Preface:  The night before the game, the night before an Alabama game, I had to get a little drunk.  It’s what we do.  So I did.  I woke up slightly sleep-deprived.  Steve McGuffey had the honor of driving.  One cup of McCafe Premium Roast later, Jim and I proceed to talk recruiting/all things Bama for 90 minutes.

Notes:  A perfect day for football.  Even by our spring standards, the day featured extraordinary weather… Bryant-Denny Stadium has a long way to go.  I am sure you saw it on television, but there is some work to be done.  The facility will be more than impressive when finished.  One must consider BDS a top college football, nay, sporting destination, in the country.  We sat second row, upper deck, 50-yard line, shade side. This may be the best seat in the house.  You sit up high enough to read the secondary, blocking, etc., but low enough to identify the third string nose tackle (Nick Gentry).  The stadium was full and people were standing all along the fences on field level, and the spirals headed to the upper deck had approximately 400 people on them.  Alabama Nation is overwhelming.  What are so many people doing at a football practice? Saban clearly loves this.  I thought to myself: “it is a beautiful Saturday.  This game is free entry.  I am sitting in the best seat in the house, watching nothing less than 30 future NFL players on the field.”  Talk about a bargain.

Warm-ups: Clearly the result of years of optimization by Czar Nicolas.  After the Chinese fire drill that signals the conclusion of team stretching, the team sprints to timed stations, for example, the D-line rushing each other in the end zone; linebackers and secondary in separate units working on coverage drills; opposite half of the field split with first and second team O with dual QB repetition continuously… Here are two cool stories from the warm-ups:

1.  Rolando was with the linebackers unit pumping up Dont’a, and then Hightower immediately jumped into drills with Nico and made a dazzling, fully extended one-handed interception.  When #30 got up, never putting his other hand on the ball, he ran over to Rolo and started mimicking a throwing motion while holding onto the ball as if it were stuck to his hand like a little kid showing off to his buddy.  Hilarious and impressive.  It really is a child’s game to him.

2.  There is a diesel drill I had never seen before where the first and second unit offensive and defensive line units line-up and go through pass rushing situations.  It was four down D-lineman against our base O-line without a TE or H-back.  At the snap, the coach yells the number of a defensive lineman and that individual player goes 100% against whatever O-lineman would be responsible for him in a game.  They grapple for about 4 or 5 seconds.  During this drill I first took notice of Brandon Moore.  On the snap, the 19-year old literally threw freshman All-American B. Jones on his ass and got to the dummy QB.  Moore has all the makings.

Stuff you’ve already heard:  The hype is real with Dre.  As some have begun to observe, he’s got “swag.” I do believe Dre is going to be a Patrick Peterson-type.  If he stays healthy, then he may be early NFL-bound.  He moves better than anyone out there.  His fluidity was evident with the overhead INT of Greg that he made look easy.  In pre-game, he went through every secondary repetition smoothly and he didn’t drop a single ball…  BJ Scott has locked up the other spot, and appears the be poised for a productive season…  no need to comment on #57…  Chance Warmack appears to be the real deal.  He pulls well, and we ask our OGs to do that often…  DJ Fluker is the first player any fan will spot from the stands.  He must be the biggest player in the history of Alabama football.

Game notes: After AJ made a beautiful throw to #3 on the trick play, we came back in the shotgun on the next play and he misread the defense.  Forcing a post route into double coverage, AJ missed Brandon Gibson running totally uncovered down the seam…  Greg’s INT to #21 was a bad throw.  If he gets any air under that thing, it should’ve been a touchdown to Maze.  I have never noticed how weak Greg’s arm is, but when AJ is down there flicking the ball 50 yards, it becomes evident…  the punting improved as the game went on, but clearly Jay Williams or the unnamed walk-on is the played Czar Nicolas has in mind.  But, yes, the punting looked horrible…  I was able to observe from the upper deck on the other side of the field that Maze did not stay in bounds for McElroy’s flea flicker TD throw.  I looked at my dad and said: “where would AJ have put that ball?”…  Eddie Lacy – the hype is real.

QBs:  They are all good.  #14 had deceiving numbers, he is damn good.  How do AJ and PSims co-exist?  They probably don’t, but leave it to this staff to figure it out…  I was absolutely ready to write Star Jackson off for good, but he looked enthusiastic, poised, smooth and strong.  He did not make a single check off the entire game.  Similar to John Parker, I knew where he was going to throw the ball before he was half-way through his drop.  But, he could be a good career back-up.  He played with fire, like a player that wants to earn a spot.  I was impressed…

