Chin Music

Everyone knows that Josh Beckett is an animal in the postseason (era of 1.04 in seven career starts). Everyone knows that Manny and Papi are going to carry the load. But if the Sox are going to come home and win this series, it's going to be because of the majesty that is Kevin Youkilis' chin. Look at that big beautiful monstrosity. It's twice the size of any normal mans. An entire nation of fire ants has built their home in the open terrain that protrudes (in that incredibly manly way) from his face.

That thing has powered his bat to such a hot start this postseason that, like Samson, were he to shave, he would surely lose his mighty strength. No other player gets the home crowd as riled up, and when he comes to the plate in the bottom of the first, it's in Yooooouuuuukkkkk we trust.

History Lesson [Wikipedia]
Youk Blogs! [MLB Blogs]

More Shameless Promotion

You'd think that the CAC was paying me by the word. But do you think I would sell out like that? Ok, so I would, but what's foremost on my mind at this point is the ridiculous level at which the 5 on 5 Leagues are playing at. Yes, I'm aware that the Sox are on the brink of elimination, the Cs are getting ready to prove that they're not just the lords of the preseason, and that way too many people are talking about an undefeated season already for the Pats, but those have been pushed back until at least next week.

Well, not entirely; while we're here, since when has winning AT Miami, AT Indy, AT Baltimore and AT the Meadowlands (last game of the season with the division and home field already determined one way or another) been a forgone conclusion. Brady is just 2-4 in Miami, they haven't beaten Indy in their last three tries and have won AT Indy since '03. So everyone do all of us a favor and stop even wondering if the Patriots are going to go undefeated. Talk to me in week 14 if they're 13-0 and the division is wrapped up, then I'll care.

But back to my point. Watching some of the sick talent that has made its way over to our little corner of the basketball universe has brought a single tear to my eye. The best, and some might say only, way for CAC to continue to grow and flourish, is to focus its attentions on the 5 on 5 Leagues. Now with 16 total teams, 2 divisions, and a Women's League in the works, we're headed in the right direction. But there is more work to be done. We need to get out there more, recruit more teams, even better players, and get a loyal, consistant roster of teams.

Look, we all like to poke fun at the Evil Empire that is Basketball City (no you don't get a link, come on now). But they have a lot of advantages over the CAC. They have the flashy corporate sponsorships, the leagues in five different cities, and the expensive gear. But what they don't have is what makes the CAC Leagues so great. They don't have the stats, the write-ups, the characters, and the fantastic "nice guy to asshole ratio", as our own DStein so elequently put it. Where else can you get blogs based on the players, the teams, and our drinking shananigans?

Challenging the Beast won't be easy, but expanding to at least three divisions next season is a step in the right direction. Sure we'll be spacially challenged (not all of us have the facilitis for 6 courts back to back), but Charlestown, both the Boys and Girls Club and high school, have been very accomidating. There are more options in the works to accomidate the lust that grown men have to prove themselves week in and week out. The next, maybe tournaments, grabbing away some of the corporate sponsorships, and bringing this thing city wide. We have the quality players, now we've got to take away the quantity.

Hanging By a Thread [RedSox.com]
Preseason in Swing [Boston.com]
Pats Going Undefeated? [The Bulletin]

Look at that, a link dump AND a coherent thought or two, who would have figured??

Look Who's Unemployed! (Mostly)

That's right, I've been unemployed for the last couple months and STILL didn't post a single blog topic. Talk about not being motivated to do much of anything. Check that, I've done a whole lot while sitting on the couch. Besides enjoying the finest that baseball (Sox), football (who doesn't heart Randy??) and basketball (OK preseason doesn't count) has to offer; I've sent plenty of hate emails, logged endless hours on the web, and kept 3 local liquor stores in business. Where do I get to put that on my resume??

We're going to pick this back up as a part-time gig starting tomorrow, seeing as how my CAC overlords have bestowed additional responsibilities on my head. You should expect more of the same, lots of commentary on the world of sports, some quality links (plenty new ones on your left), and a number of discussions that involve copious amounts of booze and bad decisions. Now as evidenced by my previous forays into this adventure, it probably won't last all that long. But I have nothing else to do and have conceivably watched every single crappy daytime TV show there is, so here we go again!!

