Johan Agebjörn featuring Nintendo: Mega Man II

Saw this under the influence of something. I thought it was sick. Watch until he beats the game (try being under the influence as well). Very enjoyable.



Pink Mega Man is lame.

TEC-no interlude...

Hopefully you all have been listening to my radio show that I have every Monday with my roommate at 5:30 EST. If not, bully for you, because we played some songs that bump last week, and for a little break from the epic rap verses I'll give you guys some of my favorite tracks from Chouetty Beats Radio. To kick it off, here is a track by one of my favorite mastahs of the synth, Mr. Oizo. His track, "Patrick 122 (CALLING IN SICK remix)", though intensely schizophrenic and complicated, is fucking disgusting. This has been my favorite song for the past week, and I have no idea how to recall the melody because it is so bizarre. But holy fuck, I love it, and I hope all of you guys will too. Serial. Next, a group called Relentless, originally from Boston, but now hailing from the beautiful City by the Bay, come with a song that could literally COMMAND the dance floor. Enjoy it thoroughly, because they have very few songs at the moment, but look for more to come from this promising duo. And finally, a little rappie rap. I have explored to my fullest ability the likes of afore mentioned lyrics aficionado, the mater, Big L. One of my favorite tracks of his it the unforgiving "Deadly Combination (ft. 2Pac)". Need I say more?

Mr. Oizo - "Patrick 122 (CALLING IN SICK remix)"

Relentless - "Blitzer Disco (Original Mix)"

Big L - "Deadly Combination (feat. 2Pac)"

p.s. King of New York is one of the sickest movies I's seen in a long time. No wonder BIGGIE strove to be the black Frank White. Wow.

Dress Archie's Great Rap Verses (Song #6: Big L- Stretch & Bobbito '98 Freestyle )

Harlem's Finest. Possibly the best flow and some of the best lyrics to be heard. Big L's career was cut painfully short after two classic albums, similar to another NYC great, but Big L was at his finest when freestyling. If anyone can find me a better freestyler (except for Eminem in 8 Mile), I'll drink from my own dip cup. Big L had wordplay that most rappers can only dream about, and this is best shown on the first verse of his Stretch & Bobbito '98 Freestyle.

While granted this is not a typical song due to its lack of a hook and the fact that it's a freestyle recorded in a booth of a radio station, the first verse Big L drops might be in my top 3 verses. Throw in the fact that it may or may not be a freestyle (one of the DJ's says something about Big L writing it), and you can understand why Big L is unquestionably the greatest rapper from Manhattan.

Shut your mouth up before I buck lead/
And make a lot of blood shed/
Turn your tux red/
Im far from broke, got enough bread
And mad hoes, ask Beavis I get nuttin Butt-head
Don't get me wrong I've heard some witty shit in my life, but if you're freestyling that, that's the craziest line I've ever heard. Period.
R.I.P to one of the greatest to bless the mic.

As a special bonus I am putting up the CD that this is on:
Harlem's Finest: A Freestyle History

Dress Archie's Great Rap Verses (Song #5: Dre Dog- Situation Critical)

Andre Nickatina holds a special place in all of our hearts; I remember being in 8th grade or so and simply downloading any song of his I could find on Kazaa, enthralled by his catchy beats and the fact that he held a relative "underground" status and hailed from my hometown. Having 100+ of his tracks would easily make me hella cool if I ever went somewhere, like college, where I could disseminate my knowledge of King Nicky to the blind masses.

But something happened along the way; Nicky T lost his luster. As I grew older and my knowledge of rap expanded, I grew tired of his repetitive and oftentimes incomprehensible lyrics, his passion for coke, and unwavering desire to record everything with Equipto. Don't get me wrong, I'll still slap some of my all-time favorites ("Baking Soda in Minnesota", "Show Gone Wrong", "Crackin' Like Pistachios", and "Crack Raider Razor", to name a few), but most of his stuff has fallen to the wayside anytime I make a new playlist or simply feel like listening to some good music.

Recently, I returned to one of the places where it all started, I Hate You With a Passion. This album holds a special place in my heart because, for me at least, it marks (pun intended) the beginning of my friendship with the wonderful Mark Friese. I mean, not only did he burn it for me, but he made a fake cover and CD graphic on his computer and printed it out, then taped it on. That shit was official.

