- I watched Idol as I was making dinner tonight (yes, I know it was late) so I have no comments but to say: It seemed to be one of those episodes rife with deluded Idol wannabes.
- Last night, the Caps closed the gap, to 3-2, but they could not get a win. The game was a microcosm of their season: they got off to a rough start and fell behind early. They improved, even showing signs of brilliance, but ultimately were unable to pull out a win/playoff appearance.
- Yesterday the Recording Academy announced that the Police will open this year's Grammy Awards. Just one step closer to an all out reunion tour. I am seriously giddy.
- Speaking of giddy, as a Redskins fan, I can't tell you how excited I am that Norv Turner is the front runner for the head coaching job in Dallas. I almost didn't want to post this so I wouldn't jinx it OR in extremely unlikely event that Jerry Jones runs across this blog and thinks "Hmmmm, this random guy is right. Norval Eugene Turner is not the man for the Cowboys." Don't get me wrong, Norv is a great guy but he's an awful head coach. Exactly who or what will keep Terrell Owens from running roughshod all over him. I just don't see Turner pulling a "Bill Belichick" by making a few good decisions and getting lucky for about 5 years. But don't worry Cowboy fans, it's possible, extremely unlikely, but possible.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Quick, All-over-the-place Thoughts
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
American Idol Season 6: Birmingham Auditions (with a Caps bonus)
Tough night tonight because I'll be switching between the Caps game and American Idol.
I'm a bit late turning on the Caps and they're already down 1-0. Minutes later Ottawa gets a lucky deflection and it's 2-0. I switch to Idol and its not back. Going back to the Caps... and, CRAP! Ottawa gets a power play. Looks like it's going to be one of those nights...
8:14 pm
American Idol is in Birmingham, Alabama. First we have Tatiana McConnico and she great... great personality, not cocky, and great voice. You just couldn't ask for better. Holy crap shes good, and she's 17! Obviously she's through, and I'm betting she makes it to the final 24, at least.
Diana Walker is up next and she is a toss up... really could go either way, but her speaking voice is slightly promising. She's not horrible, but definitely not good. She leaves golden ticketless, but certainly she won't be the worst they'll show.
8:21 pm
Caps update: The first intermission is on and the Caps seem to have survived the power play. So we switch to Fox: Idol comes back with Bernard Williams singing Michael Jackson's "Rock With You" He's good, but I'm sure they've heard a bunch of voices like that. Surprisingly Simon says yes and PAULA, of all people, says no. I agree with Paula (wow I can't believe I typed that), but Bernard is through.
Margaret "Big Bird" Fowler, is up next and she seems obsessed with showing her gut... repeatedly. riiight. Of course, her voice is, well, not good to put it nicely. But I do like that her name is Fowler and she's dressed like a giant bird. You gotta love this show!
8:27 pm
The Caps intermission, shows that the first goal was also on a deflection. Sheesh! I can't wait til the Cap's defensemen get a little more experience.
8:30 pm
Back to AI and we see a bunch of people who make it to hollywood, but apparently they're not interesting enough to introduce. Finally we get to this year's version of Kellie Pickler, Jamie Lynn Ward. She's even from North Carolina! And she has a horrific story about her father shooting his cheating wife and then shooting himself... wow that was kind of a downer. Anyways, her voice is okay. But I'm betting she's getting through because of the Pickler aspect. She get's through easily.
Next we have Chris Sligh, who looks much more like Jack Osbourne than Jack Black or Christina Aguilera. He pulls a funny line when asked why he's auditioning saying "I want to make David Hasselhoff cry." Good one Sligh! His voice is good but he would be entirely generic if it weren't for his interesting look. I'm pulling for him though, mainly because he's funny. He's got a myspace page and a blog, if you're interested.
8:41 pm
Day two starts with Cousin It look-a-like, Victoria Watson. She dresses uniquely... pretty much to match her 6 foot long hair. She's not bad, but she's not better than "alright". Understandably she doesn't make it to Hollywood, but at least her family is there to console her.
Lakia Hill is next and her singing voice matches her squeaky speaking voice. She's all over the place, even pulling a "What the hell was that?" from Simon. Her audition leads into another barrage of rejections, all with people seeming to take it pretty well.
8:48 pm
Caps are 4-on-4 and Ovechkin SCORES! It's 2-1. Alex tried a pass but it was blocked, he get the puck back and wrists it high. Nice goal! Of course, minutes later the refs feel that the Senators need a power play...
8:50 pm
Back to Idol, and we're introduced to something called "Team Nicole." Nicole Gatzman seems to have a good speaking voice... and her voice is somewhat promising. But they don't invite her back to Hollywood, mainly because her voice is just not developed enough.
Next we have a contestant who has been in teasers all night, Brandy Patterson. She's a breakdown just waiting to happen as she just butchers Madonna's "Like a Virgin." She even takes off her sweater half way through. She's stunned that Simon says "Everything about that was wrong." She says "maybe it was the floor or something." Simon gets her to sing on the carpet... you know... Just in case. She thinks she sang better on the carpet, but Simon puts it well when he says, "That'll be a Never."
Best part, though? When she calls Simon out for trying the wrong door (something Simon has been doing to contestants)... pretty funny actually.
This episode is coming to a close and we fade out to "Sweet Home Alabama." Hollywood is tomorrow... but for auditions. The crazy auditions seem promising, so I'll be sure to be watching tomorrow night.
BTW, the Caps must have given up the goal on the power play because as I got back it was 3-1. They get seriously unlucky as they fail to capitalize on a 5-on-3 (with a bunch of good chances). Of course that's a bad sign since it seems the Caps defense won't be able to keep up. The Second Intermission arrives and the Caps are still down 3-1.
I'm a bit late turning on the Caps and they're already down 1-0. Minutes later Ottawa gets a lucky deflection and it's 2-0. I switch to Idol and its not back. Going back to the Caps... and, CRAP! Ottawa gets a power play. Looks like it's going to be one of those nights...
8:14 pm
American Idol is in Birmingham, Alabama. First we have Tatiana McConnico and she great... great personality, not cocky, and great voice. You just couldn't ask for better. Holy crap shes good, and she's 17! Obviously she's through, and I'm betting she makes it to the final 24, at least.
Diana Walker is up next and she is a toss up... really could go either way, but her speaking voice is slightly promising. She's not horrible, but definitely not good. She leaves golden ticketless, but certainly she won't be the worst they'll show.
8:21 pm
Caps update: The first intermission is on and the Caps seem to have survived the power play. So we switch to Fox: Idol comes back with Bernard Williams singing Michael Jackson's "Rock With You" He's good, but I'm sure they've heard a bunch of voices like that. Surprisingly Simon says yes and PAULA, of all people, says no. I agree with Paula (wow I can't believe I typed that), but Bernard is through.
Margaret "Big Bird" Fowler, is up next and she seems obsessed with showing her gut... repeatedly. riiight. Of course, her voice is, well, not good to put it nicely. But I do like that her name is Fowler and she's dressed like a giant bird. You gotta love this show!
8:27 pm
The Caps intermission, shows that the first goal was also on a deflection. Sheesh! I can't wait til the Cap's defensemen get a little more experience.
8:30 pm
Back to AI and we see a bunch of people who make it to hollywood, but apparently they're not interesting enough to introduce. Finally we get to this year's version of Kellie Pickler, Jamie Lynn Ward. She's even from North Carolina! And she has a horrific story about her father shooting his cheating wife and then shooting himself... wow that was kind of a downer. Anyways, her voice is okay. But I'm betting she's getting through because of the Pickler aspect. She get's through easily.
Next we have Chris Sligh, who looks much more like Jack Osbourne than Jack Black or Christina Aguilera. He pulls a funny line when asked why he's auditioning saying "I want to make David Hasselhoff cry." Good one Sligh! His voice is good but he would be entirely generic if it weren't for his interesting look. I'm pulling for him though, mainly because he's funny. He's got a myspace page and a blog, if you're interested.
8:41 pm
Day two starts with Cousin It look-a-like, Victoria Watson. She dresses uniquely... pretty much to match her 6 foot long hair. She's not bad, but she's not better than "alright". Understandably she doesn't make it to Hollywood, but at least her family is there to console her.
Lakia Hill is next and her singing voice matches her squeaky speaking voice. She's all over the place, even pulling a "What the hell was that?" from Simon. Her audition leads into another barrage of rejections, all with people seeming to take it pretty well.
8:48 pm
Caps are 4-on-4 and Ovechkin SCORES! It's 2-1. Alex tried a pass but it was blocked, he get the puck back and wrists it high. Nice goal! Of course, minutes later the refs feel that the Senators need a power play...
8:50 pm
Back to Idol, and we're introduced to something called "Team Nicole." Nicole Gatzman seems to have a good speaking voice... and her voice is somewhat promising. But they don't invite her back to Hollywood, mainly because her voice is just not developed enough.
Next we have a contestant who has been in teasers all night, Brandy Patterson. She's a breakdown just waiting to happen as she just butchers Madonna's "Like a Virgin." She even takes off her sweater half way through. She's stunned that Simon says "Everything about that was wrong." She says "maybe it was the floor or something." Simon gets her to sing on the carpet... you know... Just in case. She thinks she sang better on the carpet, but Simon puts it well when he says, "That'll be a Never."
Best part, though? When she calls Simon out for trying the wrong door (something Simon has been doing to contestants)... pretty funny actually.
This episode is coming to a close and we fade out to "Sweet Home Alabama." Hollywood is tomorrow... but for auditions. The crazy auditions seem promising, so I'll be sure to be watching tomorrow night.
