Spmusic Mondays: I Love The Smell of Gold
(1 Cent): Dodgers Are In!
Including dramatic comebacks and in-game home run derbies, the Los Angeles Dodgers finish the regular season on a 7 game winning streak and finish tied for first place in the West of the National League to secure a playoff spot, in the form of the Wild Card. They will play the New York Mets in a best of 5 series, starting on Wednesday. I couldn't be more excited.
After a one year drought, my Blue Crew is back in the postseason and actually has a shot at advancing to the League Championship Series ... and dare I say, the World Series.
In the first three games, the Dodgers will throw pitchers Derek Lowe, Greg Maddox, and Brad Penny. Lowe, in the recent Boston miracle season, helped the Red Sox to a World Series title, pitching in a handful of series deciding games and even pitching in relief on short rest for a win. Maddox, who has many Cy Young awards, seems rejuvenated pitching for LA as he's had 6 wins since being traded from Chicago -- his postseason experience with Atlanta goes without saying. Penny, who is one of the only pitchers in history to beat the Yankees twice in the same World Series, has had a career year in wins this year -- the only alarming fact is that he somewhat injured his side in the last game he pitched in and might be questionable.
I could go on and on why I think the Dodgers have a chance: they have a better than average starting rotation, their bullpen (although untested in the postseason) has been solid; they had the 2nd most runs scored in the National League; they've come up with many comeback wins. Of course, the Mets had the most runs scored in the NL (only 14 more than LA). NY also has one of the best closers in the game today in Billy Wagner.
Basically, this series will come down to what ever team can get their starting pitchers to pitch deep into the game (6th inning ... 7th better) and whoever can get their offenses flowing first. My predictions for this series and other series follow:
National League
Los Angeles Dodgers in 5 games over the New York Mets
St. Louis Cardinals in 4 games over the San Diego Padres
American League
New York Yankees in 4 games over the Detroit Tigers
Minnesota Twins in 4 games over the Oakland A's
(2 Cent): Simply Ludacris
This week's review comes from the man who hails from A-Town and goes by the name of Ludacris. His LP entitled Release Therapy is his 5th and it doesn't disappoint. Luda goes in an entirely new direction with this album, in that fact the overall feel is more chill ... or softer (and not in a bad, "he's soft" kind of way). There's a couple of club songs, a couple of love songs, some tracks that deal with the cold realities of life, another that deal with the music industry ... he hits many different topics.
Not only does he have a variety of beats and topics to rap about, but Luda demonstrates why he will go down as one of the greatest Hip Hop MC's of all time. From creativity, to wit, to keeping it real, to voice inflections and speed of rhyme, Ludacris' lyrical talent alone carries this album. As I heard him say in an interview with Big Tigger on BET, Ludacris is focused with always reinventing himself and staying fresh for the people's ears -- that's precisely what he does.
Release Therapy is a solid album through and through -- I did not encounter any filler tracks and can comfortably listen without skipping tracks (except maybe the Intro which is still semi-listenable and the last track "Freedom of Preach" which has about 3+ minutes of some preacher dude going off at the end of Luda's rap). With that said, I have to stay with my criteria for rating, and I didn't feel that there were 2 or more songs that reached "My Favorite" status, which would have scored the album higher. I do give the CD a solid 8 out of 10 -- with Ludacris' lyrical talent leading the way.
**My Top 5**
1) Track 4, "Girls Gone Wild" ... My favorite song on the CD, this Neptunes produced track has a constant flow that mixes the verses and hook almost seamlessly ... the beat is more than hypnotic and could even be a good club banger ... it's a fast paced beat to keep up with Luda's faster paced rap.
2) Track 10, "War With God" ... This track is totally different from what he has put out in the past or even guest appeared on ... I think this track's style was on Luda's mind when he came out with the title of Release Therapy; very chill song with a unique singer on the hook.
3) Track 5, "Ultimate Satisfaction" (Featuring Field Mob) ... The sound of this is a slow, hard hitting almost Houston sounding beat ... more along the lines of the sound the Hip Hop world classifies as "Chopped and Screwed" ... very unique sounding and all of the verses by the three artists are great.
