Music Continued

Since I am not happy with the music out currently, I wondered what time period was the best for me.  I put together a list of my favorite songs and organized them by year.  I wasn't surprised to find that 94-97 was my sweet spot.  It was the golden age of grunge/alternative and I was in my early teens at that point.  I remember wearing thermal shirts and flannel fondly.  What I was surprised to find out was 1970 was the top year for me because I didn't start really caring about music until 20-25 years later.

1965
"Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan
1968
"Hey Jude" - Beatles
1970
"Instant Karma" - John Lennon
"Let It Be" - Beatles
"Cecilia" - Simon & Garfunkel
"Bridge over Troubled Water" - Simon & Garfunkel
1973
"Piano Man" - Billy Joel
1981
"Don't Stop Believin'" - Journey
1987
"Smooth Criminal" - Michael Jackson
1988
"All I Want Is You" - U2
"Let the River Run" - Carly Simon
1989
"We Didn't Start the Fire" - Billy Joel
1990
"Thunderstruck" - AC/DC
1991
"November Rain" - Guns N' Roses
1993
"Heart Shaped Box" - Nirvana
1994
"Glycerine" - Bush
"Lightning Crashes" - Live
1995
"Wonderwall" - Oasis
"Bullet with Butterfly Wings" - Smashing Pumpkins
1996
"Seasons of Love" - Rent
"Bulls on Parade" - Rage Against The Machine
1997
"Demons" - Guster
"I Shall Not Walk Alone" - Ben Harper
"I Will Buy You a New Life" - Everclear
1999
"Colorblind" - Counting Crows
"I Miss You" - Incubus
2000
"Optimistic" - Radiohead
2001
"Wish You Were Here" - Incubus
2002
"Lose Yourself" - Eminem
2003
"Come Downstairs and Say Hello" - Guster
2005
"Hey Mama" - Kanye West
2009
"Empire State of Mind" - Jay Z
2010
"Lil Freak" - Usher

Go Bucks???

The more and more I think about Ohio State defeating Illinois and Purdue, I realize that it is better for us.  We need to accept that winning the Big 10 is now out of reach.  It's better if Ohio State has a ridiculously good season and continues to defeat the other top teams because it gives us the best chance to earn a higher final ranking in the Big 10.  Our Big 10 schedule so far has been much more difficult than others - Purdue still has to play Illinois and Wisconsin twice and a rematch against the Buckeyes.  Wisconsin still that Purdue series and two against OSU.  We still have our own challenges ahead, but I like that we only have one more conference loss than the #2 & 3 Big Ten teams.

No Fair?

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Ohio State destroyed Purdue tonight.  Then I realized that both Illinois and Purdue faced us before they squared off against OSU.  Could we have taken the brunt of their best effort only to set up their awaiting opponent with a "less than perfect" performance?  Then I did this research and found that only two Big Ten opponents did NOT face a Top 25 ranked team before OSU.

Indiana.....previous opponent: Penn State
Iowa.....previous opponent: #25 Illinois
Minnesota.....previous opponent: Indiana
Michigan.....previous opponent: #3 Kansas
Penn State.....previous opponent: # 16 Illinois
Iowa.....previous opponent: #25 Minnesota
Illinois.....previous opponent: #18 MSU
Purdue.....previous opponent: #18 MSU

Comparatively, this is what we've been up against.  Our wins are in bold.
Minnesota....previous opponent: #24 Wisconsin
Northwestern.....previous opponent: #11 Purdue
Penn State.....previous opponent: #10 Purdue
Wisconsin.....previous opponent: Michigan
Northwestern.....previous opponent: Iowa
Illinois.....previous opponent: #21 Wisconsin
Purdue.....previous opponent: Penn State

So over half of our opponents had tough matchups ahead of ours, but only one of our three toughest opponents had a pre-MSU challenge.

How does the rest of our schedule shake out?  About the same.  There are some favorable spots, but there are others that get to enjoy cupcakes before us.  Currently ranked teams are in bold.
Michigan.....previous opponent: Minnesota
Indiana.....previous opponent: Illinois
Iowa.....previous opponent: Michigan
Wisconsin.....previous opponent: Purdue
Penn State.....previous opponent: Michigan
Ohio State.....previous opponent: Wisconsin
Illinois.....previous opponent: Michigan
Minnesota.....previous opponent: Penn State
Purdue.....previous opponent: Indiana
Iowa.....previous opponent: Illinois
Michigan.....previous opponent: Minnesota

Pan Sports Power Rankings

Updating the Power Rankings of "Who is the most likely to win a championship soon"