BTW, the Caps must have given up the goal on the power play because as I got back it was 3-1. They get seriously unlucky as they fail to capitalize on a 5-on-3 (with a bunch of good chances). Of course that's a bad sign since it seems the Caps defense won't be able to keep up. The Second Intermission arrives and the Caps are still down 3-1.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Ranking the Super Bowl Teams: or how the 1991 Redskins get no love
There is a prevalent gimmick used today by sports writers, sports TV shows, sports website, and by yours truly: Ranking. Ranking the NFL teams, the best NBA dunks of all time, the best outfield catch in a World Series, the best defenseman of the 80s who never played in a Stanley Cup finals... you get the idea.
Rankings will always have a good amount (some more than others) of personal opinion in them, but I feel it's important to establish some empirical and measurable aspect to them. For instance, in my state quarter review, I established that in every instance "cutting off" the bottom of the design is bad ( i.e. negative points). Of course there are levels of bad, but you get the point.
I bring this up because ESPN has made a ranking of the Super Bowl teams (winners and losers) from Super Bowl I to Super Bowl XL, and boy do they lack this measurable aspect. Oh, they claim they had a methodology but I don't think they really used it. They seemed to throw the "team" aspect of the ranking out, in favor of big names (I'll elaborate on this later... just look for the names Lawrence Taylor and Mark Rypien.)
Anyways, here is my biggest gripe about this ranking: The 1991 Washington Redskins are ranked #10. Granted, they admit there is reason for Redskins fans to be upset AND they admit the 91 Skins might the best team of all time... but I'm still complaining! First thing, they already called the 91 Skins the 4th best team of all time. Second, they give a pair of terrible excuses:
Excuse #1: they say their running game wasn't all that good because their average yards per carry was ranked 18th (never mind that #9 Patriots were also ranked 18th in yards per carry). That reasoning is a load of crap considering the #1 (89 49ers) and #4 (92 Cowboys) teams (both teams with good running offenses) were both ranked 9th in yards per carry (The 49ers were tied with seven teams, making them tied for spots number 9 through 16). A main reason for a low yards per carry is that when you're a great team you tend to build a big lead and then you run the ball A LOT in the second half to run out the time. Obviously the opposing team is aware of this and they play to stop the run. Besides, comparing a stat like that is useless because what does it matter that your yards per carry are high if you're going to lose the game. (As an example: the team with the highest yards per carry that year was the San Diego Chargers, who went 4-12!)
Excuse #2: I'll just quote the ridiculous excuse: "And while Mark Rypien didn't have exactly a fluke season, he certainly had a career year. And we're having a little trouble getting past ranking a team with Rypien higher than 10th." The problem with that is that, save for 1989 and maybe 1992, it was a fluke season. Rypien became Joe Montana for 2 or 3 years. In fact, he had a better season than Montana's #1 ranked season, Jim McMahon's #2, Terry Bradshaw's #3, Troy Aikman's #4, Bob Griese's #7, and Phil Simms' #8. Remember, according to their methodology you line up the teams and players as they were that year... so pretty please, with sugar on top, stop being enamored with a name (or lack of a "name") and realize that for 2 seasons Mark Rypien was, if not the best quarterback in the league, among the Top 3 quarterbacks in the league. Aside from all that, one man should not make or break a team's ranking.
Now allow me to explain why they should rank higher than most of the teams ranked above them. First, we'll go ahead and give the 78 Steelers and the 72 Dolphins a pass since I never saw them play.
Second, we'll just start with the "easy pickins", that is to say the teams they were obviously better than:
9 - 2004 Patriots. Does this even need to be discussed? The Patriots barely beat the Eagles in the Super Bowl, beat the horribly overrated Steelers in the AFC championship, and beat a team who they absolutely OWNED until this year. Thats not exactly as impressive as they make it out to be. ESPN also dropped this nugget: "they were 9-1 against .500 or better teams." Excuse me, but didn't they go 14-2? Doesn't that mean they lost a game to a team with a losing record?! Exactly how is that impressive? A good team should NEVER lose to a bad team because thats the definition of being good! And that one loss to a .500 or better team? It was by two touchdowns! I have to move on because this is just too easy and it could take all day.
8 - 1986 Giants. This choice is equally baffling. And ESPN's explanation? "Lawrence Taylor." No doubt a great player, but ESPECIALLY in the NFL, a player does not make a team. LT didn't even "make" the defense, but even if you want to claim that he did, how do you explain ranking them higher when the Giants defense allowed 12 more points over the season (against an easier schedule!) than the 91 Skins. This team also lost to a team with a losing record. And do we even need to point out how crummy the offense (ranked 8th in points and 10th in yards during the season) was? Let's just leave it at this: the Giants scored 371 points all season, which puts them last in, not only the Top 10 but, the Top 20, behind even the 72 Dolphins... who played in only 14 games! (The Giants played 16)
Next are the "not as easy, but definitely there for the pickins" teams. In other words, teams that they were better than but you could convince me that the gap wasn't as big:
6 - 1996 Packers. This conversation should begin and end here: with practically identical strengths of schedule (.504 vs .508) the Skins went 14-2 and the Packers went 13-3. If thats not enough how bout these apples: In those 2 loses the Redskins lost by a total of 5 points, the Packers 3 loses were by a total of 15 points... an AVERAGE of 5 points a loss. The Skins scored more points than the Packers (485 vs. 456) AND had a better point differential (+261 vs. +256). In the playoffs the Redskins scored more points (102 vs.100) AND allowed less points (41 vs. 48) so, obviously, they had a better point differential (+61 vs. +52) there. Finally the Redskins win the coaches battle (Joe Gibbs vs. Mike Holmgren) hands down, and barely lose the QB battle (91 Rypien vs. 96 Brett Favre) mostly because Favre threw for so many TDs because their running game wasn't all that good.
5 - 1984 49ers. I think this team is ranked almost right, except that I would have ranked them above the 92 Cowboys (we'll talk about them soon enough). First we'll address the only thing that I think could warrant ranking the 84 49ers higher than the 91 Skins: their records, the Niners went 15-1 and the Skins went 14-2. But consider the following: First, the Skins strength of schedule was harder than the 49ers (.504 vs .457). To go along with that, the Skins played in the strong NFC East (where in 1991, three teams had double digit wins and only the Phoenix Cardinals had a losing record) and the 49ers play in the perennially weak NFC West (where half the teams had losing records in 1984). Second, both of the the Skin's losses were close games to division rivals AND the last loss was in the final game of the season (when you're apt to rest your best players to not risk injury for the playoffs), on the road against a division rival who went 10-6 and barely missed the playoffs. Oh and it was on a last second field goal! Had the Redskins played an easier schedule (or just in the NFC West) I'm certain they would have gone at least 14-2. So if you null out the difference in records, you have to measure them statistically, and these teams are either equal or the Skins are better there.
4 - 1992 Cowboys. The discrepancy between this team being ranked #4 and the 91 Skins being ranked #10 is probably the biggest travesty in this ranking. Why? Because, for all intents and purposes, these teams played each other! Not surprisingly these teams split their series in 1991 and then again in 1992. So what do you do when teams are equal head-to-head? You go to a tiebreaker, which means comparing statistics and comparing how the teams did against other teams. In both cases the 91 Skins come out on top. The Skins had a better record (14-2 vs. 13-3), and a much harder strength of schedule (.504 vs. .426). The Redskins also DIDN'T lose to a 6-10 team at home in the middle of season, like the Cowboys did. Statistically they were pretty even on defense, the Skins allowed more yards but the Cowboys allowed more points. On offense, though, the Skins were without a doubt better. The Skins scored more points (485 vs. 409), had more yards (5820 vs. 5718), scored more TD (rushing, 21 vs 20; AND passing, 30 vs. 23), and threw less interceptions (11 vs. 15). Sure the Cowboys had the "Triplets", but obviously the Redskins "no name Quadruplets" (of Rypien, Earnest Byner, Art Monk and Gary Clark) were better (sure the "Triplets" sustained their greatness, but, once again, this isn't a comparison of who was better over their careers but at that particular point in time).
The final two teams, the 1989 49ers and the 1985 Bears, are tough to compare against the 91 Skins and so it's hard to conclusively determine who was better.
2 - 1985 Bears. It is always tough to compare any team to the 85 Bears because this team has to be the most hyped team in Super Bowl history. Not that they didn't deserve it but every other team in the top 10 deserved that kind of hype and (except for the 72 Dolphins and 78 Steelers) I'm sure none of them received it. So any team being compared to the 85 Bears starts at a disadvantage (As proof: lots of people seem to think that team had the best defense ever, ignoring that the 72 Dolphins, 78 Steelers, and 00 Ravens, all of whom had better defenses, by points allowed). When you boil it all down these guys were mirror images: the Redskins almost had the best offense ever and the Bears almost had the best defense ever. On the other sides, the Redskins had an excellent defense and the Bears had an excellent offense. To an unbiased observer who doesn't fall for the hype, it's truly a tough call.
1 - 1989 49ers. The 89 49ers and the 91 Redskins were only 2 years apart, so you might want to consider the head-to-head matchup between the two teams in 1990. The 49ers beat the Redskins in the playoffs in San Francisco that year, but that just isn't a good comparison. The 49ers were still at their peak (just barely losing to the Giants the following week in the NFC championship) but the Skins were definitely not the 91 Skins, with Rypien hurt for half the season and Gerald Riggs splitting time with Earnest Byner. Otherwise, these teams are were very similar, with the same record, 14-2, (although the Skins had a tougher schedule) and the same margin of losing: both by a total of 5 points. Statistically, you really can't beat the 49ers offense (although the 91 Skins come close), but the 91 Skins had a better defense. So pretty much the Redskins had the more "well rounded" team.
