Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Why the NBA is King

For my money the NBA is the most exciting sport we have going right now. Don’t get me wrong, I love my football and baseball and follow them both closer than I do the NBA. But it is foolish to think that the NFL or MLB have as much going for them as the NBA does. We only need to look at this years yawn-fest World Series, where the only drama came because the cities the teams play in have great fan bases. The NFL has its problems too. There are a lot of really terrible teams and a few really good ones, with a strange grey area in between. Honestly, how many teams have a realistic chance at winning the Super Bowl? Maybe 5?

The NBA on the other hand is right on the doorstep of being the new golden age of basketball. We have amazing young stars in LeBron, Wade, and Carmello. One of which is going for his second ring. If any combination of those three met in the playoffs this season it would be guaranteed instant classic material. There is a huge population of still great veterans trying to lead their teams to championships. Dirk, Kobe, Pierce, Shaq, Kidd, McGrady, Billups, Iverson, Duncan, Nash, Carter, Amare, and Garnett among others. Then there are the rising stars that aren’t quite household names but are still great to watch: Andre Kirilenko, Chris Bosh, Gilbert Arenas, Ben Gordon, Chris Paul, and Shawn Marion. That’s about 20 legitimate stars playing for about 15 different teams. And that was off the top of my head. I can say this without any reservation: the NBA has the deepest talent pool of any of the three major sports. And it isn’t even that close. Even the “basement” teams have something to cheer for. Your Bobcats have Adam Morrison and Gerald Wallace. The Raptors have Bosh. Orlando has Darko, Jameer Nelson, and the monster that is Dwight Howard. Hell even the Knicks have Channing Frye and dunk champ Nate Robinson. Almost every team has some shimmer of hope, and that is a very good thing.

As slow as the NBA playoffs are (and it’s like glacier slow) no one can argue the best teams don’t come out on top. Keep your upsets for March Madness. I want the best teams playing for the championship at the end of the season. The Heat/Mavs series last season was a good, if not great one. But one thing is for sure: they were the two best teams when all was said and done. The Suns? Maybe. Detroit? You could make a case. But all in all I don’t think anyone was asking the question, “these are really the two best teams in the NBA?” I know I was when watching the Tigers throw away the World Series, the same series that an 83 win team (around .500) ended up winning. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for parity. I like the fact that the New York Jets are 4-4 instead of 1-7. Parity keeps things interesting and gives fans hope. But there is a fine line between parity and dilution.

Although the NBA has expanded quite a bit in the last 25 years or so and a lot of 40-45 win teams have a chance to make it to the playoffs they will be exposed in a seven game series. The NBA, more so than any other sport, rewards consistency in the playoffs. In the NFL you can get hot and string together four wins (not saying it is easy, but it can happen) like the Steelers in 2005 or the Patriots in 1986. A little luck, a few calls going your way, and next thing you know you’re in the Super Bowl. In the NBA you have to win four games. Every round. Upsets almost never happen beyond the first round because so much goes into winning an NBA game.

Back to the main point: talent. Is there any more marketable trio in all of sports (maybe ever) than LeBron, D-Wade, and Melo? They have almost universal appeal, everyone, everywhere loves to watch these guys play. You can’t say that about Jeter, Manning, Ortiz, Brady, or anyone else. I would absolutely pay money to watch LeBron play any team, not just my local Celtics. Would I pay to watch Peyton Manning throw against the Detroit Lions? No way. And don’t even get me started on the playoffs. LeBron vs. Wade in the East finals would be some Bird vs. Dominique or Jordan vs. the Pistons type stuff. Any given moment either guy could go off and drop 50-15-10 or nail some buzzer beater for the clincher. There is nothing like the dramatic face offs in the NBA. Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady is great, no doubt. But they never actually face each other in the game. Wade could stuff LeBron on defense, or LeBron could dunk one in Wades face. Brady isn’t going to pick off Peyton for a touchdown.

