Huge victory, Greatest show on earth Saturday

Ah yes, your little Mavericks come from behind and win by 4 thanks in large part to a 20-0 run. And yes, some observations:

1) I'll try and stay away from Captain Obvious land, but the German must come to play or the Mavs lose, it's that simple.

2) Fin comes out of hiding just like I posted on Texags and gets 20. This guy HAS to keep knocking down the huge 3 even though I lose my breath everytime he has the ball.

3) Yao is great even if he didn't do much late in the game. He needs to make our small guards change their defensive schemes cause they'll keep getting his way to try and get charges.

4) I don't like Tracy McGrady. I heard some comments in the post-game press conference that were just plain arrogant. Seriously, what has he really done? Yes, he's been an all-star, but he played for the freaking Magic most of his career! Spare-central

5) I will miss the game on Saturday because of...


The Greatest Show:




Yes, my friends, the greatness known as Widespread Panic steps into town Saturday night at Nokia. Can you say reserved, section 101? I can. Have a great weekend!

Kitos Corner (4/28 - 5/1)

"What is up with the Cowboys, or mainly what is going through Bill Parcell's head? He's trading for and signing all of his older players - it was ok with one or two guys, but now it's getting ridiculous. He's trading Pete Hunter, a solid and very young CB with some potential, for Ray Mickens?!?!"

Cowboys

"I like the Aaron Glenn pickup - he has been a wonderful asset to the Texans
the past few seasons and will add a good locker room presence, depth to the
team (he is an NFL starting CB) and will mentor the stable of young CBs the
Cowboys have. I cannot see how the Mickens trade could help the team - he
is not a starting CB, but a (good) backup - and we will have to give up a
(possible) future star to get him. Maybe we can trade Jason Whitten for
Mark Bavarro, Zuriel Smith for Phil McConkey, Flozell Adams for Jumbo
Elliott, Drew Henson for Phil Hostettler, and Julius Jones for Otis
Anderson. I am sure we'd win the super bowl then! If only ESPNClassic would
do a "Where are they Now?" show for the 1991 Giants, Parcells could save
lots of money on investigations to try to locate these guys. Is Ernest
Byner still alive?"

"The Rockets have been running on all cylinders (hottest team coming into
the playoffs) and their defense has really hurt the Mav's on offense.
Dallas must pick up the defense and play with more urgency. It definitely
looks like McGrady wants it more than anyone out there and it is showing on
the scoreboard. Remember Dallas fans - only two teams have lost the first
two at home and gone on to win a series - Houston was one of the teams in
94. They lost the first two at home to Phoenix and then went on to win it
all. So there is a chance there. But if Dallas is going to win, they're
going to have to shut down Houston and not just out-score them."

Sorry Kitos, Pete Hunter has a bag, talk to me tomorrow about the Mavs series. You must have read my post on texags that laid down my handywork. Thanks for the Corner Kitos!

Mavs no show, A-Glenn to the Boys?

So I had the bird-flu yesterday and the day before hence no update, but I do have a few sports-related observations during my bedridden state:

Basketball Playoffs:

1) How did the ball get to Finley for the last shot last night???

2) Houston has done an excellent job shutting down Dirk for the most part. Why can't Dallas' defense shut down either Yao or McGrady? Is it because they're that good? No.

3) Had to watch most of the game on UPN 21 because TNT was littered with Dallas-hater announcers. Yeah, Ortagle is one of the biggest Mavs homers, but flipping to TNT was unbearable.

4) I'm glad McGrady has a spot on Houston's team cause he'd be a cancer in the Mavs lockerroom. Good player yes, punk yes, McGrady hater yes.

I am NOT mailing this series in yet. Dallas is a good team on the road and this won't keep happening, right? Yao and McGrady constantly lighting it up? Dirk and Howard the only game 2 contributors? I'm kinda lost right now and I'm still not convinced Houston is the better team, are they???

NFL:

Aaron Glenn, Aggie, a Cowboy?

Kito's Corner (4/22-4/24) - Delay and H-town/Dallas series starting tomorrow

"NBA Playoffs- The best matchup is the Dallas/Houston series. Houston has about equal success on the road than at home - which means nothing come playoff time. Johnson has the Mavs playing great offense and something that might resemble a defense. Houston is playing well on defense and actually put up some numbers on the offense. Houston's offense can't keep up with the Mav's, so they'll need to control the pace and force Dallas into a different rhythm. Should be an exciting series and I'm not sure how it will end - but my guess is that Dallas will jump up 3-1 but not win again until game 7."