So that's my argument... even if you put the 72 Dolphins, 78 Steelers, 85 Bears and the 89 49ers ahead of the 91 Skins, that puts them at least in the Top 5. And ever since then there hasn't been a team as good as the 1991 Redskins... and with free agency and the salary cap, there just may never be such a great team.
Rankings will always have a good amount (some more than others) of personal opinion in them, but I feel it's important to establish some empirical and measurable aspect to them. For instance, in my state quarter review, I established that in every instance "cutting off" the bottom of the design is bad ( i.e. negative points). Of course there are levels of bad, but you get the point.
I bring this up because ESPN has made a ranking of the Super Bowl teams (winners and losers) from Super Bowl I to Super Bowl XL, and boy do they lack this measurable aspect. Oh, they claim they had a methodology but I don't think they really used it. They seemed to throw the "team" aspect of the ranking out, in favor of big names (I'll elaborate on this later... just look for the names Lawrence Taylor and Mark Rypien.)
Anyways, here is my biggest gripe about this ranking: The 1991 Washington Redskins are ranked #10. Granted, they admit there is reason for Redskins fans to be upset AND they admit the 91 Skins might the best team of all time... but I'm still complaining! First thing, they already called the 91 Skins the 4th best team of all time. Second, they give a pair of terrible excuses:
Excuse #1: they say their running game wasn't all that good because their average yards per carry was ranked 18th (never mind that #9 Patriots were also ranked 18th in yards per carry). That reasoning is a load of crap considering the #1 (89 49ers) and #4 (92 Cowboys) teams (both teams with good running offenses) were both ranked 9th in yards per carry (The 49ers were tied with seven teams, making them tied for spots number 9 through 16). A main reason for a low yards per carry is that when you're a great team you tend to build a big lead and then you run the ball A LOT in the second half to run out the time. Obviously the opposing team is aware of this and they play to stop the run. Besides, comparing a stat like that is useless because what does it matter that your yards per carry are high if you're going to lose the game. (As an example: the team with the highest yards per carry that year was the San Diego Chargers, who went 4-12!)
Excuse #2: I'll just quote the ridiculous excuse: "And while Mark Rypien didn't have exactly a fluke season, he certainly had a career year. And we're having a little trouble getting past ranking a team with Rypien higher than 10th." The problem with that is that, save for 1989 and maybe 1992, it was a fluke season. Rypien became Joe Montana for 2 or 3 years. In fact, he had a better season than Montana's #1 ranked season, Jim McMahon's #2, Terry Bradshaw's #3, Troy Aikman's #4, Bob Griese's #7, and Phil Simms' #8. Remember, according to their methodology you line up the teams and players as they were that year... so pretty please, with sugar on top, stop being enamored with a name (or lack of a "name") and realize that for 2 seasons Mark Rypien was, if not the best quarterback in the league, among the Top 3 quarterbacks in the league. Aside from all that, one man should not make or break a team's ranking.
Now allow me to explain why they should rank higher than most of the teams ranked above them. First, we'll go ahead and give the 78 Steelers and the 72 Dolphins a pass since I never saw them play.
Second, we'll just start with the "easy pickins", that is to say the teams they were obviously better than:
9 - 2004 Patriots. Does this even need to be discussed? The Patriots barely beat the Eagles in the Super Bowl, beat the horribly overrated Steelers in the AFC championship, and beat a team who they absolutely OWNED until this year. Thats not exactly as impressive as they make it out to be. ESPN also dropped this nugget: "they were 9-1 against .500 or better teams." Excuse me, but didn't they go 14-2? Doesn't that mean they lost a game to a team with a losing record?! Exactly how is that impressive? A good team should NEVER lose to a bad team because thats the definition of being good! And that one loss to a .500 or better team? It was by two touchdowns! I have to move on because this is just too easy and it could take all day.
8 - 1986 Giants. This choice is equally baffling. And ESPN's explanation? "Lawrence Taylor." No doubt a great player, but ESPECIALLY in the NFL, a player does not make a team. LT didn't even "make" the defense, but even if you want to claim that he did, how do you explain ranking them higher when the Giants defense allowed 12 more points over the season (against an easier schedule!) than the 91 Skins. This team also lost to a team with a losing record. And do we even need to point out how crummy the offense (ranked 8th in points and 10th in yards during the season) was? Let's just leave it at this: the Giants scored 371 points all season, which puts them last in, not only the Top 10 but, the Top 20, behind even the 72 Dolphins... who played in only 14 games! (The Giants played 16)
Next are the "not as easy, but definitely there for the pickins" teams. In other words, teams that they were better than but you could convince me that the gap wasn't as big:
6 - 1996 Packers. This conversation should begin and end here: with practically identical strengths of schedule (.504 vs .508) the Skins went 14-2 and the Packers went 13-3. If thats not enough how bout these apples: In those 2 loses the Redskins lost by a total of 5 points, the Packers 3 loses were by a total of 15 points... an AVERAGE of 5 points a loss. The Skins scored more points than the Packers (485 vs. 456) AND had a better point differential (+261 vs. +256). In the playoffs the Redskins scored more points (102 vs.100) AND allowed less points (41 vs. 48) so, obviously, they had a better point differential (+61 vs. +52) there. Finally the Redskins win the coaches battle (Joe Gibbs vs. Mike Holmgren) hands down, and barely lose the QB battle (91 Rypien vs. 96 Brett Favre) mostly because Favre threw for so many TDs because their running game wasn't all that good.
5 - 1984 49ers. I think this team is ranked almost right, except that I would have ranked them above the 92 Cowboys (we'll talk about them soon enough). First we'll address the only thing that I think could warrant ranking the 84 49ers higher than the 91 Skins: their records, the Niners went 15-1 and the Skins went 14-2. But consider the following: First, the Skins strength of schedule was harder than the 49ers (.504 vs .457). To go along with that, the Skins played in the strong NFC East (where in 1991, three teams had double digit wins and only the Phoenix Cardinals had a losing record) and the 49ers play in the perennially weak NFC West (where half the teams had losing records in 1984). Second, both of the the Skin's losses were close games to division rivals AND the last loss was in the final game of the season (when you're apt to rest your best players to not risk injury for the playoffs), on the road against a division rival who went 10-6 and barely missed the playoffs. Oh and it was on a last second field goal! Had the Redskins played an easier schedule (or just in the NFC West) I'm certain they would have gone at least 14-2. So if you null out the difference in records, you have to measure them statistically, and these teams are either equal or the Skins are better there.
4 - 1992 Cowboys. The discrepancy between this team being ranked #4 and the 91 Skins being ranked #10 is probably the biggest travesty in this ranking. Why? Because, for all intents and purposes, these teams played each other! Not surprisingly these teams split their series in 1991 and then again in 1992. So what do you do when teams are equal head-to-head? You go to a tiebreaker, which means comparing statistics and comparing how the teams did against other teams. In both cases the 91 Skins come out on top. The Skins had a better record (14-2 vs. 13-3), and a much harder strength of schedule (.504 vs. .426). The Redskins also DIDN'T lose to a 6-10 team at home in the middle of season, like the Cowboys did. Statistically they were pretty even on defense, the Skins allowed more yards but the Cowboys allowed more points. On offense, though, the Skins were without a doubt better. The Skins scored more points (485 vs. 409), had more yards (5820 vs. 5718), scored more TD (rushing, 21 vs 20; AND passing, 30 vs. 23), and threw less interceptions (11 vs. 15). Sure the Cowboys had the "Triplets", but obviously the Redskins "no name Quadruplets" (of Rypien, Earnest Byner, Art Monk and Gary Clark) were better (sure the "Triplets" sustained their greatness, but, once again, this isn't a comparison of who was better over their careers but at that particular point in time).
The final two teams, the 1989 49ers and the 1985 Bears, are tough to compare against the 91 Skins and so it's hard to conclusively determine who was better.
2 - 1985 Bears. It is always tough to compare any team to the 85 Bears because this team has to be the most hyped team in Super Bowl history. Not that they didn't deserve it but every other team in the top 10 deserved that kind of hype and (except for the 72 Dolphins and 78 Steelers) I'm sure none of them received it. So any team being compared to the 85 Bears starts at a disadvantage (As proof: lots of people seem to think that team had the best defense ever, ignoring that the 72 Dolphins, 78 Steelers, and 00 Ravens, all of whom had better defenses, by points allowed). When you boil it all down these guys were mirror images: the Redskins almost had the best offense ever and the Bears almost had the best defense ever. On the other sides, the Redskins had an excellent defense and the Bears had an excellent offense. To an unbiased observer who doesn't fall for the hype, it's truly a tough call.
1 - 1989 49ers. The 89 49ers and the 91 Redskins were only 2 years apart, so you might want to consider the head-to-head matchup between the two teams in 1990. The 49ers beat the Redskins in the playoffs in San Francisco that year, but that just isn't a good comparison. The 49ers were still at their peak (just barely losing to the Giants the following week in the NFC championship) but the Skins were definitely not the 91 Skins, with Rypien hurt for half the season and Gerald Riggs splitting time with Earnest Byner. Otherwise, these teams are were very similar, with the same record, 14-2, (although the Skins had a tougher schedule) and the same margin of losing: both by a total of 5 points. Statistically, you really can't beat the 49ers offense (although the 91 Skins come close), but the 91 Skins had a better defense. So pretty much the Redskins had the more "well rounded" team.