1. Detroit Redwings
They could win the Stanley Cup as early as later this season, but injuries among the Goalies makes it not likely.  Their front office leadership will ensure that they will continue to win the Championship every few years.
2. Michigan State Basketball
This team is not going to get it done, but I have the sense that they are providing the leadership for a team that could get it done in the next few years. 
3. Detroit Tigers
They are proving they can make more intelligent roster moves than unintelligent ones.  The bigger hump is to actually make the playoffs than to advance and win them.  There should be a DQ if the Twins continue to make the playoffs and lose before the Series.
4. Detroit Lions
I think the Lions used to hold the bottom spot in my rankings.  So why the dramatic change?  The new front office appears to know what they are doing, which is a dramatic change.  The NFL is a league of parity, so why shouldn't we be a part of that?  The NFC Championship game demonstrates that the NFC North was a good division this year, so our 6-10 record despite significant injuries seems even more impressive.
5. Michigan State Hockey
While they have won the second most recent championship, the MSU Hockey program now seems stagnant.  They have struggled to make the NCAA tournament, which I think should be a regular expectation.  I was not a Rick Comley fan until they won it all and the lack of sustained success has drained some of that credibility.
6. Michigan State Football
You would think that winning a share of the Big 10 title would earn a higher ranking, but the lack of OSU on the schedule and the horrible performance against Alabama diminishes the aura of that title.  My lack of confidence in their ability to win the BCS is more due to the competitiveness of the division and the disparity between the elite 10 programs and everyone else.  With Nebraska joining the conference and a likely Michigan resurgence on the horizon, MSU's chances to sustain Big 10 Championships are narrow.
7. Detroit Pistons
The franchise, hindered by their impending sale, is headed nowhere.  They need to implode the team and rebuild around young talent.  The talent in the NBA is currently concentrated among 4-5 teams, so I think the next 10 NBA championships or so will be shared exclusively among that group.

Not Cutting It

Korie Lucious is 11-42 for FGs and 6-24 from three in Big Ten play.  That is 26% and 25% respectively. 

Music

I am a pretty loyal fan of iTunes.  I like how conveniently I can play music on my iPod and in my car.  However, the "top selling songs" are often horrible and the current top 100 list may be the worst ever.  Consider a few lowlights:
-Four of the top 100 songs have "Fuck" in their titles, including "Tonight (I'm Fucking You)", two versions of "Fucking Perfect", and the uncreative "Fuck You".
-Song titles include "We R Who We R", "Like a G6", "Moment 4 Life", and "Yeah 3X", so apparently texted names are better
-There's also the purposefully spelled "Who Dat Girl", "California Gurls", "Tik Tok", "Kush"
-Five of the songs "Feature Akon" but none of them are by Akon.
-One of the songs is "Do the John Wall".  Do they realize John Wall just does the Dougie?
-Gwyneth Paltrow's song ranks #74

So I ask of you, give me music that will restore my faith in music.  Keep in mind that I don't like anything that could be mistaken for a song from the Juno soundtrack.

Fitty Cent Economics

This is the funniest thing I've heard this week.  50 Cent tweets tiny stock soars

The funny thing to me is not that so many people would buy the stock - the speculation that this would cause so many other people to buy it is what drove people to buy it.  It's this line:

H&H is an extremely sketchy investment and even got the dreaded "going concern" notice last March as its auditor shared doubts about the company's future. The company reported less than $300,000 in revenue last quarter but lost $1.3 million, the Post reports.


There are some funny loans at the company as well, the Observer notes. H&H lent $141,000 to what it describes as "an entity in which our chairman's brother is an officer and owner."

Why did 50 Cent decide to buy stock in a crappy company?  The company loaned money to the CEO's brother? 

By the way, I think this is some kind of stock fraud, but I don't know enough about stocks.

BCS Title Game

While this is one of the more anticipated National Championship games in recent years, I think it will disappoint in terms of competitiveness and offense.  The long layoff since the last time they have played will result in a slow start to the game.  I think that this hurts Oregon more because they rely on a fast pace and rhythm to throw off the opposing defense.  While their passing game matches up well against Auburn's suspect pass defense, I think the SEC speed of the Auburn linemen will pressure Darron Thomas enough to throw him out of sync.   

The layoff could also lead to more injuries.  The outcome to last year's BCS Championship game was set when Colt McCoy went down.  Arkansas stormed back against OSU in the Sugar Bowl this year after top cornerback Chimdi Chekwa was injured and could have sealed the win with a late TD since Terrelle Pryor was hobbled with a foot injury.  Since Oregon's backup QB is out with an injury, advantage Auburn even though each of their backups have attempted fewer than 10 passes this season.

From a kicking standpoint, both kickers missed only one extra point all season and have made 75% of their field goals.  I think the fact that Auburn's kicker has attempted 8 more kicks this season gives him an experience edge.  While Oregon didn't attempt many field goals this season, I expect that they will be in fewer 4th and short situations and will be tempted to kick more tonight.

Most predictions have each of these teams scoring over 30 points with a close final score.  I predict the final is 34-20 Auburn with Cam Newton winning the MVP honors.

Did You Know?

Durrell Summers had 16 regular season games last season when he was held below 10 points, including two games where he was scoreless in 45 minutes of action.  He scored above 10 points in only one of his final 8 games.  This season, he has scored below 11 points only once: a 24 minute, 2-7 performance when he scored 6 points against Chaminade.

Challenge

I think I have perhaps found the worst reality TV show in history.  It's called "Bridalplasty" and it is on E!.  The premise is that several women are competing in challenges to win plastic surgery before their wedding. 

I am challenging you, Kevin, to watch one hour long episode of this show and give a full blog recap.  I know how much you hate reality TV shows and I challenge you to watch what is perhaps the worst one in history.

If you need to know when it is on, just ask Mike.  I'm sure he has it on his DVR.