Any Given Sunday

So, for those who don't know, I am a huge football fan. The sport runs in my family. My father played for Lane Tech High School, and eventually played 4 years of junior college ball. I played 3 years at Steinmetz Academic Centre, and will continue/re-establish my career at Trinity International University in 2010. So, not only do I play, watch and enjoy the game, I also know it like the back of my hand. So, if you don't understand football, I suggest you stop reading now.

What a season the 2008 regular season has been! You can not script this kind of season. Dig this. Three of the worst teams in the league last year (by worst I mean, in the bottom 10) are in the playoffs this year. Them being: the 11-5 Miami Dolphins (1-15 last year, worst in the league obviously), the 11-5 Atlanta Falcons (4-12 last year), and the 11-5 Baltimore Ravens, who reversed their record from last year. The Carolina Panthers, who resided in the bottom half of the league last year with a 7-9 record, jumped up into the #2 spot in the NFC, via a 12-4 record. On the contrary, there are teams who made it last year, and disappeared this year.

The juggernaut New England Patriots who went undefeated in 2007 failed to make the postseason in 2008, despite an 11-5 record. The Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers, both 13-3 in 2007, did not earn a spot in 2008, posting 9-7 and 6-10 records respectively. The Jacksonville Jaguars, Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Washington Redskins all failed to get back to the postseason in 2008 as well.

The 2008-09 postseason proceeds as such:

In the NFC we have:

1. The Defending Champion New York Giants (NFC East Champions, 12-4)

2. The Carolina Panthers (NFC South Champions, 12-4)

3. The Minnesota Vikings (NFC North Champions, 10-6)

4. The Arizona Cardinals (NFC West Champions, 9-7)

5. The Atlanta Falcons (NFC South, 11-5)

and finally, the Philadelphia Eagles (NFC East, 9-6-1)

The AFC Playoff picture proceeds as such:

1. The Tennessee Titans (AFC South Champions, 13-3)

2. The Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC North Champions, 12,4)

3. The Miami Dolphins (AFC East Champions, 11-5)

4. The San Diego Chargers (AFC West Champions, 8-8)

5. The Indianapolis Colts (AFC North, 12-4)

And finally, the Baltimore Ravens (AFC North, 11-5)

Now, what's wacky about the NFL playoff system is the fact that the division winners get the top 4 playoff spots, regardless of record. This is why an 8-8 San Diego Chargers team gets in over an 11-5 New England Patriots team, simply because San Diego won their division, and New England did not (Miami wins the AFC East despite having an identical record to New England due to tiebreakers). Also, the Philadelphia Eagles become the first time in a long time to make the playoffs with a tie on their record. At 9-6-1, the earn a Wild Card spot over 9-7 teams such as the Chicago Bears, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers due to them having one less loss on their record.

But the fact of the matter is, you can never predict what's going to happen in any NFL season, or on any given sunday. Last year, everyone was so sure the Patriots would be the first team to go 19-0, never losing a game throughout the entire 2007-08 NFL season. And then they we upset by the New York Giants, who came out of nowhere and shocked the world. The easy money would bet on a Tennessee-New York Super Bowl, if they are to base their prediction on records. But who knows what will happen? Stay tuned. It should be a crazy January in the National Football League. -Trufe

The Voice of This Generation...?

Well well well, it's about time Kanye West earns a spot on my blog. Now, I'm not really the whiny type, and I did not create this blog just to bash celebrities, because I for one, hate when people do that. But contrarily, I do understand why they do it. It's fun!

So, if you didn't catch the past episode of Saturday Night Live, like I did not, Kayne, the self-proclaimed "Voice of this Generation" was the musical guest. And uh... he didn't apparently fare very well.

His auto-tune affect was not working on his microphone, and hence, his lack of a singing voice was exposed; reminding people of why the album 808s & Heartbreak should've never been created. That's not the worst news however. For some reason, speculations began to circulate about Kanye possibly lip-syncing. Which is understandable, I mean, you can hear the second voice assisting him on the high notes he chose to not even attempt, but, and I'm just going out on a limb here, I thought when people lip-synced, it sounded good. Or, at least how it sounds on the album. In this incident, it was neither.

All's I'm saying is, how can you be the voice of this generation when you can't even be the voice of yourself? Think about that the next time you make claims like that 'Yeezy. -Tha Trufe

...And He Gets The Boot

So, I'm sure you've all probably seen or at least heard about the whole shoe-throwing incident that went down this past Sunday. If you didn't, I'mma need you to remove the rock in which you are under.

Basically, at a news conference in Iraq, an Arabic journalist, Muntadar al-Zeidi threw both of his shoes at current U.S President George W. Bush after shouting "this is a farewell kiss, you dog!" in Arabic at President Bush. President Bush (un)fortunately was able to move out of the way of both projectiles, which were apparently thrown hard as hell.

So much for Kanye West saying he's the most hated person on the earth. Once you "graduate" from pennies at a concert to shoes at a news conference, then you can don that title Mr. West. Hmm, maybe had you stayed in college, the whole penny throwing thing would be a thing of the past.

