American Idol

American idol is interesting to me. Don't get me wrong I love it. But what does it say about the music industry? I think it shows that the biggest names aren't necessarily the most talented. Look at the list of people American Idol has produced; David Cook, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Pickler, Chris Daughtry, Jennifer Hudson, and Kelly Clarkson. Now I'm sure I'm missing a few, but these are some of the biggest names in music. So what would all of these people be doing if not for American Idol? I'm sure some of them would be working in the industry, but most of them would be living a very normal life, and just have an untapped talent. So is the music industry really based on talent alone? Chris Daughtry was a local talent for years, but also had a regular job, like the rest of us. After NOT winning idol, his first album sold more copies in the first week, than any other rock album in HISTORY! So is he the best rocker of all time?

Look at sports, the biggest names are the best, and they prove that, Lebron, Kobe, Ovechkin, Crosby, AP, Moss, Brady, Pujols, Jeter, and the list goes on and on. But if we had an American Idol of sports would we find a roofer out there that can bat .320 and drive in 115 runs? No, of course not. Sports has american idols in little leagues, and high schools, and colleges, until you reach the pros. The whole process is American Idol.

So the music industry is based more on promotion, marketing, timeliness, rather than talent. I find that very odd. Are the Beatles the best band of all time. How do we know that. Is Van Halen better than their cover band the Atomic Punks? I can't tell the difference if I had my eyes closed, hell I probably couldn't tell the difference if I had my eyes open. So how do we know that paying $300 to see the Eagles is worth it more than going to the Coon Rapids fireworks and seeing the Rocking Hollywoods. It's an interesting industry because the accountant at your work might have been the next Kelly Clarkson if she would have tried out for American Idol.

Players Play & Coaches Coach

If you watched the Gonzaga, Western Kentucky game yesterday you realized one thing. Players play, and coaches coach. Let's recap the final moments from the game copyright ESPN.
Steffphon Pettigrew hit a tip-in for the 12th-seeded Hilltoppers (25-9) that tied it at 81 with 7.2 seconds left. But Goodson took the inbounds pass and went straight to the basket with little resistance, hitting from close on the left side.
You can click on the title of this blog to watch the video. It was a pretty entertaining finish to say the least. But what I like most is the Gonzaga coach didn't take a time out after Western Kentucky made their shot. I would be willing to bet that 95% of coaches would have called a timeout in that situation. Maybe they didn't have any left I don't know. But that Gonzaga kid would have never been able to do what he did had a timeout been taken. The defense would have had time to set up and find their guys. Tubby Smith took a timeout in this situation a few weeks ago, and it might have cost them the game. Westbrook made the 3-Pointer right as Tubby was taking the timeout. No this is splitting hairs I know. But sometimes letting the players play is the best option. Coaches often times over coach. These college players have played thousands of games in their lives. And hundreds of these games come down to the final minute of play. So why do some coaches feel the need to stop play completely and design a play. When often times all you're doing is letting the defense get set. You saw it yesterday, the players on Western Kentucky were part giddy because they just made the shot, and part confused because they didn't know what was going on. So Gonzaga is moving on because they took advantage of this chaos.

Brackets

First off I'd like to congratulate the Gophers on their first NCAA tournament since 2005. If you erase the years that they cheated the gophers haven't won a NCAA tournament game since 1992. So making it is actually a big accomplishment for them.

What I like about the NCAA tournaments is the brackets. Everyone does them. Sports fans, and non sports fans, men, women, young, old, and yes even the dumb.

Let's look at my 5 rules of filling out brackets.

1.)People say go with teams the have good guards. What does this even mean? These teams aren't just good because they have good guards. What they're saying is if a team has good forwards then we shouldn't pick them. I think any team that is a 4-5 seed or higher is just good, and it doesn't matter if it's guards or forwards or even a center that makes your team good.
2.)I don't like picking by conference. I think conferences get overrated and underrated. So I think you need to focus more on actual matchups. ESPN has the Big East contract. So it's to their benefit if the Big East is the best. So who do you think they'll talk about.
3.)Don't pick upsets in first round. Make your upsets be 6 beating 3 rather than 14 beating 3. Those upsets will just hurt you a lot more later than they'll help you. Don't risk 10pts. to gain 1pt.
4.)Don't ever pick a team from Minnesota. Do you think that those people who won their brackets with Minnesota should have to give their money back? Those games didn't happen according to the NCAA.
5.)Most of all I think it is all about luck. Nobody that has an actual life can actually dissect each team and matchup. And the guys that do it for a living don't win every bracket they do. It's not like Digger Phelps is winning ESPN's bracket. Pick favorites and the teams you have heard of. That's why you've heard of them, it's because they win in March.