Anyways, before I get teary eyed, I Hate You With a Passion was Nickatina at his best; as Dre Dog. The opening line of the album, from "Muthafucka" sets the tone perfectly: "Muthafucka so I heard you like to run yo mouth/well eat this rhyme so you can taste what I'ma talk about". Dre Dog had bigger shit to rap about than Scarface and making money, and he was pissed the fuck off, too.

Nothing showed this better than his third and final verse in Situation Critical:

"My indo have an increase this week from eighth up to a half/

Ain't nothin funny motherfucka, nigga why you laugh?/

So fuck this fame and fuck these records, motherfuck these raps/

My mother's broke there ain't no hope, her son ain't got no snaps/

Its the same old song, I'm doin wrong, fool this is typical/

Fuck the fuckin world mama, situations critical."

The way he picks it up to another level in the third line proves that he's for real; but what does it for me is that he's pissed at his audience, but he's also pissed at himself. You simply don't see that kind of introspection in his later stuff, much else from alot of other rappers out there.

I know most of you have this song, but I just had to share the pleasant surprise I experienced when I remembered that this dude used to be pretty raw back in the day. It's really helped me deal with the issue that one of my childhood idols (maybe "idol" is too strong of a word) has become pretty much irrelevant in my life.

As Nicky said in this very song:

"Cuz coke is queen and money is king and niggas want the crown/

So all you niggas goin' up you fuckers comin' down."

EDIT:

Archie asked me to make him a CD/zip similar to the Winter Break CD to End All CDs. Here it is.

Not sure what order the tracks are in, but the list is:

1. Da Rockwilder - Method Man and Redman

2. Danger Zone - Big L

3. Respect- Notorious B.I.G.

4. N.Y. State of Mind - Nas

5. Brownsville - M.O.P.

6. Liquid Swords - Genius/GZA

7. School's In - J-Live

8. Gettin' It - Too Short

9. Smoke II Much - The Fixxers

10. Ten Crack Commandmants -Notorious B.I.G.

11. Hits From the Bong - Cypress Hill

12. Verbal Intercourse - Raekwon

13. Ether - Nas

14. Let's All Get Down - Mac Dre

15. Sunny Meadowz - Del tha Funkee Homosapien

Enjoy. If you don't have some of these songs and want them, I can do my best to upload your requests one-by-one. The Big L, M.O.P., J-Live, and Del all come from Oh Word's 50 Greatest Rap Songs You Need to Hear Right Now, and are all highly suggested.

Fantasy Baseball Draft Review

It is here: Widukind's Official Fantasy Draft Review, 2008. I would like to say that I stand by all predictions and observations made here, no matter how stupid and idiotic I appear 9 months down the road.

Poop Chunk Guacamole – Alex Hart
I am not reviewing your team. Instead, I am reviewing your psyche. The constant malcontent you display in the baseball league has all but confirmed a belief of mine; you are afraid of failure. Everyone else in this league who admits to not being the most knowledgeable baseball fan still tries. Hell, even Archie who claimed he didn’t “know shit about baseball” dominated the league last year by getting a little lucky in the draft and consequently trying by working the waiver wire. John overvalues young guys. So does Clay. Harrison...well this year it looks like he’s going to suck again, but at least he didn’t completely throw off a whole draft by only taking guys at one position.
But they try. You, on the other hand, just throw it all out the window so when you lose, you can say “So? Michael. I drafted all closers! I don’t care! Fuck it! Michael. You’re a dork.” You know football, so you try in football, and when you lose you blame luck. In baseball, you’re an utter defeatist.
How do you sleep at night?

head from the trainy – Ilan
If this were something like 2005, this team is would be an absolute monster offensively. In 2008, it should be solid, but brittle. Pudge, Chipper, Sheff, Abreu, and Delgado could and should all decline this year due to age. That said, they will still produce, and you balance the risk well with solid mashers in Vlad, Howard, and Hawpe. The main issue with your team offensively is there’s practically no upside whatsoever. Pitching wise you’re the same way; Hamels, Sheets, Pedro, and Burnett were all injured last season. This should be a solid, yet unspectacular group. I would rate your team: Sporty Spice. Solid, but not totally hot (Ilan will be the only one to receive a Spice Girls rating, because I know he loves them so, so much).

Best Pick: I think it was Kremer who liked the Chen-Ming Wang pick, and I agree, but I have to go with the Shawn Marcum pick in the last round. He’s a key part of a young, but talented Blue Jays staff.

