Reflections and Resolutions - Goodbye 2011. Hello 2012 - Part IA - Goodbye 2011.

Let's start by wishing a very Happy - Holidays ( All ), Hanukkah (Judaic Friends), Kwanzaa (Brothers) and Birthday (Jesus, Thomas). As well as a Merry Christmas (Christian Brothers), and a Happy New Year (All).

Phew! So much wrapped up in all of that (present pun), it's a seriously busy time of year, merely trying to survive the gauntlet that accompanies the seasonal festivities. My not so subtle excuse for a few weeks blog hiatus. But seriously, tough time of year to sit down and get anything done (written), since the age of 5 we were taught to shut our brains off, engage in stuffing our face with an assortment of Christmas goodies and mindlessly stare off at the consumer products placed before us. I didn't complain about it then and I'm not complaining about it now. I loved watching that little electric race car make his laps around the track. It was mesmerizing and hypnotic. And that was in elementary school. I'm just saying I couldn't hardly find the time to read, let alone write, this break. Beginning in university they tell you shut it down in early December. Okay, do your exams, shut it down, stuff your face, drink your beers, I know the routine. Again, not complaining, just, er, justifying, sorta.

I digress, I had started a holidays survival guide and maybe next year you'll get to read it. It appears we all survived to this point anyhow. I'm not so sure that the Beardo Knit Beard Cap we'll still be a hot ticket item in "gift giving 101", however I can assuredly say it will still be prudent to avoid drunkenly propositioning a coworker at a Holiday staff party function in 2012 so there's that from the "how to survive a holiday functions with dignity"section. Now you're already looking forward to next  Christmas! Regardless whatever I had written, it was so last year.

Here's a fun idea, let's start this year by reflecting on the year that was 2011. A year of water treading as far as I was concerned, in which the lows were never too low and the highs were never too high. Now that's what I call conservative living! I'll get to some lists and opinions here in a moment, but from a personal perspective I felt 2011 was a very safe year. I felt as though I did little in the way of reinventing myself or reshaping my mold. At times this can be a good thing - consistency, stability and balance certainly being positive characteristics. However in this case, while I do feel I have some of those characteristics, I also think we can get into auto-pilot sometimes and we're not allowing ourselves to grow as a person in that state. Just going through the motions and not living with emotion. Just food for thought. Certainly something that I will take into account when I begin to map out my resolutions for 2012 later in the blog. Sometimes I gotta break away from the comfortable coward within.

While I was sleep walking some exciting things went on in 2011. Here's a recap. My Take. Enjoy.

Top 11 Movies of '11:
01. Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.... Can't Wait.
02. The Descendents.... Can't Wait.
03. Shame.... Can't Wait.
04. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy .... Can't Wait.
05, Mission Impossible: Ghost Recon .... Can't Wait.
06. The Adventures of Tin Tin .... Can't Wait.
07. A Dangerous Method .... Can't Wait.
08. Moneyball .... Can't Wait.

Wait a minute this looks like a list of movies I most want to see... just haven't yet. (No excuse on the Moneyball exclusion here, have to see it.) But yeah that's exactly what it is, as is usually the case the year's best films are released just prior to Oscar season, an effort to build up their buzz  heading into award season. Below you'll find a list of the best films I actually saw in 2011 that were also released in 2011. I'll revisit a definitive best film of  the year list when we explore the Oscar selections in about a months time. For better or worse.

11. Captain America - Didn't blow my mind, didn't let me down.

10. Margin Call - Enjoyed this office drama that depicts a firm folding over night a la Lehman Bros.

09. Paul - Consider me on the Simon Pegg/Nick Frost bandwagon.

08. The Ides of March - The year of Ryan Gosling...

07. Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Good film, expect more Apes to follow. Not good.

06. Thor - Left the theater feeling pleasantly surprised after this viewing. Have to watch again but I enjoyed this popcorn!

05. Lincoln Lawyer - Early film from 2011. Probably slides down this list when some of the new releases come out but it held my attention, cocky McConaghy.

04. Kill The Irishman - Sleeper pick. Dope film. Check it out.

03. X-Men: First Class - Or the year of Michael Fassbender?

02. Source Code - A very cool idea for a film, I kind of see this as this years Inception, a science fiction movie that seems to have a better grasp of how to deal with the loopholes that exist when we suspend of disbelief regarding the supernatural. 

01. Drive - Best film I saw all year, opening scene sets the table for the whole film. Great music. Gosling owns the film without hardly speaking, acting his way through each and every scene. Check it out if you haven't already, expect something rather artsy.  

 
With further apologies to Warrior, Cowboys and Aliens, The Hangover 2(!), Fast Five, and upon recommendation from Dan, Real Steel, all films I still have yet to see, despite having loads of time to catch up on this. Congratulations movies you are now on the short to-do list.


Top 11 Most Interesting People '11: Solely according to me so you won't find the Kardashians here. These are the people that I will always read an ESPN article or Yahoo! side bar story about whenever their name pops up. Not necessarily out of adoration but certainly intrigue. Odds that they'll return to the list in '12.

11. Cam Newton - What he lacks in philosophy (A lion Cam? Really? In the jungle? Really?) he more than makes up for in raw footballing talent. Newton should be the ROY and flashed talents that will electrify for years to come. 6:1

10. Albert Pujols - Any time a guy signs a 260 million dollar contract they get on the list, throw in the World Series Victory and the 3 HR performance in game 3 and a pretty vanilla guy (read: robot) deserves a mention. 40:1

09. Michael Jordan - I'm always interested in what Black Jesus is up to. Rocked a tidy Hitler-esque mustache. 4:1

08. Barak Obama - The President, always a man of intrigue. This day in age with the challenges the United States have been facing both at home and abroad it's certainly a difficult time to be the man in charge, '11 was a challenging year, but it's 2012 that will be make or break in determining his long term legacy. 1:1 It's an election year! 


07. Derek Jeter - First Yankee ever to hit 3000 hits! Digest that. Arguably the most historic franchise in professional sports and Jeter stands a top the franchise in a sport that holds it's statistical milestones on a pedestal like no other. He did it in GQ fashion as only Jeter could hitting a home-run for number 3000, going 5-5 on the day and driving in the game winning run. I don't like many Yanks but Jeter is a baller. And he reportedly gives gift bags of memorabilia to his romances (read: conquests), a gentleman. 50:1

06. Mike Tyson/Charlie Sheen - Tyson always makes the list (for obvious reasons), sharing the spot this year with roast mate Charlie Sheen who was mildly interesting throughout the year with his Tyson-esque downward spiral out of sanity. 1.5/1  

05. Kanye West - Ridiculously productive last 18 months for Kanye. Guy's a really talented asshole. Stayed out of trouble for the most part. 16:1

04. Peyton Manning - Guy doesn't play and he's still a very interesting topic of conversation. His value was starkly apparent with the Colts looking absolutely listless in the early weeks of the NFL season. Losing him cost the Colts their season, and now with the Colts holding the top pick, Peyton might be out the door. So much can change in just one NFL season. 3:1 (This thing is just getting started! Read: Fearless Prediction)

03. Tim Tebow - White Jesus? Tim Tebow has been one of the most intriguing personality's in sports this past year. Christian values (as if these were a problem) and religious beliefs aside, I find Tebow to be a genuine good guy of the game; a guy who plays hard every down and refuses to give up on himself or his teammates.   Tebow has displayed a penchant for winning, as well as poor quarterback play, two things whose stars rarely align for greatness. Tebow is a polarizing figure, there are those who can't help but respect his track record for winning. While others find it nearly impossible to remain apologetic of a dismal completion percentage, yards per catch, low QBR and general poor QB play. Watch a Denver game and you'll find yourself thinking, "I know a guy who could have made that throw" following a Tebow 20 yard overthrow of a man streaking wide open. These things happen but you can't deny that Tebow took the 1-4 Broncos and led them to the playoffs. (Of course, say what you will about the AFC West.) 20:1

02. Lebron James - Another polarizing figure in '11 was Lebron James, who incidentally has the exact opposite problem as Tebow. He is arguably the best player at his sport, he just hasn't found a way to win on the big stage. (I realize Tebow hasn't won on the NFL's BIG stage) 2011 saw Lebron James, superfriend Dwayne Wade and their merry band of Miami Heat attempt to live up to their preseason parades and press conference posturing. In the end, the Heat were outdone by the underdog Dallas Mavericks, enlarging the size of the monkey to that of an ape now on Lebron's back at this point. Lebron continues to stumble on the biggest stage and, because of his villain image, this continues to delight us. Lebron was probably the player I would most miss watching if it weren't for this season coming together. No doubt it's Bron who has the league garnering it's best ratings in years. Love em or love to hate em, it's all love. 2:1
 