Embrace the name change! [CAC Basketball]
Loose Balls over at CAC [More Loose Balls]

Random Ramblings

Full Disclosure: I'm less than sober at this point (1am) so a lot of this may not make sense, but here's what was missed over the past day plus.

- The CRFC Draft really did go down, and here are the preseason rankings (done by yours truly)

- Speaking of CRFC, I love how TiCal can find the time to get the writeups done before I'm done drinking at the 9s. Excellent work TiCal, but I could use some of those brownies next time, or at least a shout out to let me know you've been using your mom's kitchen.

- I know the Yanks are back in 2nd place, and recently signed some dude, but they're already 6 games back. But in case you haven't noticed, the Sox closing schedule isn't exactly brutal.

- Speaking of the Sox, that Beckett guy finally seems to be pulling his weight.

- I don't know how much longer I can go (I may have just licked the remnants of a delicious brownie sundae off the bowl), but as discussed at length tonight, we're only two weeks away from DL Day (Draft Lottery Day) for the C's. Finally, I've found the offical vitals of one Kevin Durant and he's listed as 6'9", not 6'11" as was reported elsewhere. Now that seems like a huge deal when comparing him to a 'legit' post up scorer like Greg Oden. But is Oden the best option for the C's (or anyone)? TrueHoop takes a slightly closer look.

And that's it for me tonight (this morning). Expect a little Dice K analysis while I twidle my thumbs at work pretending to not care about the much anticipated B1 East team/schedule release. You know you're excited.



Seriously, you can get all your bball needs met here [CRFC Basketball]
David Wells is the voice of reason? [Deadspin]
Sox End on Easy Street [MLB.com]
Trading Up [Brothers Judd Blog]
The Vitals [TexasSports.com]
Is Oden a lock for #1? [TrueHoop]

CRFC Mock Draft Rd 2

Update: The 2nd Round has been updated, that should have been Phi Slamma not The Big Ticket. Also, the amount of trade talk going around the email chains is ridiculous for a pre-draft day. What will come of it? More than likely, just me getting all my mock drafts wrong

With the first round pretty much screwed by the additions of Tmac, Statey Steve and the Born Gamer, we’re rehashing the first round real quick. Let’s face it, Trevor is an MVP, you can’t teach size (he’s Tall) and Sar is one of the best playoff performs in the entire gym.

Serge – DGall
Mike D – Statey Steve
Rattling AK – Hitman
The Young Republican – Reihl Deihl
Cheese – TMac
RoY – KO
TiCal – The Big Ticket
Tibbs – I am now 95% sure I’m trading down. But for argument’s sake, let’s say I take E Fizzle at this spot

So now that’s settled, let’s take a look at what round 2 has in store. Same order, no snaking until round 3 (which won’t be mocked!) I love the fact that there are enough nicknames to go around...

# 9 Serge – The Born Gamer – How’s he fall to the second round?!? If I trade down, he will, otherwise I’ll be grabbing him @ # 8

# 10 Mike D – Phi Slamma Jamma – Who needs guards with Mike D on the squad?? This presents huge front court matchup problems for everyone in the league. Plus there are plenty of quality guards available in the next 2 rounds. It would be a bold stroke to try and pull off.

# 11 Rattling AK – The Preacher – Tell me, who doesn’t love a 22 and 13 guy?? Attendance was an issue last season, but supposedly the injury is healed, and the Preacher is ready to come back to the court. With these two on the same squad, this will be the loudest team in the league.

# 12 The Young Republican – Salazar – Another guy that drops way to far based on the addition of a couple guys. Paired with the Reihl Deihl, he’s going to get a ton of open looks!

# 13 Cheese – The Alias – Rumor has it that Cheese is looking to move around the draft board to make a run at the Brick this season. So more than likely this spot will be up for grabs. If he stays here, expect a solid big to be taken off the board.

