Five-thousand million years ago, this Earth lay heaving in a mass of rocks and fire
Wasting, burdened with its emptiness.
Tonight, when arthropods and worms and sponges have given way to dinosaurs
And dinosaurs to working, wandering apes
Homo erectus have given away to sapiens and he to homo sapiens sapiens
Look down on Dublin from the hills around
And lights could be a million Christmas trees, still firs standing
While in the sky a glow, as if of dawn
This day a light shall shine on us
The Lord is born within our city
Look along to the river toward O'Connell bridge
The lights, the neon signs, all stream on water like breathed-on strips of tinsel
All is still.
11:30, pubs begin to empty. Men stop to argue and say the name of Jesus.
For those who have known darkness, who have now seen a wondrous light,
Those who have dwelled in unlit streets, to them the light has come.
Tonight, few cars go by.
The blocks of flats with windowed plastic trees and fairy lights stand watching for a miracle.
Here are no dells where fairies might appear.
Out from the dark, an ambulance comes speeding, sickly blue lights search in siren-still.
The mystery of the night ticks slowly on
It will pass and leave memories of friends and small, half-welcome things.
In him was life, in him life was the light of men.
For neither prehistoric swamps nor trilobites,
The mesozoic birds, Neanderthal nor modern man had ever dreamt or seen what was our God.
The shops are gay with lights and bright things,
All save funeral homes--they dare not advertise their presence
As midnight peals and organs start to play, two cars meet headlong in a haze of drink.
The crash flicks into silence.
Pain crawls like slime through blood and into limbs.
God is revealed: a baby, naked crying in a crib.
In the church porches and out along the grounds, teenagers laugh and swear, smoking, watching girls.
So, once more, Christmas trails away,
Its meaning moves back into the mist and the march of time.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Top 10 Cover Songs... Part 2
Joe Cocker-With a Little Help From My Friends
Cocker's gravelly voice gives this song a much-needed makeover. The original Beatles song was sung by Ringo Starr and, well, is ho-hum at best. His nasally almost monotonous vocals makes this song easily the weakest on Sgt. Pepper's. To me, it's almost like an after thought. Like John, Paul, and George decided to throw Ringo a bone and have him sing a track. Bleh. Cocker's, on the other hand, lends the tune what it needs: EMOTION. The beginning lyrics is simply vocals and a bass guitar strumming two notes. I mean, his version made The Wonder Years what it was! His rendition allows for the song to build and build as the chorus of female voices is added on and is a welcome complement to the male lead. In all, Cocker makes this song, in a word, epic. And isn't it funny that Cocker is most well-known because of a cover song?
Here's the original by The Beatles:
Johnny Cash-Hurt
Oh man, where to begin with this one? I could just use a bunch of "one word reviews" to talk about this song: Jarring. Tragic. Emotive. Epic. Definitive. Brilliant. Personal. Moving. If you haven't heard this cover, prepare to be blown away. The original is by Nine Inch Nails and it comes across as more or less a creepy, angst-ridden song about depression and attempted suicide. Nice, huh? Well, Rick Rubin (the producer of Cash's final album in 2002) decided this would be a perfect song for The Man in Black to cover, and he was right. This one song introduced Cash and his music to a whole new generation of fans and is considered a defining song of his career. Cash's voice is old, worn, and tattered, the constant piano chord being played louder and louder is like a clock ticking. Cash knew that he was on his way out. This is almost like his epitaph to the world. He transforms this song from what it was (see above) into a bitter rejection of material goods. The "hurt" Cash sings about is not physical self-inflicted pain, but rather an emotional outpouring due to his wife's failing health (she would die in 2003). The music video says it all, really. He is sitting in a large house, surrounded by wealth, all the while having flashbacks to his early years as a singer. "Everyone I know goes away in the end"--his life is almost defined now by his friends essentially dying all around him. Getting old sucks! Everyone you know starts to die! "You could have it all, my empire of dirt"--all this material "stuff" he's gained over the years is ultimately worthless. The video shows a cracked framed record, a room full of "junk," a table full of food. As the song climaxes, he begins to pour out the wine on the table while staring directly at the camera. The song ends and Cash closes the piano and just lowers his head. Fade to black. Ahhh! Talk about shivers running up and down your spine. If you've seen the his biopic, then you know the demons he carried throughout his life, which just adds weight to his performance of the song. You know what? I just made an executive decision that this is the greatest cover of all time. Boo-yah.
Here's the original by Nine Inch Nails:
Pearl Jam-Last Kiss
PJ takes the original, which sounds strangely happy and upbeat for a song about a car accident that kills the "singer's" girlfriend in front of him, and puts at least some emotion into it. Eddie Vedder's voice is intrinsically filled with raw power, so the content of the song matches the anger and sadness with which he sings. When he sings the chorus, asking where his "baby" can be, he is almost yelling it out to the world/heaven/God/whomever is listening. It's similar at the end, which I love, when he starts yelling "oh OHHHHHHH OH oh oh oh, etc." like words aren't enough to describe what he's going through holding his dying (and then dead) girlfriend. Overall, the band might as well have written this song themselves because it has become so tied to them anyway.
Here's the original by Wayne Cochran:
Michael Jackson-Smile
Yeah, I snuck an MJ song onto this list, of course. This song was actually written by none other than Charlie Chaplin. Jackson said that it was his favorite song of all time, and when someone like MJ says that, it means something. Okay, I know what you're thinking. It sounds really corny, and I think I'm putting it on here for the message more so than its arrangement, but the content of the song is pertinent whether it's sung in the 1920s or 2020s. The world is full of shit, but sometimes all it takes to make you feel better is to just smile. What a simple message. I don't know if I would've put this on here if MJ hadn't died a while back, but his death does add to the song I think. Here's a guy that had absolutely zero childhood to speak of, his father was a complete DICK (and still is) who abused him, and when he grew up, he understandably wanted to at least try and regain his lost childhood (i.e. Neverland Ranch, Bubbles, etc.). He surrounded himself with children because he wanted to feel like a kid himself for once. Anyway, let's not get into a big discussion about it. I just think that when MJ sings, he's carrying with him the weight of his troubled past and the lack of times he was able to truly smile in life. Now, this has been covered by a bunch of people, including Steven Tyler. If we want to get technical, the original performance of the song is by Nat King Cole. Therefore, one could say that MJ covered Nat King Cole. But, I'm making another executive decision and saying that everyone else covered Chaplin. He never actually sung it, but he composed the music and wrote the lyrics based on an instrumental bit in one of his movies. So, I'm gonna say that because it was based on a piece of music from the 1930s that Chaplin was the original man. K, cool.
Here's the "first" version by Nat King Cole:
The Beatles-Twist and Shout
Whenever you have a song be such an integral part of one of the best scenes in one of the most iconic pop culture phenomenon's (?) in cinema history, you've got a good thing going for you. The parade in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" is such a classic scene and having The Beatles' version of this song playing as the crowd gets bigger and bigger is perfect. The original is by some group called the Top Notes. It almost sounds like a parody of a 1950s song. Anyway, Lennon does INFINITELY better. Apparently, they did a TON of takes of the song because they couldn't get the vocal sounding right. Eventually, they took one of the final recordings, which, by then, Lennon's voice had gone completely hoarse. Either way, the hoarseness was what they were looking for and it definitely gives the song much more charisma and spunk.
Here's the original by The Top Notes:
Hope you enjoyed my list! Obviously, some of the songs are debatable and I'm sure there's plenty of people out there who could substitute one on here for another. But I actually found it very hard to make this list, especially coming up with the last 3 or so covers. Which I guess is an indication that it's very rare to one-up someone else's song. Unless you're really good or the song has become so dated it's ridiculous. Out of all the songs here, only 2 are from after 1980 (Cohen's "Hallelujah from 1984 and NIN's "Hurt" from 1995). So that's probably somewhat telling. Yeah...bye.
Cocker's gravelly voice gives this song a much-needed makeover. The original Beatles song was sung by Ringo Starr and, well, is ho-hum at best. His nasally almost monotonous vocals makes this song easily the weakest on Sgt. Pepper's. To me, it's almost like an after thought. Like John, Paul, and George decided to throw Ringo a bone and have him sing a track. Bleh. Cocker's, on the other hand, lends the tune what it needs: EMOTION. The beginning lyrics is simply vocals and a bass guitar strumming two notes. I mean, his version made The Wonder Years what it was! His rendition allows for the song to build and build as the chorus of female voices is added on and is a welcome complement to the male lead. In all, Cocker makes this song, in a word, epic. And isn't it funny that Cocker is most well-known because of a cover song?
