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March Madness Day 3

March 22, 2009

Uhm… yeah, so my blog is clearly going to be dominated by the basketball tournament while it’s going on… I want to say I’ll have some other updates (i.e. movies) during the week, but my internet browser is acting bizarrely at home… I have an online connection, but I can’t surf the web… so no promises. Anyways, today’s update:

1st round: 23 of 32
2nd round: 7 of 8 (today’s games only)
Sweet 16 deaths: 4
Elite 8 deaths: 1

I got every game right today except Washington vs Purdue, which every one in Washington probably missed as well. I can’t lie, it was a painful game to watch. Purdue absolutely dominated us in the first half. Their defense was stifling. The game was so out of control that I even fell asleep watching it…. TWICE. That’s how bad things were looking for us in the first half. We did manage to make a game of it in the second half and I gotta say it would’ve been great to win a game in which we had never lead on the last shot. Alas, Purdue just outplayed us today. Too bad for Jon Brockman, but I think UW will find their way back to the tournament next year with Q-Pon and IT returning, plus top 10 recruit Adbul Gaddy joining the mix.

I have more to say, but it’s late and I’m tired and I wanna be up for Arizona State-Syracuse in the morning. Peace.

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March Madness – Round One Wrap Up

March 21, 2009

After a solid first day of predictions, I had a miserable second day, missing six more games and losing an Elite 8 team.

First Round: 23 of 32 correct
Sweet 16 Deaths: 3 (Wake Forest, Boston College, Portland State)
Elite 8 Deaths: 1 (Boston College)

Honestly, I had a really hard time filling out the bracket this year. I’ve watched more college basketball this season than I probably have in the rest of my life combined and I’ve been tracking box scores, leaderboards, conference standings, and weekly rankings since day one. In 80% of these games, I could make a strong case for either team winning and it only gets harder as the rounds advance.

My biggest problem area was in the bottom half of the Midwest Region, where I had Boston College advancing to the Elite 8… a team I’ve never even considered a top 25 team all season long, even when they earned that ranking by beating a then #1 UNC earlier this year. So how on earth did they find their way into my top 8 teams? Well, for starters, I didn’t think USC was a tournament team this year. However, they did win the Pac-10 tournament, beating a few teams I think are clearly better than them. Secondly, if BC had beaten USC, they’d be matched up with Michigan State in the 2nd round and MSU has been the most overrated team in all of college basketball this season. I’ve been saying that all season long, so how could I not pick them to lose to BC? In the Sweet 16, I would’ve had a BC-Kansas match-up and I was really close to taking North Dakota State over Kansas in the first round… so could I really take to the Elite 8 after nearly giving them a first round exit? I think what it comes down to… is I don’t think there’s a team in the bottom half of the Midwest Region that is a top 8 team in the nation. MSU is overrated and plays in one of the weaker big 6 conferences and Kansas, while defending champs, are too young and inexperienced; that they even played their way to a 3 seed this year is remarkable to me.

I suppose I get minor kudos for picking two #12 teams correctly (Arizona and Western Kentucky). In most years, those would be considered big upsets… but I’m not surprised by either of them. Arizona has the longest active streak of consecutive tournament appearances, so despite the low ranking this year, they are about as seasoned a program as there is. Not only is the school storied in the tournament, but they got a solid nucleus of talent with Jordan Hill, Chase Budinger, and Nic Wise… those guys are good enough to contend with just about anyone when they are firing on all cylinders, and let’s face it, Utah isn’t exactly a powerhouse organization.

Western Kentucky beating Illinois wasn’t a big shocker either. Only a year ago, they went to Sweet 16 as a #12 seed, so it’s not like this is a news flash. Also, Illinois isn’t blowing anyone’s mind with their talent level. Which brings me to….

