|
|
Thursday August 9th, Y2K7 10:00pm
Friday, April 6th, Y2K7 12:00pm
DEAR A-ROD, -- Joel Sherman's open letter to Mr. Rodriguez. Have fun, Alex. Relax. Stop over-thinking and let your natural athletic ability take over. Be the hunter/destroyer you were in Seattle and Texas. Put on earmuff and blinder and stop worrying so much about what's said and written of you. It's your last season in the Bronx. Make the most of it. How about Sherman's brilliant use of a rare statistic to show how A-Rod has become too mental in the batter's box since arriving in New York: [A-Rod] struck out looking a career-high 45 times last year and 44 the year before. You had never gone higher than 33 prior to that.
THANK YOU, ALANIS -- Check out this magnificent, spot-on parody by the severly underrated, always substance-over-style, Alanis Morrissette of the atrocious 'My Humps' video, orginally recorded by the equally overrated Fergie. The song, as sung by Alanis, is so far superior to Fergie's version, it's not even funny, but it's supposed to be funny, which makes me feel all that more sorry for the Pop Superstar Fergie.
WORSE THAN THOSE 'FACES OF DEATH' VIDEOS -- If Keith Richards snorting his father was one of the most disturbing things I've ever read, this has to be one of the most disgusting displays of entertainment ever put on video. Jam Master Jay just rolled over in his grave.
Tuesday, April 3rd, Y2K7 10:30pm
Saturday, April 1st, Y2K7 1:00pm
HAM SANDWICH WITH MAYO -- Please read this fabulous piece by Bill Simmons about this year's McDonald's All-American high school basketball game. He brilliantly contrasts the respective games and overall style of two best seniors in high school, OJ Mayo and Kevin Love. One happens to be the me-first, posturing, showboating, African American dunker who's had his problems with the law already. Click here to see Mayo in a nutshell--his last high school dunk--a self alley-oop, in which he afterwards tosses the ball into the stands while the game is still in progress, with his team up by forty. Contrast this with Kevin Love--a white, team oriented, no-nonsense, equally talented center, who's being compared with Wes Unseld and Bill Walton for his remarkable ability to start fast breaks with pin point outlet passes. Simmons, a self-proclaimed basketball dork, doesn't say one style is better than the other, he simply recognizes this is the way things are in hoops today. It's just a matter of fact that 'I' is overshadowing 'team'. Money is more coveted than wins. Players are judged more on commercials and magazine covers than rings and all-star appearances. Will Love help usher in a new era of teamwork and unselfishness to basketball, or will it continue sliding down the slippery slope of narcissism, alienating legions of fans while watching the NBA morph into Streetball?
Maybe basketball is, as Simmons puts it, at a crossroads.
YOU TUBIN' -- Not too many days go by without Aric sending everyone some random clips he found on his new favorite obsession, youtube. Here's a bunch he's sent over the past 2 weeks:
- Thanks to the emergence of cell phone videos, one is now able to somewhat explain the sideshow that goes along with watching a game in person at Yankee Stadium. Click here, here, here, and here for a snippet of the sight and sounds of the ballpark in the Bronx.
- An animated ditty of Boeheim's infamous 'Not 10 f'n games' rant after GMac
s heroics during the '06 Big East Tournament.
- Aric and Testo singing Springsteen's Thunder Road as a lullaby.
- U2 (with a gimpy Bono) and Springsteen in their mid 80's prime jamming through wedding staple 'Stand by Me'.
- Here's a scruffy looking Bruce, in a Simon Cowell signature black T, slowing things down in front of a live crowd.
ONE SICKO FLICKO -- I'm a big Quentin Tarantino fan. Pulp Fiction probably will go down as one of the, if not the, best film of the '90s. He certaintly is a talented man. He's quite bizarre, but no one can question the man's passion for filmmaking. His new flick Grindhouse looks just as weird and edgy as the director himself. Give me a review if any of you out there see it before I do.
- YOU'RE MY BOY, BLUE Here's a video slide show of Why Will Ferrell is so funny.
- Speaking of movies, here's multiple trailers and teasers for The Simpsons Movie.
Saturday, March 17th, Y2K7 11:00pm
HOLY A-ROD! Rodriguez to sign with the Angels next year? It's getting more and more difficult to find a better baseball writer than the New York Post's Joel Sherman. Here, Sherman lays what he expects All-World thirdbaseman Alex Rodriguez will do next season after invoking his opt-out clause in his contract after the 2007 season. Is Scott Brosius still available to play the hot corner?
