Thursday, February 10, 2011
Song Of The Day- Dan Auerback- My Last Mistake
This is a gem off of Dan Auerbach's (Black Keys) solo effort Keep It Hid.
Defensive Line Help
With Rob Ryan now in the fold, taking over a defense in disarray, we have to start wondering what free agents are going to come in and help fill the holes in this porous defense. One big hole filler could be DT Shaun Rodgers. He played under Ryan with the Browns and despite his age (31) and his susceptibility to injuries, he could be a cheap and effective remedy for the defensive line. The 3-4 requires a huge run stuffer to clog up the middle that allows the linebackers to make plays. When healthy, Rodgers is one of the best in the biz at doing this. This would also allow the under-sized Jay Ratliff to move to defensive end and be a more effective pass rusher.
The Cowboys defensive line is one of their red areas. It needs a serious kick in the ass and I think it's worth rolling the dice on someone like Shaun Rodgers. As long as the price isn't too high it makes more sense to fill this defensive hole via free agency. Unless they take a defensive lineman high in the draft, I'd rather have a proven commodity helping the defense than a potential 5th round swing and miss.
The Cowboys defensive line is one of their red areas. It needs a serious kick in the ass and I think it's worth rolling the dice on someone like Shaun Rodgers. As long as the price isn't too high it makes more sense to fill this defensive hole via free agency. Unless they take a defensive lineman high in the draft, I'd rather have a proven commodity helping the defense than a potential 5th round swing and miss.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Melo-Price?
If you ask most New Yorkers...they would say, without pause, yes. Then they would wonder who the Knicks would have to give up to get him. Every day that passes now, it seems as if the price for Carmelo is going down as the Denver Nuggets try to salvage anything from this potential deal. Deep down they know Melo will never re-sign with them. Everyone knows he wants to be in NY but now LA has jumped into the mix and I'm sure Melo is fantasizing about life in Los Angeles with Kobe Denver
I wouldn't mind if the Knicks sat back and waited until the off-season to sign Carmelo. It will save the Knicks money and some of their prized players that they may have to give up if a trade does go through. I would be stunned if, as a free-agent, Melo doesn't come sprinting to NY. If we do end up trading for him, hopefully it's at a minimum cost. Get Curry's fat ass out of here, give them the pick and Wilson Chandler too. That would be perfect for the Knicks.Chandler
What I don't want is to have to give up Landry Fields and Gallinari. After years of not having picks or drafting players barely worthy of the D-League (i.e. Michael Sweetney) the Knicks have finally gotten two draft picks right. Landry Fields is one of the greatest hustlers in the game. He brings a tenacity that has come to define these revitalized Knicks. He is the type of role player that every great championship team has.
I'm not keen on trading Galo either. I know people have a bias against European players, and Galo comes across asSesame Street goofy but he is going to be a down right star. The casual viewer may laugh at this prediction but if you watch, when the Knicks go to Galo (which too often they get away from doing) he can be at times un-guardable. He is an excellent (though sometimes streaky) shooter but he also has an unorthodox but effective way of putting the ball on the floor and finding the rim. It took Nowitzki a few years to truly blossom and I think we are seeing the Galo pedals unfold right before our eyes. He is also a very underrated defender. He leads the leagues in charges taken and consistently does a decent job on the opponents best player, night in and night out.
So I am all for Melo coming to the Garden, but I do not want the Knicks brass to brake up this already talented team. If anything, the Knicks need some bruisers who can help them out defensively. The only defense that Carmelo is known for is Matador D. I am always for bringing in a special talent and offensively Carmelo is as special as they get but I don't think he is as necessary as everyone thinks. This team is still growing and with a few more pieces they can be a contender with or without Melo. I will cheer just as loudly for him as every other Knicks fan if he comes to the Garden but I would hate to see the Knicks give away two of their most talented in the process.