4) Track 7, "End of the Night" (Featuring Bobby Valentino) ... A more "turn down the lights" track ... Luda has some of his funniest verses in this little seduction song ... him and Valentino are a hit again.
5) Track 13, "Runaway Love" (Featuring Mary J. Blige) ... This song deals with some serious issues, but nonetheless happen in everyday life ... the lyrics hit your heart ... Mary's voice is outstanding.
(1/2 Cent): The Twins Ain't The Only Ones ...
So, even more miraculous than the Minnesota Twins overcoming the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago White Sox to win their division is my softball team, the Wannabees, winning not one, but both our playoff games last week.
On Tuesday, we had a battle that literally went back and forth each inning, with the culmination of our team putting together a 4 run inning late that was too much to overcome. It was pretty intense, with the outcome of the game in the air the entire time. One of the batters on the opposing team smashed two separate inside the park home runs (well, the first one was an error by our CF) but we somehow triumphed with belting out 12 runs. I personally went 3 for 4 with 2 RBI's. The final score was 12-9.
Tuesday's win allowed us to play again Thursday. This contest started out with our team scoring 5 runs in the first, and then giving up 5 runs in the bottom half of the first. The word "slugfest" went through my mind initially ... and I was right, sort of. We hit the ball pretty well, but the opposing pitcher basically gave us the game. I've never seen a softball pitcher walk 7 batters before, until then. Also worth noting, if you walk a male, then the female behind him gets on base too, so another male is up to bat next (so you can not pitch around the guys to get to the gals). With that said, there was a lot of runs scored by walks. I personally went 1 for 2 with a double, 2 BB's (base on balls), 2 RBI's and 3 runs. It was also the first time I saw a relief pitcher in a softball game. He didn't do much better as he walked about 3 more batters. Longer story short, the final score was 17-9. We worked them so badly, that they didn't even give the "cheer" at the end of the game for us ... so we didn't either (hey, we have pride!).
What made my night was the last person in the "high five line" at the end of the game said, "Yeah, thanks guys, for beating us into submission." Ahh, yes. That statement ranks right up there with, "You're the best kisser I've ever had" and, "This lapdance is on the house."
A couple of oddities I encountered occurred while I was at bat. The most annoying one came in the form of the "relief" pitcher, as he continually "fake pitched" the ball. Let me see if I can describe it: his arm started the throwing motion as he stepped forward, then he pulled it back quickly to set again, then he started the throwing motion again, and pulled it back, etc. He did this about 3-4 times before he actually pitched the ball once. This somewhat pissed me off. If I was any closer, I'd have finished the job Nature started on him and smacked the rest of his hair off his shiny head.
The second "first" I had happen to me was that I was beaned ... I was hit by the ball ... I was tagged in the leg by a slow pitch softball pitcher. Has this ever happened before? Ha ... what made it cool was that it was a really high pitch and that I had a good 4 seconds to move out of the way. Instead of looking like a punk (reference: Hunter, Lindsey ... he's no punk), I watched it all the way to my back leg. The best part was that it counted as just a ball. Beautiful.
As it stands now, we're two wins away from the championship and ultimate glory. I'll admit: I had my reservations about this whole playoff thing before. Now? I'm probably too confident. I mean, we still have a loss that we can use (i.e. if we lose, we'll just have to play an extra game and we can still contend for the championship game). Plus, we've belted out 12 runs and 17 runs, respectively. Isn't that enough offense? I think we can do this. I think I smell gold (or whatever they'll be giving us ... a free t-shirt ... a coupon for the dollar store ... whatever it is, I want it).
Our next game is this Wednesday. Hopefully the balls will continue to bounce our way. I'll let you know the results next Monday! Gooooo Wannabees!
HCP End of Regular Season Stats: G = 7, AB = 20, R = 5, H = 14, 2B = 2, RBI = 5, BB = 1, SF = 1, BA = .700
Wannabees Team Record (Playoff): (2-0) ... Last Game - W, 17-9
HCP Playoff Stats: G = 2, AB = 6, R = 3, H = 4, 2B = 1, RBI = 4, BB = 2, BA = .667
HCP
P.S. Make sure to write in those questions and comments for this Friday's Grab Bag. Check in for this week's Pet Peeve Thursday!