So that's my argument... even if you put the 72 Dolphins, 78 Steelers, 85 Bears and the 89 49ers ahead of the 91 Skins, that puts them at least in the Top 5. And ever since then there hasn't been a team as good as the 1991 Redskins... and with free agency and the salary cap, there just may never be such a great team.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
American Idol Season 6: Memphis
8:00 pm
Here we are in Memphis and they start by making it look like the city was empty, implying everyone was auditioning for Idol. Anyhoo, the lame joke finally done, we start with Frank Byers Jr., a cheerleader from Southern Adventist University. He gets a montage, making me think he's in since he doesn't look crazy. And the kicker? His nickname is "Frank & Beans"... yeah he'll need to change that. Except that he's not that good... and he's not making it, getting 3 nos. But the band and cheerleaders don't seem to care about that and start playing and chanting "Franks & Beans."
8:09 pm
Timika Simms from Chicago is next and since we've already been treated to a bit of her audition, we know this is doomed from the start. She's auditioning with her backpack on, which just can't bee good. The best part of her audition is her conversation with Simon where she tries to say she could be like "Amaya" and Simon keeps asking "A Mayor?". Her voice is nasally and she just keeps at it after repeated rejections from all three judges.
Chris Rivera, with some "Awesome 80s" style jeans, continues the barage of umm... lets say interesting singers. Finally, we have Alexis Partee with her bracelets sounding like a tambourine as she sings... Randy put its well when he says "it was a little strange for me." Do I even need to tell you that none of these people make it?
Next, we have a fella with a good speaking voice named "Sundance." His real name is, Jason Head, and he is humble (saying something to the effect of, "they'll hate me and I'll be on TV leaving the show") enough so I'm pulling for him. And he starts singing with a great voice. He's definitely this seasons Scott Savol: a big guy with a voice, except that he's even better than Savol. And of course good ole Sundance Head is through.
8:20 pm
Coming back from the break we have Wandera Hitchye, with an interesting hairdo and a good voice. The judges say she's too generic... and give her three nos. She breaks down as she leaves, and this leads into a barrage of rejections and cruel comments. We finish with Travis (missed the last name) doing a crazy breathy rap/singing thing. Of course, he's headed home though.
Danielle McCulloch is up and she has a good voice, like Wandera. Unlike Wandera, though, she's got some personality while singing so she'll probably make it through. Randy says no, Paula says yes and finally Simon puts her through. I think Randy is right in that she'll be gone pretty quick.
8:30 pm
Day two in Memphis starts with Christopher "Topher" McCain, a big fan of Paula Abdul. A sad story, since his cheating wife left him and he thinks when he becomes the next American Idol she'll want him back... but he says he's not taking her back. He gets a little vengeful when Simon asks her about his wife, calling her something that got bleeped out (probably "b*tch"). His voice isn't terrible, but certainly not good. And he's fairly quickly rejected.
Janita Burks is next, and she almost falls out of her top... like Topher she isn't terrible but, once again, not good. Until she tries to sing again... her second shot was terrible.
Sean Michel, a Fidel Castro look-a-like who already has 2300+ friends on myspace, is next and he's got a pretty good voice. I'm sure a bunch of guys have as a good a voice but he'll probably make it because of the look. He gets three yeses and Randy gives him his first "You can blow!"
8:43 pm
Melinda Doolittle, a professional background singer with a good speaking voice, is next. But she picks Stevie Wonder's "For Once In My Life" (breaking my first rule of American Idol) and she does pretty darn well but she doesn't do anything special/different with it. She definitely deserves to go to Hollywood though, and... she through with a "One Million Percent Yes!" from Simon.
Robert Lee Holmes comes up and says he sounds just like Elvis. Hmmm, we'll see... he's going to sing "Burning Love." Entirely expectedly, he sounds nothing like Elvis and his rejection leads into a montage of people singing "Burning Love" with a bunch of people who have already been rejected.
8:54 pm
We enter the last break (Idol gets truncated by the State of the Union address tonight) with Philip Stacy, a new father. He starts off a little sharp but he cleans it up. He's got a Taylor Hicks quality to him... and Simon points out that he starts off his songs a little rough. 22 contestants make it out of Memphis and tomorrow we'll be in New York tomorrow, so you know you can expect a bunch of weird stuff.
Here we are in Memphis and they start by making it look like the city was empty, implying everyone was auditioning for Idol. Anyhoo, the lame joke finally done, we start with Frank Byers Jr., a cheerleader from Southern Adventist University. He gets a montage, making me think he's in since he doesn't look crazy. And the kicker? His nickname is "Frank & Beans"... yeah he'll need to change that. Except that he's not that good... and he's not making it, getting 3 nos. But the band and cheerleaders don't seem to care about that and start playing and chanting "Franks & Beans."
8:09 pm
Timika Simms from Chicago is next and since we've already been treated to a bit of her audition, we know this is doomed from the start. She's auditioning with her backpack on, which just can't bee good. The best part of her audition is her conversation with Simon where she tries to say she could be like "Amaya" and Simon keeps asking "A Mayor?". Her voice is nasally and she just keeps at it after repeated rejections from all three judges.
Chris Rivera, with some "Awesome 80s" style jeans, continues the barage of umm... lets say interesting singers. Finally, we have Alexis Partee with her bracelets sounding like a tambourine as she sings... Randy put its well when he says "it was a little strange for me." Do I even need to tell you that none of these people make it?
Next, we have a fella with a good speaking voice named "Sundance." His real name is, Jason Head, and he is humble (saying something to the effect of, "they'll hate me and I'll be on TV leaving the show") enough so I'm pulling for him. And he starts singing with a great voice. He's definitely this seasons Scott Savol: a big guy with a voice, except that he's even better than Savol. And of course good ole Sundance Head is through.
8:20 pm
Coming back from the break we have Wandera Hitchye, with an interesting hairdo and a good voice. The judges say she's too generic... and give her three nos. She breaks down as she leaves, and this leads into a barrage of rejections and cruel comments. We finish with Travis (missed the last name) doing a crazy breathy rap/singing thing. Of course, he's headed home though.
Danielle McCulloch is up and she has a good voice, like Wandera. Unlike Wandera, though, she's got some personality while singing so she'll probably make it through. Randy says no, Paula says yes and finally Simon puts her through. I think Randy is right in that she'll be gone pretty quick.
8:30 pm
Day two in Memphis starts with Christopher "Topher" McCain, a big fan of Paula Abdul. A sad story, since his cheating wife left him and he thinks when he becomes the next American Idol she'll want him back... but he says he's not taking her back. He gets a little vengeful when Simon asks her about his wife, calling her something that got bleeped out (probably "b*tch"). His voice isn't terrible, but certainly not good. And he's fairly quickly rejected.
Janita Burks is next, and she almost falls out of her top... like Topher she isn't terrible but, once again, not good. Until she tries to sing again... her second shot was terrible.
Sean Michel, a Fidel Castro look-a-like who already has 2300+ friends on myspace, is next and he's got a pretty good voice. I'm sure a bunch of guys have as a good a voice but he'll probably make it because of the look. He gets three yeses and Randy gives him his first "You can blow!"
8:43 pm
Melinda Doolittle, a professional background singer with a good speaking voice, is next. But she picks Stevie Wonder's "For Once In My Life" (breaking my first rule of American Idol) and she does pretty darn well but she doesn't do anything special/different with it. She definitely deserves to go to Hollywood though, and... she through with a "One Million Percent Yes!" from Simon.
Robert Lee Holmes comes up and says he sounds just like Elvis. Hmmm, we'll see... he's going to sing "Burning Love." Entirely expectedly, he sounds nothing like Elvis and his rejection leads into a montage of people singing "Burning Love" with a bunch of people who have already been rejected.
8:54 pm
We enter the last break (Idol gets truncated by the State of the Union address tonight) with Philip Stacy, a new father. He starts off a little sharp but he cleans it up. He's got a Taylor Hicks quality to him... and Simon points out that he starts off his songs a little rough. 22 contestants make it out of Memphis and tomorrow we'll be in New York tomorrow, so you know you can expect a bunch of weird stuff.
Monday, January 22, 2007
George comes to Washington
I had always thought that the best radio station would be one that did not stick to a set genres (just rock, just R&B, or just pop) and formula (playing the billboard top 50 in those genres). I thought if I ever owned a radio station it would play everything... well maybe not classical or "hard" country (those genres just belong by themselves).
So I was excited a while back when I first heard about "Jack FM." Sure, it wasn't exactly my ideal since they stuck to the popular Billboard 100 songs of the past 40 years, but it was a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, though, the only Jack FM radio station around here was 102.7 WQSR out of Baltimore, which didn't reach DC all that well. But finally today, DC has it's own Jack FM... sorta: The local classical station has switched to a Jack FM-like station called George 104.1.
It happened at 3 pm today... and in case you were wondering the last song played by 104.1 WGMS was Bach's "In Tears of Grief from the St. Matthew Passion." And the first song played by 104.1 WXGG? Fittingly, it was Sheryl Crow's "A Change Would Do You Good." If you were a fan of the classical WGMS... do not fret: Bonneville donated WGMS's 15k disc library to WETA, down at 90.9. And then at 8 pm WETA switched to classical. And their first song? A triumphant "Concerto for Two Trumpets" by Vivaldi.
And why the name George? Well according to the Jack FM article at Wikipedia, most Jack FMs are CBS radio stations (George is Bonneville) and the name Jack FM is licensed from Big Sticks Broadcasting. So, like BEN-FM in Philly, George in DC has to have a slightly different slogan ("70s, 80s and whatever we want") then Jack's "playing what we want."
So I'm listening... and the best part of it all? It will be commercial free for the first 104 days, which means no ads until May 7 of this year. As Borat would say, "nice!"
So I was excited a while back when I first heard about "Jack FM." Sure, it wasn't exactly my ideal since they stuck to the popular Billboard 100 songs of the past 40 years, but it was a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, though, the only Jack FM radio station around here was 102.7 WQSR out of Baltimore, which didn't reach DC all that well. But finally today, DC has it's own Jack FM... sorta: The local classical station has switched to a Jack FM-like station called George 104.1.