By my count there are at least 10 teams that have a chance to win the NBA championship. The usual suspects will be there: Spurs, Suns, Mavs, Heat, Cavs, and Pistons. That’s fine by me. Why wouldn’t I want the best teams competing at the highest level? There still great aren’t they? Even teams like the Bulls, Grizzlies, Pacers, Nets, Lakers, Clippers, and Kings have a chance. The NBA has managed to expand without diluting talent to the point of no return. Almost every single team has enough talent to contend. Can Pirates fans say that? What about Raider fans? And Browns fans? Devil Rays? Royals? I would take being a Knicks fan right now (shudder) over being a Royals fan in a heartbeat. There just not nearly as big a gap between the bottom and the middle in the NBA as there is between the bottom and the middle of baseball and football.

It’s not just LeBron and company. Can Kobe put up 100 points? Can Dirk get any better? How many insane passes will Nash make? Can the Heat repeat? How many balls will Ben Wallace send into the seats in Chicago? Will Ron Artest kill someone? Is Shaq going to hold up? What is up with that new ball everyone is talking about? There is just so much to follow and watch it’s dizzying. The 06-07 NBA season promises to be a great one. Even better than *gasp* football.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Wolf Eyes "Human Animal" review


Freshmen year I sat in on a music appreciation class. The one thing I took away from that class is the definition of music. Put in simplest terms music is tension and release. Taken literally this means that music can be almost anything.

Michigan band Wolf Eyes push the limits of what music is and what it can be. Most often placed in the vague “noise” genre Wolf Eyes uses abrasive white noise and long spans of silence along with screaming, garbled vocals to create an unnerving creepy sound.

“Human Animal” is the bands second major label release off of Sub-Pop, following 2004’s “Burned Mind”. “Human Animal” is a haunting and jarring album that is not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach.

Wolf Eyes take tension and release as far as it will go. The band is at their best during longer tracks, where they can create a massive amount of tension and then explode. Wolf Eyes songs function somewhat like a good horror movie. You are constantly uneasy; never sure of what is around the corner.

It is difficult to break down “Human Animal” on a track-by-track basis. The songs blend together and could be listened to as one giant movement. In fact I would highly recommend only listening to “Human Animal” in its entirety, at least the first few times through. Not only does tension/release exist on individual songs, but on the album itself.

Stand alone tracks do exist though. “The Driller” has a disturbing high pitched whirr to it that befits the title. The song also showcases the best Wolf Eyes vocals, muffled screaming that sounds downright inhuman. The title track “Human Animal” drags you along, featuring heartbeat percussion and layer upon layer of terrible noises that come together to form an ugly piece of art. The closing track, “Noise Not Music” is a furious assault that clocks in at just over two minutes, the final exclamation of release.

No words can describe what Wolf Eyes sounds like. It’s painful, disturbing, ugly, coarse, dark, violent, and intricate. Wolf Eyes is a band, more than any other I have ever heard, that paints a picture with their music. What that picture is may be ugly and strange but it is undeniably there. Dismissing Wolf Eyes as noise is a mistake; they are music in its more pure and stripped down form.

“Human Animal” is a lot like abstract art, it is by no means for everyone and some people “just don’t get it.” But those who do swear by it and are rewarded with something very enjoyable.

Image courtesy of:
http://media.newtimes.com/49519.0.jpg

Thursday, October 26, 2006

The Picks: Week 8

With Halloween looming I have less than 1 hour to do picks this week before I am away from my laptop for the weekend. Since I have been doing a lot of quick picks the past few weeks I decided this week to do the quickest of all. 3 words or less. Here it goes.

Houston Texans (+3) at Tennessee Titans
I heart Houston

Atlanta Falcons (+3-1/2) at Cincinnatti Bengals
Vick runs & throws

San Francisco 49ers (+16) at Chicago Bears
Huge line = cover

New Englad Patriots (-2-1/2) at Minnesota Vikings
Pats are better

Baltimore Ravens at New Orleans Saints (-2-1/2)
Bush, Brees, Horn


Last Week: 4-1
Season: 15-16-4

Sunday, October 22, 2006

The Picks: Week 7

Slept in this week, so quick picks this time around.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Houston Texans (+8)
With no Leftwich, the Jags will still probably win, but not by 8.