I wouldn't mind if the Knicks sat back and waited until the off-season to sign Carmelo. It will save the Knicks money and some of their prized players that they may have to give up if a trade does go through. I would be stunned if, as a free-agent, Melo doesn't come sprinting to NY. If we do end up trading for him, hopefully it's at a minimum cost. Get Curry's fat ass out of here, give them the pick and Wilson Chandler too. That would be perfect for the Knicks.
What I don't want is to have to give up Landry Fields and Gallinari. After years of not having picks or drafting players barely worthy of the D-League (i.e. Michael Sweetney) the Knicks have finally gotten two draft picks right. Landry Fields is one of the greatest hustlers in the game. He brings a tenacity that has come to define these revitalized Knicks. He is the type of role player that every great championship team has.
I'm not keen on trading Galo either. I know people have a bias against European players, and Galo comes across as
So I am all for Melo coming to the Garden, but I do not want the Knicks brass to brake up this already talented team. If anything, the Knicks need some bruisers who can help them out defensively. The only defense that Carmelo is known for is Matador D. I am always for bringing in a special talent and offensively Carmelo is as special as they get but I don't think he is as necessary as everyone thinks. This team is still growing and with a few more pieces they can be a contender with or without Melo. I will cheer just as loudly for him as every other Knicks fan if he comes to the Garden but I would hate to see the Knicks give away two of their most talented in the process.
Song Of The Day
Since it's the off-season and my blogs about the incompetancy of the Mets will get redundant after about a week of spring training I thought I'd throw a curveball into this floundering blog and put some tunes on your face. My disclaimer is that I am much more of a rock guy than a Rap/Hip-Hop guy but I can bring some of that too and if I can't I'll get at J-Tunes for the beats. Also, These songs of the day are not necessarily new. Some may be old songs that you haven't heard in awhile or bands you might not have heard of. Or they could just be classic songs that I can't stop listening to no matter how many times I've heard them...
Today I have two...
Temple of the Dog-"Say Hello To Heaven" off of Temple of the Dog. This masterpiece from Chris Cornell's early 90's side project showcases one of rocks greatest voices.
Today I have two...
Temple of the Dog-"Say Hello To Heaven" off of Temple of the Dog. This masterpiece from Chris Cornell's early 90's side project showcases one of rocks greatest voices.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
KW Dallas Cowboys Blog: Steelers/ Packers game
KW Dallas Cowboys Blog: Steelers/ Packers game: "All the NFL analysts can breathe a deep sigh of relief. They won't have to scramble around for adjectives like tough, gritty, big, large, ra..."
Steelers/ Packers game
All the NFL analysts can breathe a deep sigh of relief. They won't have to scramble around for adjectives like tough, gritty, big, large, rapist...no wait... well you know what I mean. All of those words they use to describe Big Ben's game. Basically they are all afraid to say that Big Ben is an overrated quarterback who is helped out by the fact that he happens to have a first class seat on the Dynasty airline that is the Pittsburgh Steelers. Seriously, without the best defense of the past decade we are never discussing Big Ben and the Super Bowl, let alone the Hall of Fame. Now that he has mailed in 2 poor performances in his 3 Super Bowl appearances, the NFL pundits won't have to worry about justifying Ben Rapelisberger's worthiness of the Hall.
What this game has proven is that it really does not matter where you finish in the NFL at the end of the season. No matter your ranking, if you’re hot at the right time you are unstoppable. The Packers defense came together at the right time this year and Aaron Rodgers elevated his play to levels we have only seen with legends. Brett Favre must have been steaming hot mad down there inMississippi Green Bay
The game went somewhat as expected. In the end it was close and the Steelers, ever resilient, almost pulled off a great come back. It's so cliché but turn-over’s are really the cards that do the tricks. You can't win games when you're giving the other team the ball. Ben Roethlisberger threw 2 picks...one was downright abominable and Big Ben paid for his terrible throw by having it taken back to the house.
Mendenhall rushed very well for the Steelers, scoring on a nice touchdown run, but he coughed it up when it mattered the most. Defensive POY snub Clay Matthews buried him and stripped the ball late in the game, during a pivotal Steelers drive. The actual POY award winner, Troy Polamalu, was terrible the entire game. The only time we ever saw him was when he was getting his cookies baked by Greg Jennings in the corner of the end zone.