01. Steve Jobs - Have become increasingly interested in Steve Jobs and what a visionary his was for this digital world all around us. In a way he was one of the bridges to our transformation into the digital age. Sadly, it took his passing to bring everything that Jobs meant to our time and place to the fore. We live in the iAge (for better or worse) and it's mostly because of this guy. RIP

Honourable Mentions -  Dirk Notwitzki, Aaron Rodgers, Jack Layton



Biggest WINNERS of  '11

Dirk Nowitzki/Dallas Mavericks - The Mavericks and Dirk were both able to shake off previous claims that both the player and the team were too soft to rise to the challenge of an NBA championship. Facing the juggernaut Heat in the NBA Finals, a mid-level seed out of the West, the Mavericks were certainly the underdogs heading into the finals. But Dallas, backed by millions of Heat haters, were able to rise to the challenge. Using a combination of tough defense (Stevenson, Chandler, Marion) and timely shooting, (Dirk, Terry) the Mavs rolled over the Heat in 6, proving that the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. It was a good year for the Mavericks!

Ryan Gosling/ Michael Fassbender - As mentioned above in the top films of the year, both Gosling and Fassbender have broken out in a big way in 2011. Fassbender is more of a newcomer on the scene with Gosling being a name on the precipice of super stardom since his role in The Notebook made him familiar to the masses and his role in Half Nelson gave him critically recognition, a nomination nod from the academy. Fassbender was a star in X-Men's enjoyable prequel effort and remained busy with roles in A Dangerous Method and Shame, two films that are currently in theater and have received positive reviews to this point, largely for the efforts of Fassbender.  

Tech N9ne - Tech N9ne finally made it onto the mainstream scene, appearing on Lil Wayne's Carter IV album this past summer with the banger Interlude. Pumping out his uber lengthy All 6's and 7's this past summer. Tech then released collaboration album Welcome to Strangeland in the fall. Was a good year for Tech.

Green Bay Packers - A Superbowl and a 15-1 record to follow it up. In a league that is anything but predictable from one week to the next, sounds like these guys were winners in 2011 to me. 

Honourable Mention: Tim Tebow, St. Louis Cards, Barcelona, Novak Djokovic, Rory McIlroy 

Top 11 Albums of '11: 2011  was a pretty good year for hip hop with some major label debuts from much hyped youngsters Wiz Khalifa, Big Sean and J.Cole. The year also saw some heavyweights back on the mic with Kanye West releasing his own album and collaborating with Jay Z on watch the Throne, Lil Wayne added to his Carter collection (not that you'll see that reflected in our list here) and Drake continued to make a name for himself as a player for years to come. We also had some surprising new talents shine in Big K.R.I.T. and Kendrick Lamar. All told 2012 was a good year for Hip Hop.

(Of note: I've included an Out of 10 ranking here for each album which will be confusing because the scores may not entire reflect their positions on this board, which seems contradictory. But remember this list is my top 10 albums of the year. For instance I recognize that Wiz Khalifa's album Rolling Papers was somewhat of a dud, you won't see it on any critically acclaimed top 10 lists, but I listened to that album a tonne. It just makes me a poor decision maker. Noted. It's like the guy who says Transformers is his favorite movie, and he's watched it 46 times, it's high on his list, but it's not a 10. So yeah, sometimes I recognize an album to be generally less flawed and yet I've enjoyed it less than another album on the whole. Maybe because of a few high points and low points, as opposed to a consistency. For instance I think Watch The Throne has some scintillating material on it, possessing some of the highest peaks of the year music-wise (Otis, Murder To Excellence), meanwhile it suffers lyrically at times with the redundancy of being told how rich and powerful Kanye and the Jigga Man are. Still a great album to ride to and party to. I know, just writing this, I'm thinking this makes no sense, maybe, just maybe, what I'm suggesting, while it appears to be contradictory, might only be paradoxical. Juss sayin.)

Without further ado, my Top 11 Albums of '11

11. Rolling Papers - Wiz Khalifa - On the list solely because of the number of rotations this LP got from me. I can't leave this off the list and feel honest about it. Listen to..... Wake Up, When I'm Gone, Black and Yellow 6/10

10. The Wonder Years - 9th Wonder - Great compilation album from a premier beatsmith. If you like samples and soul music, this is a great album for you. Some relative unknowns on the tracklist but their is the presence of Phonte, former member of Big Brother with 9th Wonder, who holds it down as the two seem like they haven't missed a beat. Listen to.....Band Practice Ft. Phonte and Median, Never Stop Loving You Ft. Talib Kweli and Terrace Martin, No Pretending Ft. Raekwon and Big Remo 8/10

09. Take Care - Drake - Take Care serves as an open account, revealing the past 12 months of Drake's   life, unveiling the tension that exists between his rise to fame and the drawbacks of emerging fame. This collection of offerings expose both the niceties, as well as the struggles, of a life under the microscope. Technically Drake has improved, expanding beyond simply being a #hashtag rapper, his crooning has improved as well. The future is bright. Listen to.... Headlines, Marvin's Room, Over My Dead Body 8/10

08. Greatest Story Never Told - Saigon - After years of delay and set back Saigon finally releases a studio LP,  it's worth the wait. In a word, gritty. Saigon has waited nearly 10 years to finally get his message out their and he makes the most of his opportunity. Listen to.....The Greatest Story Never Told, Friends, It's Alright 8.5/10

07. Section 80 - Kendrick Lamar - Compton MC Kendrick Lamar burst on the seen this summer with Section 80, a disciple of the Dre camp, Lamar represents a more introspective look at the hood, preferring to shine a light revealing the dark aspects of the hood, rather than gloat in it's suffering like many others in this day in age.  Listen to.....Reagan Era, Fuck Your Ethnicity, Hiiipower 8/10

06. Watch The Throne - Jay Z, Kanye West - Jay Z and Kanye prove they can co-exist both in the studio and on the mic in this high powered anthem generating mega success they call watchin' the throne. Listen to.....Otis, No Church in the Wild Ft. John Legend, Murder to Excellence  8.5/10

05. Cole World: A Sideline Story - Long anticipatedmajor label solo  debut from the one known as Young Simba. A few rehashed tracks were the byproduct of the recent mixtape phenomenon but other than that minor gripe this is a dope album and I listened to it lots in the past few months. Cole brings a fresh headiness to the game, punctuated by his ability to mesh popular cultural references within more complex themes and structures. Listen to.....Cole World, Lost Ones, Mr. Nice Watch Ft. Jay-Z 8/10

04. Pl3dge - Killer Mike - Another installment in Killer Mike's Pledge series, Pl3dge might be Mike's best yet. If you like southern rap and you like listening to someone with something to say than certainly check this album out, it was one of my go-to's in 2011. Kind of reminds of Scarface's The Fix in that it's an underrated album from a third coast that likely won't get its props. Listen to..... Ready, Set, Go Remix Ft. TI and Big Boi, That's Life 2, Ric Flair 8.5/10

03. All 6s and 7s and Welcome to Strangeland (Collabo Album) - Tech N9ne - All 6's and 7's sees Tech N9ne begin his 2011 transformation into a more radio friendly emcee, a tough evolution to complete without selling out. Tech still explores some of the stranger sides of life, he just seems to do it with a more positive outlook. His word play has never been in question. Listen to.....He's a Mental Giant, Strangeland, Am I A Psycho 8/10,  and Welcome to Strangeland served notice that Tech N9ne had energy to burn in 2011 with his early release already having an extended length.  Listen to.....Who Do I Catch Now, Slave Ft Kutt Calhoun, Krizz Kaliko, Noose Ft. Mayday 8/10

02. Return of 4eva - Big K.R.I.T. - There's a lengthy review that shows my support of this album in a previous blog. I liked this album immensely and still listen to it regularly, a testament to it's craft.  Can't wait for K.R.I.T. to drop his first major label debut in '12. Could be K.R.I.T.'s year to breakout. (read: fearless prediction) Listen to.....Dreamin', American Rapstar, My Sub 8.5/10

01. Undun - The Roots - This album might be getting a boost because of it's novelty to me right now, it's getting the most play in my itunes the past couple of weeks. The Roots have truly improved as musicians over the years and are now champions of their sound and Black Thought shows that he has not lost a step along the way either. A short play time, the album breezes by, just push play. Listen to.....Make My Ft. Big K.R.I.T. and Dice Raw, One Time Ft. Phonte,  9/10

Honourable Mention: REKS - Rhythmatic Eternal King Supreme, Raekwon - Shoalin Vs. Wu Tang Clan (Maybe I owe this another look) Sorry Lupe Fiasco and Big Sean,  Lasers and Finally Famous simply did not make the cut, better luck next year. 