New England Patriot (-6-1/2) at Buffalo Bills
The Pats haved owned the Bills the past 3 years+, they can pretty much close the division out this week with a win.

Denver Broncos (-5-1/2) at Cleveland Browns
Too much Denver denfense and just enough offense. Another 13-3 kind of game.

Arizona Cardinals (-3) at Oakland Raiders
This makes no sense whatsoever. Do the handicappers think that the Bears game will have some sort of hangover effect on the Cardinals? Leinart looked great and the defense played well. The Raiders will lose, and by much more than 3.

Green Bay Packers (+6) at Miami Dolphins
Two bad teams, take the bigger points.


Last Week: 0-5
Season: 11-15-4

Friday, October 13, 2006

A letter to Gamestop

As everyone who knows me can attest to I am not a fanboy. I don't pledge my allegiance to any video game company. I own a PS2 and an Xbox. I grew up playing Sega Genesis and Nintendo/Super Nintendo. With the PS3/Xbox 360/Wii on the horizon or already here and me having little money, I had to make a choice. Up until last night I wasn't sure what I was going to do regarding the new consoles. Then I was informed that pre-orders for the Wii were starting this morning, October 13th. My decision was made, I had to go get a pre-order.

I have never waited in line for anything that wasn't movies or food. But after settling on the third Gamestop in Framingham I prepared to wait in line to pre-order a console. Not even buy it, pre-order it. After narrowly getting one of the last three pre-orders I left the Gamestop feeling pretty good. The whole trip only took about an hour and a half so I didn't feel that geeky afterwards. This feeling was short-lived.

Thus this letter was born. What first was a rant turned into a letter of complaint. I decided to send it to Gamestop. Anyone who reads this and pre-ordered a Wii (or PS3, all 5 of you) I encourage you to voice your concern to Gamestop. I doubt anything will change but maybe we can get some answers.




Dear Gamestop Inc.

To me a pre-order is putting money down for something in advance so that you are guaranteed to get one when it comes out. Your company apparently thinks differently. From Gamestop receipt: "As Gamestop cannot control production and shipping issues by the manufacturer, the reservation deposit will only guarantee a spot in line when your reserved product becomes available. The reservation deposit does not guarantee receipt of a system available to purchase at launch." What this basically means is that I put down $50 to what? Guarantee a spot in line? To me this means: "You just woke up early, drove to our store, paid $50 a month before the system comes out so that someone who camps out 48 hours before launch gets it before you." Why did I get a pre-order again?

With most stores getting between 10-25 consoles not a lot of people are going to get them on November 19th. The people who waited in line to pre-order them should be the people who do. I am unsure as to whether or not this is standard procedure when pre-ordering consoles. And by standard procedure I mean screwing the customers who pre-ordered. It is absolutely inane to think that someone who doesn't have a pre-order can get the console before someone who does. Especially when they will be in such short supply initially. I shouldn't have to wait until the next shipment, that's why I paid $50.

Maybe I am overreacting. Maybe I will be able to walk into Gamestop on Sunday and get mine no problem. If so then I apologize. But something tells me that won't be the case. There were 10+ people waiting outside of all 3 Gamestops I went to this morning. I can only imagine what it's going to be like November 17th-19th. Call me crazy but the idea of sleeping outside of a store for 24 hours+ in the freezing cold to get something I pre-ordered a month ago seems a bit unfair. If it turns out that when I go to my local Gamestop on November 19th and leave empty handed, then not only will I never pre-order a console again from your stores, I will boycott Gamestop altogether and encourage all gamers I know to do the same.

Sincerely,
Jason Cook

The Picks: Week 6

Two wins, two pushes, and one lose. I can live with that. Of course the one time I pick the Colts, they choke. The worst part is they didn't even lose the game. Here we go, on to week 6.