I think what we can ultimately take from this game is that A: Big Ben is terribly over rated. (Actually people just pretend he's a really good quarterback because he wins...but remember it’s a team sport.) and B: Aaron Rodgers is well on his way to being the cream of the league in terms of quarterbacking. He dismantled the best defense in the league with ease. He made 4th receiver Jordi Nelson look like an All-Pro against the Steelers. The Pack is young and next year you will most definitely see the championship belt being rocked in the end zone on a regular basis.
What this game has proven is that it really does not matter where you finish in the NFL at the end of the season. No matter your ranking, if you’re hot at the right time you are unstoppable. The Packers defense came together at the right time this year and Aaron Rodgers elevated his play to levels we have only seen with legends. Brett Favre must have been steaming hot mad down there in
The game went somewhat as expected. In the end it was close and the Steelers, ever resilient, almost pulled off a great come back. It's so cliché but turn-over’s are really the cards that do the tricks. You can't win games when you're giving the other team the ball. Ben Roethlisberger threw 2 picks...one was downright abominable and Big Ben paid for his terrible throw by having it taken back to the house.
Mendenhall rushed very well for the Steelers, scoring on a nice touchdown run, but he coughed it up when it mattered the most. Defensive POY snub Clay Matthews buried him and stripped the ball late in the game, during a pivotal Steelers drive. The actual POY award winner, Troy Polamalu, was terrible the entire game. The only time we ever saw him was when he was getting his cookies baked by Greg Jennings in the corner of the end zone.
I think what we can ultimately take from this game is that A: Big Ben is terribly over rated. (Actually people just pretend he's a really good quarterback because he wins...but remember it’s a team sport.) and B: Aaron Rodgers is well on his way to being the cream of the league in terms of quarterbacking. He dismantled the best defense in the league with ease. He made 4th receiver Jordi Nelson look like an All-Pro against the Steelers. The Pack is young and next year you will most definitely see the championship belt being rocked in the end zone on a regular basis.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Super Bowl 45: What were you thinking?
If we put the game aside, this Super Bowl was an absolute television nightmare. Christina Aguilera should probably never show her face again anywhere. How do you forget the words to the National Anthem? It's only sung before every sporting event and apparently Aguilera has been singing it since she was 7. Way to blow it in front of your biggest audience ever. Her response to her dive-bomb performance was that she hopes everyone understands how much she loves this country. Way to show it by pissing all over our flag last night.
The half-time show was a complete disgrace. The Super Bowl has a long history of botching the half-time show so this should not come as a surprise. The whole Janet Jackson boob debacle led the NFL to veer away from the "MTV generation half-time show" and started booking old time acts such as Tom Petty and the Rolling Stones. Last year, however, The Who put the stadium to sleep (The Who are great but not for a half-time show...We don't need the whole Tommy Medley to pump us up) so the NFL decided to get back into the Billboard top 200.
The Black Eyed Peas were down right terrible. Fergie looked like she was trying to get into the game with her shoulder pads. The blinking lights on their costumes couldn't over power their hollow songs that don't sound nearly as good live as they do in the club. Fergie should have at least worn something closer to nothing to make the show better. Also...if you need to bring on Slash and Usher to play their songs....your just embarrassing yourself. I was certain that Slash died of a drug overdose years ago and that it was really Troy Polamau coming up from the depths of hell last night. I could be wrong though. Also, I don't know who was in charge of the production but maybe they should try to have mics that work. Epic failure...but that's American pop culture. Every teenager and all the other muppets in the country probably loved it.
Finally, the week could not have gone any worse for the city of Dallas. Over 400 people who had tickets to the game could not even get in to watch the game because the seats they had bought were not built in time for the Super Bowl. Really? The NFL can't get these seats built in time for the game...they've known about this game for a long time now. Now they are forced to give away free tickets and other free shit to all these pissed off people in the name of saving face. The weather was a disaster all week and Dallas was inept at dealing with any of the forces of nature. Perhaps if they had turned on the weather channel ahead of time they could have rented a few snow plows and gotten a few bags of salt for the biggest week in the city's history. I don't think Jerry World is going to get a Super Bowl again anytime soon.