Here's the original by The Beatles:
Johnny Cash-Hurt
Oh man, where to begin with this one? I could just use a bunch of "one word reviews" to talk about this song: Jarring. Tragic. Emotive. Epic. Definitive. Brilliant. Personal. Moving. If you haven't heard this cover, prepare to be blown away. The original is by Nine Inch Nails and it comes across as more or less a creepy, angst-ridden song about depression and attempted suicide. Nice, huh? Well, Rick Rubin (the producer of Cash's final album in 2002) decided this would be a perfect song for The Man in Black to cover, and he was right. This one song introduced Cash and his music to a whole new generation of fans and is considered a defining song of his career. Cash's voice is old, worn, and tattered, the constant piano chord being played louder and louder is like a clock ticking. Cash knew that he was on his way out. This is almost like his epitaph to the world. He transforms this song from what it was (see above) into a bitter rejection of material goods. The "hurt" Cash sings about is not physical self-inflicted pain, but rather an emotional outpouring due to his wife's failing health (she would die in 2003). The music video says it all, really. He is sitting in a large house, surrounded by wealth, all the while having flashbacks to his early years as a singer. "Everyone I know goes away in the end"--his life is almost defined now by his friends essentially dying all around him. Getting old sucks! Everyone you know starts to die! "You could have it all, my empire of dirt"--all this material "stuff" he's gained over the years is ultimately worthless. The video shows a cracked framed record, a room full of "junk," a table full of food. As the song climaxes, he begins to pour out the wine on the table while staring directly at the camera. The song ends and Cash closes the piano and just lowers his head. Fade to black. Ahhh! Talk about shivers running up and down your spine. If you've seen the his biopic, then you know the demons he carried throughout his life, which just adds weight to his performance of the song. You know what? I just made an executive decision that this is the greatest cover of all time. Boo-yah.
Here's the original by Nine Inch Nails:
Pearl Jam-Last Kiss
PJ takes the original, which sounds strangely happy and upbeat for a song about a car accident that kills the "singer's" girlfriend in front of him, and puts at least some emotion into it. Eddie Vedder's voice is intrinsically filled with raw power, so the content of the song matches the anger and sadness with which he sings. When he sings the chorus, asking where his "baby" can be, he is almost yelling it out to the world/heaven/God/whomever is listening. It's similar at the end, which I love, when he starts yelling "oh OHHHHHHH OH oh oh oh, etc." like words aren't enough to describe what he's going through holding his dying (and then dead) girlfriend. Overall, the band might as well have written this song themselves because it has become so tied to them anyway.
Here's the original by Wayne Cochran:
Michael Jackson-Smile
Yeah, I snuck an MJ song onto this list, of course. This song was actually written by none other than Charlie Chaplin. Jackson said that it was his favorite song of all time, and when someone like MJ says that, it means something. Okay, I know what you're thinking. It sounds really corny, and I think I'm putting it on here for the message more so than its arrangement, but the content of the song is pertinent whether it's sung in the 1920s or 2020s. The world is full of shit, but sometimes all it takes to make you feel better is to just smile. What a simple message. I don't know if I would've put this on here if MJ hadn't died a while back, but his death does add to the song I think. Here's a guy that had absolutely zero childhood to speak of, his father was a complete DICK (and still is) who abused him, and when he grew up, he understandably wanted to at least try and regain his lost childhood (i.e. Neverland Ranch, Bubbles, etc.). He surrounded himself with children because he wanted to feel like a kid himself for once. Anyway, let's not get into a big discussion about it. I just think that when MJ sings, he's carrying with him the weight of his troubled past and the lack of times he was able to truly smile in life. Now, this has been covered by a bunch of people, including Steven Tyler. If we want to get technical, the original performance of the song is by Nat King Cole. Therefore, one could say that MJ covered Nat King Cole. But, I'm making another executive decision and saying that everyone else covered Chaplin. He never actually sung it, but he composed the music and wrote the lyrics based on an instrumental bit in one of his movies. So, I'm gonna say that because it was based on a piece of music from the 1930s that Chaplin was the original man. K, cool.
Here's the "first" version by Nat King Cole:
The Beatles-Twist and Shout
Whenever you have a song be such an integral part of one of the best scenes in one of the most iconic pop culture phenomenon's (?) in cinema history, you've got a good thing going for you. The parade in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" is such a classic scene and having The Beatles' version of this song playing as the crowd gets bigger and bigger is perfect. The original is by some group called the Top Notes. It almost sounds like a parody of a 1950s song. Anyway, Lennon does INFINITELY better. Apparently, they did a TON of takes of the song because they couldn't get the vocal sounding right. Eventually, they took one of the final recordings, which, by then, Lennon's voice had gone completely hoarse. Either way, the hoarseness was what they were looking for and it definitely gives the song much more charisma and spunk.
Here's the original by The Top Notes:
Hope you enjoyed my list! Obviously, some of the songs are debatable and I'm sure there's plenty of people out there who could substitute one on here for another. But I actually found it very hard to make this list, especially coming up with the last 3 or so covers. Which I guess is an indication that it's very rare to one-up someone else's song. Unless you're really good or the song has become so dated it's ridiculous. Out of all the songs here, only 2 are from after 1980 (Cohen's "Hallelujah from 1984 and NIN's "Hurt" from 1995). So that's probably somewhat telling. Yeah...bye.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Top 10 Cover Songs That Are Better Than the Original
My made up criteria for this list:
1) The cover song is more well-known/memorable than the original,
2) The average music fan thinks that the cover is the original...if that makes sense,
3) The cover is "better" than the original (this is obviously completely subjective, but I'd say generally people would think that the cover is superior),
OR
4) The artist(s) who covers the song are more famous than the original artist(s).
and I guess that's all I can think of for now. Also, I obviously haven't heard EVERY cover song ever, so excuse me if I leave out some that you like. Either way, I feel like a did a good job of including some of the most famous ones. Without further ado and in NO particular order...
Jimi Hendrix-All Along the Watchtower
Hendrix's version of Bob Dylan's song is instantly more recognizable and is infinitely more impactful than the original. While Dylan's has the requisite folky, acoustic, barebones sound coupled with the singer's earthy, droning voice, Hendrix completely reinvents the song with his signature electric guitar solos and noticeable changes in the melody of the lyrics themselves. This is especially apparent when he sings, "Two riders were approaching, and the wind begin to howl," followed by rapid strumming that complements the chaotic tone of the song. Not to mention it's one of the defining songs in "Forrest Gump" during the Vietnam War scenes!
Here is the original version by Bob Dylan (all I could find was a Guitar Hero clip on YouTube...deal with it):
U2-Everlasting Love
U2's rendition strips away the funky bombast of the original by Carl Carlton (1974), down to a mere acoustic guitar and vocals. Perhaps the best way to judge a song is by how it ages or dates itself. In this case, U2 wins in a landslide. Their version (from 1987, and appearing on their Best of 1980-1990 B-Sides Collection), doesn't sound dated at all. In fact, I've heard it a few times on contemporary radio and if you didn't know who it was or when it was written, it sounds totally fresh. U2 are not known as a cover band and the handful of times they've actually tried others' songs, they're usually okay at best (See; Paint it Black, Fortunate Son, et. al). However, this tune (as well as Unchained Melody from the same collection, which, I must say, does a great job in reinventing the song like Hendrix did) excels and is an instant toe-tapper. lol.
Here's the original by Carlton:
U2-Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
Hey, it's me, so why not another U2 song? In all honesty and resisting bias, this is a classic case of "better than the original" status. This was put on "A Very Special Christmas" compilation back in 1987 (hey, same time as Everlasting Love and Unchained Melody. Hmm...), which was a bunch of covers by popular artists of the time to benefit the special olympics. Needless to say, U2's song became the most well-known and is a staple on the radio during Christmastime. Once again, the original suffers from sounding extremely dated (although it does have that "old time" charm). To me, though, it just sounds to forced or something...it insists upon itself, as Peter Griffin would say. U2's version is more fun and "whimsical," which is especially apparent when Bono chuckles through almost an entire verse. I wonder what got him laughing in the studio during that one...
