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