Song of the Day

Song: "Cut Your Hair"
Artist: Pavement
Album: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (1994)

This song and video make me feel old. But I kinda am old, I suppose, so it's okay. That doesn't mean it kicks any less ass. The video makes me laugh every time because it is so damn weird.



Best line: "Songs mean a lot/when songs are bought/and so are you"

What to Do?

Bare with me when I say, the Super Bowl is almost here. I personally hate the Super Bowl worse that just about any other sporting event in professional sports history. Much is made about how the game never lives up to the hype that surrounds it, which is true yet false. The game itself is a hype machine that envies only that of the "journalists" over at Extra who kill themselves for footage of Britney Spears taking body shots off her two year old.

I should probably preface this rant with the fact that if the Jets were in the Patriots spot, I would not have slept since the AFC Championship game for fear that they would lose in one of my dreams. The truth is that the game is meaningless, yet more meaningful than any before it. People like my mother for instance have the game on in the background just so they can be the first to view the funniest new commercial that the new year has to offer. It's a barrage of celebrities, pre-game performances and of course, the halftime show. Simply put, it is impossible for one game to live up to coverage that is more hyped that the season itself. Well until this year when the word "Patriots" made your upchuck reflex tickle a bit.

Luckily there are a few more stories that are headlining the medium and one of them happens to be the announcement of the NBA All-Star starters. While the game is just for thrills and the suspects themselves are usual, this year highlights a few points in the game today. For starters (no pun intended), this years ten players have a combined twelve years of college experience between them, with only Tim Duncan and D-Wade having stayed longer than two seasons.

Also, congratulations are in order to recruits everywhere. Kobe Bryant, arguably the best player in the game today, is the only player that was not drafted in the top 5 of his respective class to be selected as a starter. Five of them were number one overall picks, with three of them (LeBron, Carmelo, D-Wade) belonging to a single draft class.

Another story that has caught my eye is the circus that we now refer as this baseball off season. What the Mitchell Report accomplished is a discussion off to itself, but after the allegations that were brought forth against Jose Canseco this week, I can honestly say that I've had enough. Though he was and still is the most credible voice about steroids, this is why I hate Canseco. The moment he is upset with you, he begins to threaten. When no team in the majors would touch him, he decided to grab a pen, paper and began to recall from a impeccable memory. Maybe that is an aspect of steroids that is not highlighted that much.

Since the report, we've been met with numerous denials while others have the classic excuse, "Well I took them, but it was just to get over an injury."

Yeah, that's kinda what they were made for in the first place. Faster recovery.

My idea is that from now on, any player that is caught using performance enhancing drugs will not miss a single game. Instead, we place them on performance deteriorating drugs like cocaine, ecstasy or heroin. This way, the fans who were cheated before now find redemption as Andy Pettite tries to find the strike zone after three hits of acid. If nothing else, just for the comedic value should Rangers youngster Josh Hamilton be busted for steroids. All that bettering your life for nothing, kid.

So sports fans, we are in that nasty transition period. The football season's are essentially over, basketball has yet to get to meaty part and spring training is a little over a month away. To make matters worse, the writer's strike continues. Long story short: Should you have anything important to do, don't put it off any longer. Do it now and enjoy what lies ahead of you.

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Song of the Day

Song: "Art Isn't Real"
Artist: Deer Tick
Album: War Elephant (2007)

If you've been hanging out in my room for the past 3 weeks or so, chances are you've heard this song a bunch of times. Like, a lot. But you haven't been hanging out in my room, or I would have probably seen you...unless you were there while I was asleep, in which case you are just being really creepy. In any regard, you should do what I've been doing and rock out this tune every day for weeks on end. It's a truly enjoyable experience, no matter what your genre of preference is.



Best line: "Cause I gotta get drunk, I gotta forget about some things"

A few thoughts from the UK/Tennessee game

I realize this makes two consecutive posts for me about UK basketball, but I can't help it.. since the Steelers got eliminated, this UK team is all I have to cheer for. So, if it would interest you to read some of my thoughts about tonight's upset over Tennesse, read on....


1. When was the last time you saw a UK team actually improve over the course of the season? Granted, part of this team's "improvement" has been because they've gotten a little healthier. But I swear I can see the team starting to mesh, they're starting to not only buy into the program, but also actually understand the program. They are literally getting better as the season goes on... what a crazy thought. How come Tubby never thought of that? There are still plenty of rocky times ahead for this team this season, but as long as there is progress like we've seen recently, I'll continue to be very optimistic about where the program is headed.