So stick those rules in the future and you can be successful just like me. Actually I just lost 2 games in the last 5 minutes.

Jay Leno

Jay Leno is doing a free show in Detroit for all of those who may have lost their job or are struggling in this economy. Leno set it up along with Pepsi so that everything would be free. You can park for free, go to the comedy show for free, free soft drinks from the concession stands, and they're working on free food too. They were even giving away free domino's pizza in line as people were waiting for tickets.
So what happened. As expected the tickets were all given out. They'll fill the Palace, where the Pistons play. But now there are douche bags who are putting their tickets on Ebay for as much as $800. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?.

Day #2 at the tourny.

What a disappointing tournament this has turned out to be. We went into Thursday expecting some great games leading towards a great championship game. Granted we do have two big name schools. Moorhead vs. Eden Prairie. Moorhead lost 8 consecutive games at some point during the season. Eden Prairie deserved to win yesterday. Blaine went up 2-0 and then iced the puck for the next two periods while Eden prarie scored 4 unanswered.
So Ty and I will make our way down there tonight. I hope Moorhead wins. The last thing we need is for Eden Prarie to start winning hockey tournaments too.

Prediction:
Eden Prarie 5 - Moorhead 2

DAY #1 at the tourny

WOW!!!!!
What the hell happened yesterday. Don't ever start drinking at 9:30AM. What a nightmare. Let's take a stroll down memory lane. Well what I remember at least. This was the first year my dad didn't go on Thursday in my lifetime. Boy was it different.
Billy and I get to McGoverns at 9:30am. The first bloody was gone by 10:00am. We ran into a few friends down at McGoverns. So we got a few buckets prior to heading to XCEL. Billy and I left towards the Xcel, we didn't make it in the first try. We had to stop into Eagle Street for a few 16oz. PBR's. Finally about 6-7 beers into the day, we make our way into the Xcel. We watch the remainder of the first game, and first two periods of the second game. We ran into a couple of guys we usually eat dinner with, and told them we'd meet them at Shamrocks for dinner in between the games. This is where it gets interesting.
Planning on going to Shamrocks for dinner, we stopped into McGoverns to meet up with friends for a couple of beers. A couple of beers turned into numerous buckets. We never made it Shamrocks needless to say. We were hanging out with a couple of friends having a good time. They left for the games and we got another bucket for the two of us. My next certain memory is waking up this morning. Talking to a few people I have some recollection of certain points.
There was the time at McGoverns when Billy and I were sitting there, and I went to take a piss, and ended up at Eagle Street. Billy forgot his cell phone, so he had no idea where I was. We were split up for over an hour. How do you lose each other, when there is only two of you. I called Bobby and told him I was lost. Billy had to borrow a ladies phone to call me, and then proceeded to drop the phone. When I was talking to him, I told him I couldn't hear him, but wouldn't go to a spot I could hear him. He then finds me at Eagle Street and I act as if he had been there the entire time. So in a nutshell I went to the bathroom at McGoverns and ended up at Eagle Street by myself.
There was the waitress I hired as a cart girl.
There was the group of Andover coaches I ran into. I wonder if I'll be announcing for them next year?
There was the time I dropped my phone, and left it at that. I acted as though it went down a well or something. Even though it was just laying next to my feet. Billy had to convince me to pick it up. I was ready to just leave it there. I also lost the back of my phone, so now my battery falls out?
There was the $200 that Billy spent.
There was the fact that I was unaware the Edina lost.
There was a manager from another softball team in our league that was talking shit. I called Stueve to inform him of this. I told him the story, and forgot that I had told him, and then told him the exact same 7 minute story again.
There was the lady from Moorhead I conversated with. I was so interested in the city of Moorhead. And here brother hated Billy and I.
There was the time that we tried go over to Blake's house but didn't make it past Mickey's Diner.
In Mickey's diner I asked the lady behind the counter if she was Charlie Conway's mom. And then I asked her about another three dozen times.
There was the time I called my pregnant wife at 1:30am to pick us up. She then had to call her pregnant sister to come with her so I could get my vehicle home.
There was the fact that I didn't know how to get out of the vehicle.
So basically I was a complete wreck. I think we stimulated the economy with the money we spent. I think we annoyed dozens if not hundreds of people. I had to be supporting at least a .30. I probably knocked at least a week off of my life. I called the hospital and put my name on the liver list. I don't need one know, but I will. I would say it was interesting day to say the least. I'm not gonna lie, my wife's pretty mad at me. It was perhaps the drunkest I've ever been. 15 1/2 hours of straight drinking (I ate 1 sandwich all day), with periodic breaks.
And I'm going back in a couple of hours.