Including dramatic comebacks and in-game home run derbies, the Los Angeles Dodgers finish the regular season on a 7 game winning streak and finish tied for first place in the West of the National League to secure a playoff spot, in the form of the Wild Card. They will play the New York Mets in a best of 5 series, starting on Wednesday. I couldn't be more excited.
After a one year drought, my Blue Crew is back in the postseason and actually has a shot at advancing to the League Championship Series ... and dare I say, the World Series.
In the first three games, the Dodgers will throw pitchers Derek Lowe, Greg Maddox, and Brad Penny. Lowe, in the recent Boston miracle season, helped the Red Sox to a World Series title, pitching in a handful of series deciding games and even pitching in relief on short rest for a win. Maddox, who has many Cy Young awards, seems rejuvenated pitching for LA as he's had 6 wins since being traded from Chicago -- his postseason experience with Atlanta goes without saying. Penny, who is one of the only pitchers in history to beat the Yankees twice in the same World Series, has had a career year in wins this year -- the only alarming fact is that he somewhat injured his side in the last game he pitched in and might be questionable.
I could go on and on why I think the Dodgers have a chance: they have a better than average starting rotation, their bullpen (although untested in the postseason) has been solid; they had the 2nd most runs scored in the National League; they've come up with many comeback wins. Of course, the Mets had the most runs scored in the NL (only 14 more than LA). NY also has one of the best closers in the game today in Billy Wagner.
Basically, this series will come down to what ever team can get their starting pitchers to pitch deep into the game (6th inning ... 7th better) and whoever can get their offenses flowing first. My predictions for this series and other series follow:
National League
Los Angeles Dodgers in 5 games over the New York Mets
St. Louis Cardinals in 4 games over the San Diego Padres
American League
New York Yankees in 4 games over the Detroit Tigers
Minnesota Twins in 4 games over the Oakland A's
(2 Cent): Simply Ludacris
This week's review comes from the man who hails from A-Town and goes by the name of Ludacris. His LP entitled Release Therapy is his 5th and it doesn't disappoint. Luda goes in an entirely new direction with this album, in that fact the overall feel is more chill ... or softer (and not in a bad, "he's soft" kind of way). There's a couple of club songs, a couple of love songs, some tracks that deal with the cold realities of life, another that deal with the music industry ... he hits many different topics.
Not only does he have a variety of beats and topics to rap about, but Luda demonstrates why he will go down as one of the greatest Hip Hop MC's of all time. From creativity, to wit, to keeping it real, to voice inflections and speed of rhyme, Ludacris' lyrical talent alone carries this album. As I heard him say in an interview with Big Tigger on BET, Ludacris is focused with always reinventing himself and staying fresh for the people's ears -- that's precisely what he does.
Release Therapy is a solid album through and through -- I did not encounter any filler tracks and can comfortably listen without skipping tracks (except maybe the Intro which is still semi-listenable and the last track "Freedom of Preach" which has about 3+ minutes of some preacher dude going off at the end of Luda's rap). With that said, I have to stay with my criteria for rating, and I didn't feel that there were 2 or more songs that reached "My Favorite" status, which would have scored the album higher. I do give the CD a solid 8 out of 10 -- with Ludacris' lyrical talent leading the way.
**My Top 5**
1) Track 4, "Girls Gone Wild" ... My favorite song on the CD, this Neptunes produced track has a constant flow that mixes the verses and hook almost seamlessly ... the beat is more than hypnotic and could even be a good club banger ... it's a fast paced beat to keep up with Luda's faster paced rap.
2) Track 10, "War With God" ... This track is totally different from what he has put out in the past or even guest appeared on ... I think this track's style was on Luda's mind when he came out with the title of Release Therapy; very chill song with a unique singer on the hook.
3) Track 5, "Ultimate Satisfaction" (Featuring Field Mob) ... The sound of this is a slow, hard hitting almost Houston sounding beat ... more along the lines of the sound the Hip Hop world classifies as "Chopped and Screwed" ... very unique sounding and all of the verses by the three artists are great.
4) Track 7, "End of the Night" (Featuring Bobby Valentino) ... A more "turn down the lights" track ... Luda has some of his funniest verses in this little seduction song ... him and Valentino are a hit again.