I have always wanted this to be Greg’s time.  When you take into account his leadership, his understanding, his willingness to do whatever they ask him to do, the continuity of our team, it all seems that he has earned this team and gives us a good chance to win games.  Greg McElroy will not lose a football game.  AJ can win a football game.  He made Brandon Gibson look like an NFL prospect.  The game’s longest pass play, a 41-yard seam route to #11, was laid up perfectly.  It was a throw that Greg has never made in his life, and AJ made it as a 19-year old.  He was certainly making reads like an educated signal caller, and his touch on throws to Richardson (both the trick play and the touchdown) was unlike anything #12 can give us.  At one point in my notes, probably during the 4th quarter, I just scribbled down “AJ, AJ, AJ.”  As you may know, ESPN quickly cut away from the game at its conclusion.  Saban made the team stay on the field for the next play, 4th down and 5.  AJ threw a 50-yard laser to the back of the end zone that #11 caught over Dee Milliner and there was jubilation on the white sideline, a giant pile-up led by Star Jackson.  They were legitimately pumped to have beaten the crimson.  The throw was unreal.  I glanced at the crimson sidelines and they looked shocked and pissed.  Ingram was short in his post-game interview.  I bet Saban loved it and hated it in the same moment.  Another thing to chew their ass about.

Final notes: John Fulton will be the first member of his signing class to see the field.  He looks ready now, expect him to play meaningful snaps next year.  Milliner will be fine, just not as far along as Fulton.  Milliner is going to benefit tremendously from Coach Cochran, as he’s got about 20 pounds to put on…  Saban hawked the sidelines with miss terry chatting up massive black recruits on the sideline, all 100 of them.  He loves recruiting his balls off.  His body language is totally different when talking to recruits.  He appears animated, energetic, waving his hands as if he is telling a story or joke.  At one point during the game he went up to Trent Richardson and said something with that sly Saban grin and Richardson doubled over in laughter.  Who knows what he said?  ”Do not come in here soft today!”

AJ can hose the ball all over the field.  I told my dad in the second quarter that I had seen enough, that is was time to give AJ the keys to the kingdom.  Dad, half-joking: “Greg hands the ball off well.”  AJ reads both sides of the field.  At any moment, any throw is possible (read: we can score touchdowns.)  His development will not be without mistakes, INTs, dumb sacks and fumbles, incorrect run checks and audibles, probably a few delay of game penalties.  But if we want to be the high-octane offense, an offense that resembles the early decade Miami U or mid-decade USC machine, we need a quarterback.  We have the talent everywhere else.  I think AJ can be that quarterback.  If I was a UT fan and I was at the A-Day game, I would be saying to myself: “I hope they don’t put that #10 in there.”  When AJ went Brett Favre on us and hosed a frozen rope 50 yards into the leaping hands of a career back-up to lead an upset that hadn’t happened in any Saban spring game at Alabama, you knew we have a game changer in the stable.

Post-script:  Our linebacking corps.  Good God.

Fernando Townsend

P.S. Also of note, Saban and his fire breathing minions locked up another 4 commits for the class of 2011. DE DJ Pettway, ATH Jabriel Washington, DB (and maybe the top one in the country for ’11) Hasean Clinton-Dix, and monster DE out of Auburn, LaMichael Fanning.

Ὀδυσσεύς Bombay

Rawr

OB will surely hate me for doing this, since he has been a card-carrying member of the Duke-haters Club ever since I’ve known him. But how ’bout them Blue Devils? The most absurd looking of the number 1 seeds actually became better when 7’1″ bearded-paint-dweller Brian Zoubek became a starter after the loss to Maryland late in the regular season. The fighting Kryzewskis dominated the ACC tournament and were all set to make a run at the title. I personally had the boys from Durham losing in the Elite 8 to Villanova, but when the Wildcats bowed out early to cinderella St. Mary’s it made Duke’s path that much easier.  The Dukies fought off Baylor to earn their spot in the Final Four and played their best game of the year against West Virginia to make it to the Championship. I personally loved this Championship game. It was a typical David vs. Goliath sure but what I loved the most about it was that of the 10 starting basketball players from Duke and Butler, half of them were white boys. Duke’s fantastically pale trio of Scheyer, Singler, and Zoubek proved too much for the hometown Butler Bulldogs and Coach K won his 4th Title at Duke in what was one of the better Championship games in recent memory. A big Duke high-five to all my fellow frontrunners who have loved the Blue Devils since the days of Hurley and Hill.

That's What I Call Diversity

Well the end of college basketball means there must be something to fill this massive sports void in my soul. There must be some sport that encompasses all that is and was good in America. Something that brings people together, spanning thousands of miles and defines a common thread among generations. What could it be?