As far as the tourny goes. Pretty big upsets in the last 2 games. It looked like Edina thought they were going to breeze through that one, damn cake eaters. I should have talked to Charlie Conways' mom about it. Blaine and Eden Prairie tonight will be a great game. Blaine might just win this thing.

State High School Hockey

When you're a giant sports fan like most of us are. There are certain events and matchups that peak your interest. This time of year has as many of those fixes. We have spring training and world baseball classic. We have both the NBA and NHL lumbering towards the playoffs with big games nearly every night. We have the NCAA conference tourney's with the big dance right around the corner. Partner all of that with NFL free agency and the draft and out proverbial sports plate is full. But there is one event that is unusually popular in Minnesota. It is enjoyed and watched by nearly the entire state. It doesn't matter if your a young kid or an aging grandparent, or just Joe Blow sports fan. This event gathers the attention of everyone from Andover to Zumbrota. You can live in Minneapolis with a population over 360,000. You can live in Roseau with a population of 2,700 people. This event is the Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament.
This event is something I've attended every tournament since 1989. And I got to miss school for years and years which was always nice. It used to be one tournament and now there are two tournaments, with the AA and A tournaments. The AA is the tournament of choice for this guy. This tournament sells out year after year. So you have 15,16,17, and 18 year old kids playing in front of 17,000 - 18,000 people. These kids aren't making any money. Their effort is unquestioned. You might see one or two of these kids in the NHL some day. A handful will play division I hockey. Most of these kids will never play organized hockey again. So this is why they played hockey, to get to this point. It's refreshing watching sports on a natural level. Everybody wants to win, for one reason, and that is to be the best. No one is thinking about contracts, or endorsements, or draft spots. They just want to be the team celebrating Saturday night, and go back to their community with a state championship.

With that being said here are my predictions for the AA tournament.
THURSDAY
Eden Prairie 4 - Hill Murray 2
Blaine 6 - Rochester Century - 0
Edina 5 - Moorhead 3
Duluth East 4 - Cretin Durham Hall 2
FRIDAY
Blaine 4 - Eden Prairie 2
Edina 4 - Duluth East 3
SATURDAY
Edina 3 - Blaine 2

So if you have any predictions throw them in the comments section. And let's see how we do.

Youtube - Turtle

This needs to be shared with the world!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCEWGCLgQkk

If you have other video's we should watch post them in the comments section.