Biggest Losers of  '11:

Jerry Sandusky - One of the biggest stories of 2011 was also it's worst. Jerry Sandusky was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault on young men, children even , whom he encountered during his time working on the campus at Penn State. This is a despicable story and we're all losers for living in a
world where attempts are/were made to let perverts like this go on living their lives while young people are eternally scarred, for the sake of not rocking the boat? This story deeply saddens me about our state of apathy and lack of desire to take charge and seek change. The rest of these losers pale in comparison.


NHL Hockey Fans - No Sid the Kid for basically all of '11 and counting. Undeniably the games best player is leaving fans to wonder what could have been rather than what is. Get well Sid.

Lebron James - Lost the finals and was the butt of countless jokes as the masses reveled in watching James disappear during the the most important moments of the finals. His disappearance was a far cry from his in-your-face-im-taking-my talents-to-south-beach-to-win-6-or-7-titles-decision-blowout-bonanza. James made some poor decisions in '10 and they played out to make him look like a real loser in '11. I think James rights the ship in '12 , takes the necessary steps to winning the chip and cleans up his image in the process, landing him in the Winners of '12 section. (read: fearless prediction)

Boston Red Sox - Epic collapse followed by a massive shit flinging. Make it poor losers.  

Dishonourable Mention: Adam Sandler (Jack and Jill, Just Go With It?) , Joe Paterno (Guilty by Association - Should have done more), Lupe Fiasco (Yes - Lasers disappointed me this much, not even "American Terrorist III" could make up for that), Charlie Sheen


Top 11 Miscellaneous Good Things That Deserve a Spot on a '11 List:

11. Lionel Messi and Barcelona - Only soccer/futbol shout out that you're going to see in here, but 2011 was a huge year for the club team Barcelona. (Champions League Champions, Fifa Club World Cub, Spanish Super Cup) Messi was a big part of that trophy haul, cementing himself as the most talented football player in the world in 2011.

10. Simpson Catch - We've all seen the replay by now, but just one more time.

09. Wilco's The Whole Love - Great to have Wilco back. Not that Sky, Blue, Sky or Wilco were bad albums, they just weren't as challenging and/or dynamic as Yankee Foxtrot Hotel or A Ghost Is Born (IMHO). I've been digging this album since my first listen, and it continues to grow.

08. Michael Rapaport's documentary Beats, Rhymes and Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest -If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor. Here's the trailer.

07. Grantland - I love this Bill Simmons spin off site. This is where I go for a lot of my sports and pop culture reading among others. 2011 saw the site develop after years of writing for ESPN.

06. Frank Ocean - Thinking About You - I liked this song since I blogged about it, nearly 7 or 8 months ago. Had to get a shout out!

05. Last Day of the MLB Season - What a great finish that day was. Two games in which the seasons of multiple ball clubs game down to the final pitch. Was a memorable pennant and wild card race to be sure! Of course, that is unless you're a Red Sox fan.

04. Blake Griffin's Dunks - Let the video speak for itself. Take it away ROY.

03. UConn Huskies - NCAA Championship for Kemba Walker and crew. The Huskies outlasted a strong but even field to walk away the winners of March Madness in 2011. Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb hit big shots down the stretch and their rugged Big East defensive style held up in an impressive run through the tourney.

02. St. Louis Cardinals Big Comeback - The Cards entire season was one big comeback and this was never more true than in the bottom of the ninth in Game 6.

01. Roger Craig's Two True Daily Doubles - I watch Jeopardy on a pretty consist basis and this was mind blowing as far as Jeopardy goes. Remember this feat was accomplished in the tournament of champions, playoffs as far as Jeopardy is concerned, Roger Craig makes two ballsy calls, answering the bell on each of them becoming Jeopardy's 2011 Champion a quarter million dollar prize. Cojones.  

 

*Of note - Roger Craig also owns the single day Jeopardy scoring record from a day during his time as champion. Trivia Baawws. 

Reflections Part I B Hip Hop 2.0 Top 20 Songs of 2011: I'm gonna throw a top 20 together on it's own in a follow-up blog and I'll link each song on there so as not to make this the longest scroll ever. Plus, one less thing to sort out before publishing this.

And finally, Part II will feature my 12 New Years Resolutions for 2012:

Stay tuned

Wildcard Weekend Predictions - Reflections and Resolutions blog to come shortly

Wildcard Weekend Predictions: I wanted to have my whole blog done in time but I'm not quite there so I'll throw these up before the games get started and have the blog up and ready tomorrow sometime. So without further ado, it's playoff time and it's win or go home. Here's the way I see it going down.

Houston -4 over Cincy - A lot of people like Cincy here because of rookie TJ Yates as the Houston QB. Remember Dalton too, is a rookie and Cincy hasn't won any meaningful games down the stretch so I'm not expecting it to start here. I think Yates is good enough to win this one for the Texans, but if Delhomme gets into the action all bets are off. Houston

Lions +10.5 to cover against Saints- I don't expect the Lions to cover but I do expect them to be able to continue to put points on the board through til the final horn, giving them a shot at cover a spread of more than double digits. Without the .5 this might have swung the other way for me.

Falcons +3 over Giants - I would take the Falcons on the money line here because I believe they will win this game. The Giants are back to feeling good about themselves and that's never been a good thing, I'd like their chances more on the road in this spot. Anyway I think the Falcons have played pretty good football all year and that will be enough to get them by the G-Men this weekend.

Steelers -8.5 over Broncos - In the book of Tebow it reads; And on third loss Tebow was ridiculed and tormented for his inadequacies. They rebuked him and turned on their former savior just because he threw the ball to more members of the Bills team than Broncos. They lost faith and drove stakes in him (not literally, verbal stakes folks) just because he lost the most important game of the season to his former mentor, turned back up, turned exile, turned back up, turned starter, Kyle Orten. But it also reads... on the 4th game, Tebow rose from the ashes and led the Broncos to the unlikeliest of playoff upsets over the vaunted Pittsburgh Steelers. What do you believe? Personally I'm atheist to this sort of thing. The cult of Tebow is over.

NBA Lunacy Continues: A Comprehensive Take, Hip Hop 2.0 and a few other Odds and Ends.

(Author's disclaimer: This took me so long that it's now near irrelevant with everything that's already gone down in the free agency frenzy that's gone on in the NBA to this point, but hopefully it serves some purpose. For instance the "Chris Paul can't go to LA" has taken things to a whole 'nother level of "Wow, did that just happen, er, more surprisingly, unhappen?" I think if David Stern could have a do over on that one, he would have let things be, but it's too late for that now, what's done is done. Biggest losers would have to be the Lakers; who never gained Chris Paul, and lost the overly sensitive Lamar Kardashian in the process, and the Hornets, who have lost a good deal here and will continue to lose leverage the longer it takes to make a deal and now with the leadership in the Hornet's front office in a total clusterfuck - does Dell Demps have no power? do you have to make a deal that all 31 other owners like? Isn't that messed up? Anyway couldn't release this without that note, as the NBA seems to have completely lost control.)

P.S. If you're not a basketball fan, you're probably gonna want to skip all the way down the page straight away. Here we go.

Who's your girl? You know the one that you could never really get over? The one who played tricks on your heart just cause she could and you didn't really mind - cause you mostly wished she would. You don't don't know why but you kept looking up her number. A fool's hope? Maybe, but it always felt fun anyway, even the painful moments made you still feel alive. So here we are, the NBA wronged me, the system was (still is) stupid, but like that old flame who once did me wrong, I'm hopelessly incapable of not looking back her way. Not looking for that message, that call, that chance to smooth things over, only inevitably, to be wronged once again. I know it's coming, but NBA, you're so exciting, so endearing, of course' I'll welcome you back into my life. And that is how a vicious abusive relationship is maintained in my world. It's all about second chances folks!       

