Spmusic Mondays: Threw That One Away ...
(1 Cent): Opportunity Passed By
As I didn't predict (again), the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Detroit Tigers in 5 games to win the World Series. Unbelievable.
What's even harder to fathom is that little David Eckstein is the World Series MVP ... all 5 foot 7 inches of him (well, that's what they list him as ... he makes Frodo look like Yao Ming). No one called this Cards team to win it all (outside of the Lou).
I watched all the games and I would have to say it came down to one things: focus. You see, the Tigers didn't get blown out in their losses (especially in Games 4 and 5, where they lost by 1 and 2 runs, respectively) but threw the games away ... literally.
I'm not too sure what the record is for errors in one World Series, but the Tigers had eight (8!) in 5 games, with the pitchers accounting for about five of them. Throwing it away on a pickoff attempt ... throwing it away trying to get an out at third ... not fielding a slow comebacker to the mound ... throwing it away trying to get a runner out at first ... it was pretty nasty.
One could even say that the Cardinals had more veterans in the line-up, but they did have a rookie closer, a rookie pitcher to win Game 1 in Detroit, a relatively young catcher in Molina ... while the Tigers had future Hall of Fame catcher Pudge Rodriguez, ageless Kenny Rogers, and 13 year vet closer Todd Jones to name a few.
Again, we return to focus. The Cards seemed to make less mental mistakes (Chris Duncan in right field aside). It's not like the Tigers pitchers couldn't make a throw to third base or first base ... they reach a similar distance to home plate all game long at about 95 miles an hour. It seemed as though they were trying to guide the ball -- aim their throw -- instead of just throwing through the glove like you're supposed to do. Nervousness? Lackadaisicalness? Chokeness? Anyway you define it, they didn't get the job done ... they didn't play how they were capable of playing.
Thus ends another baseball season ... another baseball fantasy team losing ... and another Dodgers losing campaign in the playoffs. I have more deja vu than Beyonce.
Tomorrow starts the NBA season with a double header: Chicago Bulls vs Miami Heat followed by the Lakers vs Suns. You better believe I'm watching that. Tonight is also my fantasy team draft. So far, all I know is that we have 5th pick (out of 12 teams). That means we're guaranteed at least one superstar, which is good (i.e. if we received 12th pick, you don't really get a franchise player). Two out of the last three years we (J.H. and I, co-owners) received the #1 pick. I don't think we've ever gotten lower than 6th ... a good streak to have. Next week I'll recap the insanity that is the draft (my good friend J.D. also signed up for a team in our league ... he received 4th pick ... dang him). Wish me luck (because that's 60% of fantasy sports).
(2 Cent): Nothin' New
There were no artists that I felt compelled to purchase this last week, so there's no new music review, but I do have some music related thoughts.
For starters, I suppose I wasn't the only one who thought Diddy's Press Play was excellent, as he debuted on the Billboard charts at #1, beating #2 by about 70,000 copies (or something like that). I've had it in my car's sound system this whole time and surprisingly, I'm still not tired of it.
On an unrelated topic, the other day at lunch I was watching 106 & Park on BET (which is a top 10 music video countdown show) and I saw on the "new video" segment Justin Timberlake's video to his new single "My Love." Not only was this song in my "Fav Five" for the review of his CD, but this video is pretty amazing. It's crazy with the different lights that go on and off in sync (ha!) with the beat ... JT does his thing with some good dance routines ... it has TI rapping with some girl's high heel hooked to him with a rubberband (you just have to see it to know what I'm talking about) ... and of course, it has Timbaland doing a little jig here and there. Well thought out video. Two thumbs and a pinky toe up.
(1/2 Cent): Hmmm ... Wieners ...
I was walking around an electronics store over the weekend and happened to see the end of a hot dog eating contest on ESPN 2. Let me start off by saying it was pretty disgusting. There's something about it that makes me queasy. I'm not sure it was because they were eating the hot dogs while they weren't prepared by a BBQ sans mustard, relish, and other fixings ... the fact that they were pounding more wieners in their mouth than (**I stopped that thought so I won't cement my place in Hell**) ... or because as they were eating the starched white buns and drinking tap water it left a putrid mix of gunk at the corners of their mouth. I love the HDTV, but it probably isn't a good idea for food eating contests. Yikes.
Check back this Thursday for everyone's favorite, Pet Peeves. Write in questions and comments to HCP2007@gmail.com or click on the Comments link below. Because I can't say so tomorrow, have a Happy Halloween! Remember girls, it's one of only 247 days you can dress skanky and have it be kosher (the other 246 are called the Spring and Summer).
