did see impressed the hell out of me. Troy Smith looked great.

I haven't been a big Smith guy, but I agree with Pat Forde, he could pull a Vince Young next year and lead the Buckeyes back to the Fiesta Bowl. Smith has looked great for most of the year, and looked spectacular the last few games. The only game he really looked bad was the Penn State game (I was there, he looked bad).

I will say this, a lot of people are lamenting how if Smith hadn't gotten suspended, the Buckeyes could be playing for the national championship, and that may be so. But Forde takes it a step further, saying that Tressel should've started Smith versus Texas anyways, which I emphatically don't agree with. Zwick started the previous year, then got hurt, at which point Smith came in and ended the year well (albiet versus weaker teams). Then he gets suspened before the bowl game, Zwick comes back and wins the bowl game, soundly. Then Zwick starts the year off by beating Miami (OH), again, soundly.

So OSU readies to play Texas and Zwick won the season opener AND last years bowl game (of which he started the season the starter). How can you not start Zwick? Smith came in and didn't exactly light it up, and when Zwick came back in, he threw a pass to a wide open Hamby who dropped a sure touchdown. So I don't blame Smith or Zwick for the Texas loss. There were a few bounces that didn't go OSUs way, I don't think you can blame the quarterbacks.

Also, for all the 'had Smith started vs Texas, OSU would be in the title game' talk... OSU still lost to Penn State, a game which Smith started and played the entire game. OSU lost that one too, they just got out played.

So, even though it sounds like I'm beating on Smith, I'm not, I just don't want hear any bitching about a year that OSU 'should've' had. They had a great year, and if the NCAA had a playoff, OSU would be one of the most dangerous teams out there, they clicked at the end.

But just wait til next year... think of that offense... yes.

Cds of 2005

I've had some people (okay, one person- Jess) ask about my top albums of 2005, and I'll get to them eventually. No worries.

Just not now.