Thank you Terrance Mann, I mean James Earl Jones. Baseball. God I love it. There is nothing more perpetually American than baseball. Nothing makes me realize that summer is imminent more than baseball. With opening day happening yesterday and my hometown Braves ripping the absolute dog shit out of the Cubs I couldn’t be more excited about this season. It is Bobby Cox’s last season as Braves manager and the boys from the Ted have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs. As a boy I attended a World Series game in 1992 when Atlanta played Toronto, my all-time favorite player is Chipper Jones (UFag bias and Hooters babies aside, he’s a baller), and when David Justice hit that solo-shot to win the 1995 World Series it immediately became my greatest sports memory. I love the Braves and I love baseball. This season is going to be exciting to watch. As 20 year old, number 1 prospect Jason Heyward hit a 3-run bomb with his first major league swing he ushered in a new era of Braves baseball, one that hopefully will send Bobby Cox out with a title of some kind.  Here’s to $2 tickets, $4 hot dogs, and $6 domestic beers.

Feels Good Man

Speaking of the Rites of Spring, there is another one this week. It is the Jim Nantz jizz-fest aka the Masters. This year I hope that mainstream America holds their collective obsession of the philanderer elsewhere as the Masters is one of the last remaining utterly pure sporting events. That is the last I will speak of that. If you are a true sports fan, then Augusta National Golf should be at the very top of your Sports Bucket List. I myself have been 3 times to the tournament itself (practice rounds are for suckers) and usually can be found walking around with my jaw somewhere around my ankles, or propped on a hillside with a $1.50 beer. It is truly a sight to behold, one of Golf’s many meccas, but the US’s only true Golf Capital. Augusta in early April is a fantastically beautiful place, azaleas and dogwoods blooming, sorostitutes from nearby UGA and South Carolina clad in stunning sundresses and skirts that do as the wind bids them, and the sweet sounds of titanium on plastic. I hope to everything that this weekend is more about the other men on the course, those that are actually competing for a green jacket, because in a world filled with distractions it would be nice to just watch some guys play some amazing golf at a truly amazing place.

Amen Corner - Augusta National Golf Club

Alright enough sports talk for today. There are a couple of movie trailers running on most cable networks right now that have caught my attention. Not for the movies themselves but for who is in them. Death at a Funeral and The Losers both star a certain up and coming actress who has appeared in Avatar, Star Trek, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Drumline. Zoe Saldana is a New Jersey born, Dominican/Puerto Rican, actress and she has me wanting moar. This chick is unreal. I mean I first took notice when she was lookin’ supa-fine opposite Nick “Wil-n-Out” Cannon in 2002′s supersmash Drumline, and since then I have been keeping tabs on her. Death at a Funeral‘s cast alone will probably have me redboxing it in a few months (doesn’t hurt that it’s rated R, might catch it in theaters), The Losers looks like a quality summer shoot-em-up and there is no lack of great character names so I will be catching this one when it comes out (plus Zoe looks great in the trailer). This chick is about to blow up, I guess this is the Woman version of Music MANday, as we at WBPT salute Ms. Saldana and all she undertakes in the future.

Looked me dead in the face, asked cash or credit...

Now on to another Goddess named Zoe. Or I guess, Zooey. In this section of Epic Post I will be discussing 3 of my favorite albums to come out in 2010, the first of which is She & Him – Volume Two. For those that don’t know, She & Him is comprised of musical renaissance man M. Ward and actress/singer/blue-eyed sex kitten Zooey Deschanel. Simply put, if you like Zooey’s voice then buy this album. It is heads and tails above Volume One, her lyrics are simple and meaningful and his guitar bleeds through every track as they mix together to make a 50′s style folk masterpiece. See and hear the first single from the album below, if you dig it I suggest you purchase the rest.

Favorite album number two of 2010 is the debut album from a band called Local Natives, an LA based group who describe their sound as “afropop-influenced guitars with hyperactive drumming and hooky three-part harmonies” and if that doesn’t make you want to take a listen, then maybe the video below will (very cool). This is another must have album. The Local Natives are kind of a mixture of the Arcade Fire and Vampire weekend but that doesn’t really do them justice, these guys are definitely a group to keep an eye on.

Favorite album number three is also from a new group on the scene. Mumford & Sons released their freshman effort Sigh No More back in October 2009 over in the UK and it was just released over here in the states. This album is the shit. If you’re a fan of stringy, loud, folky groups like the Avett Brothers and Frightened Rabbit then this is the album for you. Probably the best all-around album I’ve heard since Phoenix’s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. Seriously buy this album, download it, rip it, get it somehow. You won’t regret it.

Alright friends, I’m all posted out. But before I leave you I just wanted to give you a heads up on some great music coming out in May. Indie music phenomenon The National will release their album High Violet on May 11, below is a clip of them performing a track from that effort on the Jimmy Fallon Show. Below that is Charleston’s favorite local sons (ok, besides Hootie) and their first ever video of any kind from the upcoming album Infinite Arms that comes out on May 18th.

Looking forward to this summer, the music, the sports, the drinks, and the broads. Thanks for your patience. Stay tuned.