So there you have it, the lock out, I'm over it - pricks.

Let's focus on the future and what's new and different and more importantly exciting for 2011-12. Aside from the major change, which will see the players recover only somewhere between 49-51 percent of the basketball generated revenue, compared to the 57 percent they acquired according to the old deal. Last year's basketball generated revenue was in the ballpark of 3.8 billion dollars, so we can safely assume Latrell was making enough to feed his kids, regardless of the head count, and even at 50 percent the players are still not the poor victims they've portrayed themselves as throughout the lockout. That said the players do stand to lose, nearly a billion dollars over the course of the 10 year period of the deal. Which will likely not last that long as both sides can option out after 6 years, something either side will do if they feel they are getting the short end of the stick. With TV deals set to expire around that time, leverage may have shifted into the players favour by then. Regardless, we need not start fretting over the next lockout for at least another 6 years.

I'll start with some of the systemic changes to the league, I'll try not to become too "jargony" in my explanations and just keep to the plain and simple as it can get a bit complex in a few areas, or for lack of a better word, boring. One of the biggest changes and something the owners clamoured for is the new "amnesty clause", this clause enables teams to come out from under a burdensome contract that is severely limiting the flexibility of their payroll (read: Rashard Lewis). This wrinkle will allow the owners to cut ties with a deal gone terribly sour, an while they still have to pay said player's deal, it no longer counts against the team's salary cap. So in the case of a player like Rashard Lewis that frees up in 43 million dollars in cap space over the next two years. No that was not a typo, if the Wiz 'amnesty' Lewis, that's 21 million they can now use to pursue other free agents this off season alone, and the rest is off the books for next year as well.

- Amnesty - (n) (pl. amnesties) 1. a general pardon, esp for political offences. 2. a period during which people may admit an offence without fear of prosecution.

That's the Oxford English dictionary's definition an it seems pretty apropos. I just wish each general manager who signed one of these "amnesty" worthy deals had to publicly call a press conference, admit their transgression, and apologize to their franchises' fans, that's what I want to see. Just a little accountability, that's all I'm asking for. So with that let's take a look at some my top 5 most overpaid/terrible deals currently on payroll in the L. Needless to say, these players are prime candidates to see their teams execute their newly acquired amnesty clause.

Rashard Lewis ($43.8m/2 years remaining).

Gilbert Arenas ($62.4/ 3 years remaining)

Travis Outlaw ($28m/ 4 years remaining) 

Baron Davis ($28.7m/ 2 Years remaining)

Brandon Roy ($68.7m / 4 years remaining) (This one is almost not fair because if Brandon Roy were to stay healthy he would just be overpaid and not be an 'amnesty guy', but as it stands, this is a crippling contract over the next 4 years for an injured player; think the Allan Houston deal in New York, or my nightmares for the past 10 years.)

Jose Calderon ($20.3m/ 2 years remaining) (I included this one because I assume most of my readers are unfortunate fans of the Toronto Raptors, this is you amnesty guy folks!)

Another change that went in the owners favour was the change to shorter contracts, the owners took one year off the previous length of the deals, which makes sense to me. As thw following has been a developing trend for years; player X is in a contract year, player X plays hard, plays to their potential and in the off season gets overpaid with a multi-year deal in a general managers attempt to acquire their talents, player X, now set for the next 5 years, promptly mails it in and plays at a value far below the worth of the contract thus infuriating the fans and coaches of franchise X.

In this case, player X is Jerome James and franchise X is the New York Knicks. James signed a deal worth 5 years/ 30million back in 2005 to which you respond, "who is Jerome James"? Exactly my point, these were the deals that we're killing the NBA. You can see his 09-10 stats (the final season of his Knicks deal here to the left <-----. This is only kind of a joke, because it is a true story and there are countless other examples just like it. (Well, most aren't nearly this bad, yay Knicks!). The new deal isn't perfect but at least we'll have to put up with one year less of these deals. And who knows maybe the owners have wised up and won't indulge in bunch of the deals that leave a look on your face similiar to the the one Raptors fans must have shared when it was announced they had signed Amir Johnson for 34m /5 years. Seriously, for that signing alone Colangelo should have been let go (read: fired) on the spot, not re-signed to an extension. IMHO. So contracts shortened by one season, teams can re-sign players for 5 years and new teams can sign players for 4 year terms. Probably still too long for my liking but, again, no one has a gun to the owners head stating they must sign the plays to full length max contracts.

The trade rules have changed somewhat, in the past the collective salaries of those parties switching teams had to be within 125 percent of one another, that total has now been upped to 150 percent increasing trade flexibility and making it easier to complete possible trades. One exception/difference will come when sign and trades are no longer allowed. You know the deal, the player signs with his own team for the max length of the contract and for the max money and is immediately dealt, a loophole in the system, this loophole will be covered in two years time, meaning players will finally have to decide between the security of that extra year, or their desire to play somewhere else.

So we've got shorter contracts, less chance for the owners to screw up their own teams, though they still will. (As we will see when we look at the need for spending this off season the free agent pool to choose from) it just won't be for as long, by the same player.

One change that benefits the players is a series of bonuses that actually promote and reward achievement, imagine that. If a player, like say Derrick Rose or Kevin Love, overachieves in the early years of their rookie contract by making All Star teams and All-NBA teams then that player is now entitled to a larger extension salary. Something that actually makes sense, all we need now is a penalty for players who dramatically underachieve the expectations of their contracts. This is only logical, therefore it will never happen. 

So that's the new and different (the overpaying of mediocre role players will be no different, but remains highly laughable) and at long last here's what has me excited for the coming season:

a) The New York Knickerbockers - I must begin with my beloved New York Knicks. Finally relevant in the world of professional basketball once again. This revival comes after years of mediocrity, bloated contracts, under-achieving-chucker point guards (sorry Steph), and outright general poor play weighing us down. (Quite literally in the case of Eddy Curry on most of these accounts.)  Last year the Knicks took a new direction; the superstars and scrubs direction, selling the kitchen sink to acquire Carmelo Anthony from the Nuggets - about 3 quarters, two dimes and a nickle to get a crispy dollar in return. This left us with Amare Stoudemire, Melo, Chauncey Billups and, well, not much else. With the Big 2 + 1 eating up over 50 million cap dollars and no one else on the team making over 1.8m. Eeek. Toney Douglas has shown himself to be a serviceable back up pg who can change the pace and provide a scoring boost. In spite of the fire sale that was the purchase of Carmelo Anthony, I was behind the trade at the time and still am today. We came away with the best player in the deal and that player is in his prime. He and Amare give the Knicks two bonafide stars, and as such they will be counted on to do the heavy lifting, especially in the scoring column. Our back court could certainly use a lift as Billups based days are behind him barring a post 30, Nash-like resurgence, which I'm not counting on.  In fact he very well could be an amnesty type contract for us to free up space this year, and an interesting pick up for a team needing a veteran PG on the cheap. We'd love to have him but not for the money. As far as our guard play? Where will we get a lift? The obvious answer is Chris Paul. Who, in spite of the lockout's attempt to empower it's small market teams ability to hold on it's superstars, has already conceded he will opt out of his contract at season's end and has tagged New York as his preferred destination. It seems unlikely that we could land Chris Paul but we will certainly need some improved guard play if we hope to make a run. Early reports have us picking up Tyson chandler which we dramatically improve our defence and give us arguably the best front line in all of professional basketball. Good things are underway here.

- The 2 week NBA Off-Season Bonanza is well underway. This should be bonkers. Because of the lockout there hasn't been an NBA off season to this point and when the lockout ends on December the 9th, shit is going to hit the fan! For one thing, as part of the new CBA, every team needs to spend AT LEAST 85% of the cap for the next two years, that total then goes up to 90% after that. At present the cap sits at 58 million and the luxury tax line is 70 million. (With increased taxation for those who overspend, to penalize the Lakers and Mavericks of the league -teams who annually over spend compared to the smaller market squads.) This is an attempt to have everyone's spending on a somewhat even playing field. An attempt at competitive balance if you will. Because of this wrinkle, several teams will have plenty of Christmas shopping to do in order to fill out their training camp rosters in time for the Christmas Day start date to the NBA season. Furthermore, we'll get to see the effects of the new "Amnesty Clause" as teams begin to choose to how they will deal with the dead weight on their teams. Will they pull the chute on those contracts or wait until the free agent crop improves next NBA off season, when they will also have a better handle on the CBA and how the whole Amnesty thing is going to play out. Usually this would all play out over the course of the 4 month period between the end of June and end of October, but not this year, this year we get to see all the mayhem go down at once in a 2 week free for all. What's more, is that the teams have all this spending to do, and the free agent class this year is just fair, to say the least. So what does that equal, you got it, more bad contracts! Yay! We're right back into the situation that led to a lockout in the first place. This is why it may have been better to blow the system up than to simply band-aid it, but I digress. Here's my the top 5 teams most under the cap, these teams will have to make moves to get to the 85% minimum.

