Here's my running diary of the first Wild Card game of the weekend ...
4:35 Kick-off … Gonzalez gave us a nice Tony Montana Impression. I approve.
4:37 Global has taken over the broadcast so you know that means: shitty ads, no cheerleaders and we will miss some plays. I hate them so much…
4:45 Apparently Peyton will show us plenty of his gyrations today … How Collinsworth is able to stay sane is unbelievable. At least NBC was smart enough to get him; he's the best color man right now.
4:49 On Cue, we get bad ads and we don't get to see the Field Goal. 3-0 Indy
4:59 I should say that I predicted a KC win. If Indy win there is no way they cover the spread of 7.5 points
5:00 Addai was stuffed on 2nd and Goal. If they don't score here they are in serious trouble.
5:01 Peyton throws it over Clark's head and he's pissed??? Uh … 6-0 Indy. This will be interesting if KC can ever get a 1st down
5:02 So, JT is an actor now. Problem is, the movie doesn't look bad. I guess he is bringing sexy back.
5:03 How do you stop an exploding man? Who cares? Just make sure he doesn't blow up anyone else. Does anyone know what that is a reference to? Does anyone care?
5:09 Wow, that Colts D is feeling frisky.
5:10 How can Global sell the rights to the 1st down line to Samsung if they aren’t operating it? Isn't that like selling someone the Brooklyn bridge?
5:16 That quasi-tackle attempt by Manning was ridiculous. There's your turning point. You know big Ben or even Favre at least tries to make a tackle instead of throwing themselves close to Ty Law's feet.
5:18 But of course Trent Green trips on his own player … and the 23 yard attempt boinks off the upright … Ugh.
5:19 Wait a minute now I'm apparently watching CH?
5:23 Seeing Manning's reaction to a Wayne dropped pass I've come to the conclusion that he is the NFL's answer to Rasheed Wallace or Paris Hilton. Just a petulant child who needs a spanking.
5:31 Still waiting for a KC first down …
5:37 2:00 minute warning. Is it just me or is this going quickly.
5:38 The ad people at Global need to be fired. This is football. Ads for an astrology service and fear of slipping in the bath … c’mon.
5:40 Exploding man promo #6. Is this the Canadian version of: This is ouuuuuuuuuuurrrrr Country
5:43 Manning picked off again. Does anyone still think he doesn’t choke in the big game?
5:48 Harrison was squeezing his left hand as if he was squeezing a golf ball? Who can squeeze a golf ball? Is it a nerf?
5:50 Even the commercials are brought to you by someone else?
5:50 Halftime. Colts go up 9-0. No first downs for KC in the half. Nice going Herm.
5:57 Miami will get the 9th overall pick. Sounds good to me.
Saturday, January 6, 2007
Monday, November 6, 2006
The Be Good Tanyas
A couple of weeks ago we were fortunate enough to see the Be Good Tanyas come to town @ the Danforth Music Hall.
It was a rainy night, perfect for some folk music.
The opener was Old Man Luedecke from Nova Scotia, just him and his Banjo. He was quite entertaining and put us in a good mood.
The Tanyas are from BC, they met in a planting trees camp. They are quite special and very talented, but you could tell they were not comfortable being on stage. Clearly the music is important to them, but they would prefer playing in a studio than in front of others.
If you've yet to hear them check out their hit - Littlest Birds. My favorite songs are Lakes of Ponchatrain (which was not performed unfortunately) and Waiting around to Die.
They also make great covers - Prince's When Doves Cry, Oh Susannah and The House of the Rising Sun are on the albums.
Their 3 voices are so different and work so well together it's like nothing else. It was a very good show.
They acknowledged it was a bit moody, but that might be because of the weather.
They inadvertently had a polka dot theme going to their own amusement. They tried to have some fun, but their intensity comes through during the music.
3 beautiful women singing beautiful songs to beautiful music ... what more do you want?
It was a rainy night, perfect for some folk music.
The opener was Old Man Luedecke from Nova Scotia, just him and his Banjo. He was quite entertaining and put us in a good mood.