Here's the original by Darlene Love:
Jeff Buckley-Hallelujah
This is legit such an awesome cover, I don't even know how to review it. (P.S. Note how I've gone from snobby music reviewer in the first video to regular ol' fanboy in this. Whatever.) First of all, Leonard Cohen (the original performer) has to be given HUGE amounts of props for writing the song in the first place. He is truly one of the best lyricists ever and this song only exemplifies that. That being said, Jeff Buckley is miles ahead in his composition of the song. Cohen accompanied his rendition with a chorus of voices in the background during the "hallelujah" choruses, which to me made it almost too pompous for its own good. He also made the song go...so....slowly. That's only made worse by a single snare drum being hit once every few seconds. On the other hands, Buckley's stripped down version fits the content of the song perfectly. It's such an individual experience that is being "sung" about that the lone voice and simple guitar strings are all that it needs. Also, although I love Cohen's completely unique voice (It's DEEP as anything, if you've never heard him. In one of his songs, "Tower of Song," he sings: "I was born like this, I had no choice/ I was born with the gift of a golden voice"--the way he sings it is great.), Buckley adeptly goes from normal to falsetto, which complements the movement of the guitar as well. Overall, it's a heart-wrenching song that Buckley totally captures with his stripped down, painfully melodic rendition.
Here's the original by Leonard Cohen:
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole-Somewhere Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World
Yeah, I just went there. Okay, so it might not be more "well-known" than the original(s), but it gives them a breath of fresh air. First of all, Google this guy. He was a MASSIVE Hawaiian dude. Awesome. Anyway, he died a while back, and this was he one big hit (It was the big song in Meet Joe Black with Brad Pitt. Solid movie.). He blends these two classics seamlessly. Once again, his version is stripped down from the originals--just his voice and a ukelele. It's such a calming song and his singing and simple strumming really does evoke the message of the songs. Don't know what else to say, I just really like it.
PART TWO COMING SOON...
1) The cover song is more well-known/memorable than the original,
2) The average music fan thinks that the cover is the original...if that makes sense,
3) The cover is "better" than the original (this is obviously completely subjective, but I'd say generally people would think that the cover is superior),
OR
4) The artist(s) who covers the song are more famous than the original artist(s).
and I guess that's all I can think of for now. Also, I obviously haven't heard EVERY cover song ever, so excuse me if I leave out some that you like. Either way, I feel like a did a good job of including some of the most famous ones. Without further ado and in NO particular order...
Jimi Hendrix-All Along the Watchtower
Hendrix's version of Bob Dylan's song is instantly more recognizable and is infinitely more impactful than the original. While Dylan's has the requisite folky, acoustic, barebones sound coupled with the singer's earthy, droning voice, Hendrix completely reinvents the song with his signature electric guitar solos and noticeable changes in the melody of the lyrics themselves. This is especially apparent when he sings, "Two riders were approaching, and the wind begin to howl," followed by rapid strumming that complements the chaotic tone of the song. Not to mention it's one of the defining songs in "Forrest Gump" during the Vietnam War scenes!
Here is the original version by Bob Dylan (all I could find was a Guitar Hero clip on YouTube...deal with it):
U2-Everlasting Love
U2's rendition strips away the funky bombast of the original by Carl Carlton (1974), down to a mere acoustic guitar and vocals. Perhaps the best way to judge a song is by how it ages or dates itself. In this case, U2 wins in a landslide. Their version (from 1987, and appearing on their Best of 1980-1990 B-Sides Collection), doesn't sound dated at all. In fact, I've heard it a few times on contemporary radio and if you didn't know who it was or when it was written, it sounds totally fresh. U2 are not known as a cover band and the handful of times they've actually tried others' songs, they're usually okay at best (See; Paint it Black, Fortunate Son, et. al). However, this tune (as well as Unchained Melody from the same collection, which, I must say, does a great job in reinventing the song like Hendrix did) excels and is an instant toe-tapper. lol.
Here's the original by Carlton:
U2-Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
Hey, it's me, so why not another U2 song? In all honesty and resisting bias, this is a classic case of "better than the original" status. This was put on "A Very Special Christmas" compilation back in 1987 (hey, same time as Everlasting Love and Unchained Melody. Hmm...), which was a bunch of covers by popular artists of the time to benefit the special olympics. Needless to say, U2's song became the most well-known and is a staple on the radio during Christmastime. Once again, the original suffers from sounding extremely dated (although it does have that "old time" charm). To me, though, it just sounds to forced or something...it insists upon itself, as Peter Griffin would say. U2's version is more fun and "whimsical," which is especially apparent when Bono chuckles through almost an entire verse. I wonder what got him laughing in the studio during that one...
Here's the original by Darlene Love:
Jeff Buckley-Hallelujah
This is legit such an awesome cover, I don't even know how to review it. (P.S. Note how I've gone from snobby music reviewer in the first video to regular ol' fanboy in this. Whatever.) First of all, Leonard Cohen (the original performer) has to be given HUGE amounts of props for writing the song in the first place. He is truly one of the best lyricists ever and this song only exemplifies that. That being said, Jeff Buckley is miles ahead in his composition of the song. Cohen accompanied his rendition with a chorus of voices in the background during the "hallelujah" choruses, which to me made it almost too pompous for its own good. He also made the song go...so....slowly. That's only made worse by a single snare drum being hit once every few seconds. On the other hands, Buckley's stripped down version fits the content of the song perfectly. It's such an individual experience that is being "sung" about that the lone voice and simple guitar strings are all that it needs. Also, although I love Cohen's completely unique voice (It's DEEP as anything, if you've never heard him. In one of his songs, "Tower of Song," he sings: "I was born like this, I had no choice/ I was born with the gift of a golden voice"--the way he sings it is great.), Buckley adeptly goes from normal to falsetto, which complements the movement of the guitar as well. Overall, it's a heart-wrenching song that Buckley totally captures with his stripped down, painfully melodic rendition.
Here's the original by Leonard Cohen:
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole-Somewhere Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World
Yeah, I just went there. Okay, so it might not be more "well-known" than the original(s), but it gives them a breath of fresh air. First of all, Google this guy. He was a MASSIVE Hawaiian dude. Awesome. Anyway, he died a while back, and this was he one big hit (It was the big song in Meet Joe Black with Brad Pitt. Solid movie.). He blends these two classics seamlessly. Once again, his version is stripped down from the originals--just his voice and a ukelele. It's such a calming song and his singing and simple strumming really does evoke the message of the songs. Don't know what else to say, I just really like it.
PART TWO COMING SOON...
Sunday, October 10, 2010
U2 Collection Part 3
Here's the final part showing my U2 CD's. I'll have a couple more videos showing my vinyl and DVD/VHS stuff as well.
My U2 Collection-Part 1
Here's Part 1 of my U2 collection. This video focuses on CDs (albums, singles, and promo items) from the period 2000-2010. Enjoy!
Incoming!
Hey everyone! Wow, it has been a while since my last entry here. This is just a quick update for my many, many fans (yeahhhh....). I just recorded a video documenting my U2 collection. Now, I knew I had a lot, but didn't know I had 22 minutes worth! And that was just the CDs and videos. Holy cow. So, I'll probably work a little on it tomorrow editing-wise and break it down maybe by era (1990-now and 1980-1989) something like that. Just so it's watchable and not too boring. I explain why I did it in the beginning of the video so yeah. You'll find out then. I also plan on going through my (less extensive) vinyl collection, so that will be part 3, I suppose.
Until then!!
Friday, June 18, 2010
I have so many thoughts running through my head. I was convinced that the dream I had last night made sense and would play out. Why else would the Basketball Gods put that in my head? They're supposed to be on our side!!! We were supposed to be up by 14 with 1:18 remaining and Ray was supposed to hit a dagger 3 in Gasol's ugly, unwashed face. Seriously. How could fate, karma, etc. allow this to happen? To one of the most hated sports franchises? I just seriously hate LA right now. Not just the team, but the city...the people. ABC does 3 separate segments of celebrities at the game and probably the only true one was Nicholson. The vast majority of the celebs and fans in general are only rooting for the Lakers (and not the Clippers) because they make their careers there and, well gee, the Lakers win. Fucking definition of bandwagon fans. The fact that their scoreboard needs to incite people to yell "Ko-be! Ko-be!" and all the other requisite chants is telling. They have no idea when and in what situation to cheer! WHY DID THEY GET THE TITLE!?
Why does Ray Allen look like he's 56 ever since Game 2? We NEEDED him tonight more than any other night. If he only hit on a couple of those (WIDE FUCKIN' OPEN) threes, we would have won. It sucks. So much.
I hate that I won't be able to watch ESPN for weeks. Or read any of the articles written either.
I hate that Kobe "No Means Yes!" Bryant has won 5. How does an arrogant, stuck-up, most selfish player in the game get that many? Over a Celtics team that exemplifies team play? To quote U2, Basketball Gods, "You're so cruel." It's like, just the look on his face is so...arrogant! How can people like to play on his team? They can't, can they?