Top 5 Teams Way Under the Cap
1. Washington: $34.4 million (including Lewis' amnesty clause)
2. Denver: $33 million (including Harrington's A.C.)
3. Indiana: $28.5 million (including Posey's A.C.)
4. Sacramento: $26.2 million
5. New Jersey: $23.1 million (including Outlaw's A.C.)

6. Toronto: $17.7 million (including Calderon's A.C.)

Top 5 Teams Looking to Make a Splash (Spend Now and Win Now)

New Jersey Nets

Houston Rockets

New York Knicks
Los Angeles Lakers

Indiana Pacers

Top 5 Free Agents Available* Italics if no longer available

Guards - Jamal Crawford, Baron Davis (after he's amnestied), Aaron Afflalo, Rodney Stuckey, Jason Richardson (Orlando)

Forwards - David West (Indiana) , Thaddeus Young (Philadelphia), Caron Butler (LAC), Vince Carter (Dallas) , Shane Battier (Heat)

Centers - Marc Gasol (Memphis), The Man Known Simply as Nene, Tyson Chandler (Knicks) Chris Kaman

What's also interesting is this; most years the most highly coveted free agents at each position are scooped up first, setting the standard or bar for subsequent players value across the board at that position during that off season. This year, that's all out the window as teams must begin right away to fill there teams regardless of  where the marquee free agents land, though they'll surely be looking to land those as well. There will still be that trend to some degree but certainly not in the same way it's been in past years. And finally, we get to see what's going to happen with Chris Paul and Dwight Howard. With CP3's open admission that he does not intend to re-sign with the Hornets next season, he has all but forced their hand. If the Hornets hope to avoid a situation similar to the hostage takeover Carmelo Anthony performed in Denver last season, they'd be well served to trade Paul away as soon as possible and I think that's exactly what they'll be looking to do. The situation with Dwight Howard is very much the same, although he's been a little more wishy-washy about his plans to leave. Though I think anyone who has followed the NBA closely has him leaving at the season's end and if the Magic hope to get anything in return I'd expect him to be on the move before too long as well. And that's just the tip of the of the free agent iceberg. It should make for an exciting next couple weeks complete with more poor money management by NBA GM's, coupled with optimistic fans, only to quickly become disappointed when they realize their disillusionment, and are left to scream, "oh wait, we paid THAT for THIS!?!" Enjoy.  

- The Return of the King - Once again one of the most talked about and anticipated seasons will be that of Lebron James and the Miami Heat. As polarizing a team as there ever was, you either love them, or, more likely, you love to hate them. It's no secret that many revelled in watching the Heat choke away their championship aspirations down the stretch in last years finale. And we all enjoyed the LeBron jokes that followed.

Public enemy number one, LeBron James, the best basketball player on the planet, all around douche bag. Apparently this is an image Lebron wishes to shed following last season seeming embrace of the villain image, maybe being hated wasn't for him and it's what led to his collapse in the playoffs. If that's the case, ditch the image, and become a winner Lebron. Lebron has spent the offseason sans headband, smiling incessantly, making self deprecating jokes about himself in McDonald's commercials and generally being an all around good guy, will this shake his villain tag remains to be seen, I can't think the fans will be quick to forgive and forget not to mention it's far easier to root for David over Goliath. 

That said, this off season should provide an already potent Heat line up with an opportunity to grab a few more veterans and possibly a player of Shane Battier's ilk with the mid-level exception. Because of the way last season ended, and with the sky high expectations of this coming season, the Heat remain the highest for of drama the NBA has to offer. Remaining the unquestioned team to beat for now, at least until we see where the dust settles with NBA free agency and the potential movement of Chris Paul and Dwight Howard. 

Wow... that took so long, here's the latest instalment of the Hip Hop 2.0. Keeping you up to date on the best new hip hop as it happens dating back to the last couple months. Only a few new tracks this week after a whole new chart was unveiled just over a week ago.

Hip Hop 2.0
Lw Tw

18. 20.     Underground Kings - Drake

na. 19.     On Time - The Roots Ft. Phonte and Dice Raw

na. 18.     Need Some Bad - Slick Rick

na. 17.     American Terrorist III - Lupe Fiasco (New song over the song "Night Call" by Kavinsky, which you may recognize from the new film "Drive")

10. 16.     Toast to the Dead - Immortal Technique

na. 15.     Believer - Common Ft. John Legend

16. 14.     5 on the Kush - B.O.B. Ft. Big K.R.I.T., Bun B
15. 13.     Cole World - J. Cole

na. 12.     Who Do I Catch? - Tech N9ne (High Debut of the Week - With an Official Video)

09. 11.     Murder to Excellence - Jay Z and Kanye West

12. 10.    I Do - Young Jeezy Ft. Jay-Z, Andre 3000

11. 09.    Slave - Tech N9ne Ft. Krizz Kaliko, Kutt Kalhouny

05. 08.    Let's Roll -Yelawolf Ft. Kid Rock

08. 07.    Lightwork - Lupe Fiasco Ft. Ellie Goulding and Bassnectar

06. 06.    Ambition - Wale Ft. Rick Ross, Meek Mill

07. 05.    Mr. Nice Watch - J.Cole Ft. Jay-Z

02. 04.    Sweet - Common

04. 03.    Interlude - Lil Wayne, Ft. Tech N9ne, Andre 3000 

03. 02.    Headlines - Drake

01. 01.    Make My - The Roots Ft. Big K.R.I.T.

Odds and Ends:  Baseball's Winter Talks have started to heat up and the BIG winners early on are the Anaheim Angels, signing Albert Pujols to a 10 year deal, reportedly in the 250-260 million dollar range, also know as Jordan money or Arab money. Ludicrous dollars there. The Angels also signed former Rangers ace C.J. Wilson. The newly minted Miami Marlins are also making a splash, as expected, landing Jose Reyes, and Mark Beurhrle. Here's hoping  the Jays find a way to land Prince Fielder as J.P. Ricciardi has proven to be a skillful G.M. to this point - and the acquisition of closer Sergio Santos should prove to be a valuable piece as the Jays look to continue to improve as a ball club... Saw J. Edgar over the weekend with my father, though it was just fair. I realize it was a biopic so it's going to be less a story with an intriguing plot and more just a character piece, on that level I thought it was alright, but it dragged on at over 2 hours and was not all that entertaining, as far as I was concerned... Also had the chance to see Drive and it was awesome and well worth seeing, comes highly recommended. How was Kayne West's My Beautiful Twisted Fantasy not nominated for a record of the year award? One of the premiere albums of the year in my estimation, easy guy to hate sure, but you've got to respect what he's accomplished with this album.... Furthermore what the hell is the difference between "Song of the Year" and "Record of the Year"? Are those not virtually the exact same thing? And no it's not "like the difference between a song and an album?" Because there's already an Album of the Yer award for that....Screw the Grammy's. Albums dropping this week that are worth a peek are hmm Naughty by Nature's "Anthem, Inc." and Snoop and Wiz dropped another Stoner album but nothing to see here, go back to Tech N9ne's recent "Welcome to Strangeland"  or Drake's "Take Care". Next week we have Common's new "The Dreamer / The Believer" album and it sounds good so far.... in theatres this week we have "The Sitter" and Robert Downey's newest "Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows" film. Doesn't seem "Tinker, Tailor Solider Spy"is going to be making it our way, but who knows, hopefully the Dieppe Theatre opens again soon and our options are expanded. Have a good week folks!

Week 14 Picks, Blog to Come.

Been working on a blog all week and it's still not quite ready to post so I'll post these picks before it's too late, expect the rest of the blog tomorrow.