Cincinnati Bengals (-5-1/2) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay is terrible against the run, giving up 163 yards per game. Look for Rudi Johnson to have a big game against the aging Bucs defense. Tampa Bay has also had lots of trouble scoring this year, only getting 12 points per game, good for 30th in the league.

Buffalo Bills (-1-1/2) at Detroit Lions
The Lions are amazingly bad and the Bills are better than their record. Detroit does not even try to run the ball, they're 30th in the NFL at 60 yards/game. The Bills D should have a big game against the absent minded Jon Kitna. Especially when they don't have to worry about the run at all.

Seattle Seahawks at St. Louis Rams (-3-1/2)
Without Shaun Alexander the Seahawks are going to have a tough day against a very good Rams defense. Meanwhile the Rams offense is kicking on all cylinders. They rank in the top 10 in both points and yards per game. Rams 27 Hawks 13.

New York Giants at Atlanta Falcons (-3)
Atlanta is taking the "run the ball and stop the run" creed to heart. They are number 1 in rush offense (234.3) and number 2 in rush defense (70.5). I look for them to run all over the Giants defense at home.

Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos (-15)
At this point it should be illegal to pick against the Raiders, it's just too easy. If they score more than 1 point I will be utterly shocked. Plus the Denver D is really really good.


Last Week: 2-1-2
Season: 11-10-4

Friday, October 06, 2006

The Picks: Week 5

I am going home this weekend and I’m too lazy to bring my laptop. I am running low on time so this week’s picks will be quick.

Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles (-2-1/2)
McNabb and co. look great and I am unsure as to why the Cowboys are only getting two and a half.

St. Louis Rams (-3) at Green Bay Packers
How can the Rams, a 3-1 team, be even against the Packers, a 1-3 team? Rams will win by 7+.

Tennessee Titans at Indianapolis Colts (-19)
I think this is the easiest 19 point spread ever.

Pittsburgh Steelers at San Diego Chargers (-3-1/2)
After this week the Steelers can officially pack it in. LT will be too much and the defense will harass a seemingly injured Big Ben.

Cleveland Browns at Carolina Panthers (-8)
They may not be the Super Bowl team that everyone thought they’d be, but the return of Steve Smith is huge and this team should cruise against the Browns.

Last Week: 2-2-1
Season: 9-9-2

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

MLB 2006 Wrap-Up

I am going to do a real quick post-season prediction/regular season awards thing right now. I will get into more detail later (maybe), but I have classes and other dumb stuff so this'll have to wait. Since the playoffs start in about an hour I have to get these down or risk looking like a chump. So without further ado:

NL Cy Young- Brandon Webb, easy choice, top 5 in almost every major category. No other standouts.
NL MVP- Ryan Howard. Carried a terrible team to an almost playoff berth. Mammoth numbers across the board.
NL Rookie- Ryan Zimmerman. Not too tough a choice here, had a ton of clutch hits, 100 RBI's, played amazing defense and looks like a star-to-be. Honorable mention: Prince Fielder.

AL Cy Young- Johan Santana. They may have to re-name it the Johan Santana award if he keeps this up. Blew everyone else away, won the quadruple crown of pitching, only dominant starter in the playoffs.
AL MVP- Justin Morneau. Very tight here, I bought into this guy because he carried the majority of the load on an offense deficient team. Jeter shouldn't win it (leadoff type guys shouldn't win it unless there are insane circumstances), nor should Ortiz (team didn't make the playoffs).
AL Rookie- Justin Verlander. This was first Papelbons' to lose. Then Lirianos'. They both got hurt and Verlander just kept pitching. Along with other candidate Jared Weaver, there are some great looking young arms in the AL.

Padres over Cardinals in 5
Dodgers over Mets in 5
Yankees over Tigers in 4
Twins over A's in 3

Dodgers over Padres in 6
Twins over Yankees in 7

Twins over Dodgers in 6