The Tanyas are from BC, they met in a planting trees camp. They are quite special and very talented, but you could tell they were not comfortable being on stage. Clearly the music is important to them, but they would prefer playing in a studio than in front of others.
If you've yet to hear them check out their hit - Littlest Birds. My favorite songs are Lakes of Ponchatrain (which was not performed unfortunately) and Waiting around to Die.
They also make great covers - Prince's When Doves Cry, Oh Susannah and The House of the Rising Sun are on the albums.
Their 3 voices are so different and work so well together it's like nothing else. It was a very good show.
They acknowledged it was a bit moody, but that might be because of the weather.
They inadvertently had a polka dot theme going to their own amusement. They tried to have some fun, but their intensity comes through during the music.
3 beautiful women singing beautiful songs to beautiful music ... what more do you want?
Halftime in the NFL
Well, week 9 is just about in the books, which means the NFL season has reached the half way point with everyone having played 8 games (pending tonight's loss by Seattle).
A few things that make me sad.
The Dolphins sucked it big time, but I did get to smile when they scored over 20 for the first time this year by dropping 31 on the Bears who were supposed to be the second coming of the Monsters of the Midway.
I severely underestimated the lack of intelligence of Culpepper and his ability to choke under the gun. Joey, well, the least said about him, the better. Only Mike Vick is a worse starting QB than Harrington. I'd rather have Huard or Fiedler at this point. C'mon Raiders, Culpepper & Booker for Moss & Walter.
Andrew Walter, and more precisely Brooks' injury, ruined my hopes for an 0-16 season in Oakland. Boo! Now they'll end up with 4 wins (Seattle is 3 ... maybe even more), leaving Miami as a bottom feeder.
So to recap my earlier predictions:
NFC East
I had the G-Men to win and Philly to make a Wild Card run. No changes there except that NY is better than I thought and Philly will probably not make it. The entire division is weaker than expected.
NFC South
I had the panthers in a cakewalk and I clearly underestimated the Saints and rookie Payton. The Saints are the team here with the Panthers as a weak wild card - they are too inconsistent, like the Saints used to be.
NFC North
Ouch. This division sucks and the Vikes are not very good and should fold soon enough. The Bears were the original pick and I stand by that.
NFC West
I had Seattle at 7 wins, I got scared for a while, but now I'm on track again - Seneca Wallace! I picked St. Louis to win, based on the Ewing theory with Martz. That's still my pick but Arizona as a wild card is out. And SF is better then expected.
So now it's:
1 - NY Giants (2 previously)
2 - Chicago (3 - because of a loss in NY this week)
3 - N'Awlins (NR)
4 - St. Louis (4)
5 - Carolina (1)
6 - Philly (5) or Dallas or god forbid Atlanta ... Dallas would have the best chance of winning a wild card game though.
NY over Chicago (home field) to reach the SB.
New Orleans will make it fun in Chicago, but the cold will be too much, but they do have a shot and that should be a better game than NY-Carolina.
AFC West
I called this the toughest to call and had the Raiders done (unless they used Jeff George). I got that right. I had Denver failing because of a lack of commitment to a runner. And I undervalued the Browns defense they use.
I think Denver is awesome and SD is a playoff team. KC has the injury to blame, but are still a force at home.
AFC North
I thought the recovering QBs would be the story, but both Cincy and Pittsburgh have had various degrees of suckitude.
I actually thought Baltimore was doomed. I regret that but Baltimore will win this division by default.
AFC East
I obviously had the Fish here and the Pats learning from their mistakes (Branch & Vinatieri). I was right about the kicker mistake, but somehow the Golden boy is still getting it done. The Jets and Bills suck too, so the Pats are champs again in a weak ass division.
AFC South
Oh baby, now here's a tight battle. I had the Jags winning the division with Indy feeling the loss of Edge. The Jags are looking good (save a couple of instances) but the Colts are playing the Milton Berle card and just whipping it out to make a statement (last night) when necessary.
** The Milton Berle theory refers to the following story/urban legend. As you may or may not know, uncle Miltie was blessed with a schlong that would make John Holmes proud (I'm not talking about the PGA pro here). The story goes that one day a young stud challenged Milton to a measuring contest and was promptly humiliated when he couldn't measure up to Berle. According to the legend, Milton later spoke of the incident by saying he pulled out just enough to win. The Colts are therefore just doing enough to win every week without whipping it out Dirk Diggler style.