-Neil

Big day yesterday in Munich. Bayern Munich beat Manchester United 2-1 in what I thought was a pretty dominate performance. They were clearly the better side, and if it weren’t for Edwin Van der Saar’s absurd performance in front of the ole’ onion bag, the Red Devils could have lost by way more. Wayne Rooney, Neil’s favorite cheeky bloke, scored in the first 65 seconds of the match, and it wasn’t until the 77th minute that Bayern was able to net one, with a Franck Ribery free kick deflecting off the aforementioned Brit and past the lanky Dutchman in goal.

Ernst Stavro Blofeld?? No...Franck Ribery

Then, in the 3rd minute of stoppage, Bayern’s Ivica Olic rifled a strike by Van de Saar after a sloppy clearance by Man U back Patrice Evra. 2 weeks from today the two will meet again at Old Trafford, in what is sure to be a classic. Man U has to score early and not allow Bayern a single goal, or all will be lost. Echos of the 1999 Champion’s League Final between these two ring loudly with Sir Alex Ferguson, and Man U hope to make another historic comeback to move on to the semis.

Olic sends home the winner

Lyon and Bordeaux also played on Tuesday with Lyon handing the French League champs  a 3-1 defeat at the Stade Gerland with a pair of goals from Portuguese striker Lisandro Lopez. With a two goal advantage, Bordeaux will need a miracle at home to move on.

Today’s main event is Barcelona vs. Arsenal in the first leg of what should be a beautiful display of football. Barca remain the heavy favorites, but Arsene Wenger’s side is always tough in European competition. The most pressing question is the health of Arsenal captain, Cesc Fabregas. The Spaniard, who came up through Barcelona’s youth system before being sold to Arsenal at 16, bruised his knee in Saturday’s match against Birmingham, but is expected to play. I highly doubt a competitor like Fabregas will sit out this epic encounter. Also on tap is Inter Milan versus CSKA Moscow in what should be a good match. Inter are the favorites, but don’t expect CSKA to just bend over and take it. Former Barca star and Inter Milan striker Samuel Eto’o has warned his team that CSKA may be better than their last opponent, Chelsea. Now, I have to disagree with Sam here, but CSKA plays tough, fast football, and have earned their way to the quarters after eliminating a very strong Sevilla squad in the last round.

So, if you are in the mood for football like I am and can’t watch the games on TV, make sure and check out http://www.rojadirecta.com/ for links to a bunch of web streams for both of today’s games. Or if you are at work, follow the gamecasts at http://www.uefa.com. They start at 2:45 eastern.

Well, big weekend coming up. The Final Four, which means only one thing…HOT LINES. That’s right plebs, later this week Neil and I will bring you an analysis for the games this weekend with our picks straight up and against the spread. So, if you’re in the mood to lose money, make sure and check us out. That’s all for now, see yall soon.

Ὀδυσσεύς Bombay

That’s right plebs, I have to keep at it. I can’t let the letdowns get me down, or else I will never get up. So I push on. Being back in the city is great, after two weeks in Huntsville, I was beginning to feel a little worthless. But now I’m back to shaking hands, and hopefully will land some good interviews sooner than later….Ok enough. I’m guessing you probably don’t care about all that, but I had to get it off my chest.

Anyway, we have been pretty shitty lately about keeping yall up to date on March Madness, so I’ll just recap some things real quick. First off, 2010 has to be the year of the White Boy. Northern Iowa, Cornell and Duke really prove this, so big ups to their parents for bringing the orange slices and Capri Sun’s during halftime. Secondly, number 1 doesn’t mean shit. Syracuse and Kansas both get bounced before the Elite 8, both by small schools. Thirdly, the Big East was who we thought they were! At the moment there is only one Big East school left, West Virginia, who thanks to Huggy Bear’s track suits and late night Johnny Walker sessions have made it in to the final 8. Also, if you didn’t stay up to see the end of the Xavier v. K-State game you really missed out. Incredible performances from everyone on the court, and gutsy play calling and shot-taking from the underdogs. Not to sound cliché, but it was one of those games you just hope never ends. Also, Kentucky put on a show against Cornell, slipping up a little in the 2^nd, but reaffirming my belief that they are by far the top team in the tournament. Oh yeah, and Fuck Duke.

Since I haven’t given yall any juicy links to check out lately (ok in forever), I thought I’d list some of the more interesting stuff I’ve been reading lately. Peace.

Real Madrid wins thanks to two wunder goals from Ronaldo and a splendid pair from Higuain.

If Women ran Wall St.

http://nymag.com/news/businessfinance/64950/?imw=Y&f=most-viewed-24h5

How Haiti saved America

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/03/21/how_haiti_saved_america/?page=3

Boston Globe’s the Big Picture Blog: Record Setters

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/03/record_setters.html

Ὀδυσσεύς Bombay

Awkward? Yes. Hot as F? Yup.