Picks of the Week: After going 3-0 with my picks last week (4-0 if you include the OVER bet I alluded to in my pick for Carolina over Tampa Bay)

New England over Washington - I'll lay the points with the Pats travelling to Washington this week. The Redskins aren't exactly a juggernaut at home and I'm betting the loss of one of their best pass catchers (Fred Davis) and their best offensive lineman means they won't find the points to keep pace with the Pats this week. Beyond that I hope Gronkowski carries DeAngelo Hall all the way down the field on his back. (NE -8)

Miami over Philadelphia - I'll gladly take the Fins at home to cover a spread of less than a field goal against the disappointing Eagles. Miami has been red hot of late and are still not getting the credit they deserve after starting out 0-7. The Eagles on the other hand continue to be over valued based on the players on the team rather than the teams performance. Of course I've rode the Eagles to losses week after week so go figure that they will likely pull off the 'upset' this week rather than theoretically being 'upset'.(Miami -3)

Denver over Chicago - Who are the 5 greatest quarterbacks of all time? Tebow, Tebow, Tebow, Tebow, and Tebow. Cause he spits hot fire, er, wins football games. (Den -3.5)

San Francisco over Arizona - I don't think Arizona is a terrible squad but I think San Fran is a truly elite defence and they continue to prove themselves as a safe bet, covering the spread week after week. I think Kevin Kolb gets exposed this week and the Cards have their answer as to whether we was worth all that money they sent his way this past off season. San Fran continues to take it to the teams it should beat and I expect them to cover this minuscule spread for a  10-2 vs a 4-7 squad. (SF -3.5)

Yeah that's 4 favourites, so what, ya wanna fight about it? Remember WWTD.

December Arrives, This Month at the Movies, NBA Rant and NFL Week 13 Picks!

Weeeeooo! Long live December! December my 3rd Favourite month of the Year. Just happy to be here after the last 30 days or so, what's it called again, ah yes, November, Movember, whatever, move along, make room for the holiday season.

November, what a drag, quite literally I mean, this month seems to have dragged on for months on end. A month which, for the better part, saw me abstain from all types of fun and folly. A month in which I decided just 10 days in, to embark on purifying my mind, body and soul. Since November 10th, I have been on an Isagenix Health cleanse, no alcohol, no caffeine, no sugar, no food or drink based socializing, and most of all no sex, er I mean, cuddling, and what's worse, I did this all voluntarily! (Well, everything except for the sex part.) Needless to say it's been a looong month. It's surprising to reflect on just how much of  a socializing staple food and drink are to our (my) way of life. Now I know you're going to say, something to the effect that you can have fun without drinking or eating, but I'm here to tell you that you can't. I've tried it, it's a no go. Cannot be done. Jokes aside, I'm glad to be 24 days in and I'll no doubt finish my final 6 days to come away a leaner, cleaner, slightly less poor, young-ish man. It's been a good experience, if not a bit of a lonely one at times. But I kid you not, so many of the social things I do, whether it be going out to eat with friends, having a beer and enjoying a basket of wings, or my habitual drinks on a Friday or Saturday night. It seems all fun  involves food or drink in some capacity. So without them, November was very much lost on me.

But there is a light at the end of the tunnel, many, many bright lights, with an array of different colours, for December and it's holiday cheer have finally arrived. Jolly old December, my 3rd favourite month of year, right behind July and August. December is chalk full of all kind of great fun. You have the NFL shaping up quite nicely, the it's NCAA college bowl game season, the NBA is going to feature 3 weeks of  free agent mayhem punctuated by the start to the season just in time to celebrate Jesus' birthday on the 25th of December. Which incidentally is also international gift giving day. Friends, family, food and Hanukkah, it's going to be great. Come on in December, stay awhile.    
In my last blog I railed into Empire Theatres for providing us with a bunch of shitty family films for much of October and November. Maybe it wasn't all completely deserved (maybe it was?) regardless there should be no excuse in December as there appear to be plenty of quality films to see this month. Some blockbusters and some films that will get some Oscar attention on into January. So head out there buy someone some theatre gift cards as stocking stuffers and then use them for yourself and go see some of these flicks this month. See ya there. Here's a few of the films you might catch me at:

Michael Fassbender (X-Men, Inglorious Basterds) continues to dominate the film scene in 2011 "Shame" hits theatres Dec. 2nd. Not holding out much hope that we'll get to see it here, but maybe.

A film adaptation of John le Carre's timeless spy mystery, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy hits theatres on the 9th of December and if the film rivals the books entertainment value for me that will be saying something.

Many are greatly anticipating acclaimed director David Fincher's adaptation of Steig Larsen's worldwide best seller, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.This is the first instalment of the 3 part Millenium Series trilogy. Whether there will be future films may depend on how this film turns out. This should be dark - and if Fincher has shown us anything from his past catalogue, (Se7en, Fight Club, Zodiac) it's that he can do dark.  Loved all the books and can't wait for this one to see this one come to life on film.

We also have the annual holiday blockbusters in the presence of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows and the animated classic The Adventures of Tin Tin: Secret of the Unicorn. Of the three, I'm most excited for Tin Tin. How I can include Sherlock Holmes in light of the fact I have yet to see the first instalment, I know not.

And we'll throw in Johan Hill's new comedy "The Sitter" for a few laughs to counter all the drama and action above and there's plenty to smile and get excited about when we head to the theatres this month. Hopefully Crystal Palace gets there renos completed and we have a whole new environment to enjoy all this entertainment in. 

I'm probably missing another couple of Oscar contenders and other good comedies. And of course there is also the star studded cast of  the New Year's film spectacle titled, "New Years Eve". It would be easier if I listed the stars not present in this film rather than list all of the celebrities that are. How that will work out, I will likely never know. I'm okay with that.

And now time for my NBA rant, who's to blame and why the NBA lock out pissed me off! Here we go. For the most part this whole lockout, all the reports, all the shit talking and posturing amounts to a whole heaping load of BFD. Big Fucking Deal. I think it has been stupid, selfish and about another 30 odd synonyms in the same vein as silly. The whole process has been handled poorly on both sides from the get go. NBA players were and still are, highly overpaid - so get over yourselves. You make an absurd amount of money to play a sport and were on the verge of shutting a season down based on the difference between making 5.2 and 4.9 million dollars in a season. Ridiculous. So you piss me off, and I blame you that we got into this mess from the beginning.

The NBA owners decided the current system wasn't working and they wanted to see it changed. They decided that the players were being over paid at the current BRI scale (players getting 57 percent) and wanted to see that number go down to what they felt was a more reasonable number of 50 percent . I think that's pretty fair. The current economy called for the owners to re-assess how they could make their business profitable again and this is what they came up with. It's their league and it is BIG business here, so I'm okay with that. Business was doing better in '99 when they came up with the old system and with the downswing in the economy in general, coupled with the growing trend of people wanting to watch the game of basketball at home on their high definition big screen televisions, rather than jamming into the nose bleed sections of huge stadiums may have something to do with that. They decided the players value was slightly below what is was last time around (1999) and leverage was in their favour. It's like Bill Simmons has alluded to in his columns regarding the issue, "you're not paying Tom Cruise the same amount for Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (MI: 4) that you paid him for Mission Impossible 1 or 2, you're just not. He's not as valuable as he may have been 10-12 years ago." And in this case the leverage lay in the hands of the owners. The thing that pissed me off about the whole thing was the owners arrogance and obstinacy throughout the whole ordeal. The owners had the leverage and used that to drill home the point that if they lost a season - no big deal. After all, the owners aren't going anywhere, you can own a team for years, sure they'll lose a little this year but over time they can make it back. Players on the other hand, only have the here and now to make their money. They don't have years and years to make back anything they lose this season.
 
Both sides approached the lockout with arrogance, somehow deluding their sides into thinking the could exist on their own. The players thinking they could find suitors worldwide, (but who wants to travel all over the globe for a pay cut when if they could just take a slight pay cut and get back to playing right here at home?) or simply create their own league, (without stadiums or TV deals from major networks? What are you guys thinking? ) or perhaps a superstar tour. (Sure that likely would have made dollars but only for a small percentage of the elite, leaving the vast majority to join Delonte West at Home Depot. ) The owners had the leverage and bullied the players throughout this ordeal, which pitted the players against the owners, owners against players; rather than accepting the fact that the two are far better off when they work together. In the end it took the players deciding to take the matter to court by de-certifying that finally gave the situation any urgency and got us to the point we're at today - or did the NBA reveal it's true breaking point, losing the Christmas Day games?