- More from the New York Post. As loaded as the Yankees lineup may seem, Sherman warns that with Gary Sheffield's departure in the off-season, the Yankees line-up may be too hefty with lefties and be suseptible all season versus southpaws. Does GM Brian Cashman still have some tinkering to do before the start of the season?
Here's a case made for Rick Pitino being the greatest NCAA tournament coach in history.
- Not everyone thinks Jim Boeheim handled himself with class and dignity after being snubbed by the Selection Committee. I usually really enjoy Phil Mushnick's columns, but I thinks he's way off this time.
- See, here's Mushnick dead on as usual with his criticism of the media and players for probably the most overlooked aspect of college basketball these days: Poor foul shooting.
- Finally, here's Peter Vecsey's take on the epic Suns/Mavs double OT game from Wednesday night. Vecsey argues Phoenix's over-reliance on 3-4 guys will hurt them in a 7 game playoff series with ultra-deep Dallas.
FIRST ROUND DIARY The ridiculously prolific Bill Simmons is documenting his tournament observations in real time. A sampling: "Wouldn't it be excellent if Darryl Strawberry wandered onto the court during this Maryland game like Dennis Hopper in Hoosiers?
"
Wednesday, March 14th, Y2K7 11:00pm
- You read it hear first before the tournament starts. These aren't necessarily the teams that will make the Final Four, but here's a few teams that I predict will surprise many, and fair better than anticipated: UNLV, Winthrop, Washington State, BYU, Texas A&M.
- And here's a few teams that will lose earlier than expected: Oregon, Butler, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Ohio State.
- 13 teams to hate in the NCAA Tournament
- BARBARO IS STILL ALIVE !!
Tuesday, March 13th, Y2K7 10:30pm
- What a travesty. Here's a transcript of Boeheim going at it with ESPN's blowhard Scott Gottlieb.
- It was great to see President Logan and his wife together on-screen again last night on 24. Gregory Itzen and Jean Smart have wonderful chemistry together and they're both superb actors. Their interactions were by far the highlight of last season. Thumbs up to the writers and producers for bringing them back for some episodes this season. Thumbs way down for the preposterous plot twists that brought them into the action. Here's the Jack Bauer Kill Count page.
- A running dialog of what goes on during a near major upset in the tournament.
- More Bill Simmons ranting on the state of the Celtics, and observations on the last weekend before the tournament.
Saturday, March 10th, Y2K7 10:30am
- Here's some more SU basketball related videos Aric found :
Ice Cream Social? Tony once said early on in the Sopranos that all guys like him either end up in jail or dead. With the last season of the Sopranos set to air beginning in April, lot has been wondered about Tony's fate. According to this article, the final scene of the entire series is set at an old fashined ice cream parlor. Will the ground-breaking mafia drama end in a flashback to Tony's youth, eating a hot fudge sundae with Livia? Will Big Pussy come back as a talking banana split? Hopefully the finale scene won't be another overly long, metaphor-riddled, convoluted dream sequence. But then again, Seinfield ended like many thought the Sopranos will end with Jerry and George in a jail cell; maybe the Sopranos will end Seinfeldesque with Tony and Silvio discussing the nuances of rainbow and chocolate sprinkles.
More HBO (or 'Home Box' as my friend Dan calls it) news--Martin Scorsese and Mark Wahlberg are developing a new series chronicling the rise of Atlantic City for HBO. How can this not work? Wahlberg is the brains behind Entourage; Scorsese is, well, Scorsese; and HBO is the home of the best dramas on TV. It's like shooting fish in a barrell. I won't miss an episode.
Monday Night raw--It's not really going out on a limb, but the more realistic, more believable show on Monday Nights at 9:00pm is Heroes, the show about ordinary people with extraordinary, super-human powers, and not 24. Heather and I watch Heroes, and I tape (with a VCR and VHS tape) 24, so I watch them both. Heather refuses to watch 24. She gets too frustrated. You be the judge, which is more realistic:
- On Heroes, Hiro travels through, and freezes time. On 24, Jack Bauer can find a helicopter anytime, anywhere he wants in under 8 minutes, and can get to anywhere in the greater Los Angeles area in under 10.