WBPT and I have had some time off. We are weirdly awkward and apprehensive around each other, troubled lovers adrift on different paths… alas, we must come to terms.

Without going too far into why we haven’t been around lately, it’s just been a fast moving, and especially busy month or so for the both of us, and blogging has taken a backseat to other endeavors. Since, plebs, I am in Huntsville for a while, I thought I would roll out a terribly written, smarmy, and otherwise hollow Music MANday. Good to be back.

This week, Music MANday will highlight a local artist out of Tuscaloosa via Huntsville, an old friend of mine and Neil’s, Grant Willis aka White Noise, and the only male in the world to ever be the music and the MAN in Music MANday. Grant, as a solo artist and with various groups and collaborations, has provided somewhat of a college soundtrack for many of our friends. We’ve all had a wine-soaked candlelight dinner with Del or have had our Heads Blown at some point. With that in mind, I thought we should interview him here on WBPT and let those who haven’t heard his music, well, listen to it. Ahead of his forthcoming move to Chattanooga, Grant was nice enough to sit down with me and Neil. We met, somewhere along the Georgia-Alabama border, a Hardees.

An evening to remember (or not)

Odysseus: Hi, good to see you again, slut.

WHITE NOISE: You don’t call me a slut, asshole. How have you been?

Odysseus: Wonderful, but still unemployed (rubs WHITE NOISE’s back).

WHITE NOISE: Hmm. Why does Neil have his hand in is pants?

Odysseus: Don’t mind him. Tell us about your music?

WHITE NOISE: I won’t ask why you phrased that as a question, but sure, yeah. I would describe it, simply, as crunkalicious, get your sex on, party-time music.

Odysseus: Ah yes, a lovely genre. Being out of the country I’ve missed so many of you new shows, but thanks to the magic in my computer I was able to listen online.  Where can we go to check it all out?

WHITE NOISE: You can check me out at various places actually. Check out my Sound Cloud for new tracks. Also, make sure and join my facebook fan page.

Odysseus: So tell us about Chattanooga. What are your plans, goals up there?

WHITE NOISE: Well, even though Chattanooga is normally thought of as a rock and country city, there is an upcoming electronic scene, with a big monthly party called Banger’s Ball, which I played recently. Also, The New Deal just played at 412 Market up there, and I had the opportunity to close for them. So to see a big monthly thing like that, and better known electronic groups finally making it down south, is badass. As far as goals go, I guess what I aim to do is continue to play in places like ATL, Nashville, Huntsville, Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, while maintaining a home base up in Chattanooga. It’s actually pretty close to all those places, so that helps.

Odysseus: How much do you hate Widespread?

WHITE NOISE: Hahaha, I don’t hate Widespread…No, I like them better now with Jimmy Herring, but that’s just not my thing really. Although have you ever noticed how every time anyone talks about a Panic show, it’s usually not about the music, but about how fucked up they got?

Odysseus: I agree. It seems like a lot of people go to shows in general, just to get fucked up, and the music almost takes a backseat. Widespread fans, even the hardcore ones, always seem to focus on the drugs and alcohol. But I guess we are all guilty of that at some point. Anyway, moving on, will you still play in the Tuscaloosa or Huntsville areas, or are you trying to spread it out more right away?

WHITE NOISE: Yes I will continue to play in Huntsville and Tuscaloosa, but be expecting to see more of me in more places, more often. Obviously I want to make Chattanooga a reference point for people wondering where I am at, but spreading it out is just natural really.

Odysseus: Well, we love your music. So make it happen. How have you enjoyed playing with artists such as Eliot Lipp, Pretty Lights, etc? And do you feel it helps bring you recognition?

WHITE NOISE: Yeah for sure. I mean, it’s fun to just go up there and have the crowd react the same way to you as they do to bigger acts, and its always encouraging and surprising. As far as the recognition thing goes, its kinda funny sometimes actually. I was in ATL for STS9 and some kid hollered out “White Noise!” as I was walking by the Tabernacle, and just to know that people in other towns appreciate your music is pretty cool.

Odysseus: Health Care?

WHITE NOISE: Do it.

Odysseus: Do me

WHITE NOISE: I don’t bang sluts.

Odysseus: Fair enough. What was it like playing in T-town during the National Championship run?

WHITE NOISE: Pretty amazing actually. The shows were one thing, but house parties really got crazy. This one party I did during the LSU weekend was ridiculous. I did about a 3 hour DJ set at a party my friends do called “Ole Sloppery” after the Pretty Lights show at the SAE house. Lots of debauchery, tits, and a “FUCK LSU!” chant on top of some drum and bass.