I hate Pau Gasol. You know, there are those players who you hate until they're on your team. He is not one of those players. I'd hate if he was on my team just by the way he plays. Classic European flopper. Wears his hair long so that whenever he makes a herky-jerky move, it looks like he's being mugged and the refs almost always call a foul. I'm not sure how much he did that tonight, but just in general, he's an asshole. By the way, why didn't KG guard him more in the 2nd half???? He had shut him down up until we started playing Sheed and Baby on him. I understand that Odom was on the floor and KG is more nimble and can chase him, but FREAKING STAY WITH WHAT'S WORKING!!!! FUCK.
I hate how we had a chance to close it out in Game 6 and completely shit the bed. Like, diarrhea. All over the bed. We played as if we had that Game 7 cushion, which is the exact OPPOSITE of how you play a closeout game. The fact that no one showed up to challenge the energy of the Lakers is unconscionable. If you are a professional, you do not let that happen.
I hate the fact that Perkins had to get injured. His impact was greater than we gave him credit for, as evidenced by the rebound disparity. (I'm not going anywhere near a boxscore or game recap, by the way. My ESPN.com bookmark will not be clicked for a long while.) Giving the Lakers a billion offensive rebounds and all those extra shots was, ultimately, our downfall. They shot something like 30% in the first half and, granted, we had a 9 point lead, but it could have been so much more.
The few things we can take from this? Kobe sucked balls in Game 7. Almost Ray Allen-esque (props to Ray for his defense, btw). He had the opportunity to become legendary and put the game out of reach, but he bricked everything he took. So, it's not as bad as what I had written in my previous post. At least not in my mind. Another thing? In the all-time battle, it's still 17-16. We're still the better franchise and have had the better players. It just sucks that we couldn't put some distance there.
I don't know if our core will be intact next season. I don't know if it's good to keep us together or not. It just sucks that that could have been our last shot in a loooooong time at another ring. It sucks for the Big Three in general. They're obviously on their last legs (which I would have said regardless of tonight's outcome), and it's doubtful they'll get a crack at it again. It's a double-edged sword in Boston. On one side, they won a championship. On the other, they won ONE championship. As I alluded to in the post before this one, that's not memorable on a team that has had 2 separate dynasties (and one mini one in the mid-1970s). Of course, for our generation, the 2008 win will always be a special one. But for the next generation and so on it will be the most minor blip on the screen. Getting a second one was everything for the team's legacy and, more depressing, the Big Three's legacy. It just slipped away.
Great way to start the summer. Fuck.
Friday, June 4, 2010
What a Lakers Championship Over the Celtics Would Mean
The 2010 Finals are not your average, run-of-the-mill series. This is Celtics-Lakers, one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports. On one side, you have a veteran team, deemed by many (including yours truly) to be too old and out of sync to make a legitimate run in the playoffs. A team whose window had effectively been shut by Game 1 of the first round. A team whose fanbase was frustrated, angry, upset, and appalled at the lack of tenacity shown in the second half of the season, pissed off at the notion that another few years of mediocre players was on the horizon. Their unexpected run to the Finals has virtually put those thoughts to rest, at least for the time being. On the other side, you have the hated Lakers. A team that has been more successful (and lucky) since the late 1980s than the Celtics. A team that has rarely had a down year in its entire history with a player that exemplifies arrogance and gets all the calls. (Literally. Exhibit A: Game 1.) Really, these teams are playing for more than just another trophy and banner to raise to the rafters. These Finals have a whole legacy--for both the marquee players and teams overall--inextricably tied to them.
If the Lakers win the 2010 NBA Finals, the Celtics core that was formed in 2008 will be all but a drop in the proverbial bucket of the history of the game. Does anyone really remember that the Warriors won the Finals one time in 1975? Or how about the Bucks in 1971? No one except the most die-hard of fans. One championship means nothing in the long run. If 2008 is the only banner the Celtics raise in a long while, they won't be forgotten entirely (the Celtics franchise is too storied to forget about any championship), but 30 years from now, 2008 will probably be an afterthought. Speaking personally, when I think of the Celtics, I automatically think of the 1960s and 1980s. 1974 and '76 are just kinda thrown in there for me--considering our past runs, not as special at all. And that's 2 titles in 3 years. If the Lakers end up winning this year, 2008 becomes less special for the fanbase as a whole. Now, for me and many fans of my generation, 2008 will obviously hold a lot of sentiment considering it was the first title of my lifetime. My point is that in the big scheme of NBA and Celtic history, it would be almost insignificant.
If the Lakers win, add the above to the fact that our "mini-dynasty" would be halted by our hated (and I mean HATED) rivals and it's adding salt to the wound. Not only that, but the Lakers would win back-to-back titles and would kill any "The Celtics OWN Kobe!" arguments. Can you imagine this? Take a second. The Lakers win the 2010 NBA Finals. ESPN goes nuts for the next several weeks, with random analysts who would claim they "knew all along" that the Lakers had the Celtics number from the get-go. SportsCenter would constantly remind us that, sure, the Celtics obliterated the Lakers in the 1960s and got 'em again in 1981. But they'd pull out 1985, '87, and now 2010 and make the case that the tables have turned. Not to mention we'd have to hear talk of Kobe Bryant being MVP of Forever, becoming the best Laker of all-time, and of course the unceasing Better-than-Jordan arguments. Ugh, shut up ahead of time! Jordan was always A-number-1 and consistently made his teammates better. Kobe, on the other hand, was overshadowed by Shaq and only won in 2009 because he went against a Magic team in which Hedo Turkoglu guarded him and Dwight Howard was even more inconsistent than he was this year. Can't you just picture ESPN showing Kobe holding that damn trophy counting in slow motion and mouthing, "One, two, three, fo', five!" Fucking pisses me off. I simply cannot hear talk of him being "one of the best ever" and "in the conversation of being like Mike." I just can't. You know in interviews or even just when a camera shows Bryant alone just sitting there? He's got that freakin' look on his face that just screams, "Yeah, I know I'm the shit. LeBron's got nothing on me. Look where I've taken my team. Look how loyal of a Laker I am. I've earned the right to show up my coach and fellow teammates in order to get my own." It's that stoic face, that nothin'-but-business look. And he'll be even more of an entitled douchebag if they get it this year.
If the Lakers win, Phil Jackson will be almost universally cemented as the greatest coach ever. "Yay! 11 rings on teams that were already constructed and that I barely had to coach because I had 2 of the most arrogant players ever on my roster who wouldn't listen to me anyway, so I'd say things like, 'Love is the force that ignites the spirit and binds teams together' and 'Wisdom is always an overmatch for strength.' Um, what? Are you talking about basketball or writing a freaking holy book? Look, what it comes down to in the Best Coach Ever argument is what the coaches themselves actually did. I honestly believe that if I coached the Chicago Bulls in 1989-90 as Jackson did (ALREADY WITH JORDAN AND ROLE PLAYERS WAITING), I could have won a title. For all intents and purposes, Jackson has done NOTHING but provide "deep" one-liners that "motivated" his teams. You wanna talk best coaches of all time? How about Red Auerbach? 9 Championships, retired in his "prime," and, most important, BUILT the great Celtic teams (including into the Bird era). Sure, it was a different game back then (whatever that really means--the talent pool was as great if not better and fewer teams=more competition), but Red acted as head coach, player scout, had an ultimate understanding of The Secret, and drafted players from the 1960s on. Two major picks he made: Bill Russell and Larry Bird. We all know the story by now, but it's worth repeating if just to silence the Phil Jackson Kool-Aid drinkers. Short version: Red expertly convinced the St. Louis Hawks, who had the 2nd pick in the 1956 draft, to trade Russell to Boston for a couple players and the opportunity to host the Ice Capades in their arena (oh, how times have changed). Of course, the owner bought into it, and the rest is history. In 1978, Red saw Larry Bird's potential and drafted him A YEAR EARLY! There has since been a rule change that only players who are eligible (i.e. have graduated and/or declared themselves eligible for the draft) can in fact be drafted. The Larry Bird Rule. Anyway, the point I'm desperately trying to make is that Red had an eye for talent that has never since been duplicated. Jackson CERTAINLY has no eye for talent, considering he plays no role in who gets drafted for the teams he coaches. You could say that's more of a product of the times, as the GM holds more sway over things and whatnot, but if you ask me and any real fan of the game, you know that Red was the consummate coach in every way--he never had anything done for him, but he always had to go do it himself. He and he alone constructed the Celtic dynasty and he and he alone should be given the most credit for evoking the memories that everyone thinks of when they think of "Celtics."