Either way the whole thing amounts to big fuckin' deal because we ended up where we should have ended up months ago. Big fuckin' deal because I realized as much as I love basketball, I don't really care about it thaaat much in November and December.  Not when I can get my fill of NFL football, college football, early NCAA, NHL Hockey, what I mean to say is there is still plenty of distractions out there in the early months and it's just not that important to me to see the season drag it's way through the first couple months of the season. 82 games in a season is a long season. Hmm 66 games seems about right, so maybe the season should always start on Christmas day? So again I say, we lost November and December, but big fuckin deal, the madness of the next 3 weeks should provided enough excitement to more than make up for it. The lockout pissed me off because I foolishly got drawn into caring about it more than the owners or the players seemed to. And then in the end we arrived at a place where we would have if we'd approached this situation with any urgency months ago. So that's my rant, I blame both sides and their me first approach but in the end, who cares we're gonna get our season and not a whole lot has changed in that regard. And that's the last I'll speak on the past and the NBA lockout, it's time to get excited about what's lies in store for the future. In my next blog, I'll break down the new deal and I'll also take a look at a couple of things that have me most excited for the coming season.    

My NFL Week 13 Picks of the week. If these teams don't win I'll be broker than I already am.

Denver over Minnesota - All aboard the Tebow train. After starting the week as 1 point dogs it appears the public has finally come to their sense and are finally backing the Jesus freak. Tebow and the Broncos have won 3 straight and the 4 of 5 since he became the starter after a 1-4 start shelved Kyle Orton. The defense has picked up in the last couple weeks and Tebow has the Broncos believing again. I'm a believer that the good times will continue this week against the hapless Vikings, who will likely be without all world running back Adrian Peterson again this week.  I think Denver continues to pound the rock and take care of it, waiting for rookie QB Christian Ponder to make a mistake a give the Broncos the edge they need.
(Denver -1)

Carolina over Tampa Bay - Maybe the OVER is the better play here with two swiss cheese like defences squaring off. Both teams have huge holes on defence but I give the edge to the panthers who seem to have more play makers on the offensive side of the ball with dynamic rookie quarterback Cam Newton and his favourite target Steve Smith. It appears Tampa QB josh Freeman will be out this week, thrusting John Johnson into his first start of the season. I'll take the Panthers who will likely be more organized offence and will likely utilize a deeper playbook than the Bucs with the back-up QB thrust into action.(Carolina +2.5)

Jets over Redskins - Rex Grossman cannot play 3 good games in a row. It's just not in his make up. Atleast not as far as I'm concerned, and that is all the analysis I need. Beyond that, the Jets need this one to keep pace with a guaranteed victory by the Pats over the Colts. Last week was a tough inner-division tilt with the Bills but I think credit is due to the Bills who played a hard game, I think this week the Jets have their way this week. Hunch maybe, or just the anti Grossman factor. After all thre can only be one Sexy Rexy, and I prefer mine to fill out a sweater vest.
(NYJ -3)

The Return of the Blog, Answers to my own questions, and a new Hip Hop 2.0!

Ahem, it is with slight regret that I come clean and confess to months of distraction, procrastination and general otherworldly pursuits. This has led to a lengthy dry spell for the blog, limiting, er, severing rather my entries entirely since the dwindling days of summer. I had scratched together a rough draft for posting at the end of summer but even that seems irrelevant some 3 months later, so back to the drawing board as they say. How could I have left my corner of cyber-space and it's loyal reading public without a report on how my summer progressed, or lulled for that matter. Far be it for me to have denied them my up-to-date reports on what's next in the world of hip hop, however nostalgic, biased and uninformed they may be. Pas de insight into the mindless nuclear winter the NBA and it's players had depressed into, delaying and ultimately putting the start of the 2011-2012 season. in jeopardy. Ludicrous. Zero response on my behalf, equally ludicrous. Not even a taste of what was to be, and has come to pass within the NFL - something I follow with a near dogmatic indoctrination. (At least from a  gambler's perspective.) Instead, nothing, nada, zilch.

It is in this regard that I've failed the readers, but guess who's back, at least for now. My abrupt departure should not come as much of a surprise, at least it doesn't to me. "Why?" you say? I've drawn this unlikely parallel.  I like writing. I like blogging. And like many other things I like (re: girls) it ended with out provocation or warning. My blog followed a similar path as do many of my relationships. A passionate and ambitious, if not overly amorous, beginning, a keen desire for acceptance and understanding. Once it became comfortable it was followed by an inevitable and eventual case of  "Swayzing" (See: Film, Ghost )(RIP Sir) on my part. As Elliott Smith (Again, RIP) once sang "I'm a junkyard full of false starts". That said in an effort to buck the tread I'm bringing the blog back. Just gonna try and keep the passion going and make it happen. No promises or proposals as far as entries limits or expectations, I'm just going to try and devote my energies to writing and I remain hopeful that keeps all of you reading. Assuming you are still out there and up for a second go around - blog readers that is, sorry babes.

So where do I pick this up. I can't very well just pick up from where I left off as that leaves me buried in months of news, sport, as well as film and album releases. That said I'll try and do a bit of back tracking on a few of the issues most prevalent to me over the past few months. To the Delorean we go. I'm proposing I ask a series of questions that would have plagued me back in August, only now I'm blessed with a comfortable seat in the quarterbacks Monday morning armchair with my 20/20 hindsight vision googles feeding me the facts in full effect. None the less keep a keen eye, I may still screw this up. Let's tackle and respond to some of the intriguing questions of that at the time that I feel still hold some semblance of importance at this point in time, it being only a short few months later. So without further ado here comes a visit from the ghost of blogger's past.

To the questions!

"Will the 2011-2012 NBA season start on time?"

Much like I anticipated then, (an easy thing to assert using my powerful system of knowledge of times already passed) I can assuredly report that the NBA will not see a tip off on October the 30th, as originally planned. I've you've followed the blog at all to this point, (a tortuously depriving experience, I know - you poor soul - get a hobby.)  you know that I eat, sleep and breathe basketball, and have done so since my days of using my right hand on the left side. (Wait, I still do that - cue the opposing coach's unflattering but ultimately strategic chide of "force him left, he only wants to go right!" Damn you opposing coach. Damn you.) Clearly the answer to this question could be seen miles away. Players representative Billy Hunter has claimed in numerous interviews, he "knew this day was coming", and the NBA owners have openly used, "we don't care if there is no season, we want to change the current system." as their point of leverage all along.  What infuriates me is that if the players rep knew this since way back when - why didn't they decertify the union way back on July 1st so they could get the sense of urgency underway. Or even August 1st or September 1st, once they had established that "negotiations in good faith" were going to be fruitless. 

Now I had written a bunch more on this subject on Friday November 25 when I originally began writing this whole blog and at that time I used my crystal ball of things seen to try and prognosticate what would happen in my crystal ball of things unseen, which was considerably far snowier. At that time I believe I concluded that we had all become much more familiar with the college players of the day, because that was the only meaningful round ball we were going to see this winter. And as is the case with most things unseen, I have no idea what's going on. And as the crystal ball of the future of the NBA became less of an unseen and more of a "oooh, ah, ok, very good." I am happy to report that in less than 24 hours, I vehemently deny and rebuke my initial prophetic statements,  to bring you the exciting news that the NBA will play a 65 game season and that the season will begin with a triple header on December 25th. Merry Christmas everyone. So instead of doing a report in my next blog chronicling the path the NBA took to it's own destruction, I plan on dosing out a little slice of "why this lock out and everyone involved pissed me off" along with a side of "why I will still love the NBA and will watch it this winter". Kind of a door/window thing there. But to answer the initial question, no you will not be able to watch the NBA and enjoy your Halloween treats at the same time, unless you are enjoying Halloween treats you stocked up on after the fact at a major discount. A classic 'cake and eat it too' instance, congrats.   

Next up:

Will J.Cole's debut album "Cole World: The Sideline Story " sufficiently blow my mind?