Odysseus: Roll Tide. So I hear you’re working on a proper album. What of it, and when are we gonna get our grubby hands on it?

WHITE NOISE: Yeah, I’ve been working on some tracks for this all original new album. It’s going to be a bunch of 70’s funk/soul/love music samples mixed in with orchestrated strings and stuff like that, and of course hip/hop and rap elements, samples from Gucci Mane, Nas, Lil Wayne and a bunch of others. After I get some help on the engineering side, mixing down and mastering them, then hopefully by this fall I will have about 8-9 tracks down. My plan then would be to tour to promote the album.

Grant at Banger's Ball in Chattanooga

Odysseus: So, what about tonight? (Grant played at Crossroads in Huntsville the day of the interview)

WHITE NOISE: Well I’ll be playing before Zoogma, and be on the lookout for some new tracks.

Odysseus:  That’s what I wanted to hear. Thanks for all your grace under pressure and your great firm handshake. We admire that in our musicians. This interview has been awesome, and I think that says a lot about me.

WHITE NOISE: You’re right, and you are the best interviewer since Dr. Ruth.

Odysseus: Thanks. Do you want to go get some Bellacino’s?

Huge thanks goes out to Grant for the interview and pre-interview inspiration (a subtler wink ne’er wink-ed). For all of you who haven’t experienced Grant’s music, stop being a butthole and grip his newest stuff. That’s all for today, but don’t worry I’ll be back tomorrow or Sunday with some new material and a bunch of interesting links.

Here are some more links to Grant’s stuff, and make sure and check out all his videos on his Facebook fan page.

Blow Your Head Promo:

http://vimeo.com/8904130

A little taste of Grant with Del, playing some Talking Heads:

http://vimeo.com/8411494

Grant profiled on Banger’s Ball and here

Oh…I had to throw this pic in…

Ὀδυσσεύς Bombay

Music MANday is gonna be a little different this week, as I thought we would switch up the usual routine of reviewing albums and recommending our favorite funky tunes. This week I will simply post 4 of my favorite music videos, designed to excite your ears and your eyes in an attempt to incorporate some aesthetic pleasure to your reading/listening/viewing experience. Here we go.

Stick with this one, I love this concept:

Awesome video from my favorite band of 2008:

I just really like this video, shows you can do cool shit on a budget:

One of my favorite videos of all time:

If you haven’t been watching the Olympics then shame on you. People have been ripping these 2010 games lately but it still continues to be one of the most exciting and competitive competitions since Lillehammer in 1994. That being said, this week’s man can only be a certified badass from the Winter Olympic spectrum.

“I’m just trying to ski in a way that’s exciting for me. It’s been an awesome two weeks, I’ve gotten to party and socialize on an Olympic level.” No this isn’t your fraternity social chair after that sweet, Olympic themed mixer with ADPi that saw an unseasonable amount of snow for October. That quote comes from this weeks man icon, Bode Miller. Aside from sharing a name with Swayze’s best character, Bode Miller is the most prolific American alpine skier of all time. He was the overall World Cup Champion in 2005, won 2 silver medals in the Salt Lake Olympics in 2002, became only the 5th man ever to win events in all 5 disciplines (slalom, giant slalom, combined, super-G, and downhill) in 2004, and is a 4-time World Champion in 4/5 disciplines.

What most people don’t know about Bode is that his parents are hippies. Yeah, hippies. He was born in Easton, New Hampshire and grew up in nearby Franconia on 450 acres in a log cabin with no electricity or indoor plumbing. This fucking kid had to walk to an outhouse to take a dump through 6 feet of snow when he was only 3 feet tall. To solidify his parents as raging hippies it may be interesting to our readers that his younger sister’s full name is Genesis Wren Bungo Windrushing Turtleheart, they celebrated the solstices, and Bode was home-schooled until the third grade. When his parents divorced Bode attended public school in NH, and then applied and was accepted to a ski academy in Maine and the rest is history.

Most people are familiar with Bode’s persona, his hard-living, unapologetic pursuit of perfection. Reporters have torn him up, ripped his credibility to the ground, calling him a waste of talent and someone who is more interested in having fun than competing. That is not who Bode Miller is. True he does like to party, but his recent Bronze Medal in Vancouver shows that he also trains as hard or even harder than he parties. He once described coming out of an alcohol induced blackout mid-way through a downhill race. WHAT?! You know how fucking hard core you have to be to pull that shit off? Sure he has had trouble with authority, he quit the US Ski team in 2007 and formed Team America (Fuck Yeah) in order to train and race the way he wanted, but in recent years he has become a father and has settled back into being the best skier that he can be (also rejoined Team USA). One thing is for sure, we are lucky to have him on our side. Bode, we here at WBPT wish you the best on your final 4 races in Vancouver. We will toast many a shot-ski to your successes and failures. We envy your ability to live on the edge of out-of-control and perfect speed. America, fuck yeah indeed.