It happened at 3 pm today... and in case you were wondering the last song played by 104.1 WGMS was Bach's "In Tears of Grief from the St. Matthew Passion." And the first song played by 104.1 WXGG? Fittingly, it was Sheryl Crow's "A Change Would Do You Good." If you were a fan of the classical WGMS... do not fret: Bonneville donated WGMS's 15k disc library to WETA, down at 90.9. And then at 8 pm WETA switched to classical. And their first song? A triumphant "Concerto for Two Trumpets" by Vivaldi.
And why the name George? Well according to the Jack FM article at Wikipedia, most Jack FMs are CBS radio stations (George is Bonneville) and the name Jack FM is licensed from Big Sticks Broadcasting. So, like BEN-FM in Philly, George in DC has to have a slightly different slogan ("70s, 80s and whatever we want") then Jack's "playing what we want."
So I'm listening... and the best part of it all? It will be commercial free for the first 104 days, which means no ads until May 7 of this year. As Borat would say, "nice!"
Sunday, January 21, 2007
NFL is lacking and Super Bowl XLI
ESPN has already called it the Colts O vs. the Bears D. To me that means two big things: There is no need to watch (unless you enjoy bad football) while the Bears are on offense and the quality of play is sadly lacking in today's NFL. Allow me to explain:
Back when I was young there were imposing, dominating giants in the NFL. It was a time when the NFC had a span of 13 straight Super Bowl wins of which the NFC East won 7 and the San Francisco 49ers won 4. It was a time of memorably great teams and coaches such as Bill Walsh, Joe Gibbs and Bill Parcells. It was a time of good offenses with great defenses or good defenses with good offenses.
And it wasn't like the AFC didn't have it's own giants, they were just slightly lacking (the Denver Broncos) or they got unlucky (the Buffalo Bills and "wide right"). When the AFC finally turned it around, it was one of those giants, the Broncos, that broke through.
Then in 2000 something happened. The St. Louis Rams won the Super Bowl with a imposing offense but a defense which was not horrible but certainly lacking. The following year the Ravens were NFL Champs with a great defense but with a horrendous offense. All of a sudden, it became alright to have glaring weaknesses because everyone else had them too. So, as long as you had a good offense or defense, you just needed some luck and that would be enough for a Super Bowl win. Just remember, the Titans were a yard and a few seconds short of beating the Rams, and the Giants/Ravens game was close until the 3 back-to-back touchdowns in the third period.
They called it parity and it was in full effect in 2002 when the all-around mediocre New England Patriots beat the one-sided Rams on a last second field goal. In case you needed hard proof of the parity (or the "Putrid Mediocrity" or "Putrid Parity", as I've heard it called) the "Super Bowl MVP", Tom Brady, threw for all of 145 yards. I thought Adam Vinatieri deserved the MVP, but that would have been an all out admission of mediocrity. And the mediocrity has just lingered and even strengthened in the past few years:
Now what does that tell you about the quality of the league? It stinks, and we get to watch playoffs and Super Bowls with mediocre teams and sub par quality of play. We end up with games in which luck is too big a factor (e.g. a botched hold, Cowboys vs. Seahawks, 3 weeks ago; a fumbled fumble recover, Pats vs. Chargers last week; two TDs by linesmen on fumble recoveries, Pats vs. Colts today;). Frankly, I'm tired of thinking "Wow, that was lucky!"
So with that I'll go ahead and give my early pick for the Super Bowl. I'm going against my instincts and going with the recent trend when a good/great defense (i.e. Ravens, Bucs) plays against a good offense... I'm picking the good defense, the Bears.
That is of course unless the Colts get lucky!
Back when I was young there were imposing, dominating giants in the NFL. It was a time when the NFC had a span of 13 straight Super Bowl wins of which the NFC East won 7 and the San Francisco 49ers won 4. It was a time of memorably great teams and coaches such as Bill Walsh, Joe Gibbs and Bill Parcells. It was a time of good offenses with great defenses or good defenses with good offenses.
And it wasn't like the AFC didn't have it's own giants, they were just slightly lacking (the Denver Broncos) or they got unlucky (the Buffalo Bills and "wide right"). When the AFC finally turned it around, it was one of those giants, the Broncos, that broke through.
Then in 2000 something happened. The St. Louis Rams won the Super Bowl with a imposing offense but a defense which was not horrible but certainly lacking. The following year the Ravens were NFL Champs with a great defense but with a horrendous offense. All of a sudden, it became alright to have glaring weaknesses because everyone else had them too. So, as long as you had a good offense or defense, you just needed some luck and that would be enough for a Super Bowl win. Just remember, the Titans were a yard and a few seconds short of beating the Rams, and the Giants/Ravens game was close until the 3 back-to-back touchdowns in the third period.
They called it parity and it was in full effect in 2002 when the all-around mediocre New England Patriots beat the one-sided Rams on a last second field goal. In case you needed hard proof of the parity (or the "Putrid Mediocrity" or "Putrid Parity", as I've heard it called) the "Super Bowl MVP", Tom Brady, threw for all of 145 yards. I thought Adam Vinatieri deserved the MVP, but that would have been an all out admission of mediocrity. And the mediocrity has just lingered and even strengthened in the past few years:
- 2003, BOTH Super Bowl teams from 2002 (Patriots and Rams) failed to make the playoffs and the "defense only" Tampa Bay Buccaneers (with their 24th ranked offense) beat the "offense only" Raiders in the Super Bowl.
- 2004, Once again both Super Bowl teams from the previous year failed to make the playoffs (the Bucs went 7-9 and the Raiders were 4-12), and the Patriots won their second Super Bowl on another last second field goal, this time against the Carolina Panthers.
- 2005, The Panthers (last year's Super Bowl runner-ups) fail to make the playoffs. In the Super Bowl, the Patriots barely beat the Eagles who, like all of the Patriot's Super Bowl opponents, fail to make the following year's playoffs (with a 6-10 record).
- 2006, We reach an undeniable apex of parity when the generally mediocre Pittsburgh Steelers beat the slightly better (but not on that night) Seattle Seahawks. At least the Seahawks made the playoffs the following year, but not surprisingly the Steelers didn't.
Now what does that tell you about the quality of the league? It stinks, and we get to watch playoffs and Super Bowls with mediocre teams and sub par quality of play. We end up with games in which luck is too big a factor (e.g. a botched hold, Cowboys vs. Seahawks, 3 weeks ago; a fumbled fumble recover, Pats vs. Chargers last week; two TDs by linesmen on fumble recoveries, Pats vs. Colts today;). Frankly, I'm tired of thinking "Wow, that was lucky!"
So with that I'll go ahead and give my early pick for the Super Bowl. I'm going against my instincts and going with the recent trend when a good/great defense (i.e. Ravens, Bucs) plays against a good offense... I'm picking the good defense, the Bears.
That is of course unless the Colts get lucky!