If the Lakers win, things will eventually get back to normal. The anger we as fans feel toward our teams when they lose a chance to be the best team in the world eventually fades. It's actually true of anger in general. You may lose a video game and become enraged to the point where you want to rip your controller in half and throw the pieces through the TV. We've all been there. But you get your cool back after a few minutes and think, "I'm glad I didn't destroy my TV. That would have been foolish." You get in a fight with a friend, a parent, whoever. You may stay angry for a few hours, a few days at most. But eventually things get back to normal (Unless it's really bad...like your friend killed someone or had sex with your girlfriend. That would be the end of that friendship.) But you get what I'm saying. We'll move on, root for the Red Sox and the Pats when their season gets going, we'll find things to occupy our time. But if the Lakers win this time, it lasts forever in the sense that all of the previous paragraphs will happen. It will always "haunt" Celtics fans, especially considering this is the last run for the current core. It will always be in the back of our heads and it will always suck.
I don't really know how to end this...I just wanted to get my point across that more is at stake in this series than just a banner. KG, Pierce, and Allen's window will be closed. (That is in terms of winning rings. I fully believe that Pierce and Allen have more miles in them and KG, too, to a lesser extent. Although that botched layup in Game 1 was brutal and showed he's just getting too old and tired. Who knows with him.) In terms of Celtic greats, Pierce will surely rank up there, but with one ring on his finger, it certainly doesn't mean nearly as much as two rings would. He's already a Hall of Famer and a Top 10 Celtic in my mind (those ahead of him off the top of my head, not looking at stats, and in no particular order: Russell, Cousy, Bird, McHale, Parish, Havlicek, Sam Jones, Cowens, and maybe Heinsohn and KC Jones). But, to borrow a word from Simmons, Pierce just simply isn't in the Pantheon of great Celtics. If he wins a second title? I honestly don't know. But I do know that this year is the last year for him and the rest of the Big Three, at least on the Celtics. That day is inevitable, and it will be a sad one. I just hope, hope, hope that it doesn't end with the Lakers celebrating and creeping tenuously close to the Celtics with 16 Championships and counting. What better way for it to end than the so-called ride off into the sunset, giving fans one more period of happiness and pride before The Fall? Unless we get tremendously lucky as we did with NOT getting the #1 pick in 2007, the Celtics are destined for mediocrity (Rondo's great and Perkins still has potential, but they are not able to carry a team themselves). Based on the 20+ years prior to 2008, let's just hope it doesn't come to that.
If the Lakers win...
With the way the Celtics have surprised us this postseason, you gotta believe that's a huge if.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Holy Crap
This was insane. Did that really just happen? The Cavs literally just gave up with something like 1:30 left in the game down 9. A pretty much insurmountable lead, but certainly crazier things have happened. And besides, this is your season, Cavs! How can they just walk the ball up the court, not foul, and just refuse to try and pull out a W? Once again, if the tables were turned, you know Celtics players, especially KG, would NEVER let that happen. Ever. You don't just give up in an elimination game when the best player of our generation is probably going to leave the team.
This is not the same Celtics team of the latter half of the regular season. The switch has been pulled, whatever the switch actually was. My theory that I just thought of right now is that everyone is healthy, our chemistry is back, we've solidified our rotation, and our bench knows what its role is--something that hasn't been the case since probably Christmas.
Up 14 in the 4th quarter, I'm sure you felt the same feeling I did that an implosion was probable, if not inevitable. When James hit those back to back threes (Has he hit any threes other than those in this series? I really can't remember another one..), I thought, Oh man, here we go. But no. No panic. Doc calls timeout and we come out and regain our 9-point lead we had at the start of the quarter. Get hit and punch right back.
KG showed old-school tenacity proving once and for all his knee is not a problem
Among every player tonight, the one who was the most important was Kevin Garnett. That's not to take away anything from Rondo (who continued his unbelievable play: 21 pts, 12 ast, 5 steals) or the strong bench play of TA and Sheed (more on him later). KG was literally 2008-form, if not 2004. Again, I'm trying not to be a prisoner of the moment, but KG was consistent from horn to horn. He recognized the Cavs defensive schemes, first when they put Shaq on him (such a dumb move by Mike Brown) and later when they went with Jamison and Varejao. With each distinct defender, he did the exact right thing. Shaq: face up, hit jump shots. Jamison and Varejao: Post up and pound it in. He was 11 for 19 shooting for 22 points and 12 rebounds. And the boards were STRONG too. Anyone who mentions KG's knee again should be shot. There is nothing wrong with it. We were all impatient--the team doctors said that this type of injury would take a year to fully heal. When did he get surgery? Right about this time last year. Anyway, I know I texted some people and put it on my Facebook status, but that KG dunk (you know the one I'm talking about), it literally was slow motion. It was the strangest feeling ever. He hasn't dunked the ball that hard since I don't know when. That's classic KG, running straight down the lane, catching the pass, and going up for a dunk without any hesitation or second-guessing. I cannot heap more praise on this guy for not only this amazing game, but each game throughout these playoffs. This guy is not done yet.
Usually I'd analyze what we did wrong with Cavs players, but since they're in our dust now, it doesn't really seem necessary. I might as well give my 2 cents worth about the LeBron James deal. For one thing, I think it seems only fitting that this series ended with an awful turnover on a horrendous pass into the paint right to Wallace. No other Cavs were near the paint at the time. He did play aggressively and try for 3 and a half quarters, but disappeared after those "dagger threes" in the middle of the 4th. After that? Nothing. I think he tried one more pull up three and drove the ball one more time, getting completely swallowed up by Pierce. In fact, everyone on the Cavs was just so non-chalant about the loss as the seconds ticked away. Did Mike Brown tell them not to foul and just let it go? So weird. Anyway, LeBron, in my mind, is going to get the hell outta Cleveland. The post game press conference he had after Game 5 was stoic, as I wrote about in my last blog and his effort at the end of Game 6 was nonexistent. It's almost as if he was like, "Oh well, 9 points down with just over a minute to go. It was a good run here in Ohio, but clearly it's not working and I need to move on." Honestly, how can he come back if the organization did everything they really possibly could have to secure the pieces to make a legitimate title run? And now they get trounced in the 2nd round by an "old and past-its-prime" Boston team? My gut and my mind says no way he'll be in a Cavs uniform come October.
I don't want to speculate on the Magic series that begins on Sunday afternoon in Orlando. All I'm going to say is that we took them to the brink last year without KG. Sure, they didn't have Nelson then either, but if you're in a draft, are you picking Kevin Fucking Garnett or Jameer Nelson? Yeah, that's what I thought. Not to get ahead of myself, but I do like our chances. Perk (and Sheed) defend Howard really well. Perk is able to push him out beyond his 3-foot range and he just throws up bricks (like Shaq, but Howard has less girth to push his way back in). Rondo beats Nelson easily on both ends of the court. Who's going to beat us? Maybe Carter, but does he ever show up when it counts? JJ Redick? Yeah. I just don't know. Lewis can really heat up like Ray Allen, so he's a scary piece. All I know is that the Celtics are still the underdogs, the Magic haven't been challenged yet (at all), and we have infinite confidence after beating the best team in the league. Bottom line: I like our chances probably more than the Cavs series and, well, it'll be interesting.
Sheed knocked down a HUGE three in the critical 4th quarter and showed rare energy throughout the game.
Going back to the game, I must give credit where credit is due. Rasheed Wallace played phenomenal (phenomenally?). Other than a couple of really stupid fouls (seriously, if someone is driving to the hoop, don't give them a slight push so they list lazily to the left! otherwise, it's going to be a three-point play every time!), he showed tremendous energy rebounding the ball and knocked down the biggest shot since he's been here with that corner trey when we needed to stop the bleeding. Speaking of which, how much of an ass clown is Anderson Varejao? He was complaining to the refs about bleeding TWO trips up and down the court! To quote Jeff Van Gundy, who can get annoying, but this was gold: "So what if you're bleeding?...Play on!" Amen. People always say you hate Varejao when he's on another team, but would love him if he was on yours. "He's so lovable with that goofy clown hair! HAVE MY BABIES!!" No. Sorry, just no. I would not like him if he was on the Celtics. Sure, he plays with tenacity sometimes, but he's kinda a dirty player and that's just sort of a cheap way to play the game. And he shoots like a moron! No, ya know what it's like? It's like a girl! Girls always shoot like that. They shoot with both hands on either side of the ball and sorta just squeeze it out while pushing their arms awkwardly straight out from their chest. Just ugly ugly ugly. Not Celtic material. Go away.
I thought I'd save this for another time, but I'm in a giving mood and if you're reading this you can probably relate to the annoyingness of some in-game and in-commercial "things." I made up a quick list in my iPhone notepad (product placement!), so here we go!
Wtf is going on here.