# 14 RoY – Bergman – He needs some size at this spot. The back court is set until the end of the draft. Dude’s new to the league, so it may be a reach, but being 6’3” always bumps your draft stock.

# 15 TiCal – Brady – There are a number of directions for TiCal to go in on this one, but I expect him to draft a little size. Not that I’m calling him short or anything. But you know, as much of a stud as he is, he may want to add some muscle on the inside.

# 16 Tibbs – Slim Shady – I regretted not taking him last season, and I’ll be sure not to make that same mistake again. He’s a very divisive player, especially in pickup, but I personally love playing with Slim. Sure you get the occasional bad shot, but when he’s hitting over 60% from downtown you’re glad he’s on your side and not the other.

Whew....

"I'd just like to take this moment to remind everyone what a greedy ass I am. I fully intend to take the next month to get into 'game shape.' Then, I'll command $4 million a month to struggle against deeper, harder hitting AL lineups. Only the Yanks would be incredibly desperate enough to offer me twice the amount of money as anyone else."


Mock Draft still below, Round 2 coming

CRFC Mock Draft

With the A1 season officially upon us once again (with absolutely no down time) what better way to preview the season than to prep a mock draft to get ready for the real thing tonight. Sure I could have posted this on the message boards, but not everyone has access to those. So deal with it, I needed an entry for today. And yes, I'm aware that this is a mock draft for a rec league, I'm not f'in crazy, yet. Feel free to leave comments below to let me know how much I suck (or how much it's going to suck being stuck with Serge).

#1 Serge - DGall - As soon as the General gets it in his head that someone wants to play on his squad, he will draft/sign them up for his teams until they forcefully quit. Serge's targets have been sent on DGall for the past couple seasons, and it looks like he's going to get another run in with Serge. Let's see if Serge can draft him a team that will win more than a few games this season (doubtful!)

#2 Mike D - KO - This season brings us a couple of new captains, and none more famous than Mike D himself. It's going to be great to be drafted by this guy, as he'll always be sure to pick up the tab from the 9s afterward. What? You win to know if he'll draft a decent team? I have no idea that he knows anyone but KO and JaySar, so I doubt it.

#3 Rattling AK - The Hitman - This one is actually a toss up between the Hitman and the Reihl Deihl. He could go either way, but since he's already sent out the feeler emails to give Jrod the heads up, I think he's going in this direction. Other than the fact that he's decided to name his team Sofa King (What! Huh!?) I've got nothing funny to say. But the headlines are going to be priceless. The Hitman, Sofa King, good as he leads his team to victory

#4 The Young Republican - The Reihl Deihl - With GP out of the league for a season (baby) expect tYR to bring in his old Little Nasty teammate to the fold. It's been a few seasons for tYR without GP, so it make take him a little time to adjust to the idea of a season without him. But in Deihl, he's got a guy that can do it all if he feels like showing up this season. Sure he's had valid excuses last season, but really, who cares? Where are your priorities man!?

#5 Cheese - The Big Ticket - This is the first pick I'm not fairly certain of, and as a result it could screw up the rest of my draft board. But I think that his spot with the rest of the guys in the draft, that the former MVP is a great pick. Cheese always seems to draft character guys that play team ball, and it doesn't get any better than the Big Ticket at this spot.


#6 RoY - E Fizzle - You were thinking that the smallest guy in the draft was going to go big? Well think again. RoY is our other new captain this season, and it looks like he's going to learn the hard way that size does matter, even on the small court. But you can't really blame him for this decision too much (unless you're EF himself) as these two will make the most dynamic backcourt in the league. Told of his impending draft status at #6, E Fizzle only had this response.

#7 TiCal - Salazar - Those coaches really like to stick together, so unless Tical has a ringer hiding in the wings that I don't know about (likely) he'll would do well to escape the first round with such a steal. O'Cal is another guard that has to choose between going big in the first round or getting the best player available. Thankfully for him and RoY there are a number of high quality bigs that will still be available when they pick in the second round. Salazar may be another guy with attendance problems in the past, but if TiCal can motivate him to show up on a weekly basis he's got the foundation of a winner.