“My actions are not always consistent. I’m super-mellow and laid back, but I’m always thinking and running 100,000 scenarios through my head. Sometimes I’m disciplined, but I like to be a total slacker, too. I party hard, but I train hard. People are going to try and figure me out and figure out my motivations, and it’s going to be a circus.” – Bode Miller

Neil McFadden

I have been really busy trying to find a job (and drinking) since I got to NYC, so I haven’t had much time to work on the blog. This thing has gotten so fun, that I actually get upset when I’m not able to update or post something. But, since it’s Wednesday, and I have a little free time, I thought I’d bring yall an ice-cold, heaping cup o’ mead. In honor of this article’s subtle moniker, and because we haven’t ever had a beer article, I thought I would share with you some of finest brews I’ve had since I arrived in New York Cizzay. Since my long black ship rounded Ithaka and landed here in New Amsterdam I have partaken in a few hecatombs (all in my honor), flaying fatty thighs, eating the crispest chines. With such rich and salty meats, your noblest captain was sure to need a hearty swig of the celestial juice. If you are in New York City, the best place to buy imported, microbrew, and craft beer by the bottle is without a doubt New Beer Distributors. This place is to beer what Menelaus’ great hall was to desultory BJ’s from Helen. New Beer is basically a huge garage full of beer. They literally have EVERYTHING. You can pick individual beers from 6 packs, find rare single bottles from earlier seasons, from your standard 12 oz beer all the way to a fuckin’ magnum sized bottle of Stone Double Bastard. They separate all the beers by country, and I would say they have easily more than 1000 different types of beer at any given time. It’s actually quite overwhelming. I picked up a Chimay Triple, a Dogfishhead Midas Touch and Raison D’etra, a Stone Ruination IPA, a Don de Dieu from Unibroue, and a 750ml (ATTN BOB RILEY: I can buy kegs, but not big bottles? The fuck?) Brooklyn Local 1. I also spent some time in The Ginger Man and The Blind Tiger, two exceptional beer bars. Here is a list of my top 5 beers since I arrived. Since I’ve drank so many lately, I will leave you to read the reviews on BeerAdvocate.com, which is linked in the beer names.

Allagash FOUR

This beer is simply amazing. Enjoyed this American quadruple on tap at the Blind Tiger on Bleeker Street.

Brooklyn Local 1

Bought this big 750ml bottle of Belgian Strong Pale Ale at New Beer on Crystie St. Great value for this local favorite.

Stone Double Bastard

Had this at the Ginger Man, an absurdly badass beer bar on 36^rd St and 5th ave. Probably my favorite Ale right now. Unbelievable.

St. Bernardus Abt 12

Another Quadruple, this one of the traditional Belgian style.

Chimay Tripel (White)

Maybe my favorite beer (although this is always in contention), and easily the best tripel I’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting. Chimay is one of 7 breweries in the world that is officially a ”trappist” brewery, that is, beer is brewed or controlled by Trappist monks.

So, if you find yourself in New York, take advantage of the incredible beer selection at almost every corner. Any Whole Foods, especially the one on Houston and Crystie (only a few blocks north of New Beer), will have a great selection. Beer bars are everywhere, and they usually have a great environment and delicious food to go along with the suds. Here is a list of my favorite beer bars in NYC (with links).

d.b.a, The Ginger Man, Blind Tiger, Rattle N’ Hum

I am in NYC until further notice, then back to that 256 for a while. Hope to see yall (no not you blogger.com troll) soon and share some cold adult beverages. Oh yeah, and pray I get a job.

Ὀδυσσεύς Bombay

I don’t care who you are or who you pull for, as a college football fan you have to recognize the dominance of the SEC and the Big-12 in recent years. Why this apparent massive separation of competition? Why this plethora of talent and championships? Simple, size. These two power conferences have 12 teams and each sport a Conference Championship game every December. The size dictates more competition, more competition dictates better athletes, and better athletes dictate trophies, bragging rights, and multi-million dollar paydays (for the universities of course). Well it seems that the weaker other conferences have finally caught on and are looking to expand.

There has been much speculation about who will go where and what affect it will have. Lucky enough for you your boy Neil here was awake late last night devising a delightfully ingenious plan that will not only bolster the competition in major college football, help quell the ensuing riot for a Division I-A (I know, I know FBS) playoff, it will help you win every argument about this subject for the foreseeable future. So here we go.

The Pac-10 adds Colorado and Utah becoming the Pac-12

Ask anyone who is familiar with the University of Colorado and they will tell you it is already a Pac-10 school. Their academic standards are far superior to any other school in the Big-12 (their current conference), and most of their Alumni either hail from the west coast or end up there after graduation.  Add that to the fact that they’re mostly pot-smokin’, super-liberals who almost joined the Pac-10 in 1994 and you can pretty much guarantee that the Buffs will end up in the new Pac-12.