Worst Pick: This has to be rounds 5 and 6 combined, when you took Chipper and Sheffield. One would have been ok, but two? Too many old-man poopy diapers to clean.

Snufflequeefegus – Rghey Pooperin
Your team name sucks. I have no idea what it fucking means. It’s not funny or creative. But, coming from you, I guess that’s expected. Anyways…you have a strong infield. The fact that Utley fell to you after the swing between the 1st and 2nd rounds is ridiculous, and all those owners should be shot. I love Miggy Cabrera this year, and Gonzo is always vastly underrated. Your outfield, on the other hand, is very disappointing. I don’t care what you think about Matt Kemp, but you picked him way, way too early (more on this later). Pitching wise you’ll be very strong, though I think Bedard and especially Oswalt are in for a decline. As usual, I count you among my strongest competition.

Best Pick: The Utley pick was obvious, and the Gonzo and Capps picks were strong, but I like the Blanton pick. I think he really puts it together this year.

Worst Pick: Matt Kemp. Other than some of the retards in the league, this has to be the “What the FUCK were you thinking?” moment of the draft. It really doesn’t matter how well he does, but you could have had him so many rounds later. You could have had Russ Martin or Renteria here to shore up your infield, or even Kazmir (more on him later) to make your pitching obscene. But instead you took a DODGER OMGWTF who didn’t even have 300 ABs last season. Whatever.

golddiggers – Juanny
Offensively you’re very strong, with Soriano, Manny, and El Caballo anchoring your outfield. Your infield, despite the void at catcher, also has serious pop; I also really like Renteria this season. Other than Weeks, however, you have zero speed. Pitching wise…somebody give me a toilet in which to poop and barf and then swim around in and say “look at me I’m swimming in John’s fantasy pitchers”. Once again you completely overvalued young prospects, and half of your staff it seems is coming off of Tommy John surgery. Truly awful, awful job done here.

Best Pick: Rickie Weeks. Got him fairly late, and his batting average should jump way up this season. I expect big things from this young, 100% raw talent.

Worst Pick: All of your pitching. Seriously, what were you thinking?

Big Tall Homo Cunt – Archie
Thanks for being completely incompetent when helping me out when I was trying to decide when the draft would be. Huge minus in my book; you owe me flowers, or some chocolate. You were the only owner who had to auto-draft, which sucks, but you came out fairly well, and the auto-pick really screwed me on a couple occasions when guys were falling way farther than they should have (see: Torii Hunter, Hunter Pence, Ted Lilly). Offensively you’re strong, but you’re starting pitchers are bad and thin. Sorry.

No best or worst pick here, due to it being a computer, and computers can’t think. 01000110 01100001 01110010 01110100! Oh, shit! (That’s a real word. Look it up.)

Rj licks bludy sheet – Harrison
Your offense is pretty weak. Reyes and Ichiro are always solid, and Hafner should be better this season, but Byrnes, Lowell, and Rowand are all primed for decline. Add on the fact that Helton’s not hitting for power anymore, and you could potentially have a team void of a 30 homerun hitter. Pitching-wise you’re not much better-thin, full of risk, and poopy smelling. I don’t mind the Lincecum pick so much just because he’s the next Jesus, but you only have 4 ½ starters (who knows what the Yankees will have Joba do), and one of them is Curt Schilling. Actually, I’d say you’re worse off than John. Ew.

Best Pick: Todd Helton. His power’s fading, but he’s still an OPS machine in the middle of a very potent lineup, and you grabbed him after other people reached on some much less reliable players.

Worst Pick: I would say J.J. Hardy because you took him way too early, but I have to give it to A.J. PierfuckmeintheassbecauseIsuckasski. Fuck that guy.

DemQueef Enthusiasts - Mark
I don’t really get the “Dem”; “The” probably would be better, because nobody uses “Dem”. Either way, I’m glad you have a passion for gaseous vaginal expulsions. Your offense is very strong; well-rounded with power and speed. However, for some reason I really don’t like Pujols this year. He reminds me of Larry Johnson this season for football; everything adds up for him to have a down year (injury, support is godawful), but just because he’s Larry Johnson people take him really high. However, baseball is a much more individualistic sport, so Pujols will probably do just fine. Pitching-wise you are also strong, but risky. I think you had Vazquez last year, but he’s primed for a downfall; how after 3 mediocre seasons does he all of a sudden become an ace again? I’m not buying it.