Biggest Upset Of Round One: Cleveland State over Wake Forest – This should be the biggest bracket buster across the nation. Wake Forest has been inconsistent enough this year for this to seem possible, but they also have the talent of a team that can win a national championship. In my eyes, this loss would be on par with any of the #2 seeds losing in the first round. I’ve seen Wake play a couple of times this year and when they are on, they look like a top 5 team. For all the problems I had in the bottom half of the Midwest bracket, I would’ve taken Wake Forest to the Elite 8 over any of those teams (Kansas, USC, MSU, BC, West Virginia, Dayton). I’m sad to see such a talented team ousted so early. With that said, Cleveland State deserves some credit…. while they have earned the Cinderella moniker for the tournament, they did beat a then undefeated Syracuse team earlier this year… a team that is now in the top 12 nationally. Cleveland State certainly has it in them to advance to the Sweet 16 as Arizona should be an easier fight than Wake Forest.

Game To Watch: Washington vs Purdue – I think even outside of Washington this has to be seen as the most interesting match-up tomorrow. I hate Big Ten basketball this year and I’d love to see the Huskies pound the Boilermakers, but it’s hard to call. Personally, I think UW is easily the better team.

Runner-Up: Maryland vs Memphis – While I didn’t predict this upset, I do think the Terps can give Memphis a run for its money tomorrow, especially with how tough a time the Tigers had with CSU Northridge on Thursday. Memphis is one of the harder teams to judge this year. It wouldn’t be outlandish to say they have mediocre results against good teams this year; they lost games to Georgetown, Syracuse, and Xavier. They only have one win over a solid team and that was a decisive win against Gonzaga. Watch out now….

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March Madness: Day 1 & 2

March 20, 2009

Ah yes, folks, it’s my favorite time of the year: the NCAA Men’s College Basketball Championship, a.k.a. March Madness. With 75% of the first round complete, my bracket still looks in good shape. I’ve missed a total of 5 games, which probably has me around the national average, but I still have all my Sweet 16 teams alive.

My misses so far:

West Virginia vs Dayton: I penciled in Dayton in my first draft and thought they were certainly capable of the upset. However, at the end of the day I had to admit that West Virginia is the better and more seasoned team and I went with them. I can’t say I’m shocked by this upset at all though.

BYU vs Texas A&M: This was a pretty even match. I went with BYU because Lee Cummard is a beast and they seemed like the stronger team. Missing an 8 seed vs. 9 seed game is a pretty minor mistake anyways.

Tennessee vs Oklahoma St.: Another really even 8 vs 9 match. Oklahoma St. has decent depth and a star in James Anderson, but Tennessee is certainly the more touted team. This was the last game I filled out in the first round, so I could’ve gone either way on it.

VCU vs UCLA: Every analyst in the nation was predicting this upset and I think for good reason. I wasn’t jumping on any bandwagons making this pick because there are solid reasons for taking VCU in this game. First off, Eric Maynor is a beast… better than anyone on UCLA, Darren Collison included. Secondly, VCU won a tournament game just a few years ago. Thirdly, UCLA is just not that good this year. They have a decent squad, yes, but I’ll be surprised if they don’t lose by 10+ to Villanova tomorrow.

Clemson vs Michigan: I’m not sure why I went Clemson on this one. I made a list of my favorite out-of-state teams for the 2008-2009 college basketball season and Michigan was on that list simply because I think very highly of Manny Harris. I prefer Michigan over Clemson and since neither team is all that dominating, I’m surprised I didn’t go w/ the team I like more. I guess I figured Trevor Booker’s presence in the middle would be the difference in this game. I guessed wrong.

It sucks being at work while all these games are on, but I did get to see Washington vs Mississippi State and Gonzaga vs Akron yesterday. Thankfully, today is the only day I’m missing the action because I took tomorrow off and I always have Sundays off. I’ll be in Seattle rooting for the Huskies.

I should have another update tonight after the rest of today’s games.

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Updates Coming Soon

March 11, 2009

I haven’t had time to update the page recently, but I will be starting to do so again very soon. This week I finished reading the graphic novel Watchmen by Alan Moore and I’m planning to see the film tomorrow, so I’ll have my thoughts on that adaptation posted very soon. Also, I will have a review for Milk very soon and a bunch of other movies. I also heard the new Brother Ali EP this week and will post my thoughts on that very soon. Lastly, I’m long overdue on my Harry Potter vs. Twilight rant.

Peace.