It will take some more work for Utah to join the Pac-10 but not as much as it would for Boise State, the other team considered for the final spot in the new Pac-12. The thing that rules out Boise is their academic standards, while not incredibly lower than Utah’s, they are still lower. Utah has their own issues to deal with however. Being the flagship school of one of the most consistently conservative states in the nation coupled with serious ties to the Mormon faith will make it a challenge for the Utes to join the liberal core of the current Pac-10. The Utes do have the advantage of a gigantic endowment ($503 million/yr, 10 times more than Boise’s) and the fact that they are the most progressive of the Utah Universities (only medical school in the state is at UU).

So how will this new Pac-12 Conference stack up? A North and South Division with a championship game played in San Francisco.

North Division

1. Oregon
2. Oregon State
3. Washington
4. Washington State
5. Utah
6. Colorado

South Division

1. USC
2. UCLA
3. Stanford
4. California
5. Arizona
6. Arizona State

The Big-10 adds Iowa State becoming the Big Midwest

This should have already happened. There is absolutely no reason why Iowa should be in one conference and Iowa State in another. Iowa is Big-10 country and if you don’t believe me, go visit. It is just as grey and boring as Michigan and Ohio, and their brand of football is just as outdated and mundane. As most of you know the Big-10 actually has 11 teams already, needing only one more to become super-conference eligible. The blue hairs of the Big-10 have stood idly by in recent years, content to let Ohio State win the league by default and then get waxed by a superior super-conference team in a MNC. No more! The Big-10 can’t become the Big-12 for obvious reasons, but I like the ring of the Big Midwest or even the Great Lakes Conference.

So how will the Big Midwest stack up? An East and West Division (which geographically will look more like a Northwest and Southeast division, but thats too confusing) and a championship game in Chicago.

East Division

1. Penn State
2. Ohio State
3. Purdue
4. Indiana
5. Northwestern
6. Illinois

West Division

1. Michigan
2. Michigan State
3. Minnesota
4. Wisconsin
5. Iowa
6. Iowa State

Now you’re probably asking, “Neil, you’ve decimated the Big-12 North to fulfill your pipe dreams of a better Pac-10 and Big-10, so what the hell are you gonna do about it?” Well children, here is actually what makes all these moves so important.

Oklahoma and Oklahoma State move to the Big-12 North, TCU and BYU join the Big-12 South

Moving the Oklahoma schools evens the balance of power in the Big-12, something the conference hasn’t enjoyed since Nebraska had Eric Crouch (hahaha) and Tommy Frazier before that. TCU and BYU have more than shown their worth by competing with Big-12 schools, BYU beat Oklahoma in ’09 and TCU destroyed Baylor in it’s season opener in ’07. TCU showed this past year they deserve to be a BCS school, why not give them a shot? BYU’s religious ties would not be as much of a problem for the Big-12 as it would be for the Pac-10, and they have proven their fans are willing and able to travel to support the Cougars. These two teams are a combined 63-15 over the last three seasons, I don’t know about you but I would like to see them tee it up in a super-conference.

The new look Big-12 will keep it’s current North and South division setup and it’s championship game in Dallas.

North

1. Oklahoma
2. Oklahoma State
3. Missouri
4. Kansas
5. Kansas Sate
6. Nebraska

South

1. Texas
2. Texas A&M
3. Texas Tech
4. TCU
5. Baylor
6. BYU

There you have it. There is Neil McFadden’s dream Football Bowl Subdivision super-conference set-up. The most important aspect of this scenario is that it takes the wind out of the Mid-Major Conference’s argument for a playoff. This process adds 3 mid-major noisemakers (Utah, BYU, TCU) to major conferences leaving only Boise State on the outside looking in. The Neil McFadden System (as this will henceforth be referred to as, or as the NMS) will succeed to silence most (3/4) of the most consistently annoying mid-major teams by simply making them major teams by, to borrow a phrase, putting their money where their mouth is.

For those in favor of a playoff format, this is actually a small step toward that. These super-conferences will have championship games, and the winners of these games will be the unanimous #1 team of their league. As has been seen lately, the winners of these championship games are more likely to move up in the BCS poll late in the season. With 5 (ACC, SEC, Big-12, Pac-12, Big Midwest) super-conferences in the NMS, it would be assumed these teams would rank 1-5 in the BCS. If not, they would at least compose half of the top ten. By simplifying the ranking process and pushing the BCS closer to a de facto system of champions in specific bowls the NMS makes Championship Saturday and the BCS Bowls look more like a bracket. Basically the NMS is a win-win, and the future of college football. Thank you.

Neil McFadden