Let's start with the disclaimer that my mind was at all time weak stage after having been sufficiently blown by season 4 of Breaking Bad, but that's a story for another day. Couple that with how low I think the current state of hip hop has lowered the bar, an I may be more easily impressed. That would certainly be the case if ancient relics the compact disc didn't still exist from my youth. As far as mind blowing debut albums let's set the bar at 4.5-5 out of 5. Numerical values set let's compare some mind blowing solo debuts of the past, it's gotta be on par with greats like Nas' "Illmatic", Jay Z's "Reasonable Doubt", Rae's "Only Built for Cuban Linx", Kanye's "College Dropout"', Snoop's Doggystyle and the list goes on and on from there.... but the fact remains all of these album's were game changers, I was looking for the same thing from J.Cole in 2011. 

One thing that I think has shifted our perspective of how we rate debut albums is the current mix tape movement that didn't exist during the era of the albums I mentioned above. Because of this I feel J.Cole's debut is a bit different, this isn't the first we've heard of J.Cole, Cole has been around for a couple years now, hence the subtitle, "The Sideline Story". To take the influence of the mixtape and our mass-media-open-source-viral-video-you-tube-crazed-world further, I'd already heard plenty of the tracks on this album before the actual album dropped Sept.27th. The mix tape is now used as your entry point into the rap game.To me, this kind of takes away some of the novelty, atleast from the concept of an album as a whole, where in the past it's like a scavenger hunt and you're sifting through the album looking for the buried treasure of singles. We don't have the same type of "OMG! Have you heard this new cat Eminem's album? This guy is bonkers!" In the case of Nas and even Kanye West, we had heard them in limited cameo roles and anticipated their albums but we still didn't have an in-depth idea of what sort of flow and content they we're going to bring, I felt I did with J.Cole. Are mix tapes ruining albums, IMO I think in a way they are, because there is now so much crap to get through to find the good stuff, and on top of that, the goal is no longer to construct a 5 star album but instead to create a media sensation and a 5 star single - which will in turn either sell millions individually on itunes or lead listeners to buy the album solely for that song. But again, story for a different day. So all of my former diatribe aside - I'd say the J.Cole effort is deserving of 4 star praise, slightly below "mind blowing" and in the realm of "sensory popping". 

I really liked the album, I think it's consistent from start to finish. Looking back over October and November I can say the album has had consistent rotations in my apartment and I rarely jump around from track to track, often preferring to let it run from start to finish. Two of the tests for a great album in my perspective are: a) Can you play the album from start to finish without feeling bloated by what I call "filler", b) Am I still looking to listen to the album 3 months and on after its release. While it's only been 2 months so far I can say that I will continue to listen to the album moving forward.

So to this point I've written plenty, but I haven't actually talked about the album itself. Cole's album's concept tells the story of how he has gotten off the sidelines and become a major 'player' in the game. (See what I did there) Through a series of weaving intro, interludes and skits we are given the story of how Cole got signed by Jigga and how ultimately the album and the artist came to be. The album starts out strong with an updated version of "Dollar and a Dream II". "Lights Please" is an enjoyable track, though I had heard it some 6 or 8 months before the albums release, on some mixtape somewhere. Jay-Z shows up on "Mr. Nice Watch" and helps out his new label mate, though I'd hesitate to say he outshines Cole here, the track is quite catchy, even if the hook doesn't say a whole lot. The next song "Cole World" sees J. go in over a great beat. Cole handles a lot of the production on the album so major kudos to him for that. "Lost Ones" sees Cole tackle a more serious topic in what I feel is a modern day take on Tupac's classic "Brenda's Got A Baby". Missy Elliott pops out from whatever rock she's been living under (in Missy's case it must be a rather large boulder) on "Nobody's Perfect" which is a good, lighthearted follow up to the heavier subject matter on "Lost Ones". The album is a bit top heavy with it's highlights but is still a strong lyrical effort throughout before finishing with the pre-released single "Work Out". If you got the deluxe version you'll enjoy "Nothing Lasts Forever" and lastly a much older track "Who Dat", which is a question listeners may have had when they heard it the first time but by now many of us know about the flow that is J.Cole.  Would have liked to see them throw in a couple of the other singles that helped build his buzz like "Return of Simba" or "How High" over the past couple months int he deluxe edition but no such luck. 4 stars out of 5 is nothing to sneeze at so if you haven't given the album a listen yet, I highly recommend you do, it just may blow your mind.

And if you missed the BET Awards, hopefully you didn't miss the cyphers: Here's my favourite.

On to the next one...

Will anyone be able to stop Mike Vick and his "Dream Team" Philadelphia Eagles with all of their big off-season acquisitions? Ha! Taking a page out of the Miami Heat's book the Philadelphia Eagles had a monster off-season. Acquiring "shutdown" corner back Nmandi Asomugha, d-end Jason Babin, corner Dominic Rodgers-Cromartie and former Tennessee starter turned Vick back-up Vince Young. Also like the Miami Heat before them, the Eagles celebrated their off-season as if that is where the Superbowl is won and not at the end of a long gruelling NFL season. At 4-6 trying to recover their season from an irrelevant abyss heading in week 12 of the NFL season, the team once coined by Young as "the dream team" (for the record, there has and will only ever be one) has been an absolute nightmare. Vick has been under fire all season leading him to miss time at multiple spots this season; putting a smile on the face of all those who claimed he didn't have the durability to be relied upon as a fantasy no.1 overall pick. DeSean Jackson has let contractual issues result in him behaving like a petulant child on and off the field throughout the season. Sooking his way to a shitty season. Nmandi has hardly been the cover corner corner he was billed as, but that may be more the fault of the Eagles who have used him in a much different sort of defensive role than the Raiders had used him in the past. All the way around the season has been a disappointment for Philadelphia fans, a strong reminder that the football is the ultimate team game. Chemistry and ultimately execution are developed on the field through hard work, not merely through signatures on paper in the off season. The Eagles may pull it together moving forward but 2011-2012 will not be the season of the Eagle.    

Some of the other surprises over the past couple months have been, the Cards pulling off a World Series calibre turn around to their season, can't mention that with the surprising collapse of the Red Sox that led to a full upheaval of another squad seemingly anointed for greatness. I've found the lack of quality films in the theatre(s) (Only Trinity with Crystal Palace out of the equation.) to be less surprising that frustrating. Maybe there's no good films out there, maybe they've been waiting for Oscar season to release them. But it seems to me we didn't get J.Edgar, we didn't get The Descendents, where is Driver? I would have liked Moneyball to stick around an extra week as I didn't get to it, instead we get Hugo, Arthur Christmas, Happy Feet 2, Jack and Jill, Puss in Boots? Is this some sort of joke?  Anyway the movies have sucked, and I didn't know where else to get this in.

Lastly, something I would have questioned back in August and still have some doubts about is... what would a new version of my Hip Hop 2.0 look like? With so many new albums released between my last top 20 and today. (J. Cole, Drake's "Take Care", Jigga an Ye's "Watch the Throne", Wale's "Ambition", Game's "Red Album" and Luda dropped a solid mixtape as well.) So much music in there to select from, not to mention the countless singles and mixtape tracks that have been released so I've spent the day sifting through and compiling some kind of list. So here goes a whole new top 20 from scratch.

20. The Resurrection of Hip Hop - Lyn Charles Ft. Big K.R.I.T.

19. Here Ye, Here Ye - T.I. Ft. Pharell

18. Underground Kings - Drake

17. Say It To My Face - Ludacris Ft. Meek Mill

16. 5 on the Kush - B.O.B. Ft. Big K.R.I.T., Bun B

15. Cole World - J. Cole

14. It's A Tower Heist - Nas Ft. Rick Ross

13. The Noose -Tech N9ne Ft. Mayda

12. I Do - Young Jeezy Ft. Jay-Z, Andre 3000

11. Slave - Tech N9ne Ft. Krizz Kaliko, Kutt Kalhouny

10. Toast to the Dead - Immortal Technique

09. Murder to Excellence - Jay Z and Kanye West

08. Lightwork - Lupe Fiasco Ft. Ellie Goulding and Bassnectar

07. Mr. Nice Watch - J.Cole Ft. Jay-Z

06. Ambition - Wale Ft. Rick Ross, Meek Mill

05. Let's Roll -Yelawolf Ft. Kid Rock

04. Interlude - Lil Wayne, Ft. Tech N9ne, Andre 3000 (Ironically my only entry from Weezy's Carter Album, and he's not even actually on the track.

03. Sweet - Common

02. Headlines - Drake

01. Make My - The Roots Ft. Big K.R.I.T. (I said this songs belongs at the top of a list the first time I heard it, here it is, top of the list.)

That's it for now folks, I made it to the end. P.

JBudd