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Oscars 2009 Wrap Up

February 26, 2009

First off, I went 14 of 24 in my Oscar pool, which is decent. I mostly missed the random categories like Best Animated Short and Best Short Live Action. I did make one big blunder, however, picking Benjamin Button over The Duchess in the Best Costumes category. I’ve seen enough footage from The Duchess to realize that was a shoo-in.

Secondly, let’s address snubs: no film got snubbed worse than The Wrestler. As it stands now, The Wrestler is one of the three best films I saw all of last year. With that said, I’d clearly put it in the running for Best Picture. I certainly liked it more than Benjamin Button and while I’m yet to see The Reader or Milk those typically aren’t the kind of films I see usurping The Wrestler from my top 3. Darren Aronofsky probably deserved a Best Director nod and the documentary-like cinematography should have gotten a nom in that category; along with The Dark Knight and Slumdog Millionaire the camera work in this film stood out to me more than any others. Also, it’s weird that Bruce Springsteen’s “The Wrestler” not only got nominated for Best Song in all of the other award shows, but he also won, yet he was completely absent from the Oscar ballot. Go figure. Finally, the Best Original Screenplay category was one I wasn’t very familiar with (I haven’t seen three of the films), but the script for The Wrestler was better than In Bruges; that much I can say for sure.

As it happened, however, The Wrestler earned a total of two nominations (and it’s quite arguable that Marissa Tomei’s Best Supporting Actress nom was undeserved), but I think you can make a solid argument for seven nominations.

Other snubs:

The Dark Knight – Best Picture
Chris Nolan – Best Director

Most Deserved Oscar – Heath Ledger as The Joker. I predicted a nomination for Heath after just hearing him talk over the teaser trailer. I could just sense that he was bringing something special to the table… plus my unwavering faith in Chris Nolan made me think that he picked the right guy for the job. I think ten years from now when people talk about the best performances of this decade, Heath Ledger’s Joker is going to be at the top of a lot of lists.

Most Underserved Oscar – Benjamin Button winning Best Visual Effects. Okay, we get it… the character ages backwards by computer effects and lots of good makeup. Yippee… How cool. Neat. Not quite the “wow factor” of seeing Tony Stark put on his Iron Man suit or seeing the BatPod in action, flipping an 18-wheeler on it’s back and then doing a 180 off a wall. This was the most bizarre win of the night IMO.

Biggest Shocker – Sean Penn taking down Best Actor. Again, I haven’t seen Milk, so I might be out of line… but all the hype was for Mickey Rourke and Frank Langella, and I have seen both of those performances and the hype is deserved. No one was really talking about Penn winning, so I’m sure I’m with the rest of the world in being surprised by this award.

Okay, that is all!

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College Basketball – Pac-10 First Team

February 23, 2009

This year I’ve been following college basketball quite rabidly and I can’t help but try to put together my own rankings sometimes. Here are my picks for Pac-10 First Team as of today:

James Harden, G, ASU (21.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 4.2 apg, 1.7 spg)
Jordan Hill, F, ARIZ (18.0 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 2.0 bpg)
Jerome Randle, G, CAL (17.8 ppg, 4.9 apg, 45% 3PT)
Chase Budinger, G, ARIZ (17.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.5 spg, 41% 3PT)
Darren Collison, G, UCLA (15.0 ppg, 5.0 apg, 1.7 spg, 41.5% 3PT)

It’s kind of tough to call. Harden’s the best all-around player in the Pac-10 easily and Hill is 2nd in points, rebounds, and blocks, so I think they are both cinches. I was a Collison hater not that long ago, but I think he’s played his way back to the top PG in the conference, ranking 1st in assists and 2nd in steals while averaging 15 PPG. Budinger is just solid across the board, putting up good numbers in every category except blocks. He’s like a white version of Harden with less talent. I can’t really see a good argument against his placement here, especially since Arizona has been nearly unbeatable since his face got stepped on. Randle is my bubble boy; he’s a scoring beast that also ranks 2nd in the conference in assists while shooting lights out from three. I feel like I’m snubbing USC’s Taj Gibson though, especially since my First Team is guard-heavy and lacks a true center. Gibson leads the conference in blocks by a large margin and averages almost a double-double on top of that. I could see an argument for him over Randle. It’s also tough to leave UW’s Jon Brockman off when he averages a double-double and leads the league in rebounds… but I think he’s a Second Team guy right now. I had Isaiah Thomas on my last First Team, but aside from his scoring, he’s not putting up nearly the numbers that Randle and Collison are, so despite my home school bias, I have to drop him. As it stands, there could be three Huskies on the Pac-10 Second Team with Justin Dentmon having a great season also.