#8 Tibbs - ? - Like I was going to announce my pick. Yours truly has a couple things up his sleeve, most notably a potential trade that would get me the hell out of the first round. Do I go size or guard? I think it will be safer if I trade down and let a couple other guys go off the board to make my life a whole lot easier. Note to Danny Ainge: If the C's somehow fall out of the top two picks this season, feel free to shoot me an email and I can further explain the benefits of this strategy.

Ed Note: JaySar and Statey Steve had to go and sign up last minute. Thanks for f'in up my first round fellas!

The Agony of Defeat

Well, I had a few other things planned for today, which we'll get to over the weekend, but last night's A2 Championship has left me in a funk. Obviously we lost. It's amazing I'm even composing a coherent post (we'll see about that). Now I'm not one to assign blame, but man I was awful. A number of missed bunnies, as usual in the postseason, never let us increase a lead to above three. Anyway, I'm not hear to praise the game, but bury it. Wait that's backwards.

I'm as competitive as the next guy who just happens to be at the gym 4 nights a week, which is quite a bit. I'm only getting a run in because I love to play and to make sure I do more than sit in front of a screen 24/7. Obviously I'm not getting paid to brick my layups, and my livelihood doesn't rest on whether or not I'm any good. Yet even still, a loss stays with me for a few days after it occurs. It's not like I put black curtains up and listen to Evanescence, but it's there in the back of my mind, mocking me. My point, after that rambling is really simple. How professional athletes, especially ones that have to bounce back the next day to play, seem to recover from a loss so quick makes me envious. That doesn't mean they feel good about it, but playing the night after a big loss, or even two nights later, there's still that tingle in the back of your brain. Maybe I just need a shot of vodka...hey I didn't promise this would be THAT coherent. We'll be back to our regularly scheduled website tomorrow morning.

Because the season is only 4 months away, and it's really warm in here...

CRFC Basketball Update

The gym has a new name (CAC, I wish I were making that up) but the basketball league will retain the CRFC monkier. Huh!? Makes no sense to me either. In the past 4 months you've missed some quality blog posts from the Wolverine and O'Cal. But not me, I did as much on that site as I did over here, just ask the players bitching for their writeups and awards.

But, it case you weren't aware, sign-ups for the next season end next week! So get on that, A1 draft is Monday! Each of the past 3 seasons the number of teams partcipating has gone up, so make sure to get a spot!

Somehow, the 5 on 5 has already kicked off, and the only thing I thought last night was, thank god I don't have to do writeups in a league I'm playing in. It's been about a year. It's O'Cal and Kneeland's turn to bash me.

Get all your rec league needs fulfilled [CRFC Basketball]

Top 5 Reasons to Watch the 2007 Red Sox

5. To see if Dougie's Going Deep Tonight!

4. The Offense. It's still all or nothing at this point, but Papi, Manny, and maybe even JD, are the Balls

3. Francona, he's going to have a heart attack every fifth day until Lester debuts.

2. Because my Papel-boner is HUGE!

1. And lastly, because they're under appreciated!

No wait!

With the best record in baseball, and in NY against the Yankees, they were bumped from the headlines, FOR AN ENTIRE DAY, thanks to this guy...

Where are your priorities New England!?

Get Them While they're smokin' [Dougie's Going Deep]
How Many More Rehab Starts? [Boston.com]
Sluggers Open things up for DiceK [Bostonist]
Will the Real Randy Please stand up? [AOL FanHouse]

So I Look Like Dirk...

(And so do my playoff performances)

Ok, I get it! Really I do! The whole, blond head, long goatee chin music, and the fact that he's almost as white as I am, make for an interesting and funny conversation topic about how much I look like Dirk Nowitzki. You know what, maybe it's funny to you, but really, I hear it about, I don't know once a week. Guess what, I'm not German, I'm not 7 feet tall, and I'm not making millions in the NBA!