2. How about the play Billy G drew up to get the ball inbounds against UT's press with ~12 seconds left? When I saw Ramel inbouding the ball, I had no clue why we would elect to have him throwing it in b/c he is obviously the guy we wanted at the charity stripe. But when Jasper stepped out of bounds to receive the pass from Smoove, all at once you could just see the brilliance that is Coach BCG. It was a very simple, very obvious play, yet it was so beautiful from a coaching standpoint that it kinda gave me chills.

3. I love how this team hits their free throws. Bradley, Meeks, Patterson, all were money from the stripe when the game was on the line. That can't be underestimated when it comes to winning close games.

4. Nice to see Perry Stevenson actually step up and play like a man. I like it when he catches the ball, gives a few pump fakes to get his defender off the ground and then dunks the piss out of it. Of course, this can only work for a limited time, b/c eventually everyone will remember that he can't shoot and they'll just stay on the ground and contest his dunk whenever he goes up for it. But lets enjoy it whilst we can.

5. Maybe the highlight of the game was when Brad Nessler combined Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford's names to make a player named "Bradford". I have lots of respect for those who combine names (and words in general) to simplify things.

6. Lastly, and most importantly, as always fuck Tennessee.



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Songs of the Day

Song: "I've Underestimated My Charm (Again)"
Artist: Black Kids
Album: Wizard of Ahhhs EP(2007)




Song: "Wish You Were Here"
Artist: Ryan Adams
Album: Rock N' Roll (2003)

Cool acoustic version from a live in store appearance in Amsterdam. Sigh.

Song of the Day

Song: "How to Fight Loneliness"
Artist: Wilco
Album: Summerteeth (1999)

This version is from the bonus DVD that came with I Am Trying to Break Your Heart. Really feeling the lyrics on this one today for some reason. Oh well...we are just a couple of hours away from the AFC/NFC Championship games. More to come about those later (hopefully). If you haven't heard Summerteeth, you should do yourself a favor and change that. It is just brilliant.



Best line(s): "And the first thing that you want/Will be the last thing you ever need/That's how you fight it"

and, of course: "How to fight loneliness?/Smile all the time"

Darius Miller game winner against LexCath

He'll be at UK next season. Get excited. This is from last night's game between two of the top teams in the state of KY.

Song of the Day

Song: Let's Build A Home (live on Conan)
Artist: White Stripes
Album: De Stijl

After listening to a few albums of thought provoking metaphors and catchy riffs, it's good for the soul and mind to refresh a little. What better way to do so, than to have Jack White nearly make you pass out just from watching him? Although I've seen this clip personally quite a few times, I still think that if you were trying to explain to someone what it meant to play rock music, you'd show them this. Enjoy.

My Song of the Day

Song: Bull In the Heather (live on Letterman)
Artist: Sonic Youth
Album: Experimental Jet Set, Trash & No Star

After watching Juno, the underlying theme I walked out with was Sonic Youth. Weird, I know. Without giving anything away from the movie the line, "It's just noise!" resonates when talking about the band. Although some songs are a little too experimental even for my taste, this song is one of the first that I remember hearing from the band (I was 8, I think) and I came away thinking that I have to hear more from this band. While this performance from Dave may not be the best in their arsenal, it makes the Juno experience come full circle as a very pregnant Kim Gordon leads the group.

Song of the Day

Song: "Get Up"
Artist: Sleater-Kinney
Album: The Hot Rock (1999)

This is one of my favorite SK songs. I wasn't a huge fan of The Woods, their last effort released in 2005 before calling it quits a year later, but all of their stuff prior to that was just phenomenal. This song epitomizes what Sleater-Kinney was all about. Thoughtful and insightful, yet fun and playful. Everyone should give this a listen.



Best line: "Fall down on the world before it falls on you"

As a bonus note, fans of drummer Janet Weiss can hear her laying down the beat on the new Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks song "Baltimore" right here.

I...Uh...What?

Two things I want to add about yet another day in sports I (again) missed.

1. In general, I dislike the NBA. Sunday was the exception as two great, young and exciting teams squared off in the Blazers and Raptors. The owners of the past two number one overall draft picks squared off in a double OT thriller that saw the Torontosaurus' come out victorious. Although I (along with others), think that the season is eons to long and the post season wraps up about a week before the tip of a new season, the NBA has potential with good young teams like this. It is what the other professional sports, that are currently being monopolized by a few teams, lacks.