Thoughts?

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Inverse – Future Stars

February 3, 2009

You’re going to be hearing a lot about the hip-hop group Inverse on this blog because they are my boys. I met Tunji and Toby on SoundCircuit.com roughly ten years ago and over the past decade we have become pretty close friends and have hung out a handful of times in real life.

I truly believe that these guys are well on their way to being a very respected and successful hip-hop group and that Tunji has superstar potential. Better to jump on the bandwagon now then in a couple of years when everybody is talking about them.

They have released two discs of music over the past music and I will provide download links to them below. The first one is “So Far,” a collection of unreleased Inverse music and the second is an EP entitled “So True.” Both albums are a precursor to their long awaited official debut album “Long Days Journey” hopefully due out sometime before the end of 2009, though I’m sure the first half of 2010 is probably more likely.

I will be making frequent updates regarding these guys and will repost links to their albums when my site is getting more traffic… but for those of you already on board, check out their music by clicking the links below:

Inverse – So True EP

Inverse – So Far

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Batman Was Robbed!

January 31, 2009

With the Oscars coming up in February, I’ve been trying to see as many movies contending as possible. While award shows are generally popularity contests, I find the Oscars to be a rather accurate representation of the year’s best films and performances. However, I do have one big gripe with this year’s nominations: no Best Picture or Best Director nods for The Dark Knight and Chris Nolan’s amazing work on that film. The films picking up Best Picture noms are:

Milk
Frost/Nixon
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Slumdog Millionaire
The Reader

I’m yet to see The Reader and Milk, but of the other three films only Slumdog Millionaire is arguably better than The Dark Knight, in my opinion. In support of my argument, it’s worth noting that only Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire received more total nominations than the latest Batman flick.

The academy seems to agree that The Dark Knight is a more technically impressive film than Frost/Nixon and The Reader; it picked up nominations for visual effects, cinematography, make-up, etc. So how is it that those films are better all around pictures? If the argument is direction, Chris Nolan did an amazing job and the IMAX cinematography was groundbreaking. If the argument is acting, the entire cast of The Dark Knight was at least above average and Heath Ledger gave one of the best performances I’ve ever seen as The Joker. Yes, Frank Langella gave a staggering performance as former President Nixon, but I think if people look back on 2008 (and maybe even the entire decade), the performance everyone is going to remember is Heath Ledger’s Joker portrayal.

So it must come down to the writing. That’s the only aspect where The Dark Knight might be coming up short against the competition. Personally, I found the writing in TDK to be extremely well done. For such a long film, it was quickly paced; I was on the edge of my seat the whole time during my first viewing and one can’t help but be excited for The Joker’s next appearance. Heath’s performance was phenomenal, but the writer’s helped steer the character in the right direction. We don’t have The Joker dancing to Prince songs and we have the screenwriting team to thank for that. While some may prefer Tim Burton and Jack Nicholson’s cartoony rendition, I believe it’s unarguable that Heath Ledger’s dark and demented turn is a more accurate portrayal of the character and a much more intriguing fit for the big screen, especially in Nolan’s reality-based Gotham.

So while I can’t consider picking The Dark Knight for Best Picture, I do believe it should at least be in contention. Either way, my vote goes to Slumdog Millionaire, which is far and away the best made 2008 film I’ve seen.

I’ll be back with mini-review for Slumdog Millionaire, Frost/Nixon, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, Revolutionary Road, and maybe some others shortly.

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First Post!

January 30, 2009

What’s good?  I updated my About page, so check that out to learn a little about me and what I plan to do with the blog. I’m new to the blogging process, so I’m learning on the job and hopefully I can make this joint more pleasing to the eye in a short amount of time. Stay tuned!

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