Vince Young sucks as I predicted and Houston is plagued by the prospect that it could have had Bush. But at least they beat Miami, which beat Chicago. By the NCAA logic that makes them the best team in the league!
So the AFC goes:
1 - Indy (5)
2 - Denver (NR)
3 - New England (NR - easy schedule)
4 - Baltimore (NR)
5 - Jacksonville (1)
6 - SD (6)
I like Indy over Denver. Denver should beat NE in Mile high in January. And the Ravens should lose to Jacksonville. SD would be much higher if they didn't have Martyball.
So I originally had my SB faves (not named Miami) as Carolina, NYG, Jags, Cincy, KC & Philly.
Now I have Eli in the Manning bowl (which makes me sad because of all the hype, but this will be Tiki's Bettis like farewell). Then the contenders go: Chicago, Denver, Indy, Carolina and Jags.
If either NE or the Saints make it ... that could be the weirdest ever. The Pats are clutch, unfortunately, and the Saints have the best karma ever.
Yikes.
A few things that make me sad.
The Dolphins sucked it big time, but I did get to smile when they scored over 20 for the first time this year by dropping 31 on the Bears who were supposed to be the second coming of the Monsters of the Midway.
I severely underestimated the lack of intelligence of Culpepper and his ability to choke under the gun. Joey, well, the least said about him, the better. Only Mike Vick is a worse starting QB than Harrington. I'd rather have Huard or Fiedler at this point. C'mon Raiders, Culpepper & Booker for Moss & Walter.
Andrew Walter, and more precisely Brooks' injury, ruined my hopes for an 0-16 season in Oakland. Boo! Now they'll end up with 4 wins (Seattle is 3 ... maybe even more), leaving Miami as a bottom feeder.
So to recap my earlier predictions:
NFC East
I had the G-Men to win and Philly to make a Wild Card run. No changes there except that NY is better than I thought and Philly will probably not make it. The entire division is weaker than expected.
NFC South
I had the panthers in a cakewalk and I clearly underestimated the Saints and rookie Payton. The Saints are the team here with the Panthers as a weak wild card - they are too inconsistent, like the Saints used to be.
NFC North
Ouch. This division sucks and the Vikes are not very good and should fold soon enough. The Bears were the original pick and I stand by that.
NFC West
I had Seattle at 7 wins, I got scared for a while, but now I'm on track again - Seneca Wallace! I picked St. Louis to win, based on the Ewing theory with Martz. That's still my pick but Arizona as a wild card is out. And SF is better then expected.
So now it's:
1 - NY Giants (2 previously)
2 - Chicago (3 - because of a loss in NY this week)
3 - N'Awlins (NR)
4 - St. Louis (4)
5 - Carolina (1)
6 - Philly (5) or Dallas or god forbid Atlanta ... Dallas would have the best chance of winning a wild card game though.
NY over Chicago (home field) to reach the SB.
New Orleans will make it fun in Chicago, but the cold will be too much, but they do have a shot and that should be a better game than NY-Carolina.
AFC West
I called this the toughest to call and had the Raiders done (unless they used Jeff George). I got that right. I had Denver failing because of a lack of commitment to a runner. And I undervalued the Browns defense they use.
I think Denver is awesome and SD is a playoff team. KC has the injury to blame, but are still a force at home.
AFC North
I thought the recovering QBs would be the story, but both Cincy and Pittsburgh have had various degrees of suckitude.
I actually thought Baltimore was doomed. I regret that but Baltimore will win this division by default.
AFC East
I obviously had the Fish here and the Pats learning from their mistakes (Branch & Vinatieri). I was right about the kicker mistake, but somehow the Golden boy is still getting it done. The Jets and Bills suck too, so the Pats are champs again in a weak ass division.
AFC South
Oh baby, now here's a tight battle. I had the Jags winning the division with Indy feeling the loss of Edge. The Jags are looking good (save a couple of instances) but the Colts are playing the Milton Berle card and just whipping it out to make a statement (last night) when necessary.