- Clair, the teen-aged cheerleader, gets hit by a speeding truck and walks away unscathed on Heroes. On 24, Morris has a power drill crammed through his shoulder, but is miraculously back at his desk working 2 hours later getting crap from his co-workers about drinking.
- On Heroes, Peter Petrelli befrieds an invisible man, and then finds that he too has the ability to become invisible. On 24, some suit somehow smuggles a bomb into the president's underground, heavily guarded, secuity bunker and sets it off, right before a terrorist is about to give a nationally televised speech.
The best thing about 24 right now is that Powers Boothe is being given more air time as the Vice President. I just wish he was allowed to play the VP as his character on Deadwood, the smarmy, sleazy, Casino/Brothel owner, Cy Tolliver. That would be great.
Wednesday, March 7th, Y2K7 7:00pm
- I think it's about time to start working on this home page a bit. Forgive me, but my neary 10-month-old daughter Ava has been occupying most of my free time lately. I plan on turning this main page into a lot of different things including a limited blog. You'll also find lots and lots of links to interesting and creative articles I find (including everything Bill Simmons writes), funny photos, video clips, and I'm really looking for feedback and ideas from you. Hopefully, over time this page will take on an identity all it's own.
How's this for starters: here's a story about a possible
Forrest Gump sequel in the works. There's no question the movie will be an abomination if Tom Hanks doesn't sign on.
The recent, abrupt resignation of Binghamton University Men's basketball coach Al Walker sent shockwaves through the Triple Cities. Don says that Binghamton High legend King Rice is being courted for the job. Aric is lobbying for Syracuse Assistant Mike Hopkins. It's hard to argue with Aric's arguements. There's no way SU AD Darryl Gross will give the job to Hopkins when Boeheim retires without him having proving himself as a successful head coach somewhere. Gross is going to want big name to fill the Dome, and Hopkins doesn't have any name recognition or appeal outside of Central New York. The perfect successor to Boeheim if age weren't an issue would be John Beilein.
Here's Aric's take on the matter:
Heard it here first...
How about Syracuse Assistant Coach Mike Hopkins as the next Binghamton University mens basketball head coach?
To me, it looks like a nice match for both Hopkins and BU. Several people assume that Hopkins will be the next Syracuse head coach when Jim Boeheim retires. I don't think it's a slam dunk. Syracuse AD Dr. Darryl Gross does not apear to be the type of guy who would turn over the keys to his Cadillac to someone who has never driven on his own. However, Dr. Gross does understand the importance of keeping it in the Syracuse family. If Hopkins were to leave SU, he would get an opportunity to escape Jim Boeheim's shadow, and prove himself as a head coach at a mid-major. Hopkins would have sparkling new facilities and little pressure to win. Being only 70 miles away, Hopkins would still be able to keep his finger on the pulse of the SU program. After 4-6 successful years on his own at BU, Hopkins would then be ready to take over at SU.
Binghamton University would get a young and energetic coach anxious to make his mark on a program. BU would also get an established recruiter. Ticket sales would increase due to Hopkins' name recognition. If Gerry McNamara's professional career fizzles, look for GMac to join Hopkins staff, and handle recruiting in the Pennslyvania area. Last week's Post-Standard reported that Hopkins' former teammate, Adrian Autry, was looking to enter the coaching ranks. Hopkins could also ask Autry to be an assistant coach, and handle recruiting in New York City. Finally, BU would most likely have SU on their schedule each year, which would also increase revenue for their athletic department.
To me, it looks like a win-win situation for both parties.
My wife Heather, dead-serious, says to me tonight, "What do you think of SU's new outfits?". Yes she did. She called them 'outfits'.
Friday, August 5th, Y2K5 3:00pm
WELCOME BACK
Hola amigos. I know it's been a long time since I rapped at ya. Thanks for coming back. I appreciate all of our loyal visitors. Things may look a little different since your last trip here. As is always the case in cyberspace, things are contantly in motion here at Andrejkohoops.com.
In April, Aric's NCAA March Madness Pool wrapped up after another great year as the Tar Heels cut down the nets in St. Louis. Don also successfully held his 29th straight bocce ball tournament in July. He's already got some ideas brewing in his head for the 30th edition in '06.
And, to help Andrejkohoops.com continue to evolve into a year round site, the NFL season is quickly approaching meaning Joe's NFL Suicide Pool is gearing up for another installment.
Website designed and developed by Jonathan Andrejko (jonnya992001@yahoo.com)
|