HCP
As I didn't predict (again), the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Detroit Tigers in 5 games to win the World Series. Unbelievable.
What's even harder to fathom is that little David Eckstein is the World Series MVP ... all 5 foot 7 inches of him (well, that's what they list him as ... he makes Frodo look like Yao Ming). No one called this Cards team to win it all (outside of the Lou).
I watched all the games and I would have to say it came down to one things: focus. You see, the Tigers didn't get blown out in their losses (especially in Games 4 and 5, where they lost by 1 and 2 runs, respectively) but threw the games away ... literally.
I'm not too sure what the record is for errors in one World Series, but the Tigers had eight (8!) in 5 games, with the pitchers accounting for about five of them. Throwing it away on a pickoff attempt ... throwing it away trying to get an out at third ... not fielding a slow comebacker to the mound ... throwing it away trying to get a runner out at first ... it was pretty nasty.
One could even say that the Cardinals had more veterans in the line-up, but they did have a rookie closer, a rookie pitcher to win Game 1 in Detroit, a relatively young catcher in Molina ... while the Tigers had future Hall of Fame catcher Pudge Rodriguez, ageless Kenny Rogers, and 13 year vet closer Todd Jones to name a few.
Again, we return to focus. The Cards seemed to make less mental mistakes (Chris Duncan in right field aside). It's not like the Tigers pitchers couldn't make a throw to third base or first base ... they reach a similar distance to home plate all game long at about 95 miles an hour. It seemed as though they were trying to guide the ball -- aim their throw -- instead of just throwing through the glove like you're supposed to do. Nervousness? Lackadaisicalness? Chokeness? Anyway you define it, they didn't get the job done ... they didn't play how they were capable of playing.
Thus ends another baseball season ... another baseball fantasy team losing ... and another Dodgers losing campaign in the playoffs. I have more deja vu than Beyonce.
Tomorrow starts the NBA season with a double header: Chicago Bulls vs Miami Heat followed by the Lakers vs Suns. You better believe I'm watching that. Tonight is also my fantasy team draft. So far, all I know is that we have 5th pick (out of 12 teams). That means we're guaranteed at least one superstar, which is good (i.e. if we received 12th pick, you don't really get a franchise player). Two out of the last three years we (J.H. and I, co-owners) received the #1 pick. I don't think we've ever gotten lower than 6th ... a good streak to have. Next week I'll recap the insanity that is the draft (my good friend J.D. also signed up for a team in our league ... he received 4th pick ... dang him). Wish me luck (because that's 60% of fantasy sports).
(2 Cent): Nothin' New
There were no artists that I felt compelled to purchase this last week, so there's no new music review, but I do have some music related thoughts.
For starters, I suppose I wasn't the only one who thought Diddy's Press Play was excellent, as he debuted on the Billboard charts at #1, beating #2 by about 70,000 copies (or something like that). I've had it in my car's sound system this whole time and surprisingly, I'm still not tired of it.
On an unrelated topic, the other day at lunch I was watching 106 & Park on BET (which is a top 10 music video countdown show) and I saw on the "new video" segment Justin Timberlake's video to his new single "My Love." Not only was this song in my "Fav Five" for the review of his CD, but this video is pretty amazing. It's crazy with the different lights that go on and off in sync (ha!) with the beat ... JT does his thing with some good dance routines ... it has TI rapping with some girl's high heel hooked to him with a rubberband (you just have to see it to know what I'm talking about) ... and of course, it has Timbaland doing a little jig here and there. Well thought out video. Two thumbs and a pinky toe up.
(1/2 Cent): Hmmm ... Wieners ...
I was walking around an electronics store over the weekend and happened to see the end of a hot dog eating contest on ESPN 2. Let me start off by saying it was pretty disgusting. There's something about it that makes me queasy. I'm not sure it was because they were eating the hot dogs while they weren't prepared by a BBQ sans mustard, relish, and other fixings ... the fact that they were pounding more wieners in their mouth than (**I stopped that thought so I won't cement my place in Hell**) ... or because as they were eating the starched white buns and drinking tap water it left a putrid mix of gunk at the corners of their mouth. I love the HDTV, but it probably isn't a good idea for food eating contests. Yikes.
Check back this Thursday for everyone's favorite, Pet Peeves. Write in questions and comments to HCP2007@gmail.com or click on the Comments link below. Because I can't say so tomorrow, have a Happy Halloween! Remember girls, it's one of only 247 days you can dress skanky and have it be kosher (the other 246 are called the Spring and Summer).
HCP
posted by HCP @ 9:26 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home