** The Milton Berle theory refers to the following story/urban legend. As you may or may not know, uncle Miltie was blessed with a schlong that would make John Holmes proud (I'm not talking about the PGA pro here). The story goes that one day a young stud challenged Milton to a measuring contest and was promptly humiliated when he couldn't measure up to Berle. According to the legend, Milton later spoke of the incident by saying he pulled out just enough to win. The Colts are therefore just doing enough to win every week without whipping it out Dirk Diggler style.
Vince Young sucks as I predicted and Houston is plagued by the prospect that it could have had Bush. But at least they beat Miami, which beat Chicago. By the NCAA logic that makes them the best team in the league!
So the AFC goes:
1 - Indy (5)
2 - Denver (NR)
3 - New England (NR - easy schedule)
4 - Baltimore (NR)
5 - Jacksonville (1)
6 - SD (6)
I like Indy over Denver. Denver should beat NE in Mile high in January. And the Ravens should lose to Jacksonville. SD would be much higher if they didn't have Martyball.
So I originally had my SB faves (not named Miami) as Carolina, NYG, Jags, Cincy, KC & Philly.
Now I have Eli in the Manning bowl (which makes me sad because of all the hype, but this will be Tiki's Bettis like farewell). Then the contenders go: Chicago, Denver, Indy, Carolina and Jags.
If either NE or the Saints make it ... that could be the weirdest ever. The Pats are clutch, unfortunately, and the Saints have the best karma ever.
Yikes.
Monday, October 23, 2006
The Gambler
Okay, when did Kenny Rogers become Babe Ruth on the mound?
Coming into this post-season he was less than stellar.
5 Starts, 9 games, 21 innings, 20 runs, 0-3.
This year he's 3-0 in 3 starts. 23 innings, 0 runs.
That's right. After yesterday's masterful 2 hit 8 IP shutout he is still to allow a run.
The record for 1 postseason is 27.
If the Tigers win the next 2, he could come in with a chance to clinch the series and get the record.
But if that wasn't astonishing enough, he's 42 and so pumped up that his teammates are feeding off him.
It was great to watch.
St. Louis even made him wash his hands after the first inning because he had dirt on his throwing hand. He was near perfect after that.
Why Leyland didn't let him go for the SO is beyond me and Jones almost screwed it up, but he was able to get a grounder with the bases loaded to end the threat and the Tigers won 3-1.
Consider that this is the same Rogers that got suspended and was maligned by many after his altercation with the cameras 2 years ago.
Very impressive.
The only thing better would be for him to clinch the series in Stl after a 6 or 7 SO innings and hitting the game winning RBI.
But Verlander is likely to start that game. So Kenny would have to wait until game 6 with 5 days rest.
------------
I forgot one thing from the Cat Empire show. The second lead singer (with the reggae voice) had some unbe-fricken-lievable vocal gymnastics. I mean it was insane, off the hook, whatever the kids say these days.
Only that Nepalese dude on the Bela Fleck album who sings 3 notes at once was as impressive.
Great performance!!
Coming into this post-season he was less than stellar.
5 Starts, 9 games, 21 innings, 20 runs, 0-3.
This year he's 3-0 in 3 starts. 23 innings, 0 runs.
That's right. After yesterday's masterful 2 hit 8 IP shutout he is still to allow a run.
The record for 1 postseason is 27.
If the Tigers win the next 2, he could come in with a chance to clinch the series and get the record.
But if that wasn't astonishing enough, he's 42 and so pumped up that his teammates are feeding off him.
It was great to watch.
St. Louis even made him wash his hands after the first inning because he had dirt on his throwing hand. He was near perfect after that.
Why Leyland didn't let him go for the SO is beyond me and Jones almost screwed it up, but he was able to get a grounder with the bases loaded to end the threat and the Tigers won 3-1.
Consider that this is the same Rogers that got suspended and was maligned by many after his altercation with the cameras 2 years ago.
Very impressive.
The only thing better would be for him to clinch the series in Stl after a 6 or 7 SO innings and hitting the game winning RBI.