Game 7 Kitos??? You don't have THAT big of a tie to Houston! (folks, he's from Pearland)

Funny that most of the boards I visit talk about Dallas arrogance and whatnot, but they are in fact a superior team hands down. I'm feeling sweep or 6...

"DeLay- I don't know what he did, so I can't say if he committed any ethical violations. Sure, that might be what everyone else does too, it may not make it right. However, all of these accusations have come out before the House Ethical Committee ran an investigation. When the committee wanted to start investigating whether DeLay violated any rules, the democrats in the committee (half of the members) said they didn't want an investigation. So it seems they don't want the truth to come out, they just want to tell stories about him until he resigns. Either way, things are getting dirty right about now with the DeLay "scandal", the Bolton nomination, and the U.N. report about the oil for food scandal."

I must have been on the moon when this came out, I've got nothin'

Thanks Kitos!

Friday Night Music, Marc Stein take on Mavs

A little band called Horses will be playing The Moon Bar on Berry in Ft. Worth this Friday night. I've been to several of their shows, HOP has seen 'em, check it out!...bitches



Per ESPN's Marc Stein:

"In Johnson's 17 games in charge as the full-time head coach, Dallas is averaging 102.9 points (compared to 102.3 under Nelson) while allowing 92.5 points per game on 42.6-percent shooting. Write it down: If the Mavericks consistently hold teams under 93 points in the playoffs, they really are the title contender the locals in Big D increasingly believe they are."

However, him ranking them 5th leaves me stratching my head (and I realize there are a couple decent East teams. Don't make any bold predictions Marc...read it here.

Rollin' Undercover ala Vick, you can too!

Apparently Michael Vick (aka Ron Mexico) liked 'This Is Spinal Tap' so much he decided to re-enact a scene from it in 2003 and give another woman a taste. Herpes is fun! (thanks Kitos)

Disagree with Burn's headline, NBA playoff matchups set

Like many others, Marty Burns suggests that the Spurs are the team to beat. I, on the other hand, feel differently this year and while I'm not suggesting the Mavs will roll to the Finals, they'll be a contender, believe you me...

Burn's Power Rankings



Kitos will try and give you a Corna this week and I'm sure HOP will post it up. I want to give a CD review this week but I haven't bought anything real recently. Any recommendations? This weekend is also a good music weekend so I'll try and update you Thursday about what's going down...

This guy is crazy smart...

Woody Norris just received the 1/2 million $ MIT Award for his work on HyperSonic Sound and the AirScooter, which I saw on 60 Minutes last night. I don't miss my Minutes, call me Oldie or whatever, but this guy thinks he can mass produce this little magic-carpet airplane for $50,000. He also said that if you keep it under 400 feet, you don't even need a pilot's license...crazy. The uses for HyperSonic sound are virtually limitless and would probably reduce the number of noise complaints I receive from my neighbors each month. More here

I can't feel sorry for this guy, AL West Standings

Baseball

So Steinbrenner has choice words for the most expensive baseball team in the majors after being swept by the O's. Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! It's all here

Right now the AL West standings run as follows:

Everyone else 6-6
Rangers 6-7

If last year says anything about this year the Rangers need to make sure they don't lose TOO many games to West opponents. I think it's critical that you keep your head above water for the first 30 or so games. I don't think anyone would disagree with that...(Captain Obvious)

Poker

Andy Bloch, a pretty solid poker player and the dude that was kicked out of the Golden Nugget on TV in the now-defunct 'The Casino' for counting cards has an interview here

Pull my finger...No, I don't have that one (wendy's)

I love leopards!

Trial over, Music this weekend, Gift to myself

Sarah Hepola notes in the Dallas Observer that a 19-year sentence has been given to Jesse Craddock for assault in Deep Ellum: read about it here. Good stuff that bands like the Old 97's have raised money for David Cunniff by playing benefit gigs. Hopefully Ellum will be a decent place to hang out again...

Head on over to the Wreckroom on 7th Street in Ft. Worth tomorrow for a benefit show for Cory Helms, the Chemistry Set bassist that was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease. Other acts on the bill include Collin Herring and Calhoun.

I got my new soundcard yesterday, woohoo! I still have to get a couple more patch cables and I'll be up and recording. Which reminds me, I really hate Guitar Center. I'd rather sit through hours of insurance seminars than work there (anyone catch the movie reference there?)

CD Review : Keane - Hopes and Fears

I picked up this cd after I saw a rerun of SNL in which they were the musical guest. I honestly had never heard of them until then which probably tells you a little about how much I listen to the radio or 'popular' music nowadays.