But then I stepped back a second and thought, maybe it's more than just physical appearance that everyone is talking about. Maybe it's not the compliment that it appears to be on the surface. For those of you that know me, I tend to have a, uh, performance problem, in the playoffs over at CRFC Basketball. There have been many notable flame-outs, all well documented in CRFC Lore (but thankfully hidden in cyberspace). But the numbers speak for themselves. A 33% dip in scoring (18.5 compared to 12.5) and a 20% dip in rebounds (9.5 to 7.5) are just the tip of the iceberg. Even blocks fall by 33% when post season play starts (3 to 2). Is it the pressure, the raucous CRFC atmosphere, the second ref? What?

When looking at Dirk's numbers, his numbers hold up when compared to the regular season. They don't decrease at all. In fact, shooting percentage is the only category that takes a noticeable dip when he hits the NBA's second season. But if you've been observing the past 2 post seasons, even mildly, you've noticed something is off when it comes down to crunch time and Dirk. It's not that he necessarily shy away from the big moments, but he hasn't embraced it as his past two star opponents have. Both Dwayne Wade and Baron Davis have feed off the spotlight and pressure that the post season brings against Dirk and the Mavs. After falling into a 0-2 hole, Miami swept the finals away as Dirk could do nothing to get his team going. The Baron has his Warriors up 3 games to 1 and a chance to wrap up the series at home if they Dallas finds a way to respond in Game 5. What makes this season particularly embarrassing is that the best team in the league is about to go down to a barely qualified for the playoffs, barely .500 Golden State team. Dirk doesn't shoulder sole responsibility for the Mav's collapse, but the MVP of the league is supposed to make the players around him better, especially in the biggest games. But hey, the voting is already in for the regular season, so give him the award. Just don't count on him to come through when the pressure is the highest in the playoffs. Maybe people aren't really only talking about facial features when they say, "you know who you remind me of? Dirk Nowitzki" Maybe my similarities with Dirk are more than just skin deep. And I'm ok with that, because the one thing we absolutely share in common? Our impeccable taste in drinking buddies. Now if I only made the millions....

Aaaaaaannnnddddd We're Back!

After nearly 4 months off (4 months!!! Holy Shit I'm lazy!) what else could bring me out of the woodwork, but the Pats Day 2 Draft trade for Randy Moss. Now, I thought to myself, this has got to be a good thing for Tom Brady and his boys right?? I mean, the only time Tom could go deep last season was when he was with Bridget and Giselle. This is guaranteed to allow the Pats to spread 'em five wide and let Brady pick apart defenses better than ever right? Won't his open up a ton of running room for the still green Maroney? But what about chemistry and team-first attitude?? Let's take a step back and look at this as a rational, Dan Shaughnessey-esque sports fan.

Randy Moss may be great for the offense on paper, but isn't this the same dude that said he'll play only when he wants to play. Wait, he also happens to be the same dude that still tokes up "once every blue moon." I also heard he's been arrested a couple times, something with his car right? Somebody should have told Bellicheck that he takes the occasional play off when he's not the primary receiver. Isn't he supposed to be some giant locker room cancer, a la TO before he started doing crunches in his driveway?? Man, the Pats are really starting to cut corners when it comes to adding hard working, team first players. Didn't they just draft some brawler in the first round on Saturday?? What's going on in the front office?

These were all the questions that flashed through my brain, for about half a second before I remembered that I'm a true Pats fan, and this was my reaction to the news. Arizona here we come!