I hate car commercials. Just in any situation. Especially local car commercials. The reason? This is not a product I'm buying every day, week, month, or year. You buy a car and usually don't buy another one for like 5 years. Therefore, car commercials are USELESS! I understand they're really not useless, but they piss me off. Specifically, what the hell is a "tent event"?!? Like, is there a circus at all Toyota dealerships? Do they put cars under a big ass tent? Is there some significance of the word "tent" that I'm not understanding? Like, does "tent" mean "great deals" or something? God, shut the effsicles UP! "0.9% APR financing for qualified lessees...Check out our All-New car drive on the side of a mountain and through a freaking river!" Which reminds me, when they say all-new, they are liars. Did they really take a 2010 Toyota Corolla and redo EVERYTHING in it so it's COMPLETELY new for the 2011 model? No. You didn't do that, so stop saying "All-new, bitches!!"
This next thing that grinds my gears are those TV show promos that appear on the bottom corner of the screen during the game. You know what I mean? They only really started showing up a few years ago. Some marketing genius decided it'd be a good idea to have a fully moving, big graphic that stays on the screen and blocks a quarter of the game for 45 seconds. "Hey boss! How about we piss our audience off by pounding our stupid ass, unfunny TV shows in their faces NOT during commercial time, but IN-GAME!" Fuck you, Mr. Guywhothoughtofthat.
This is the closest picture I could find to what I'm describing. Except it's during a game and the game is shrunk to at least half of what this image is.
Speaking of things taking up the screen, does anyone else want to stab things with ice picks when they decide to put up a HUGE BITCH box of stats while the game is going on, thus shrinking the game itself to a tiny window in the bottom right corner of the TV? What the fuck! I can't see anything that's going on and you're showing me that LeBron James struggled in Game 5?? Yeah, thanks. I freaking know that already. It's like, at least make the game the same size as the stat box, not 25-75%. Also, they leave so much room around the boxes and just have a color with some moving shit behind it. Like if it was a stat box for the Celtics, the background would be green with some flying silver lines and pieces of whatever flying around. It's a freaking overload! Just show stats in one, small line on the bottom of the screen as the game is being played next to the score/time. That's it. God. Pisses me off!
Fuck you, Charlie Tames!
Oh! That DAMN Dominoes commercial! "Oh, we gots to find Charlie Tames to get him to eat our new pizza!!" This wouldn't piss me off too much if they pronounced his name like it's spelled, "Taymez". But no. They decide to get everyone not to buy their pizza by pronouncing it "Thomas." Well doesn't that make a whole lot of sense! If I was this guy or his ancestors or whatever, when people would actually say, "Hey, Mr. 'Taymez'" by accident, I wouldn't even correct them. If you're a dick and insist on having it pronounced the dumbass way you do, then change the damn thing to "Thomas." Ass.
A couple more smaller things. One, hey! TNT and ESPN! Stop repeating the same 3 damn commercials over and over again. The Gatorade "Evolve" thing was semi-cool the first time, but that freaking SONG! AHHH! "E-V-O-L-V-E. Come on baby, come and dance with me!" I don't even know if those are the words, but it's just that stupid music. Gets in your head and does not leave. Ever. Gahhh. The second has more to do really with Game 5 since it was in Cleveland, but I'm sure other arenas do it too. Shut ya damn soundsystem up. It's done to an extent everywhere, even in the Garden, but Cleveland plays some stupid ass rap-techno mashup song the WHOLE GAME. Even when it's being played!! Isn't there a rule that they can't do that when the ball is actually in play?? Well there should be. And I absolutely HATE when they have their announcer or a prerecorded person repeating "Defense.....defense.....defense...." over and over and over again. Sorry, let the damn crowd do it. If you have to have a 10 decibel voice be saying it to the point where it drowns out the crowd anyway, what's the point? At least in Boston, we just have the "duh-duh....duh-duh" sound. The crowd does the rest. (The fucking Charlie Tames ad just came on. FML. It's literally becoming a joke right now and we only just finished the second round.) Basically the only commercials I like are the FIFA World Cup ads, if only because Bono/U2 are featured in them :)
Alright, hope you enjoyed all that! See ya'll Sundayyyyyy!!!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Celtics Go Vintage for Crucial Game 5 Win
This is my first traditional blog post in a while. I was reading some of the ones I used to do and figured this was as good a time as any to get back into the groove. So let's get going!
KG and the Celtics returned to vintage form Tuesday night.
It felt like a 2008 playoff game, didn't it? I mean, this was vintage Celtics basketball on display Tuesday night in Cleveland. In fact, this wasn't so much a vintage game because we couldn't win for shit on the road a couple years ago. When we play up to par and how we can night in and night out, we are a more versatile team than that previous version, if only for the simple fact that we can save face on the road. In an arena in which the Cavs were uber-dominant during the regular season (and the first round of the playoffs), the Celtics have managed to win twice there (it could've been three times had it not been for that mini-collapse in Game 1). Either way, it's wins like this one that has got to make you feel good about our chances moving forward, at least in this series. I don't want to get into any future series talk, so I'm not even going to think about any sort of matchups going forward besides Game 6.
I kept waiting...waiting...waiting. I mean, come on. LeBron is not going to suck for an entire 48 minutes in a crucial playoff game, right? He's gonna get woken up come crunch time and get his team going, right? There's no way that the same guy who scored a billion points and did EVERYTHING in Game 3 was gonna take a few jumpers, not really get anyone else involved, and call it a night in Game 5 in his domain, right? As we all know with this Celtics team--at least its regular season incarnation--no lead is really ever safe. We tend to sit back on our haunches and wait for the clock to tick away to zero whenever we have a lead bigger than 10 points in the 4th quarter (and sometimes even earlier). So, as we entered the 4th with nearly a 20 point lead, I still didn't feel safe. To be honest, I wasn't TRULY convinced we were going to win until about 7 minutes left in the game with a 28 point lead or whatever it had swelled to at that point. The one thing I was convinced about was that LeBron would take the game over like he had done so many times before. Remember his 25 straight point game against Detroit in the playoffs! I kept reminding myself. Not this time. He was just...out of sync? tired? ElbowGate? I don't even know. And as far as the analysts are concerned tonight (I'm writing this currently at 12:45 am), they have no idea either. Bill Simmons tweeted that LBJ's performance was "perplexing." That's probably the best word to use because NO ONE expected him to come out like this. After getting a much-needed split up in Boston, you'd think that the "best player in the universe" would keep the momentum up in what is always a critical Game 5 at home. I don't really believe in all the elbow hype, I just think he didn't show up. I mean, look at his post game press conference. Very ho-hum. Very non-chalant, like there's not a thing to worry about, even though he shot a ghastly 3-14 ("ghastlier than a thousand ghouls!"--Stewie quote from Season 1, thank you very much). Maybe it's just me, but he was just very stoic, like nothing phased him. I can't help but imagine him with the same tone of voice after a Cavs win, ya know? Where's the desperation or even just disappointment? You know that if the Celtics lost by 32 points at home, someone like KG would be visibly pissed off, not just, "Well, we just gotta go and win the next game."
LeBron couldn't hide his frustration as the C's swarming defense held him to just 3 of 14 shooting.
I kept waiting...waiting...waiting. I mean, come on. LeBron is not going to suck for an entire 48 minutes in a crucial playoff game, right? He's gonna get woken up come crunch time and get his team going, right? There's no way that the same guy who scored a billion points and did EVERYTHING in Game 3 was gonna take a few jumpers, not really get anyone else involved, and call it a night in Game 5 in his domain, right? As we all know with this Celtics team--at least its regular season incarnation--no lead is really ever safe. We tend to sit back on our haunches and wait for the clock to tick away to zero whenever we have a lead bigger than 10 points in the 4th quarter (and sometimes even earlier). So, as we entered the 4th with nearly a 20 point lead, I still didn't feel safe. To be honest, I wasn't TRULY convinced we were going to win until about 7 minutes left in the game with a 28 point lead or whatever it had swelled to at that point. The one thing I was convinced about was that LeBron would take the game over like he had done so many times before. Remember his 25 straight point game against Detroit in the playoffs! I kept reminding myself. Not this time. He was just...out of sync? tired? ElbowGate? I don't even know. And as far as the analysts are concerned tonight (I'm writing this currently at 12:45 am), they have no idea either. Bill Simmons tweeted that LBJ's performance was "perplexing." That's probably the best word to use because NO ONE expected him to come out like this. After getting a much-needed split up in Boston, you'd think that the "best player in the universe" would keep the momentum up in what is always a critical Game 5 at home. I don't really believe in all the elbow hype, I just think he didn't show up. I mean, look at his post game press conference. Very ho-hum. Very non-chalant, like there's not a thing to worry about, even though he shot a ghastly 3-14 ("ghastlier than a thousand ghouls!"--Stewie quote from Season 1, thank you very much). Maybe it's just me, but he was just very stoic, like nothing phased him. I can't help but imagine him with the same tone of voice after a Cavs win, ya know? Where's the desperation or even just disappointment? You know that if the Celtics lost by 32 points at home, someone like KG would be visibly pissed off, not just, "Well, we just gotta go and win the next game."