Saturday, January 20, 2007
2005 State Quarters: California to West Virginia
I took a break off reviewing the state quarter designs when the football season started, but I'm back baby! So without further ado, here are the 2005 quarters: California through West Virginia:
California - One of my biggest gripes with a quarter's design is when they try to put too much on it. That idea, in itself, isn't bad but what usually ends up happening is pretty ugly. The quarter ends up having about 4 different things/themes that have very little to do with each other, so it looks incoherent (I'm looking at you South Carolina, Louisiana, and Arkansas... and don't think you're off the hook Wisconsin, Florida and Illinois). At least California, like Tennessee and Ohio, tried to make an overall theme about it. Tennessee had the best idea (three instruments for the three sections of the state), but in practice none of them finished the design cleanly. California tried to go the outdoors/nature route including John Muir, a California Condor, and Half Dome (and thus Yosemite Valley). But the quarter looks too cluttered with the condor flying right at Muir's head and Muir looking bigger than everything else just looks wierd (remember aerial perspective doesn't work too well on a coin). But probably the biggest issue I have with the quarter is them feeling the need to explain with text that this is "John Muir" and "Yosemite Valley." In fact, if you take the condor and "John Muir" out, this quarter could EASILY be a B and might even contend for an A. As it is, this is one of those middle grade coins smack dab between a B and a... Grade: C
Minnesota - I don't acutely remember holding a Minnesota quarter. I'm pretty certain I have, I just don't remember it all that well and that's not a good thing... most of the time. It's, in general, an unspectacular coin. The duck and the fisherman don't really have much to do with the state but it does bring together the one thing the state has a lot of.... Lakes. So it makes sense that they went with a lake. However they decided to throw a "top grade killer" wrench in the works by putting the state outline and the words "Land of 10,000 Lakes" on the quarter. Really those two things are the quarters only flaw... the state's outline is not very interesting (the southwest corner, which is a real corner, definitely doesn't help) and the text is off center (too high) and almost unreadable. Sorry, Minnesota, you just missed. Grade: B
Oregon - I like Oregon, as a state. Actually, I like it a lot. And I like it because it's, for lack of a better word, subtle. Oregon is like the forgotten/middle child of the Pacific Northwest (With California, technically Northern California, being the successful older mature brother and Washington and British Columbia being the younger, hipper brothers). But Oregon pulls off the "lesser known", but therefore "cooler", middle child/state role well. And they pulled off their quarter well. A great image of Crater Lake (along with Wizard Island) and the just the words "Crater Lake" added. Perfect really. Grade: A
Kansas - Kansas, like a few other states struggled because it doesn't have a single, well-identified feature to put on it's quarter. So it went fairly generic and simply put a buffalo (or bison if you will) and the Kansas state flower, the sunflower, on the quarter. And thats it. No text (aside from the usual State Name, Year it became a state, Year the quarter was released and "E Pluribus Unum"), no nothing besides a buffalo, 3 flowers and some grass. And I like that. However I just can't get over how unoriginal it is. It helps that the Kansas state song is "Home on the Range" (which has the line "Where the buffalo roam") but even their alternate designs were pretty boring. So, it might be a product of their lack of features, or maybe I'm just being harsh, but they definitely could have tried harder. Grade: C
West Virginia - West Virginia's quarter is almost perfect. If you've read my other review you can probably guess why I say "almost." Yup, it's because of the cut-off bottom. At least in this case it doesn't ruin the quarter, it just makes it slightly "uncomfortable." The other negative mark is that the text ("New River Gorge") is hard to read where it is placed. A shame really, because it could have contended for the best quarter... but do not fret, Mountaineer State. You still get a high mark. Grade:A
California - One of my biggest gripes with a quarter's design is when they try to put too much on it. That idea, in itself, isn't bad but what usually ends up happening is pretty ugly. The quarter ends up having about 4 different things/themes that have very little to do with each other, so it looks incoherent (I'm looking at you South Carolina, Louisiana, and Arkansas... and don't think you're off the hook Wisconsin, Florida and Illinois). At least California, like Tennessee and Ohio, tried to make an overall theme about it. Tennessee had the best idea (three instruments for the three sections of the state), but in practice none of them finished the design cleanly. California tried to go the outdoors/nature route including John Muir, a California Condor, and Half Dome (and thus Yosemite Valley). But the quarter looks too cluttered with the condor flying right at Muir's head and Muir looking bigger than everything else just looks wierd (remember aerial perspective doesn't work too well on a coin). But probably the biggest issue I have with the quarter is them feeling the need to explain with text that this is "John Muir" and "Yosemite Valley." In fact, if you take the condor and "John Muir" out, this quarter could EASILY be a B and might even contend for an A. As it is, this is one of those middle grade coins smack dab between a B and a... Grade: C
Minnesota - I don't acutely remember holding a Minnesota quarter. I'm pretty certain I have, I just don't remember it all that well and that's not a good thing... most of the time. It's, in general, an unspectacular coin. The duck and the fisherman don't really have much to do with the state but it does bring together the one thing the state has a lot of.... Lakes. So it makes sense that they went with a lake. However they decided to throw a "top grade killer" wrench in the works by putting the state outline and the words "Land of 10,000 Lakes" on the quarter. Really those two things are the quarters only flaw... the state's outline is not very interesting (the southwest corner, which is a real corner, definitely doesn't help) and the text is off center (too high) and almost unreadable. Sorry, Minnesota, you just missed. Grade: B
Oregon - I like Oregon, as a state. Actually, I like it a lot. And I like it because it's, for lack of a better word, subtle. Oregon is like the forgotten/middle child of the Pacific Northwest (With California, technically Northern California, being the successful older mature brother and Washington and British Columbia being the younger, hipper brothers). But Oregon pulls off the "lesser known", but therefore "cooler", middle child/state role well. And they pulled off their quarter well. A great image of Crater Lake (along with Wizard Island) and the just the words "Crater Lake" added. Perfect really. Grade: A
Kansas - Kansas, like a few other states struggled because it doesn't have a single, well-identified feature to put on it's quarter. So it went fairly generic and simply put a buffalo (or bison if you will) and the Kansas state flower, the sunflower, on the quarter. And thats it. No text (aside from the usual State Name, Year it became a state, Year the quarter was released and "E Pluribus Unum"), no nothing besides a buffalo, 3 flowers and some grass. And I like that. However I just can't get over how unoriginal it is. It helps that the Kansas state song is "Home on the Range" (which has the line "Where the buffalo roam") but even their alternate designs were pretty boring. So, it might be a product of their lack of features, or maybe I'm just being harsh, but they definitely could have tried harder. Grade: C
West Virginia - West Virginia's quarter is almost perfect. If you've read my other review you can probably guess why I say "almost." Yup, it's because of the cut-off bottom. At least in this case it doesn't ruin the quarter, it just makes it slightly "uncomfortable." The other negative mark is that the text ("New River Gorge") is hard to read where it is placed. A shame really, because it could have contended for the best quarter... but do not fret, Mountaineer State. You still get a high mark. Grade:A
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
AI Season 6: Seattle Tryouts
So I'm watching Idol and I just can't help myself. At least for posterity, and in case they are bored out of their minds, I'm continuing with the comments:
8:30-ish
First thing that stands out is that there is no guest judge. Jewel added minimally to yesterdays show, so I guess we're not missing much. The first contestant I see is Blake Lewis who does a great beat box, but he decides to do Seal's "Crazy." Not bad actually, but not outstanding. Good enough to get to Hollywood out of the dearth of "American Idol"-worthy talent that is Seattle.
8:47 pm
We come back and Ryan Seacrest steals my "'fill-in-the-blank-with-a-bad-thing' that is Seattle" line. We get a short montage of people pretty much yelling and doing some good impersonations of William Hung, with the likes of Michael Bustamante and David Mills.
That however leads to a brother and sister who wisely forego a "Donny and Marie" gimmick by auditioning separately.
First is the sister, Shyamali Malakar, who has a nice soft voice. And with two yeses (Simon doesn't actually say no, though) she's through to Hollywood. I think she's got a lot of potential because she's humble and cute... but she'll need to stand out to get far.
Next is her brother, Sanjaya Malakar. And he starts off by breaking my #1 American Idol rule: Never sing Stevie Wonder. Much like his sister though, he has a good voice, but he doesn't stand out because it's pretty darn hard to stand out singing Stevie Wonder. Otherwise, he's a lot like his sister.
9:00 pm
Back from the break: we start off with a software engineer, Nicholas Zitzmann, from Midvale, Utah who interestingly points out that Midvale is not only near the Salt Lake area but actually IN the Salt Lake area. He also likes to talk with his eyes closed, I think you can see where this is going. As Nick sings "Unchained Melody" he sways back and forth while staring at a spot about 10 feet above the judges. He's predictably awful, but they let him thoroughly butcher Simon's favorite song. Eventually, Simon stops him and says "What the bloody hell was that?" Rather depressingly Nick takes him seriously by answering, "It was me." Oh boy. Finally, following his exit interview which involved a strange interaction with Ryan Seacrest, in which they kinda silently stare at each other, Nick drops the great Forrest Gump line, "That's all I have to say about that."
9:07 pm
Rodolfo "Rudy" Cardenas finishes off day one by singing a tough, tough songs: "Open Arms" by Journey. He's okay, but he probably would have done better by picking an easier song to sing. Simon immediately says no, but Rudy is saved by yeses from Paula and Randy.
9:15 pm
Day 2 starts with news that Simon pummeled the Seattle contestants in the newspaper. And we get a few examples of why Simon said what he said: Up first is Kenneth Briggs who says he's like Justin Timberlake and Lance (Cindy tells me they're speaking of Lance from N'Snyc)... and he's not entirely tone deaf like some previous contestants but he's certainly terrible. At least he's got the boy band dancing straight. Simon stops him and drops the "massive eyes" comment which was in yesterdays teaser/preview. He continues by elaborating on the comment by calling him a bush baby... yesterday, I though he was talking about a tarsier.
Jonathan Jayne follows Kenneth and we get a glimpse of where this is headed when we hear his speaking voice. He sings "God Bless America" and although he doesn't miss every note, he's all over the place. They both leave without a much of a tantrum. Oh well we've got at least another half hour.
9:28 pm
Eric Chapman, a hairdresser who kinda sorta looks like Taylor Hicks, is up next and he entirely over does the Taylor Hicks/Soul Patrol thing. But unlike Taylor he's not AI material and he sings with an awful pained look on his face. Of course, he gets a chorus of nos and ooooh we get our first view of security as Eric is ushered out of the room after he heads for Simon with some hair gel... good times!
9:33 pm
At 6' 3", Anna Kearns, is up next singing the overdone classic "Respect." Of course, she doesn't really add anything to the song, but shes isn't not too bad. They might keep her because she can sing (although not outstandingly) and undoubtedly because of her height... and she's through without Simon's approval (but also without a "no" from our favorite judge).
9:42 pm
16 year old Jordin Sparks brings out of the break and she's pretty darn good. She's also guaranteed to get through because of the great voice and not just a combination of age and an okay voice (like a few other 16 year olds). Randy and Paula love her. Simon isn't as convinced, but she is off to Hollywood. Jordan even drops the fact that she is the daughter of former NFL cornerback Phillippi Duane Starks, making her this season's Nikko Smith. (Added after the show: while checking facts and finding links I found out that Jordin is already pretty well known. She even already has her own entry at Wikipedia)
9:46 pm
And finally we get the montage where they obviously asked everyone who auditioned to sing a particular song, even if they don't know it. This time it's the Pussycat Dolls' "Don't Cha." The perfect song for such a gimmick, but it's getting old, isn't it? They leave us by setting up a guy they dub "Big Red" for the last break.
9:53 pm
The last break is here and they introduce a red-headed fella wearing a bright red guayabera with red flames named Steven Thoen. In a falsetto/head voice he sings "Bohemian Rhapsody" while Paula and Randy just crack up. He eventually stops and says he sings country as well. Hmmm okay. As he leaves he seems very pissed and they play a Exorcist/Tubular Bells-like song... I wonder why?
And with that we're done! Next week: Memphis! The teaser/preview gives some hope for Elvis' town, including a short clip of a Scott Savol-like big man with a voice.
8:30-ish
First thing that stands out is that there is no guest judge. Jewel added minimally to yesterdays show, so I guess we're not missing much. The first contestant I see is Blake Lewis who does a great beat box, but he decides to do Seal's "Crazy." Not bad actually, but not outstanding. Good enough to get to Hollywood out of the dearth of "American Idol"-worthy talent that is Seattle.