Tom Brady's Sperm is Clutch [Deadspin]

The Turnover Battle

No, I'm not talking about the differential for the 8 remaining NFL playoff teams looking to head to Miami. I'm not talking about the young C's infatuation with coughing the ball up a good 22 times a game either. Nor am I talking about the key to tonight's BCS Championship Game. What I'm talking about is much more important, and pressing. Of course, this has to do with the League over at CRFC. But before I forget, there is only one week left to sign up for the A1 draft, or to put your own team into the League. Seriously, what's better than being able to jest with an official while playing 4 on 4 on a much smaller court? I know I'm in pretty bad shape and can get up and down it. Then afterward, you can immediately retreat to the balcony to check one's stats for the game. Seriously, who doesn't love stats? Ah that reminds me, we've come to the main topic at last.
Two seasons ago, at the CRFC Staff meeting, I had a few suggestions. Now it was my first time at the meeting, seeing as I had just completed my first season as CRFC whipping, I mean, stat boy, I was a tad nervous. Nevertheless, I made my suggestions, a whole laundry list worth, and some were actually accepted. One that I was a huge fan of, and didn't think would get pushed through, was the keeping of the dreaded turnover stat. It caused a few to grumble, because it is, after all, a negative stat. But it was eventually passed by the Board of Directors and turnovers would be added to the stat line for the next season. I considered this a major victory and felt like I had done my part to increase the appeal and legitimacy of CRFC's claim to fame...great stats! It's merits included refining the Player Rater that the Prof had created a number of seasons prior. That's right, a 4 on 4 league in Boston can evaluate it's players based on it's very own Player Rater. Turnovers were the key, I thought to making the Player Rater even better. Their purpose was to differentiate between seemingly identical players, which just happened to be very useful for the upcoming A1 draft. The easiest way to do that was to keep track of the number of times players turned the ball over, so it was added in. For the first couple weeks there were the expected grumblings heard and long stares earned from some of the players and of course the, "why you keeping that stat?" questions. Seriously, if guys who play rec ball, and who are absolutely obsessive about their stats in the first place, can't handle seeing how many times they bounce a pass into the wall, then maybe they shouldn't be quite so obsessive about their numbers. But I digress...
After the first season, I actually had guys coming up to me after the game with something along the lines of "so how many did I cost us tonight," or "we really forced a lot of turnovers tonight didn't we?" The best reactions were when guys would come up at the end of the season with, "did you see that, I really cut down on my turnovers this season." And they could point to the numbers to back it up. Then Thursday, the tables were turned and turnovers were nearly unanimously blacked off of the stat sheet. To be wiped from the website, never to return. Needless to say, I nearly choked on my perfectly-cooked medium rare New York Strip (from Abe & Louie's) when I heard the motion for turnovers to be banished from this point forward. Stats, including turnovers, aren't just for the nerdy, number obsessed, minority, but for the general public! Hell even the ladies love the stats!! To be able to get a complete picture of a player's game, means that you need to include some of the negative as well as the positive. It's not like I'm keeping shooting percentages here. (Although with free throw percents already tracked and optional 3pt shooting percentage kept by yours truly for the playoffs, we're moving in that direction.) Regardless, I will soldier on and continue to keep turnover, and all stats regardless, for what purpose, other than the princple of the matter, I'm not really sure, but it's what I've got to do. No if ands or buts....As a reward for making it this far, or even simply scrolling down the page...

Loose Balls Vol. 1.4

Random assorted sports highlights from the past couple of weeks that you've probably seen already, but all are good enough to view again and again. All, of course, courtesy of YouTube. The internet is so big, and there are so many people posting various copywrite infringing clips, that Google will, hopefully, never have the time to police them all.

Everyone loves a good Tea-bagging
Just like they drew it up in the driveway
Who doesn't love a top 10 list?
It really doesn't get any better than Agent Zero

Lastly, for today, I leave you with a website that I've loved all the more as the NFL season has progressed. "Drew Bledsoe", benched for the second time in his career in favor of a younger, more mobile and more poised version of himself, has been keeping a running blog all season. "He" wraps up his season, and blog; which is fittingly called TonyHomo, here. But if you haven't been following along it's worth reading the archives, some hilarious stuff. If only blogging had been this popular back in '01 we could have had a BradyBlows.com.

Holiday Hangover Cured

And we're back! It's been a long and not so productive break away from the blog, but we're back and as commited as ever to try and continue to lower the bar in the blogging world. After a couple weeks of holiday cheer, family, celebrating and hangovers, it's good to be getting back to the monotonous grind of living life in the Cube.