Anyway, enough LeBron analysis and talk. Let's get into the Celtics side of the game. For one thing, Rondo is a superstar. Sure, what he did a couple nights ago was ludicrous, but he came out with exactly the perfect attitude for this game. With a player as young as he is (He's 24, I'm 22. What have I done with my life?), and coming off a Wilt Chamberlain-Oscar Robertson territory type game, I wouldn't have been surprised if he tried to replicate at least the same sort of aggression of Game 4. No siree Bob! He played just the way we needed him to play. Get others involved, defer to the Big Three, etc. thus accounting for his 1-rebound-and-nothing-else stat line of the first quarter. Only in the second half (3rd quarter mostly) did he come out and really put the petal to the metal, ensuring the Celtics played with continued urgency. He knows he controls the offense and dictates the pace of the game and played aggressively to open that second half just as we needed it to happen. When all was said and done, Rondo ended up with 16 points and 7 assists on 7-12 shooting. Nothing flashy, but everything we needed him to be when we needed it to happen. That is what you want out of your point guard.
Ray Allen just keeps on impressing. His hot shooting to close the regular season has continued without much interruption into the playoffs. He shot 8-13 overall and 6-9 from downtown to record a game-high 25 points. I mean, this guy is just the prototype of a knock-down shooter. Not to be the prisoner of the moment, but I give full support to resign Allen for next season. Shooters shoot and it's something he won't really forget how to do. He loves Boston and deserves to stay here for all that he's done to help this team. Can you even imagine where we'd be if we traded Allen in February?! Not here, that's for sure.
KG. Got his game going early. Abused Jamison down low, like he can do virtually every play and finished with another 18-point game. It's becoming almost a given that Garnett is going to score 18 points and grab 6-10 rebounds. That's really all you can ask for. Knee problems be damned, by the way. He seems fine to me. He's running up and down the court every play and skying for rebounds whenever he's in position to do so. Just a Community Note of Interest, KG has scored exactly 18 points in Game 4 vs. the Heat, Game 1, Game 2, Game 4, and Game 5 (and 19 in Game 3) vs. the Cavs!! Is that weird or what? That is 5 times out of a possible 9 games (he didn't play Game 2 vs. the Heat) in which KG scored 18 points. That's crazy! Let's see how he fares in Boston...
Pierce began the game inside to regain his touch and moved to his sweet spot in the 2nd half.
Onto the Captain, the Truth. Paul Pierce. Give him all the flack you want for not showing up in really any game thus far against the Cavs. He actually did this poorly against the Cavs in 2008 until his breakout 41-point Game 7. So there. This game, he took what the defense gave him. Instead of taking a lot of jumpers to start the game, he drove inside to try and get layups, bunnies, and fouls to get to the line. That's the way to get going if you're struggling shooting. **ORIGINAL RESEARCH ALERT!!!** Looking at tonight's shot chart, Pierce took 11 out of his 21 shots from in the paint, all but one of which came in the first half. Two things can be gleaned from this. One is that Pierce took a lot of shots, some would say too many if he only scored 21 points. But the thing is he got shots up. Two, he was aggressive, not tentative as he had been in the other games. Perhaps he saw that LeBron was doing shitty offensively, so he didn't have to expend as much energy defending him. Whatever the case was, Pierce was able to attack primarily and then revert to his traditional sweet spots on the elbows for jumpers. It's also nice to note that Pierce had 11 rebounds and 7 assists to go with those 21 points. That's almost a triple-double! Great production from him that one can only see continuing, especially at home.
Rondo continued his strong play, leading to easy buckets from bench players.
One final note is the bench play. Daniels did a FANTASTIC job off the bench, hitting a tough layup and jumper in the 4th quarter...
...
...
...
JUST KIDDING. That was all garbage time. When it mattered, Glen "Uno Uno" Davis (does he seriously expect that to catch on? such a dumb nickname) and Tony Allen really contributed. They really never get plays called for them, but somehow always end up finding the loose balls and cutting in for layups and and-ones. As much as I've hated on TA in the past, I gotta give him credit where it's due. This entire 2010 playoffs, he's been stellar and not trying to do too much. Tonight, he finished with just 6 points, but the Celtics were +14 when he was on the floor (Take what you want from that...I actually like the plus/minus stat because it tends to show the intangibles. If you didn't watch the game, TA's presence on the court couldn't be seen in the box score, but he did contribute in a big way, if only for his once again stifling D on James). Davis had more of an offensive impact. Sometimes I don't understand how the laws of physics allow him to spin the ball so much to get it to go in. He's such a big guy and kinda just throws his weight into people while simultaneously throwing the ball in a seemingly random direction at the rim and more often than not (unless it gets blocked), it goes in and he gets fouled. Not to mention his jumpshot is a great asset to have. Overall, Davis finished with 15 points and made 7 out of 10 free throws. Not bad, young Padawan.
On that note, hope you enjoyed the first Celtics recap blog in a long while. Hopefully there will be more to come. I typed into my iPhone a few things that piss me off during the games themselves (the repeating commercials, for example) that I think has potential of being funny, especially if you're watching almost all of the games in their entireties (is that even a word?) like I do. Until next time!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Funny Story
Just read this in Sports Illustrated in an article about timeouts in the NBA:
"And in Game 2 of the 1984 NBA Finals, Larry Bird famously told Celtics coach K.C. Jones, 'Give me the ball. I know what to do,' to which Jones responded, 'Shut up, Larry, I'm the coach of this team.' Then he gave his instructions: 'Inbound the ball, get it to Larry, and everybody else get out of the way.'"
"And in Game 2 of the 1984 NBA Finals, Larry Bird famously told Celtics coach K.C. Jones, 'Give me the ball. I know what to do,' to which Jones responded, 'Shut up, Larry, I'm the coach of this team.' Then he gave his instructions: 'Inbound the ball, get it to Larry, and everybody else get out of the way.'"
Friday, April 16, 2010
Simmons
I agree, except I'm not 100% positive that we'll lose in the first round. There's a helluva good chance, considering our...well, laziness since December, but only time will tell. Bottom line: Momentum is a necessity heading into the playoffs. We don't have ANY. Should be a shit show.
On Tuesday, I thought Dwyane Wade could beat by himself what I described in a recent e-mail as a "decrepit, non-rebounding, poorly coached, dispirited, excuse-making, washed-up sham of a contender" (admittedly, I was a little angry) … and that's before the Celtics tanked Game 82 on Fan Appeciation Night in a pathetic attempt to land Milwaukee in Round 1. Nope. They got Wade and Miami. The karma gods hate that crap. And that's what this season was: crap. The Celtics have been a .500 team for nearly four months. Everyone has a glazed, "As soon as we get eliminated, we get to start summer vacation, right?" look on their face, and if you could describe Garnett's bizarre clinging-to-the-past-and-not-getting-the-hint-that-he's-done-as-an-impact-player season with a movie character, it would absolutely be O'Bannion from "Dazed and Confused."
All of this shocked the diehards who loved the 2008 and 2009 teams and never thought they'd become, for lack of a better word, weak. Yes, we won two years ago. Putting us well within my self-proclaimed five-year grace period (see rule No. 12) that goes like this: "No fan can complain about a team that just won a title for five years" … and making me a hypocrite for everything you read in the previous paragraph. Of anything I ever wrote, I regret the five-year grace period most. I created it three weeks after the Patriots won Super Bowl XXXVI, my first Boston title in 16 years. It had been so long since one of my teams won anything that I had forgotten what it felt like. So really, my creating rules for fans of championship teams was like Kate Moss releasing a manifesto for eating fatty foods. How the hell would I know?
Here's what I learned from 2002-2010 (six Boston titles in all): You can't stop being a sports fan just because your team won a title. Sports are all about the highs and lows. If you don't get swept up in them, you become detached and eventually you won't care as much. Just because the Celtics won two years ago doesn't give them the right to embrace, "Don't worry, we might not care now but we're gonna try in the playoffs" as their team mantra two years later, just like I shouldn't be obligated to accept their recent foibles out of some twisted sense of gratitude.