The half-time show was a complete disgrace. The Super Bowl has a long history of botching the half-time show so this should not come as a surprise. The whole Janet Jackson boob debacle led the NFL to veer away from the "MTV generation half-time show" and started booking old time acts such as Tom Petty and the Rolling Stones. Last year, however, The Who put the stadium to sleep (The Who are great but not for a half-time show...We don't need the whole Tommy Medley to pump us up) so the NFL decided to get back into the Billboard top 200.
The Black Eyed Peas were down right terrible. Fergie looked like she was trying to get into the game with her shoulder pads. The blinking lights on their costumes couldn't over power their hollow songs that don't sound nearly as good live as they do in the club. Fergie should have at least worn something closer to nothing to make the show better. Also...if you need to bring on Slash and Usher to play their songs....your just embarrassing yourself. I was certain that Slash died of a drug overdose years ago and that it was really Troy Polamau coming up from the depths of hell last night. I could be wrong though. Also, I don't know who was in charge of the production but maybe they should try to have mics that work. Epic failure...but that's American pop culture. Every teenager and all the other muppets in the country probably loved it.
Finally, the week could not have gone any worse for the city of Dallas. Over 400 people who had tickets to the game could not even get in to watch the game because the seats they had bought were not built in time for the Super Bowl. Really? The NFL can't get these seats built in time for the game...they've known about this game for a long time now. Now they are forced to give away free tickets and other free shit to all these pissed off people in the name of saving face. The weather was a disaster all week and Dallas was inept at dealing with any of the forces of nature. Perhaps if they had turned on the weather channel ahead of time they could have rented a few snow plows and gotten a few bags of salt for the biggest week in the city's history. I don't think Jerry World is going to get a Super Bowl again anytime soon.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Epic Super Bowl Match-Up
Awesome....right on the Cowboys face. They had high expectations...they sucked. The Super Bowl is in their stadium...Two of their historic rivals are playing in it. Oh, and out of nowhere, the sky opened up in the Dallas Fort Worth area and shit ice and snow all over the place. Good thing Texas has snow plows. Wait. It hasn't been the greatest showing of talent in any phase this year by the franchise out of Dallas.
As for the game...I can guarantee we will not have a yawner this year. These two teams are phenomenal and present an interesting match-up. Both teams have looked brilliant and awful at various times this year. Aaron Rodgers rocks the heavy-weight title belt every time he conquers the end zone and Ben Roethlisberger takes off girls belts and them rocks them. In the bathroom. Either way, this is a very intriguing match up in every phase of the game, starting with the two men under center.
Aaron Rodgers has put on a post season performance that we haven't seen since Montana laced up his Shape-Up's and pitched bulls-eye darts in the late 80's. Rodgers can put the ball wherever he wants it and when he gets into trouble he causes mayhem with his legs. He does, however, get a little shaky if he gets hit hard, which I'm sure James Harrison is looking into. On the other side, Roethlisberger is forcing everyone to whisper "Hall of Fame" as he goes for this 3rd Super Bowl ring. It's a compelling argument. He would have as many as Brady and Aikman and 2 more than Manning and Favre. His game is ugly, which he has acknowledged. At times it almost seems that he is trying to give the game away, but then he escapes from impossible situations and excretes game-winning drives out of seemingly nowhere. Both will be trying to host up that Lombardi trophy and say "On Your Face" to all their haters after the game. Rodgers specifically to Favre and Roethlisberger to any girl who may have said "no." And I guess to his critics.
I think what will be really interesting is the defensive chess match between Dom Capers and Hall of Famer Dick Lebeau. Both defenses are stellar and full of studs. Pittsburgh has 2 defensive POY's in Troy Polamalu (2010) and James Harrison (2008). They are two of the most feared players in the league and I can't how many times we've seen them completely dictate a game. Harrison's TD interception against the Cardinals 2 years ago is one of the most amazing plays in SB history. The Pittsburgh defense is relentless and has a myriad of looks and blitz packages. They are the 3rd most stout run defense in NFL history. Still, the Packers can't run any ways and if there is a QB equipped to deal with this type of defense, it is Aaron Rodgers.