8:47 pm
We come back and Ryan Seacrest steals my "'fill-in-the-blank-with-a-bad-thing' that is Seattle" line. We get a short montage of people pretty much yelling and doing some good impersonations of William Hung, with the likes of Michael Bustamante and David Mills.
That however leads to a brother and sister who wisely forego a "Donny and Marie" gimmick by auditioning separately.
First is the sister, Shyamali Malakar, who has a nice soft voice. And with two yeses (Simon doesn't actually say no, though) she's through to Hollywood. I think she's got a lot of potential because she's humble and cute... but she'll need to stand out to get far.
Next is her brother, Sanjaya Malakar. And he starts off by breaking my #1 American Idol rule: Never sing Stevie Wonder. Much like his sister though, he has a good voice, but he doesn't stand out because it's pretty darn hard to stand out singing Stevie Wonder. Otherwise, he's a lot like his sister.
9:00 pm
Back from the break: we start off with a software engineer, Nicholas Zitzmann, from Midvale, Utah who interestingly points out that Midvale is not only near the Salt Lake area but actually IN the Salt Lake area. He also likes to talk with his eyes closed, I think you can see where this is going. As Nick sings "Unchained Melody" he sways back and forth while staring at a spot about 10 feet above the judges. He's predictably awful, but they let him thoroughly butcher Simon's favorite song. Eventually, Simon stops him and says "What the bloody hell was that?" Rather depressingly Nick takes him seriously by answering, "It was me." Oh boy. Finally, following his exit interview which involved a strange interaction with Ryan Seacrest, in which they kinda silently stare at each other, Nick drops the great Forrest Gump line, "That's all I have to say about that."
9:07 pm
Rodolfo "Rudy" Cardenas finishes off day one by singing a tough, tough songs: "Open Arms" by Journey. He's okay, but he probably would have done better by picking an easier song to sing. Simon immediately says no, but Rudy is saved by yeses from Paula and Randy.
9:15 pm
Day 2 starts with news that Simon pummeled the Seattle contestants in the newspaper. And we get a few examples of why Simon said what he said: Up first is Kenneth Briggs who says he's like Justin Timberlake and Lance (Cindy tells me they're speaking of Lance from N'Snyc)... and he's not entirely tone deaf like some previous contestants but he's certainly terrible. At least he's got the boy band dancing straight. Simon stops him and drops the "massive eyes" comment which was in yesterdays teaser/preview. He continues by elaborating on the comment by calling him a bush baby... yesterday, I though he was talking about a tarsier.
Jonathan Jayne follows Kenneth and we get a glimpse of where this is headed when we hear his speaking voice. He sings "God Bless America" and although he doesn't miss every note, he's all over the place. They both leave without a much of a tantrum. Oh well we've got at least another half hour.
9:28 pm
Eric Chapman, a hairdresser who kinda sorta looks like Taylor Hicks, is up next and he entirely over does the Taylor Hicks/Soul Patrol thing. But unlike Taylor he's not AI material and he sings with an awful pained look on his face. Of course, he gets a chorus of nos and ooooh we get our first view of security as Eric is ushered out of the room after he heads for Simon with some hair gel... good times!
9:33 pm
At 6' 3", Anna Kearns, is up next singing the overdone classic "Respect." Of course, she doesn't really add anything to the song, but shes isn't not too bad. They might keep her because she can sing (although not outstandingly) and undoubtedly because of her height... and she's through without Simon's approval (but also without a "no" from our favorite judge).
9:42 pm
16 year old Jordin Sparks brings out of the break and she's pretty darn good. She's also guaranteed to get through because of the great voice and not just a combination of age and an okay voice (like a few other 16 year olds). Randy and Paula love her. Simon isn't as convinced, but she is off to Hollywood. Jordan even drops the fact that she is the daughter of former NFL cornerback Phillippi Duane Starks, making her this season's Nikko Smith. (Added after the show: while checking facts and finding links I found out that Jordin is already pretty well known. She even already has her own entry at Wikipedia)
9:46 pm
And finally we get the montage where they obviously asked everyone who auditioned to sing a particular song, even if they don't know it. This time it's the Pussycat Dolls' "Don't Cha." The perfect song for such a gimmick, but it's getting old, isn't it? They leave us by setting up a guy they dub "Big Red" for the last break.
9:53 pm
The last break is here and they introduce a red-headed fella wearing a bright red guayabera with red flames named Steven Thoen. In a falsetto/head voice he sings "Bohemian Rhapsody" while Paula and Randy just crack up. He eventually stops and says he sings country as well. Hmmm okay. As he leaves he seems very pissed and they play a Exorcist/Tubular Bells-like song... I wonder why?
And with that we're done! Next week: Memphis! The teaser/preview gives some hope for Elvis' town, including a short clip of a Scott Savol-like big man with a voice.
Which do you like better?
Gilligan was sick (a case of the runny butt) this evening, so I walked him and I missed the start of the Wednesday American Idol. I'm watching it now and but I won't be commenting, although it looks like Seattle is going to be a good one. Instead, I'll give you a cool little website: LikeBetter.com.
I don't remember if I have mentioned it before, but it's pretty cool and it's funded by Y Combinator (a pretty cool/slick venture capital firm). Actually, I probably have mentioned it before but I'm too lazy to go back and check... besides they've improved the site since I last visited (which was probably around October or November of last year).
I don't remember if I have mentioned it before, but it's pretty cool and it's funded by Y Combinator (a pretty cool/slick venture capital firm). Actually, I probably have mentioned it before but I'm too lazy to go back and check... besides they've improved the site since I last visited (which was probably around October or November of last year).
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
American Idol: Season 6 Part 2
Hour 2.
So far we have only had a couple of good voices, a bunch of terrible ones, and a single crazy breakdown.
And now we have some lady doing a weird Lion from the Wizard of Oz impersonation. She doesn't break down but it's still a memorable performance with a lot of growling.
Next is Stephen Horst (a vocal coach), who looks like a member of the Backstreet Boys. And he's all over the place doing Aerosmith's "I don't want to miss a thing." Paula cracks up at Randy breaking this terrible performance down... and Simon eggs Stephen on. I see a breakdown coming, but there is nothing from our good vocal coach.
Michelle Steingas is up and this is the first contestant I'm betting will make it to the final 24. She's got the look, the personality, and a good enough voice. She reminds me of a not so airheaded Kellie Pickler. Except that she's quitting her job... I hope it's at Burger King and not one of Fortune's 100 best places to work.
Our next contestant, Dayna Dooley, got flown out by her boss to Minneapolis. And boy, did he waste his money. She can belt it out, but trust me, that's not a good thing. Finally, she's headed home without a yellow sheet. Even Jewel couldn't say yes.
Next we've got Matt Sato doing a half crooning, half rocking version of "California Dreamin'." He reminds me of that 16 year old crooner from last season (Will Makar, I had to look him up). I don't like Matt, but everyone gives him a "yes." It sounds like his age, 16, helped.
Rachel Jenkins brings us back from the break, and immediately I'm thinking she's in because of the feel good story they played. Her face reminds me of chubbier Kelly Clarkson. She's not bad but she was a bit off key. And Rachel is in.
Sarah Krueger comes out and her answers seem way too prim and planned. She starts singing and does very well... picking a perfect song for her voice ("Somewhere over the Rainbow"), even adding a few nice interesting changes. Simon puts it well when he said "You have a lot of control over your voice." She definitely has a good chance of making it into the top 24, if not the top 12.
Next we've got a pair of guaranteed breakdowns: Jason Anderson (a singing juggler) and Brenna Kyner (the American Idol superfan).
Jason goes first singing and juggling a devil stick while sporting a creepy stare. As he is being rejected he drops this nugget: "I also dance." After doing a weird tap dance thing, he comes out cursing up a storm like a 3 year old with an adult vocabulary throwing a tantrum. Obviously his mother encourages his delusion by telling him, "You're going to be famous." Riiiiight... maybe if he goes to the top of some watchtower and picks off a few people with a high powered rifle he'll be famous.
Brenna is next and she's awesome singing "Under Pressure." I'm sorry, replace "awesome" with "horrible" in that sentence. Let's just say her 10 years of training and her "degree in vocal performance" have... well... umm... not helped.
And another montage... this time singing Prince's classic "Kiss." Even, our Hollywood bound Perla (the Charo clone) made it into the montage.
Next we've got, Josh Flom, whose dad claims he can "sing like a bird." We'll see about that Pops. Doing a horrible karaoke-like performance of "Had a Bad Day" by Fuel, he seems to think being a rocker means singing with a gruff voice. Randy, even makes a great impersonation of this "rocker-style" voice. He impresses me by quickly learning "Dancing Queen" and doing a great, if short, version of "Copacabana." Finally, Jewel cracks me up by saying "I'm a little worried that you're voice is going to get hurt."
Of course, Josh doesn't make it, but I certainly see his point about singing like Chris Daughtry. Chris' voice was definitely better than Josh's but they both have a lack of "diversity"... a lack which Simon mocked by having Josh sing ABBA's "Dancing Queen."
And with that our first night of American Idol is over!
Of course, we get a classic quote from Simon, about a contestant in the next city, Seattle. I'll just leave you with that:
So far we have only had a couple of good voices, a bunch of terrible ones, and a single crazy breakdown.
And now we have some lady doing a weird Lion from the Wizard of Oz impersonation. She doesn't break down but it's still a memorable performance with a lot of growling.