2. Philip Rivers and Eli Manning were traded on draft day about four years ago and now find themselves with the opportunity to face each other in the Super Bowl. While I find the possibility of one making it to be daunting (both would be impossible, sorry), you could not genetically create two more different people. Eli is emotionless to a fault sometimes and his lack of vocal authority has been the topic of more than a few 'Barber Shop' conversations. On the other turn of the hand is Rivers who finds no problem becoming involved in heated tirades with fans and fellow mediocre QB's. Two thumbs way up to the guy that gave Rivers the finger(s) after the Colts defeat, for not only letting Rivers know that he was not the reason they won that game, but as kind of a "Thanks for letting the Patriots have an easier road to the Super Bowl," from the rest of us.

I will leave with this memo to former UK standout, Marlon McCree; Should you get an interception against Brady this year in a closely contested game- Please go down, immediately!

Gameplan to Beat the Patriots

1. Every time you touch the ball in regulation you MUST score a touchdown and convert the PAT
2. Win coin toss in OT (b/c you're not gonna be able to stop them, the best you can hope for is to get into OT at 49-49 or something like that)
3. Score on first possession of OT... you can kick a FG at this point


If you turn the ball over, have to punt or kick a FG in regulation, they're probably gonna beat you. They are that good.

The other option is to kick the ball onsides a bunch of times. Best case scenario is you recover at least one onsides kick and steal a possession or two from them. Worst case scenario is they recover it and have a short field to work with. But really who cares...they're gonna score anyways, so why does it matter if they have to go 70 yards or 40 yards to score? Any other ideas?

Song of the Day (Part II)

Song: "I Wouldn't Know What to Do"
Artist: The Honeydrips
Album: Here Comes the Future (2007)



Best line: "If it's the last thing I ever do, I'm gonna get you"

Song of the Day (Part I)

Song: "Paranoia in B-Flat Major"
Artist: The Avett Brothers
Album: Emotionalism (2007)



Best line: "I'm so tired of being wrong"

Song of the Day

Song: "This is Hardcore"
Artist: Pulp
Album: This is Hardcore (1998)

An artsy-smartsy camp-fest set to a dark and catchy soundtrack. Jarvis Cocker should win some kind of award for his facial expressions alone in this video. Fantastic.



Best line: "Leave your make-up on, and I'll leave on the light"

LSU/tOSU thoughts

Ok, so it turns out the BCS extravaganza I had envisioned for this blog didn't quiet come to fruition. So here are a few quick last minute thoughts about the game:

1. LSU (and the SEC as a whole) has more speed than Ohio State (and the Big 10 as a whole). That's all we've heard ever since Florida destroyed the Buckeyes in last year's championship game. Is it possible that Ohio State has heard that all year (and especially in the weeks leading up to this game) and they are just flat out tired of it? And is it possible that LSU has heard how they are so much faster than tOSU at every position and they believe it enough that they won't bring their A game? If that happens, Buckeyes win. Could the SEC's reputation as the dominant football conference wind up biting them in the ass in the biggest game?

2. Is Glenn Dorsey healthy? If he is, look out!! He could terrorize the Buckeyes running game by being tough up the middle and put tons of pressure on the passing game. At the very least, a healthy Dorsey has to be double teamed. If he's not healthy, he could be a liability on defense, especially if he plays timid b/c he has his eyes on the #1 draft pick and the NFL $$$ that goes with it.

3. How much will the "home field advantage" mean to LSU in this game? Unquestionably, playing the game in N'awlins should hurt tOSU but I dont think it should have a very large influence on the outcome. I think the crowd (especially the LSU and SEC fans) expect the Bayou Bengals to romp the Buckeyes, so if tOSU can handle the initial onslaught, they should neutralize the hostile crowd.

4. How about the competition these two teams have faced over the course of the season? LSU has been thru the fire this season, narrowly escaping with victories in instant classics against Florida and Auburn and losing in multiple OTs in instant classics against the Bobby Petrino, er, Houston Nutt led Pig Sueys and some other team (I cant remember who though). They also beat VaTech, Rocky Top, and Bama. Ohio State lost to Illinois and beat Michigan. That's pretty much it for their quality competition. If the game is close, does tOSU have enough experience in the face of adversity to pull out a victory against a battle tested LSU squad?

My prediction: Great game.... LSU's defense gets a big stop late to pull out a 33-27 victory. Go Bayou Bengals.