5) Track 13, "Runaway Love" (Featuring Mary J. Blige) ... This song deals with some serious issues, but nonetheless happen in everyday life ... the lyrics hit your heart ... Mary's voice is outstanding.
(1/2 Cent): The Twins Ain't The Only Ones ...
So, even more miraculous than the Minnesota Twins overcoming the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago White Sox to win their division is my softball team, the Wannabees, winning not one, but both our playoff games last week.
On Tuesday, we had a battle that literally went back and forth each inning, with the culmination of our team putting together a 4 run inning late that was too much to overcome. It was pretty intense, with the outcome of the game in the air the entire time. One of the batters on the opposing team smashed two separate inside the park home runs (well, the first one was an error by our CF) but we somehow triumphed with belting out 12 runs. I personally went 3 for 4 with 2 RBI's. The final score was 12-9.
Tuesday's win allowed us to play again Thursday. This contest started out with our team scoring 5 runs in the first, and then giving up 5 runs in the bottom half of the first. The word "slugfest" went through my mind initially ... and I was right, sort of. We hit the ball pretty well, but the opposing pitcher basically gave us the game. I've never seen a softball pitcher walk 7 batters before, until then. Also worth noting, if you walk a male, then the female behind him gets on base too, so another male is up to bat next (so you can not pitch around the guys to get to the gals). With that said, there was a lot of runs scored by walks. I personally went 1 for 2 with a double, 2 BB's (base on balls), 2 RBI's and 3 runs. It was also the first time I saw a relief pitcher in a softball game. He didn't do much better as he walked about 3 more batters. Longer story short, the final score was 17-9. We worked them so badly, that they didn't even give the "cheer" at the end of the game for us ... so we didn't either (hey, we have pride!).
What made my night was the last person in the "high five line" at the end of the game said, "Yeah, thanks guys, for beating us into submission." Ahh, yes. That statement ranks right up there with, "You're the best kisser I've ever had" and, "This lapdance is on the house."
A couple of oddities I encountered occurred while I was at bat. The most annoying one came in the form of the "relief" pitcher, as he continually "fake pitched" the ball. Let me see if I can describe it: his arm started the throwing motion as he stepped forward, then he pulled it back quickly to set again, then he started the throwing motion again, and pulled it back, etc. He did this about 3-4 times before he actually pitched the ball once. This somewhat pissed me off. If I was any closer, I'd have finished the job Nature started on him and smacked the rest of his hair off his shiny head.
The second "first" I had happen to me was that I was beaned ... I was hit by the ball ... I was tagged in the leg by a slow pitch softball pitcher. Has this ever happened before? Ha ... what made it cool was that it was a really high pitch and that I had a good 4 seconds to move out of the way. Instead of looking like a punk (reference: Hunter, Lindsey ... he's no punk), I watched it all the way to my back leg. The best part was that it counted as just a ball. Beautiful.
As it stands now, we're two wins away from the championship and ultimate glory. I'll admit: I had my reservations about this whole playoff thing before. Now? I'm probably too confident. I mean, we still have a loss that we can use (i.e. if we lose, we'll just have to play an extra game and we can still contend for the championship game). Plus, we've belted out 12 runs and 17 runs, respectively. Isn't that enough offense? I think we can do this. I think I smell gold (or whatever they'll be giving us ... a free t-shirt ... a coupon for the dollar store ... whatever it is, I want it).
Our next game is this Wednesday. Hopefully the balls will continue to bounce our way. I'll let you know the results next Monday! Gooooo Wannabees!
HCP End of Regular Season Stats: G = 7, AB = 20, R = 5, H = 14, 2B = 2, RBI = 5, BB = 1, SF = 1, BA = .700
Wannabees Team Record (Playoff): (2-0) ... Last Game - W, 17-9
HCP Playoff Stats: G = 2, AB = 6, R = 3, H = 4, 2B = 1, RBI = 4, BB = 2, BA = .667
HCP
P.S. Make sure to write in those questions and comments for this Friday's Grab Bag. Check in for this week's Pet Peeve Thursday!
posted by HCP @ 3:29 PM
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