Spmusic Mondays: Play On!

(1 Cent): Playoffs Are Here!

So, my baseball fantasy team (that is done with co-owner J.H.) has officially made the playoffs. We ended the season with a 6 game winning streak (each week counts as one game) and enter the playoffs as the #3 team. Today commences the first day of said playoffs with Sunday being the last day of the game.

Potentially, there are only two games left (two weeks). If we win this week, we will face the winner of the #1 and #4 matchup for the championship.

This is a big deal for us because this marks the first year that our fantasy baseball team didn’t finish last, let alone make the playoffs. Our fantasy basketball teams always make the playoffs, but our baseball teams haven’t been as successful (due to not knowing all of the players very well and injuries galore). This year, led by sluggers David Ortiz, Jim Thome, Miguel Cabrerra and Jermaine Dye and by pitchers Brad Penny, Jon Garland, Francisco Rodriguez and Billy Wagner, we were able to stay relatively healthy and have some break out years by said players.

We have split the season series against this team at 1-1. Am I nervous? Yes. Will we win? Hmm ….

(2 Cent): B’Day, eh?

This week’s CD review is Beyoncé’s sophomore solo album entitled B’Day. I was surprised by the quality of her first CD that came out circa 2003 and was hoping for something more. While there are some quality songs (produced by the likes of Swizz Beatz and The Neptunes), there weren’t enough songs nor were there any that really accentuated her powerful range of voice.

There were only 10 songs on the CD (well, the 10th song entitled “Resentment” did have a bonus song at the end of it from her movie “Dream Girls” and some sort of remix to Track 2 “Get Me Bodied” that I don’t hear a difference to). For me, that’s just not enough. Don’t get me wrong … there were some good songs on there, but just 10 songs? The irony for me comes at the end of the said 10th song, where she has a little intro to the bonus song where she says, “I wanted to give all my fans something extra because this album was so special to me and it came so effortlessly ….” Methinks it came so “effortlessly” because there were only 10 songs on it. Maybe I should've paid the extra $4.00 and purchased the DVD with her music videos.

With all of that said, there were some very enjoyable songs on this CD. If you’re a Beyoncé fan then I’m sure that you will like this CD … if you’re an average fan, then I would suggest choosing your favorite songs or buying the whole CD off of iTunes (because it's cheaper than buying it in the stores) … unless you’re like me and need to have the jewel case and booklet.

To keep it real, I will give this CD 6.5 out of 10 … not just because I feel it needs about 4 more songs, but the slow jams that feature her powerful voice, I feel, are void. That is not to say that there are bad songs because it is an above average album.

Next will be my list of top songs, but only 3 instead of the usual 5.

**My Top 3 Songs** (in no particular order)

1) “Upgrade U” (Featuring Jay-Z) … this song was produced by Swizz Beatz and features boyfriend Jay-Z … this beat is the usual hard hitting, whistle blowing track Swizz is known for but is massaged smooth by Beyoncé’s vocals and spiced up with a rap from Jay.

2) “Green Light” … a production from The Neptunes … this track has a couple of sounds that sound similar to one of their productions from back in the day entitled “One Big Fiesta” from Ma$e’s Harlem World CD, with the hook switching up the flow with some marching band sounds.

3) “Get Me Bodied” … another Swizz produced track which sounds very similar to a song he just did for DMX called “I Run Ish” off his newest album The Year of the Dog … Again … I think Beyoncé does her thing on this track.

(1/2 Cent): Can You Say Three In A Row?

So, the Wannabees are now riding a 3 game winning streak after beating the team that we had a heartbreaking loss to the first game of the season, by the score of 15-9. I don’t know what it is about our team lately, but we’ve been putting up some numbers! Just two weeks ago we score 17 and now 15.

We have one last game this Thursday to end our regular season and then the playoff tournament will start on the 21st of September and run through October 12th. Needless to say, I’m giddy.

I did okay in the game … going 2 for 3 with a run and an RBI, with a couple of decent plays in the field (with a throwing error by yours truly to first base). Is it bad when you go 2 for 3 and your batting average lowers?

Finishing off the season will be the team that we beat in our second game 11-1 … hopefully history will repeat and we can have some momentum going into the tournament.

Wannabees Team Stats: Record (4-2) … Last Game – W, 15-9

HCP Game Stats: AB = 3, R = 1, H = 2, RBI = 1, SF = 1, BA = .667

HCP Season Stats: G = 6, AB = 17, R = 5, H = 12, 2B = 2, RBI = 5, BB = 1, SF = 1, BA = .706

Feel free to write in your comments and questions to HCP2007@gmail.com …. Have a great week and we’ll see ya on Thursday for more pet peeves!

HCP