I thought the Celtics played their fans this season. Don't rope us in with "ubuntu" for two years, then turn your back on it like it was a Kaballah fad or something. Don't tell us to embrace "The New Big 3," then shop Ray Allen for eight months like he was a used car. Don't tell us our best forward's knee is fine when we see him limping. Don't blame the effort of your players after a loss when you played all 12 of them like they were Little Leaguers, or when you keep playing the one guy who exhibits no effort whatsoever without calling him out once. Don't sign a second center for big bucks, then act surprised when the incumbent center bristles about his playing time. So on and so on. It was an empty season filled with excuses, half-truths and false promises. Just because they won two years ago doesn't mean fans had to blindly condone it.
I once wrote that Miami's 2006 title run was like a group of guys in Vegas spending crazy money at dinner, having a great time, ordering dozens of dishes and drinks and never once worrying about the check … and the 2007 Miami season was the ten sobering minutes when the check arrives and nobody could believe the bill. The check just gets passed around so everyone can stare it in horror, then the one dude with an MBA in economics grabs it and figures out what everyone owes, and you limp out of the restaurant saying, "I can't believe we just spent $250 apiece on dinner, I gotta hit an ATM," only it takes an extra 10 minutes to leave because somebody has to take a dump and somebody else thinks they have a chance with the waitress, so the rest of the guys are just clustered in the lobby, totally full, a little bit drunk, a little bit tired, trying to rally for a big gambling night but knowing that they're about to get their asses kicked because you can never win in Vegas when you're drunk, full and tired.
Welcome to your 2009-10 Celtics postseason. The check has arrived. I hope I'm wrong.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Love this Quote...
Bono: "I'd love for everyone to have that hope at the moment of death, the hope that you aren't leaving this world the same as you found it, but you're leaving the world a little better. We ought to celebrate the tiniest changes everywhere we find them -- in ourselves, in our family, our neighborhood, our country, the world. I'll say it again: I hate the idea of the inviolability of things. You can and you should shake things up. Besides, history proves it. Look, not long ago women didn't have the right to vote, and that was something just taken as a given. That appalling fact didn't stand the test of time."
Amen.
Amen.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Bring on the Haters!
Quick thoughts on tonight's debacle of a game. Or really just the second half.
--Worst half of a game we've played since I can remember.
--13 assists. Total (at least until I shut the TV off with about 1:30 left).
--Almost opposite defensive energy between the first and second halves. I was pleasantly surprised that in the first 24 minutes, every single player on the Celtics showed a helluva lot of energy, helping out teammates, overplaying everything (in the best sense of the word), getting in passing lanes, HUSTLING. The second half was a completely different story. Sluggish, showing the men they were playing a clear way to the basket, overplaying (in the WORST sense of the word) when showing on screens (PS: Why does that tend to happen? For example, Rondo guards Williams. Okur comes to set a screen. Sheed leaves Okur to help the semi-open Williams. Rondo, meanwhile, slips over the screen and is clearly still capable of guarding Williams. Sheed keep guarding Williams for some ungodly reason. Okur is wide open and knocks down a three. Happened far too often.)
--Several missed layups and, more important, missed and-ones in the second half. Perfect way to shoot yourself in the foot when you're missing FREE throws (i.e. FREE points, but the league couldn't just give them to you...they had to come up with something more official=free throws--surely professional basketball players can hit a wide open shot from 6 feet!, says Mr. Naismith. And they should. But we didn't.)
--Nate Robinson and Davis doing jack in the second half. Nate, buddy, I know you want to run the offense and pass the ball and really buy into our system, but we got you to score, score score. Ya know, like you did in the first half when you got 8 points in 25 seconds. And Big Baby. You get a thump on the nose and can't do ANYTHING in the second half? 13 points in something like 7 minutes sounds amazing, except when you consider that was all in quarters 1 and 2. Come on.
That's all I can think of for now. I could talk about the refs and how they most likely went into halftime, saw the free throw discrepancy (attributed to the Celtics actually attacking the rim the entire half), and deciding to try and even it out by letting the game get out of control in favor of the Jazz....BUT I won't get into that :)
Oh well, back to home for a season-long 6 game homestand. Hopefully that will help right the ship a bit, eh?
--Worst half of a game we've played since I can remember.
--13 assists. Total (at least until I shut the TV off with about 1:30 left).
--Almost opposite defensive energy between the first and second halves. I was pleasantly surprised that in the first 24 minutes, every single player on the Celtics showed a helluva lot of energy, helping out teammates, overplaying everything (in the best sense of the word), getting in passing lanes, HUSTLING. The second half was a completely different story. Sluggish, showing the men they were playing a clear way to the basket, overplaying (in the WORST sense of the word) when showing on screens (PS: Why does that tend to happen? For example, Rondo guards Williams. Okur comes to set a screen. Sheed leaves Okur to help the semi-open Williams. Rondo, meanwhile, slips over the screen and is clearly still capable of guarding Williams. Sheed keep guarding Williams for some ungodly reason. Okur is wide open and knocks down a three. Happened far too often.)
--Several missed layups and, more important, missed and-ones in the second half. Perfect way to shoot yourself in the foot when you're missing FREE throws (i.e. FREE points, but the league couldn't just give them to you...they had to come up with something more official=free throws--surely professional basketball players can hit a wide open shot from 6 feet!, says Mr. Naismith. And they should. But we didn't.)
--Nate Robinson and Davis doing jack in the second half. Nate, buddy, I know you want to run the offense and pass the ball and really buy into our system, but we got you to score, score score. Ya know, like you did in the first half when you got 8 points in 25 seconds. And Big Baby. You get a thump on the nose and can't do ANYTHING in the second half? 13 points in something like 7 minutes sounds amazing, except when you consider that was all in quarters 1 and 2. Come on.
That's all I can think of for now. I could talk about the refs and how they most likely went into halftime, saw the free throw discrepancy (attributed to the Celtics actually attacking the rim the entire half), and deciding to try and even it out by letting the game get out of control in favor of the Jazz....BUT I won't get into that :)
Oh well, back to home for a season-long 6 game homestand. Hopefully that will help right the ship a bit, eh?
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Free Music (-ish)
Whatup y'all?! So I found this website that allows you to listen to a full album by basically anyone for free. The only fallback is that you can only listen to it once, but I think it's pretty cool, especially if you hear of a new album and want to check it out. I just listened to the new 30 Seconds to Mars album, which, granted, is a little more hardcore/emo than I normally like. But it does have some good songs from one listen. The album as a whole has a great atmosphere to it and the theme of war and its consequences runs throughout. I think one of the reasons that I like some of the songs is the fact that they're kind of epic in scope and sound (see: Kings and Queens, 100 Suns, and Hurricane). It's pretty cool.
Anyways, iTunes only allows a 30-second preview of any given song, but at this website, it's the full song in great quality.
You're welcome.
Anyways, iTunes only allows a 30-second preview of any given song, but at this website, it's the full song in great quality.
You're welcome.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Podcasts on iTunes!!!
So I guess I officially have a podcast IN iTunes! Just search "Andy's Podcast Extravaganza" from the Music Store and it should pop up (it's the one with the old school Celtics logo, in case you were confused). Just click on subscribe and iTunes will automatically download the newest podcasts as they become available!!! :) HAVE FUN AND PLEASE SUBSCRIBE!!!!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Podcast #3
This link actually might have a faster download speed. It ran right around 200kb/s and got up to 250 for me and took a little over 15 minutes to download fully. Jon told me it took 5 minutes for him to download, so DO IT!
I'll leave this link down here just in case something goes wrong and whatnot.
http://www.teradepot.com/bdg81cpwjrhd/podcast_final_2[TeraDepot.com].wav.html
I'll leave this link down here just in case something goes wrong and whatnot.
http://www.teradepot.com/bdg81cpwjrhd/podcast_final_2[TeraDepot.com].wav.html
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
"The only people who interest me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, destroyed, everything at the same time. The ones who burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles, exploding like spiders across the stars and into the middle you see the blue center light pop and everybody goes 'Awww!' I want to be here."
--Jack Kerouac
Monday, February 1, 2010
Podcast #1: Unedited, Choppy Audio, Moments of Awkward Silence, Audio Delay...Only the Best!
As you can see from the title, we had a little problem with our podcast. It was recorded Saturday night and without going into detail, I wasn't able to edit it because whenever I tried, Wokkus and Jon's audio was basically inaudible. I also couldn't figure out how to put it directly on this website, so you'll have to go to this link and download it (just click 'Close' on the add that pops up when you get there and then click on 'Click Here to Start Download'. I hope you'll go through all that for us! Hopefully next time we do one, it'll be more professional :)
Monday, January 25, 2010
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
A Video Blog?!
If the above video freezes halfway through or just doesn't work, I uploaded the same video to YouTube and embedded it here. Should work...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
