Weekly News: 3/22/07

I figure if I come up with something I can post once a week, that will get a lot more regularity into my writing, as posts have been sparse. So here's a few news stories for the week or so in music, video games and sports all in one, enjoy. Oh and if anyone can come up with a better name for this, leave it in the comments.

Papelbon to return to Red Sox closer role
via ESPN

According to the article, with Julian Tavarez and Joel Pineiro struggling in the de facto closer role, Papelbon is expected to return to his dominant closing role. This is a huge mistake. You could go to war with Schilling, Dice-K, Beckett and Papelbon as your starters. I have always been of the school that it is much harder to get to the 9th inning than it is to finish it. Why can't they go closer by committee with Tavarez/Pineiro/Donnelly/ Hansen/Delcarmen until one of them steps up? If Papelbon can't handle starting (I think he can) then I guess I can understand moving him back. But the Red Sox rotation is top 5 in all of baseball with Papelbon in it. Without him who knows. And who's to say his is going to be nearly as good a closer as he was last season?

Matt Schaub, Falcons backup QB, signs deal with Texans
via ESPN

Matt Schaub is the best back up in the NFL. He torched the Patriots for 400+ yards and a couple of touchdowns two years ago. He could have started for at least 10 NFL teams last season. The Texans gave up a lot (swapping first round picks this season with the Falcons and second picks over the next two seasons) for Schaub but it should prove to be worth it. David Carr, God bless him, is not the right QB for this team. He will be a good quarterback somewhere else, maybe Oakland or Cleveland, but after five seasons he hasn't lived up to his first-overall-pick status.

Wii's "Cooking Mama: Cook Off" another average game for Wii owners
via Kotaku

One of the best things about the amazing site, Kotaku.com, is their Frankenreview section. Instead of writing their own reviews, they compile scores and paragraphs from prominent gaming sites to give the reader a nice cross-section of opinions. I had been looking forward to Cooking Mama for the Wii since I watched some videos, as it looked pretty fun and unique. From these reviews, I think I will save my $50 for Super Paper Mario.

Top 30 Guitar Hero 3 song suggestions
via Idolator

I have been watching so many custom GH2 song hacks on YouTube I am happy to see something actually constructive about the inevitable GH3. The list has some dubious inclusions (#'s 28, 19, and 24) but is overall pretty good. I love the Sleater Kinney reference and of course the more Megadeth in my life, the better. Slayer's "Raining Blood" and Dragonforce's "Through the Fire and the Flames" (of hacked version fame) have to be in the next game. I will lead riots if they're not. And Harmonix/Red Octane, please if you're going to put a Guns and Roses song in GH3, make it "November Rain". That way I can finally play the solo outside of a church in the desert.

2007: Already pretty awesome year for music
via Pitchfork

Love 'em or hate 'em, Pitchfork is the most important site in Indie music. With Panda Bear's (of Animal Collective) solo album and LCD Soundsystem's new record getting 9+ scores from the oft-pretentious site, 2007 has had quite a few critically acclaimed indie releases thus far. The stat geeks over at Metacritic.com have a best of '07 list that contains a ton of indie all-stars. The likes of Arcade Fire, Patrick Wolf, Of Montreal, The Shins and Deerhoof are all there, all scoring at least a 79 or better.

Arcade Fire's Neon Bible debuts at #2 on Billboard charts
via Billboard

The Arcade Fire's long-awaited new album, Neon Bible, debuted at #2 on the Billboard charts last week. It has since dropped to 18th, but remains one of the most commercially successful indie albums in recent memory. Couple this with that appearance on SNL, and is Arcade Fire in danger of *gasp* selling out and doing an ad for iPods of Burger King? I think the whole "sell out" thing is kind of overblown anyway. It's nice to see smaller bands become popular and do stuff like SNL. More power to them.