Nothing, of course, cures a good hangover like a weekend full of football. The debacle in Seattle aside, the first round of the playoffs were relatively tame. No seeded upsets, only the late afernoon game on Sunday featured a dog covering, but at least there was football to help get me through. And just in case anyone had forgotten, these two are pretty good at the whole playoff thing in the NFL. Sure the game was a rout in the end, but it's the little things that win championships. So now bring on the Chargers! Only the best, most consistant team in the regular season. One of the best offenses and defenses in the entire NFL, and it will be no small feat to beat them in their home stadium. Just to up the ante on the level of difficulty scale, the Chargers happened to go undefeated at home this season. But this is the playoffs where the Brady and Belichick are always at their best. Also, has anyone mentioned that Marty Schottenheimer happens to coach the Chargers? The man with the sparkling 5 - 12 playoff record, including 2 loses with a #1 seed, has built quite a legacy based on playoff failure. But this is a new team, with an MVP no less, playing at home against the best playoff QB/Coach, this century. The Chargers can make quite a statement in turning away the Pats on their way to Miami, but can Philip Rivers handle playoff pressure? Hell, even if he can will it matter? The Pats game plan won't be built around stopping Rivers, or Gates, or any of SD's WRs. Expect Belichick to recall much of what he did in 2001 against Marshall Faulk as a basis of containing LT. Nobody the past 10 weeks has been able to stop him, but if you hit him on every play, regardless of whether or not he touches the ball, he's going to be worn out, he is still human after all. If you can 'hold' him to about 100 - 115 all purpose yards on 30 touches, you're going to have a good chance of winning the game. But how to do that? Keep him between the tackles, don't give him any cutback lanes, and for the love of God, wrap him up!! You're not going to bring him down with an arm tackle, he's too strong, too fast, just too damn good. After rooting for him all season as he carried my fantasy team through good times and bad, I won't ever want a pulled hamstring more than I will during the Chargers first series on Sunday. Back tomorrow morning with some links.

Pats one step closer to Miami[ABC News]
Nailing the coffin closed [SI]
Chargers end Pats home winning streak [boston.com]
MartyBall doesn't translate to the playoffs [MSNBC.com]

Loose Balls Vol. 1.3

Ever have one of these absolutely ridiculous days at work? Well today is one of those days. And as long as my co-workers think I'm as productive as this guy, then I'm all set. But instead of actually doing any work, I've been cruising online for, uh, useful and productive alternatives to work. Of course, having not really found any I can do while sitting in my cube, I've simply been tossing paper all day long. No need to thank me, I'm just a guy, doing his job, making sure you're not.

Kingdom Comes, Goes Nowhere

As an avid fan of Jigga Man, I must say I'm a little embarrassed that I just picked up a copy of his latest CD. Ok, I admit, I got a copy burnt from someone else who made a donation to Jay-Z's grandkids, but that's besides the point. Seeing as I had actually purchased every other album within a week of it's release date, my behavior struck even myself as odd. After waiting two years for an encore to the Black Album, I had been anticipating this since the CEO announced his retirement. That's right, I thought the Black Album was one of Jay's better works.

For those of you that don't know, I hold the Black Album on the same level as Reasonable Doubt and just a notch above The Blueprint. I realize my views aren't widely accepted, and it's true that the Black Album was a commercial disappointment when compared to the other two, but it's just as good an album. You've got to go with me on this. From front to back, the Black Album was the best, most consistent album, including beats and lyrics, that Jay-Z had put out. He did a little bit of everything and nothing exactly the same. But this isn't about the Black Album. Naturally, I was ecstatic to hear another was in the works. A Jay-Z comeback was just as inevitable as MJ giving it a go with the Wizards. Unfortunately, as the release date grew nearer, I became more and more apprehensive. Maybe it was because the only single I heard that had been released, Show Me What You Got, absolutely blows. Not a good sign of things to come. Don't even get me started about the video. Backed by NASCAR drivers, really Jay?? So right off the bat I absolutely hated the first single and suddenly I pretended like the album wasn't even going to drop. Finally, however, I gave in earlier in the week and asked a co-worker to burn me a copy.