I'm just sayin'.

-Tha Trufe

Love Vs. Money

So, when The-Dream first dropped his debut single "Shawty is a 10" (or the album version titled "Shawty Is Da Shit") back in 2007, I wasn't a fan for all the wrong reasons. I was immature and slightly homophobic at the time, choosing not to listen to The-Dream simply because of his high pitched voice. Then came the second single "Falsetto", which was more popular with the urban population that my home along with Steinmetz Academic Centre threw me into than its predecessor. I finally decided to set my immaturity aside and see what all the fuss surrounding this song was about, and in turn, enjoyed the single very much. My approval of the song prompted me to at least check out the reviews of The-Dream's debut album Love Hate (alternately titled Love Me All Summer, Hate Me All Winter), and the reviews were generally VERY positive. Finally, I had to hear the album for myself via Imeem, and subsequently fell in love with it, making myself a fan of The-Dream after all.

Then The-Dream went dormant for a while, save for his guest appearance on the hot single by the Gym Class Heroes entitled "Cookie Jar", raising the anticipation of his next album, single, or anything. While on Wikipedia one day, I stumbled across The-Dream's entry, and saw that he had been in the studio working on his sophomore album Love Vs. Money. I was also informed that the first confirmed single from the album would be the track "Let Me See The Booty", produced by and featuring Lil Jon. I began listening to the track multiple times a day after first hearing it, a habit that probably would've taken effect even had I not been a The-Dream fan already. Next came the buzz about "Rockin' That Shit", the Song of Tha Moment from December 13-December 23, as well as the apparent second single, deemed as "Rockin' That Thang". The combination of both singles suggest that The-Dream has not missed a step in trying to follow up a spectacular debut. The catch though, is the fact that a number of tracks from the album have already been leaked to the internet, or will be in the near future. The track "Right Side of My Brain" is all over YouTube, and the rest of the confirmed tracks from the album ("My Love" [featuring Mariah Carey], "You Ain't Shit", "Fancy", "Make Love To Me", and "Kelly's 12 Play") might just follow suit; forcing fans like myself to make a huge decision that ties into the title of the album.

Will our love for The-Dream's music prompt us to spend our money on what definitely sounds like another spectacular R&B/R&G album, or will we succumb to the world of free downloads (which is how I received my copy of Love Hate)?

Brooklyn Goes Hard, But What About Jay?

So, I had been hearing "Brooklyn (Go Hard)", by Jay-Z around for a couple weeks now, but I never sat down to listen to it until a couple hours ago. At first listen, I was attracted to the sick sample, on top of the sick beat. Sadly, it's not too often when those two elements are combined in a production, and frankly I was impressed that Kanye actually gave a beat away that was sick; he usually keeps the best ones for himself. Now, in the rare cases where the beat is just as hot as the sample(s), it's not too often that a worthy rapper is thrown on the track (i.e. "Cuddy Buddy" by Mike Jones). I initially thought that seeing the name Jay-Z and hearing the beat at the same time would change things for me. I was wrong.

When Jay retired back in 2003, I wasn't really a fan of his. It's true when they say you never really know what you have until it's gone, seeing as how with him and DMX vowing to hang it up around the same time, it was really no rapper to appreciate at that time, which was when I really began to listen to Hov, finally noticing his greatness. This excited me for his return with "Kingdom Come" which dropped on my 18th birthday (November 21, 2006). I noticed a slight, but unmistakeable decrease in his lyrical ability, but that was overshadowed by the fact that much to the contrast of many reviews, I liked the music on the album. He followed this up with "American Gangster", his 2007 effort which featured improved lyrics (but still a step down from the "Life and Times of Shawn Carter" and "Blueprint" days) as well as "the ignorant shit you love"; storytelling portraying life hustling on the streets of New York, much to the pleasure of critics, classic Jay-Z fans, and fans that don't know any better alike. I generally agreed with the reviews, and enjoyed the album as well.

Than began the Blueprint 3 talk. Keep in mind, I have only heard 3 tracks previewing the album: "Jockin' Jay-Z (Dope Boy Fresh)", "Swagga Like Us", and the aforementioned "Brooklyn (Go Hard)". But I noticed, all three of them have a few things in common; a Kanye-produced beat, a sample from another song, and quite frankly, less than stellar lyrics by Jay-Z. All of which seem to be the standard for the majority of mainstream rappers who avoid the bigger standards of putting T-Pain or Lil Wayne on a track, suggesting senseless dances from women in the club, or promoting senseless dances by men in the club.

Overall, I don't think the name Jay-Z will be able to bail Jay-Z out of what looks to be an average album from a great rapper who could've easily avoided the title of "average lyricist" by staying away when he was ahead. Tha Trufe

It Begins...

What's good Blogger? Ya boy (I hate that phrase) is officially a blogger as of December 13, 2008. I actually did all the technical things I needed to do with this site last month, but then I changed my mind about actually having a blogspot. Then I changed my mind back to wanting one, hence, this is created. Holla at me!