Best Pick: Ryan Garko. I liked the Thome pick as well because he’ll still produce, but it will be fun to see what Garko can with a full season. From what I’ve read he doesn’t have potential to get much better, but he should be very solid.

Worst Pick: I can’t say Pujols at 4th overall just because he’s Albert Pujols, so I’ll go with Vazquez at 100.

Shart Stain- Clay
I shouldn’t have expected anything less, or more, depending how you look at it; drafting overhyped young guys who are fun to watch but just not that good (yet), and then claiming at the draft that you’re team is easily the best. Whatever. Other than Fielder and Morneau your offense is completely void of power. Carl Crawford is sick but consistently overrated, and though he should put up better run and RBI numbers on an improving Rays team, he has no pop. Saltalamacchia? Ellsbury? Pedrioa? Longoria? Buck? Betancourt? These guys are all a few years away from developing. Your pitching is decent with Beckett/Carmona/King Felix, but after that it’s all speculation and hype.

Best Pick: I really like Micah Owings, and you got him real late. He’s a great athlete and has a potential to succeed under little pressure as the D-Backs 4th or 5th starter (that’s a scary thought).

Worst Pick: A lot of nominees for this one. I hate Juan Pierre, but I have to go with Crawford. I say so because Utley was available; you fucked that one up.

Long Black Sausage – Kremdawg
First of all, I love the name. It’s succinct, simple, yet poignant. A job well done. Offensively you did very well for yourself, except you have no speed. You balance guys who are sure to improve on 2007 (Matsui, Atkins, Encarnacion) with guys who may dip in production but are still solid (Jeter, Magglio, Kent). I would like to note how homogenous that latter trio is. For shame, Kremer. Your pitching is also very strong. As you said in the draft with C.C. and Kaz you have K’s wrapped up; Shields and Billingsley can blow guys away as well. Your team as a whole is very, very solid.

Best Pick: Scott Kazmir. I said I’d touch on this, and now I will. What were all you guys thinking? I had him lined up and was absolutely salivating at him potentially dropping to me (though Trevor probably would have snatched him up). RJ is my primary goat here; instead of drafting Kazmir, you picked Oswalt and MATT KEMP OMFG instead. Good job Kremdawg.

EDIT: I realized I forgot to give Kremer a Worst Pick. I think it has to be Magglio, even though Detroit will be sick this year. He's like Raul Ibanez two years ago; you don't get way better all of a sudden if you're an older player. Except for Barry.

RJstainedhiscumrag? – Trevor
I hated you having the 2nd overall pick, because you really screwed me a couple of times when the round came back our way. Your offense is OK, but I’m having trouble seeing how it turns out. You have a lot of good young talent (Hanley, Zimmerman, Granderson, Kendrick), but you also have a lot of guys who seem past their prime (Glaus, Tejada, Wells, Bay). Out of those last four I think Wells should rebound nicely from injury, but I have no idea what happened to Jason Bay last year. After a strong one-two punch with Peavy and Harang, your pitching is real thin and injury prone. Ryan had TJ, Gallardo is already hurt, and Carpenter is out for a long time. Putz is a beast, but we’ll have to wait and see if your top guys can outweigh the potential mediocrity of guys like Bonderman and Greinke.

Best Pick: The Big Hurt in the last round is great value; he can still hit and will benefit from being in a lineup with a rebounding Wells and rising Rios. I liked the Zimmerman pick as well and taking a flier on Zach “Fucking Psychotic” Greinke.

Worst Pick: Jason Bay bothers me, but I don’t like the Putz pick at 50 overall. A closer is not worth that much.

NycPoosOutItsUrethra – Zmath
The team name is strong, though the effect is really diminished by Yahoo!’s annoying 20-letter limit. Your hitting is scary; well-rounded with speed, power, steady producers and high-potential guys. Though Blalock is clearly past his ’03-’05 form, he should rebound from a poor ’07 and JD Drew is another guy I’ve been thinking about having a nice rebound year in ’08. Ortiz/Konerko/VMart/Rollins are all solid producers, and Markakis is a budding star. The only issue is that your bench is a bit thin as it stands right now. Your pitching is not nearly as solid as your offense. Penny will come down to earth, Halladay isn’t K-ing like he used to, Daisuke is a shaky #2, and Lester/Kuroda/Schmidt are all big question marks (what’s up with the Dodgers by the way? Fyuck you!).