Manning Leaves Panties in NY, Brings Big Boy Pants to Tampa

20 out of 27 completions, 185 yards, 2 TDs...not staggering numbers by any stretch of the imagination. Eli Manning may not have set the box score ablaze today, but I was utterly amazed at the player I saw on the field today. Did Peyton somehow hoodoo his way into a Giants jersey and lead the G-Men today? I am by no means annointing Eli (as many sportswriters were already doing in the 3rd quarter today) as the next John Elway, but I was overwhelmingly impressed with his play today.

Manning played four quarters of heady football today. I heard the whispers all week long about how solid he looked last Saturday against New England. Unfortunately, I was at one of my really good friend's stupid wedding and didn't get to see the game firsthand. But I kinda thought it was a fluke. After all, Eli Manning is pretty much like a woman. Sometimes he looks nice and impresses you. You want to see him again next week. When you do, he looks sloppy and timid and things are just awkward. Was all that jazz last week just a put on? So you're done with him. It's off. You're moving on. Then you hear about him on SportsCenter, and he's had another great game.

Ok, before the (not so) vaguely homosexual innuendos go any further, the bottom line is Eli is inconsistent. You can't trust him...like a woman. Ok, ok...I'm done. But today he was a leader, and I think that is the one aspect of his game that New York Giant fans have been longing to see. He was reading the defense, calling audibles, checking down to his open receivers, and making big plays when they needed to be made. Perhaps his biggest mark on the box score in today's game was a 0, as in 0 interceptions...nearly unheard of for Eli in a big game situation.

I've never been a big Eli Manning fan. I'm still not. But it's hard not to root for him at least a little bit. Dude's spent his entire career in his big brother's shadow...his big, goofy-ass shadow. So now Eli and the G-Men have to travel to Dallas to take on the Cowboys. This means that I will be rooting for Eli again next week. Who knows which Eli we'll see in the Big D (and I DO mean Dallas), but if he plays like he did today, NY has a chance to win. Ever since their big win against Green Bay at the end of November, Dallas has played less than stellar football. Here's hoping they have another off week next week, and Peyton's little brother can continue to grow as a QB. Maybe if they can pull off a win, Jessica Simpson will go out with him instead of Romo.

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Whistle While You're Not Watching Sports

Working is never all that fun.

Working through the best college bowls, UK/UL game and opening round of the NFL playoffs is Hell.

For anyone out there wondering what I've been doing during this feasting of great sports action, it mostly consists of working, sleeping a little and eating even less. Unfortunately, that leaves little to no time for me to update my end of this blog or even view it on most days. The creative juices are drying up now that all of my sports viewing consists of SportsCenter.

I guess if their is any solace to be found in all of this working, I unlike my companions on this blog, actually get paid (a little) for my services. Just for the record though, I would gladly work for free if it meant that I would be home in time to watch these games. My life is just that depressing.

Song of the Day

Song: "Apartment Story"
Artist: The National
Album: Boxer (2007)

I am reluctant to post a single song from this album, as I feel it is something that needs to be heard in its entirety. It is quite an amazing piece of work. But I am alarmed at the number of people I have talked to that have not heard this band. So I thought I'd offer up a sampling of the brooding sweetness that is Boxer. Apartment Story is just one of its many great songs.



Best line: "Oh we’re so disarming darling, everything we did believe/
is diving diving diving diving off the balcony"

Crank Dat Soulja Boy Instructional Video

This is a video I just wanted to share with all you loyal orange-blossom-special.blogspot.com readers. After watching this video, if you are ever somewhere where dat soulja boy is being cranked, you'll know what to do. Enjoy.



I think the best part is when he explains how to do the "Superman" part of the dance.

Song of the Day

Song: Sanford and Son Theme Song/The Streetbeater
Artist: Quincy Jones



Just an amazingly funky tune.

Song of the Day

Song: "Time Bomb"
Artist: Dismemberment Plan
Album: Changes (2001)



Best line: "I am a time bomb and I lay forgotten at the bottom of your heart/I'm fine/Ticking away the years/'Til I blow your world apart"

Song of the Day

Song: "Good Year for the Roses"
Artist: Elvis Costello
Album: Almost Blue (1981)

Elvis Costello covered a bunch of old country tunes on this album. I think his voice sounds great on this version of "Good Year for the Roses". Maybe 2008 will be a good year for the roses.



Best line: "I guess the reason we're not talkin, there's so little left to say we haven't said"