But Verlander is likely to start that game. So Kenny would have to wait until game 6 with 5 days rest.
------------
I forgot one thing from the Cat Empire show. The second lead singer (with the reggae voice) had some unbe-fricken-lievable vocal gymnastics. I mean it was insane, off the hook, whatever the kids say these days.
Only that Nepalese dude on the Bela Fleck album who sings 3 notes at once was as impressive.
Great performance!!
Friday, October 20, 2006
Billy Talent - Molson Canadian
Tuesday night I was treated to a free concert thanks to Molson Canadian & The Edge.
It was part of the Molson Canadian Revealed series and I won the text messaging contest tickets for knowing that Billy Talent is from Streetsville (Thank you dogpile.com).
So 2 free tix, a larger than small band and a small venue (Phoenix) sounded like a good time.
A pleasant surprise - when we arrived we discovered the drinks were free too!
So Canadian & Cold Shots on Molson! They also gave out Taxi vouchers after the show. Free booze, tickets and rides home ... I love it!
The opening act was Ill Scarlet, never has a band tried so hard to sound like another. They should be a Sublime cover band.
You might know their "hit" right now (starts with -> We're all ... living in a police state). Okay ... but I didn't get really into them.
Billy Talent took the stage after a half hour wait (10:15) and launched into a song I don't know.
In the interest of full disclosure I only knew their singles (about 6 or 7 off 2 albums) and thought they were too poppish.
The second one was Devil in a midnight mass and then a string of songs I didn't know.
2 things happened, I started liking the songs, these guys are much more talented and maybe they are the rare exception where commercial success is somewhat justified (STP comes to mind as a band that was underrated and successful).
The other thing that happened, and this made me respect them is when the shirtless Ben (lead singer) made the following announcement - directed mostly at the moshers and crowd surfers - "If someone falls, pick them up. Guys, be kind to the ladies. Because at a Billy Talent show it's not about the size of your dick, but the size of your heart. We're not fuckin' Limp Bizkit here." ... nice!
They eventually played all the singles (I think) and ended with Try Honesty & Red Flag for the encore.
A solid 75 minutes. Reminded me of Foo Fighters, just a ton of energy.
But the comparison I want to make from now on will be to Black Flag/Rollins Band & Iggy Pop (a clear influence as his Nude & Rude was playing between the acts). So they've got that going for them which is nice.
It was part of the Molson Canadian Revealed series and I won the text messaging contest tickets for knowing that Billy Talent is from Streetsville (Thank you dogpile.com).
So 2 free tix, a larger than small band and a small venue (Phoenix) sounded like a good time.
A pleasant surprise - when we arrived we discovered the drinks were free too!
So Canadian & Cold Shots on Molson! They also gave out Taxi vouchers after the show. Free booze, tickets and rides home ... I love it!
The opening act was Ill Scarlet, never has a band tried so hard to sound like another. They should be a Sublime cover band.
You might know their "hit" right now (starts with -> We're all ... living in a police state). Okay ... but I didn't get really into them.
Billy Talent took the stage after a half hour wait (10:15) and launched into a song I don't know.
In the interest of full disclosure I only knew their singles (about 6 or 7 off 2 albums) and thought they were too poppish.
The second one was Devil in a midnight mass and then a string of songs I didn't know.
2 things happened, I started liking the songs, these guys are much more talented and maybe they are the rare exception where commercial success is somewhat justified (STP comes to mind as a band that was underrated and successful).
The other thing that happened, and this made me respect them is when the shirtless Ben (lead singer) made the following announcement - directed mostly at the moshers and crowd surfers - "If someone falls, pick them up. Guys, be kind to the ladies. Because at a Billy Talent show it's not about the size of your dick, but the size of your heart. We're not fuckin' Limp Bizkit here." ... nice!
They eventually played all the singles (I think) and ended with Try Honesty & Red Flag for the encore.
A solid 75 minutes. Reminded me of Foo Fighters, just a ton of energy.
But the comparison I want to make from now on will be to Black Flag/Rollins Band & Iggy Pop (a clear influence as his Nude & Rude was playing between the acts). So they've got that going for them which is nice.
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