Communication Breakdown

I often times wonder if communication is better or worse now that we have cellphones, texting, email, facebook, instant messaging, etc.
For instance I thought about that last week of my life. Now with work and my personal life I've communicated with roughly 100 people in the last week alone. 1 of them is through a instant messenger application that I have on my blackberry. We've been having an ongoing conversation for about weeks now. I've seen him once, but other than that I haven't heard his voice. I have at any given point 1-10 email chains going with friends. My softball team emails back and forth sometimes up to 40 emails a day. Some of these people I don't even have their phone numbers so emailing is our only communication. I talk on the phone consistently with 1-2 friends each day along with my wife. As far as work goes it is almost done exclusively through email. So to sum it up of these 100 people I had a phone or face to face conversation with a handful or so.
So what does all of this mean. Yes it is convenient. Of course there isn't enough time to talk to each one of these people. But what is lost in all of this. I think the relationships and content of the conversation. I can't possibly say everything I want to say instant messaging. I can't possibly get my tone, attitude, and meaning across in an email or text. So we basically are losing human interaction. We are communicating like animals by taking all emotion out of it. We can't sense disappointment, or sarcasm. We can't sense excitement or happiness. We are replacing these things with emoticons. What if I told you I can't make it to your party and followed it up with a sad face. What the hell does that mean. Does it mean you can't make it and you're sad? Does it mean you don't want to go, but you want to present the idea that you're sad?
I found out my wife was pregnant last week. I met face to face with my family. Phoned a few close friends about it. Texted some others about it, and emailed anyone else that I thought might want to know. So was I ranking the importance of my relationships? This is as important a message I'll ever have my entire life, but I sent a text the same way I would if I was telling someone what time we're playing hockey.
I graduated with a major in communication, so this is an area of extreme knowledge for me. But I think if I went back into college now, we'd have an entirely new set of standards. It isn't just sender, receiver, message anymore. We have an entirely new way of communicating. We have to rank in importance the message, the receivers, the mode of communicating. Are you losing relationships if you're not able to text or email. Are we losing anything if our cell phone gets lousy service. I was talking to a friend this morning when his cell phone cut out. He called back minutes later, but I didn't want to invest in anything conversation wise in case his phone cut out again. We used to communicate one of 3 ways, face to face, phone to phone, or mail to mail. Now we add in phones, computers, and etc.
What about work? I have a staff of 50, and approximately 50 annual tournament contacts that I communicate with frequently. Add in the leads, vendors, and other miscellaneous clients/customers/employees and the numbers reach hundreds. But I try to talk to as few of them as possible. Maybe that's not the best way to get business done, but it's definitely the most efficient. And it's not like I'm the only one. I've tried calling people before and no answer. Only to get a text or email back within minutes. I get it, and don't mind it. We just don't need to interact face to face, or phone to phone.
So thinking about all of this I think we're losing somethings, and gaining somethings. On the plus side, we are able to communicate much more and much faster with anyone and everyone. I talk to friends via text, and email that I wouldn't talk to nearly as much if we had to talk on the phone. So I think that side of it is nice. We are able to stay in contact, when years ago, you lost contact with so many people all the time.
What we're losing though is the human side of it. Look at that one commercial. The guy takes a picture of flowers and sends it to his wife/girlfriend/side action. That is not that same as bringing the girl flowers. But that is what we do. We send text messages saying, I love you. We can all act a hell of a lot tougher behind a cell phone or computer screen. We don't have the time or energy to invest into really caring about what makes our friends, family, and other contacts happy, mad, sad, excited, etc. So it's the emotion that is losing in all of this. We are just evolving once step closer to becoming robots!

Bill Simmons

I know I've talked about all of this before but I'm taking it to a new level. Below I've copied an email that I sent to Bill Simmons of ESPN. I'm hoping someone of his stature can bring this news to the masses. Don't be afraid to send him an email to asking for this story. Here is a link to send him an email, http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=feedback/sportsguy

Bill I am an avid reader of your columns, listener of your podcasts, and now thanks to you an avid listener to Adam Carolla too. Anyways you often talk about cities and states and their successful or unsuccessful era's. You have to my knowledge never mentioned Minnesota. We have had 4 major sports teams and a major college located in our metro area. If you take in to account the 4 major sports teams and the University of Minnesota football and basketball teams. I think we dominate the futility category. The Twins two world championships (1987 and 1991) are it!

The Vikings have been here since 1961. No NFL championships, 4 lost super bowls, and numerous NFC championship losses. Including the loss to Atlanta in 1998 and the 41-0 loss to the NY Giants in 2001. Thrown in the love boat for good measures too.

Yes we have the Twins but let's not forget that our now deceased owner tried to contract the Twins a few years back. It is true they have been competitive this decade. But what about the 90's when they lost 90-100 games every year. Let's not forget we've also traded away Johan Santana, and let Tori Hunter leave in the past 2 years.

Look at the Timberwolves. They have advanced past the first round of the playoffs just once in 20 years. We have drafted and traded away Ray Allen, O.J. Mayo, and Brandon Roy. We gave you Kevin Garnett so your Celtics could win the NBA championship. If we didn't get lucky and draft KG we'd be looking at 20 seasons and no playoffs. Oh yeah we had the Lakers until 1961.