The Packers defense has been dealing with injuries all season but have finally come together and can be equally as intimidating as the Steelers. With all due respect to Polamalu, Clay Matthews was robbed of POY award. He is an athletic freak who finds ways to make game-changing plays on a consistent basis. Their secondary is one of if not the best overall in the league and they are also very good against the run. It will be interesting to see how much damage Mendenhall will do against Rajii, Hawk and co. That could be an important factor in the game. We know Roethlisberger will make plays with his feet and arms but if he is asked to do too much, we will see the Packers defense start feeding like rabid dogs.
I believe that it will come down to Mendenhall's ability to run and Green Bay's pass protection. Which ever one of these grades out higher will probably determine the winner of the game. In the end as much as I want to be trendy and pick the Packers it's just too hard to pick against the Steelers in the Super Bowl. Sorry Aaron Rodgers... you're going to have to take your invisible belt off.
As for the game...I can guarantee we will not have a yawner this year. These two teams are phenomenal and present an interesting match-up. Both teams have looked brilliant and awful at various times this year. Aaron Rodgers rocks the heavy-weight title belt every time he conquers the end zone and Ben Roethlisberger takes off girls belts and them rocks them. In the bathroom. Either way, this is a very intriguing match up in every phase of the game, starting with the two men under center.
Aaron Rodgers has put on a post season performance that we haven't seen since Montana laced up his Shape-Up's and pitched bulls-eye darts in the late 80's. Rodgers can put the ball wherever he wants it and when he gets into trouble he causes mayhem with his legs. He does, however, get a little shaky if he gets hit hard, which I'm sure James Harrison is looking into. On the other side, Roethlisberger is forcing everyone to whisper "Hall of Fame" as he goes for this 3rd Super Bowl ring. It's a compelling argument. He would have as many as Brady and Aikman and 2 more than Manning and Favre. His game is ugly, which he has acknowledged. At times it almost seems that he is trying to give the game away, but then he escapes from impossible situations and excretes game-winning drives out of seemingly nowhere. Both will be trying to host up that Lombardi trophy and say "On Your Face" to all their haters after the game. Rodgers specifically to Favre and Roethlisberger to any girl who may have said "no." And I guess to his critics.
I think what will be really interesting is the defensive chess match between Dom Capers and Hall of Famer Dick Lebeau. Both defenses are stellar and full of studs. Pittsburgh has 2 defensive POY's in Troy Polamalu (2010) and James Harrison (2008). They are two of the most feared players in the league and I can't how many times we've seen them completely dictate a game. Harrison's TD interception against the Cardinals 2 years ago is one of the most amazing plays in SB history. The Pittsburgh defense is relentless and has a myriad of looks and blitz packages. They are the 3rd most stout run defense in NFL history. Still, the Packers can't run any ways and if there is a QB equipped to deal with this type of defense, it is Aaron Rodgers.
The Packers defense has been dealing with injuries all season but have finally come together and can be equally as intimidating as the Steelers. With all due respect to Polamalu, Clay Matthews was robbed of POY award. He is an athletic freak who finds ways to make game-changing plays on a consistent basis. Their secondary is one of if not the best overall in the league and they are also very good against the run. It will be interesting to see how much damage Mendenhall will do against Rajii, Hawk and co. That could be an important factor in the game. We know Roethlisberger will make plays with his feet and arms but if he is asked to do too much, we will see the Packers defense start feeding like rabid dogs.
I believe that it will come down to Mendenhall's ability to run and Green Bay's pass protection. Which ever one of these grades out higher will probably determine the winner of the game. In the end as much as I want to be trendy and pick the Packers it's just too hard to pick against the Steelers in the Super Bowl. Sorry Aaron Rodgers... you're going to have to take your invisible belt off.
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