Keane is a 3 piece group consisting of a vocalist, pianist and a drummer. It's actually quite refreshing not to see a guitarist in the band and throughout the album there's really no need for one unless a guitar solo is needed here or there. What really stands out for me is the singer's voice, kind of a mix between Coldplay's Chris Martin and Air Supply, he's very talented.

Key tracks are "Somewhere Only We Know", "Everybody's Changing" and "Your Eyes Open", tracks 1, 5 and 6 respectively. 'Somewhere...' starts the album off with pulsing piano and drums reminiscent of Billy Joel. This track could easily land itself onto a movie soundtrack (it might have already, I don't know). 'Everybody's Changing' is the song I heard on SNL. It's got a little bit of sampled electronica in it but not too heavy. Good stuff. 'Your Eyes Open' is definitely Coldplay-esque with regard to the vocal melody and is really my favorite song from the cd now. The rest of the album is quite experimental ranging from Pink Floyd tones to Depeche Mode-type tracks.

Fans of Coldplay will probably like Keane's release and I do, although one minor quib I have about the cd is that some of the tracks borderline on 'chump rock' and 'my girlfriend just broke up with me' triteness. On their next release I hope they to come over the top with a more ballsy sound because many tracks leave me wondering 'is that all???'. You can't deny their songwriting though...

Keane - Hopes & Fears - ***

Blog Greatness...

Stuck in Rehab with Pat O'Brien

You gotta enjoy irreverent humor...(or is it humour???)

Huge Sports Day

The great game starts tonight at 9:00 against the L.A. Angels...Drese matches up with Colon, who basically owned the Rangers last year with a 6-0 record. Adam's got plenty o' predictions for you over at txrangers.blogspot.com and you just aren't a fan if you don't visit The Newberg Report...


The Mavs play another meaningless game and give Avery Johnson a 4-year deal reportedly worth $10 million...next

The Lady Bears and the Spartans play for all the marbles tonight at 7:30...Sic 'em Bears!

(why does all this great stuff on tv have to coincide with The Amazing Race??? Let's get gay!!!)

Kitos Corner re: Red Sox Fans

"I feel sorry for the real Boston Red Sox fans. For 80 years, they were the team cursed by Babe Ruth and couldn't buy a ring. Now that they finally have one, they can't produce 10 hour documentary's about the curse, talk about being the unluckiest team in all professional sports, and get sympathy from wannabee fans and celebrities claiming to be Sox fans just because it's popular to pick the underdog. Now that Boston has its ring,they're just another ballclub - lump them together with the Indians, the Tigers, the Orioles, the Mets, and the Royals. Just a middle of the pack team - nothing special anymore."

(ouch Kitos, them's some fightin' words there... I don't think you can lump them into the teams you listed above but they did lose Martinez and Kapler in the offseason and that'll hurt. That combined with the Lowe and Nomar departures of last season, this team will struggle a little this year. Don't call in the dogs yet...)

Review: Acoustic Alchemy - American English

Hopefully this will be the first of many cd reviews I'll do. I just love going to Barnes and Noble and talking to all the good looking girls behind the music desk. The last time I was there I bought Metheny's latest and had a 5 minute conversation with a Noble hottie afterwards, then yesterday another good looking girl from the counter knows that what I'm buying is Acoustic Alchemy's latest....wha???

American English:

I am not going to completely bag on this album, I promise, but it is unambitious. I am not of the school that thinks an artist or musician should progress skill or talent-wise with each album but for whatever reason this release reminds me of standing still. When I initially listened to it I was only intent on about a couple songs before I could skip to the next track. It definitely has the tint of Radio Contact B-sides with regard to the subtlety of the music but there's a lot of over-sequenced drums/effects-heavy scat. Not that there's a problem with that...

Now to the good things: I definitely like them introducing new players to the fold and it gives them a chance to open up to a wider audience. In 'The Crossing', a pan flute dictates much of the song structure and therefore doesn't indicate that it's AA you're listening to. I also really like how Gilderdale and Carmichael love Steely Dan and how it influences 'She Speaks American English', the title track of the album. The chord changes are definitely reflective of Dan and the song reminds me of 'The Last Mall' from Dan's last effort 'Everything Must Go'. 'Lilac Lane' and 'The Moon and the Sun' are also great tunes. 'Lane' opens with a great swirling Rhodes line and 'Moon...Sun' lets Tony rip out some good ambient synth sounds. I know that AA is all about the acoustic and nylon guitar rips but hopefully they'll introduce more experimental material in their next release. They already have their hardcore fans (myself included) so they don't really need to worry about being exclusionary.

Acoustic Alchemy - American English - ***