We are the state of hockey and have sold out every single wild exhibition, regular season, and playoff game. But we are not going in the right direction. Sure we had the North Stars who moved to Dallas of all places and won the Stanley Cup there.

We have the University of MN. Our football team hasn't been to the rose bowl in over 40 years. Our basketball team made it to the final four once, but had the records erased due to academic scandal.

So do the math. Since 1961 we have had 148 Professional season and 2 championships. We haven't been to a league championship since 1991 in any sport.The gopher football team hasn't played on New Year's Day since 1961, and the basketball team hasn't won a National Championship since it's first game in 1895. So only you Bill can put the proper twist on this to let the world now our suffering. We don't have the curse of the bambino, or Bobby Layne. We don't have any curses or spells. Basically since 1961 we have dealt with it all. So being a 27 year old sports nut, it's been tough. So we need someone like you to help us find a way out of this sports abyss.
Thanks for your time.

Brian Cardinal

Let's talk about Brian Cardinal. He is a backup forward for the Minnesota Timberwolves. This guy will some day dominate the recreational basketball circuit at some gym. Look at him. Does he look like an NBA player? I don't think so. He looks like the guy at the YMCA who is always looking for a pickup game.

Brian Cardinal seems like that guy. He is the guy who wears a 1994-95 Washington Bullet's #4 Chris Webber throwback jersey. He brings his own ball to the gym even thought they provide balls, and he of course has a headband. Isn't that the first thing that comes to mind when you see Brian Cardinal.

Who is Brain Cardinal anyway. He is an 8 year NBA veteran who has made over 23 Million dollars in his career. Is that what comes to mind when you see Brian Cardinal?

Here is what I think of when I think of Brian Cardinal. He will retire in his mid to late 30's with millions upon millions of dollars. He'll move to some suburb of Chicago, or some other Midwestern city. He'll never need to work again. But he'll dabble in different things, like coaching and consulting. He'll join a lifetime or YMCA to stay in shape. Then he'll go on to become the best recreational basketball player of all time. I mean this guy will make Woody Harrelson blush. He's obviously a very competitive and elite athlete. He just doesn't look it. So you'll get some younger guy who was all-conference honorable mention 3 years ago in high school running his mouth. Brian Cardinal is just going to run and sweat all over him. He might dunk it, but he'll probably go John Stockton NBA Jam style and just lay it up. He's not about the glory, he's about just playing straight B. B being for basketball. So keep on keeping it real Brian Cardinal.

P.S. Brian Cardinal and Mark Madson are both on the Timberwolves, and last year we had Michael Doleac..

A couple of things.

First off if you own a pizzaz, let me tell you one thing I learned today. They are wonderful for making quesadillas. Give that a try and let me know how much better your life is.

Secondly the NFL is weird. The Chiefs get Matt Cassell and Mike Vrabel for a 2nd round draft pick? I mean sure Vrabel is at the end of his career being 34, and Cassell has only 1 year of experience. So it is a risk for the Chiefs to assume Cassell is the QB of the future. But so is any player drafted. Matt Stafford, and Mark Sanchez are risks too. What if Matt Cassell is the QB he was last year for the next 5-7 years? the Chiefs got an absolute deal if that ends up being the case. The Vikings traded Duante Culpepper for a 2nd round pick. They drafted Ryan Cook with that pick. But I mean trades in the NFL are very odd to me. Draft picks are valued so high, and they are just a guessing game anyways.

Why isn't bike racing more popular in America. I don't like it personally, but why don't we like it. I would say at least 75% of all kids owned and rode a bike in their youth. And I'm sure most of us raced against a friend at one point or another. So why when these amazing athletes do it, we don't watch? I mean who can name a bike race other than the Tour De France? I find that very odd.

You keep reading things about Johan Santana's elbow. These types of stories are never good.

Lastly what's up with Stephon Marbury. He goes from not playing for the New York Knicks and getting paid 20 million dollars. Now he get bought out for 1.2 Million dollars and gets to play for the Boston Celtics. So what's the lesson here? Act like a complete selfish baby, and make 21.2 Million Dollars and get to go on a potential NBA Championship run. This is why people don't like the NBA.