After the first listen, I was underwhelmed and more than a bit dissapointed. Realizing that it takes me 3 full hearings before being able to get a grasp on any given piece of music, I gave it another shot. Same results. Snoop is the master at the laidback, too stoned to move beats and has the voice to rap over it. Jay-Z, not so much. Despite what he claims 'Young H.O." couldn't put it together in this one. No matter who is producing a given track, it sounds eerily like the previous one, and similar to the beats that follow. To top it all off, he raps about absolutely nothing. Well not nothing, but the exact same shit he rapped about the past in the Gift and the Curse. Now I'd expect that from Chingy or Bow Wow et al. but not the self-proclaimed savior of hip-hop. The bar was simply set to high by the Black Album. He went out with a bang, his best lyrics, best live performances, there was no where else to go but down.

It seems that there is one positive from this whole album, you know besides Jay-Z getting richer. The one and only redeeming track, Minority Report, actually talks about Katrina and how little was really done. You can tell this was a track he actually gave a shit about. Now one track doesn't make up for the rest of the album, but at least there is one positive out of all of this. Of course, it's unlikely that the particular song will ever see play on the airwaves, so all anyone will hear are the played out beats and droning on about how rich, famous, etc Young Hova still is. One bad album won't ruin his illustrious career, but this latest entry hasn't advanced it beyond where it was pre-retirement. Like MJ coming back for the Wiz, maybe he should have just stayed away.

CRFC Sign Ups

With the playoffs winding down, especially for myself and this week being Championship Week, it's that time of the year again. Time to sign up for next season! I swear the Commish doesn't pay by commission, in fact, he doesn't pay if he doesn't want to. But sign up for the Leagues anyway, they're a great run and you'll be surprised at how much beer you'll drink while at a gym.


Sex Panthers Scent Wears Thin [CRFC Basketball]
SIGN UP NOW! [CRFC Basketball]
He's one Bad Motha...[ The Confessional]

Fallout from MSG

If you haven't seen the video of the Knicks-Nuggets fight then you're just not paying attention. I think the reactions of this are a bit overblown. The NHL allows players to duke it out, it's "part of the game". For Major League Baseball, fans love it when players go at it. And even in the NFL, where there aren't many post whistle altercations, players spend the afternoon running and slamming their bodies into each other as fast and hard as they can. In the NBA, you're going to get the occasionally overheated confrontation and it may turn ugly. Of course, any time Isiah is involved, all bets are off and even his own city is roasting him for this one. Obviously, when the suspensions get handed out today, Melo, the NBA's leading scorer will be facing plenty of time on the bench, not returning until sometime in January. So will Nate Robinson and everyone else that was tossed, but the media outcry seems a bit extreme. I know the NBA isn't supposed to condone fighting, but if they can shrug off bench clearing brawls and bloody, toothless smiles, why is it necessary to make such a big deal about a few weakly thrown right hooks?

Here we go again [YouTube]
Picking a fight [Slam Sports]
Little Man picks a fight [New York Daily News]

Loose Balls Vol. 1.2

Ok, so I realize it's been a couple days since the last post, and really I have no excuses. I do, and it's called alcohol. Although not recently, in the past it has led to nights such as these. Yea, I know, drinking isn't always the smartest thing for me to be doing, especially on a weekday, but it's almost the holidays!!

At CRFC, it's offically the playoff season! I love upsets, and nothing spells upset like a #1 seed losing. And always, the Wolverine Trap continues to entertain and only speak the truth.

To come this weekend, after recovering from Jrod's Holiday Party:

State of the Patriots
Jay-Z, Kingdom Crumbles?
Adventures in Cubeland

Who gets thrown in a trunk?? [YouTube]
The Sergeon General should adapt these [Dave's Daily]
This better hold through until March [WUnderground]
Undefeated no more [CRFC Basketball]
12 Days of CRFC [Wolverine Trap]