Next is Stephen Horst (a vocal coach), who looks like a member of the Backstreet Boys. And he's all over the place doing Aerosmith's "I don't want to miss a thing." Paula cracks up at Randy breaking this terrible performance down... and Simon eggs Stephen on. I see a breakdown coming, but there is nothing from our good vocal coach.
Michelle Steingas is up and this is the first contestant I'm betting will make it to the final 24. She's got the look, the personality, and a good enough voice. She reminds me of a not so airheaded Kellie Pickler. Except that she's quitting her job... I hope it's at Burger King and not one of Fortune's 100 best places to work.
Our next contestant, Dayna Dooley, got flown out by her boss to Minneapolis. And boy, did he waste his money. She can belt it out, but trust me, that's not a good thing. Finally, she's headed home without a yellow sheet. Even Jewel couldn't say yes.
Next we've got Matt Sato doing a half crooning, half rocking version of "California Dreamin'." He reminds me of that 16 year old crooner from last season (Will Makar, I had to look him up). I don't like Matt, but everyone gives him a "yes." It sounds like his age, 16, helped.
Rachel Jenkins brings us back from the break, and immediately I'm thinking she's in because of the feel good story they played. Her face reminds me of chubbier Kelly Clarkson. She's not bad but she was a bit off key. And Rachel is in.
Sarah Krueger comes out and her answers seem way too prim and planned. She starts singing and does very well... picking a perfect song for her voice ("Somewhere over the Rainbow"), even adding a few nice interesting changes. Simon puts it well when he said "You have a lot of control over your voice." She definitely has a good chance of making it into the top 24, if not the top 12.
Next we've got a pair of guaranteed breakdowns: Jason Anderson (a singing juggler) and Brenna Kyner (the American Idol superfan).
Jason goes first singing and juggling a devil stick while sporting a creepy stare. As he is being rejected he drops this nugget: "I also dance." After doing a weird tap dance thing, he comes out cursing up a storm like a 3 year old with an adult vocabulary throwing a tantrum. Obviously his mother encourages his delusion by telling him, "You're going to be famous." Riiiiight... maybe if he goes to the top of some watchtower and picks off a few people with a high powered rifle he'll be famous.
Brenna is next and she's awesome singing "Under Pressure." I'm sorry, replace "awesome" with "horrible" in that sentence. Let's just say her 10 years of training and her "degree in vocal performance" have... well... umm... not helped.
And another montage... this time singing Prince's classic "Kiss." Even, our Hollywood bound Perla (the Charo clone) made it into the montage.
Next we've got, Josh Flom, whose dad claims he can "sing like a bird." We'll see about that Pops. Doing a horrible karaoke-like performance of "Had a Bad Day" by Fuel, he seems to think being a rocker means singing with a gruff voice. Randy, even makes a great impersonation of this "rocker-style" voice. He impresses me by quickly learning "Dancing Queen" and doing a great, if short, version of "Copacabana." Finally, Jewel cracks me up by saying "I'm a little worried that you're voice is going to get hurt."
Of course, Josh doesn't make it, but I certainly see his point about singing like Chris Daughtry. Chris' voice was definitely better than Josh's but they both have a lack of "diversity"... a lack which Simon mocked by having Josh sing ABBA's "Dancing Queen."
And with that our first night of American Idol is over!
Of course, we get a classic quote from Simon, about a contestant in the next city, Seattle. I'll just leave you with that:
"You look like one of those creatures that live in the jungle with those massive eyes."
American Idol: Season 6 Part 1
So here we go again with another year of American Idol and I'm still lovin' it. This time I'll be doing running commentary.
We start in Minneapolis:
First up is Jennifer, and it's not looking good. She's akward and doesn't have a good speaking voice... and her singing is so labored and awful. Randy drops this classic line, "No... the singing, no."
Next is Troy "Urban Amish" Benham, a surefire "winner" if you know what I mean. And he seems to be melodically chanting his "song." And he admits he isn't familiar with the show or the judges. The first in a row of butchers.
Leading to: Jesse Holloway doing a great tone deaf version of Celine Dion's Titanic song, and he decides to take a break half way through. Half way through he even gets Paula to say "I can't do this." I'm feeling ya Paula. Finally, he gets the benevolent Jewel to say "Not a chance."
Charles "Apollo Creed" Moody, comes in a boxing getup and sings pretty badly... but not terribly compared to what we've seen so far. Alas, he get's KO'ed.
Now we've got a self described "crack baby," and her speaking voice is promising. Denise Jackson, finally someone worthy of Hollywood. And she's in! She's pretty good vocally, but she would probably need a more confident and affable personality.
And here we have the first AI "montage" and this one is of forgotten lyrics. The epitome of forgotten lyrics is Tashawn Moore, who starts it off with a flat trembling voice. Eventually she just repeats the lines and even ends up whispers the song. And after about a minute or two I just figured out she's singing Prince's "Kiss."
Our next contestant is Perla Meneses who I think has made it this far simply because of her looks and her frighteningly Charo-like personality. She sounds horrible singing Blondie's "Call Me" and she doesn't improve after singing "Hips Don't Lie." Stunningly, everyone gives her a yes, and she's through. She seems destined to be one of those contestants which makes everyone wonder "how did she/he get to Hollywood?" in a few weeks (except that I'm thinking it now.)
Next we have "Flair and Pizzazz"-filled Matthew Volna killing the Johnny Cash classic, "Folsom Prison Blues." So far (and they're pointing it out) there have been no worthy male vocalists. Except that they used that front to setup a Navy seaman, Jarrod Fowler, for success... and he's pretty good. Jewel and Randy, make a good point of telling him to watch out for his "pitchyness." Personally, i feel pitchyness is sign of an untrained, or simply bad, voice trying to hide the fact that they can't keep a note. We'll see which one (untrained voice or bad voice) Jarrod is.
And that's the first hour...
We start in Minneapolis:
First up is Jennifer, and it's not looking good. She's akward and doesn't have a good speaking voice... and her singing is so labored and awful. Randy drops this classic line, "No... the singing, no."
Next is Troy "Urban Amish" Benham, a surefire "winner" if you know what I mean. And he seems to be melodically chanting his "song." And he admits he isn't familiar with the show or the judges. The first in a row of butchers.
Leading to: Jesse Holloway doing a great tone deaf version of Celine Dion's Titanic song, and he decides to take a break half way through. Half way through he even gets Paula to say "I can't do this." I'm feeling ya Paula. Finally, he gets the benevolent Jewel to say "Not a chance."
Charles "Apollo Creed" Moody, comes in a boxing getup and sings pretty badly... but not terribly compared to what we've seen so far. Alas, he get's KO'ed.
Now we've got a self described "crack baby," and her speaking voice is promising. Denise Jackson, finally someone worthy of Hollywood. And she's in! She's pretty good vocally, but she would probably need a more confident and affable personality.
And here we have the first AI "montage" and this one is of forgotten lyrics. The epitome of forgotten lyrics is Tashawn Moore, who starts it off with a flat trembling voice. Eventually she just repeats the lines and even ends up whispers the song. And after about a minute or two I just figured out she's singing Prince's "Kiss."
Our next contestant is Perla Meneses who I think has made it this far simply because of her looks and her frighteningly Charo-like personality. She sounds horrible singing Blondie's "Call Me" and she doesn't improve after singing "Hips Don't Lie." Stunningly, everyone gives her a yes, and she's through. She seems destined to be one of those contestants which makes everyone wonder "how did she/he get to Hollywood?" in a few weeks (except that I'm thinking it now.)
Next we have "Flair and Pizzazz"-filled Matthew Volna killing the Johnny Cash classic, "Folsom Prison Blues." So far (and they're pointing it out) there have been no worthy male vocalists. Except that they used that front to setup a Navy seaman, Jarrod Fowler, for success... and he's pretty good. Jewel and Randy, make a good point of telling him to watch out for his "pitchyness." Personally, i feel pitchyness is sign of an untrained, or simply bad, voice trying to hide the fact that they can't keep a note. We'll see which one (untrained voice or bad voice) Jarrod is.
And that's the first hour...
Monday, January 15, 2007
A Reunion among the Top 5?
Back on my old site (before I moved it to blogspot) I wrote about my "Top 5" (technically 4, but I'll explain that later) favorite bands: the Police, Led Zeppelin, Bob Marley (and the Wailers) and the Talking Heads. I never saw any of these bands in person and my chances of seeing any of them (in their original lineups) was slim to none. John Bonham and Bob Marley died when I was four; And the Police and the Talking Heads had arrogant head cases for lead singers (Sting and David Byrne) who did pretty well as solo acts and both had made it fairly clear they had no interest in reuniting.
The closest I would get to seeing any of these bands would be Robert Plant and Jimmy Page collaborating a few years ago (and not even giving John Paul Jones a call) and the Talking Heads and the Police doing short sets at their respective Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions.
Well, rumors now abound of a Police reunion, and I'm giddy as a school girl. Now, I know they'll be a shell of their former selves and Sting will probably want to "jazz up" or, as I like to call it, butcher a few of their classics by bringing in Chris Botti. (In case you don't know who Chris Botti is, think Kenny G with a trumpet... and Sting has used him on tour before.)
Well no matter, I'm desperately looking forward to this.
The closest I would get to seeing any of these bands would be Robert Plant and Jimmy Page collaborating a few years ago (and not even giving John Paul Jones a call) and the Talking Heads and the Police doing short sets at their respective Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions.
Well, rumors now abound of a Police reunion, and I'm giddy as a school girl. Now, I know they'll be a shell of their former selves and Sting will probably want to "jazz up" or, as I like to call it, butcher a few of their classics by bringing in Chris Botti. (In case you don't know who Chris Botti is, think Kenny G with a trumpet... and Sting has used him on tour before.)
Well no matter, I'm desperately looking forward to this.
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