Best Pick: Schmidt is a nice late-round flier, but I like Drew. He can’t stay healthy for the life of him, but after that homer in the playoffs I can’t help but thinking he becomes Boston’s new darling. He has the talent to be a beast in that lineup.

Worst Pick: Matsuzaka. He’s good, but guys like Aaron Harang, Carlos Zambrano, and Chris Young were all taken right afterwards, and I think those guys are more steady options.

Diarrhea Hot Tub – Me
I really like my team. Obviously spending my top four picks on infield is a risk in a 4 OF league, but having a solidified infield of big-time producers makes me very comfortable. Those positions can be very hard to fill using free agents. I think I did well in the outfield as well, grabbing uber-talent Chris Young, rising five-tooler Corey Hart, and Swish who I think will thrive in U.S. Cellular. I also got the real young Dodger talent (aka NOT Matt Kemp), James Loney. My pitching is also strong. Analysts were wary of Haren’s statistical decline post All-Star break, but I think the move to the NL will benefit him. Young, Cain, Maine, and McGowan are all sick young guns, though I’m not too confident in Jimenez or Bailey.

Best Pick: If Kazmir had fallen to me at 72 I would not stop talking about it, but alas he did not. However, I give myself a pat on the back for grabbing Loney at 144. In retrospect I could have had Helton who provides more security, but Loney is the real deal. Move over, Nomar (who finally has fallen into obscurity. He wasn’t even drafted in our all-important league. What a loser.)

Worst Pick: Although Mike Napoli is regarded as a potential solid fantasy catcher, I think I blew it by not solidifying fantasy’s weakest position with a more surefire talent. I got Napoli with my last pick, so this isn’t really a “Worst Pick” but more of a “Worst Un-Pick”.

Post-draft rankings:

1) Me

2) Kremer

3) Zmath

4) RJ

5) Mark

6) Trevor

7) Ilan

8) Archie

9) John

10) Clay

11) Harrison

12) Alex

End of season prediction:

1) Me

2) Kremer

3) RJ

4) Mark

5) Trevor

6) Zmath

7) Ilan

8) Archie

9) John

10) Clay

11) Harrison

12) Alex

Last year I made the prediction that if Clay, Harrison, and Alex didn't end up in the bottom three I would eat a diarrhea popsicle. At the end of the regular season, the Three Musketeers predictably stunk up the joint, and thankfully no diarrhea popsicle was eaten. I can't offer that prediction this year, however, because Archie's team is not as good post-draft as last year, and you can never count out the king of knee-jerk reactions, Juan Fish.

Good luck to all the mere mortals. But I guarantee it will be Widukind once again at the top of the heap come September. (blogger all of a sudden has decided not to let me put space between my paragraphs).

PS: Tune in to WMRE.FM tonight @ 12 AM EST for Wonder Mike Radio, first half hour free of technical difficulties!

Dress Archie's Great Rap Verses (Song #4: Nas - I Gave You Power)

Alright, and now for #4. Hungry has laid a daunting task ahead of us all, and there are so many directions one could go. We have BIG (an installment this list was made for, a true master of the verse--I would have put up the first verse of "Respect" had abriendo not posted his choice), we have METH (one of the sickest sounds and hottest spitters ever), and $HORT (the godfather of bay rap, not to mention a fucking amazing flow paired with an incredible voice). So what the fuck do I do? One aspect of rap verses that I really enjoy is when they hold content to them other than fucking bitches and making bitches go down on other bitches and making bitches do coke off of their d**ks and having bitches rub their feet and etc. That is why the best rappers are the ones who come from rough backgrounds; imagine slangin' crack to feed your daughter, and then having the ability to rap over music with such skill that you could earn enough money to buy your daughter a fucking Ferrari for learning to wipe. Tracks like "My First Song" [Jay-Z] and "Respect" [BIG] are so incredible because they demand credibility. These artists come from a world so far from ours (I am speaking for myself, I dont know about abriendo--he's strapped), and the songs that I feel hit home with me are the ones that let me experience their anger, joy and frustration in coming up from and out of the streets. One verse that does this for me is Nas' second verse off of "I Gave You Power". Spoken through the perspective of a gat, and the journey that it goes through (being loaded, left on a shelf, jamming up leading to his owner's death, craving being loaded, etc.), and what you feel from this song is the agony that violence causes on the streets. A song that overshadows "I Gave You Power" on It Was Written, "Tha Message", speaks of the pain that Nas felt in the death of Pac and BIG, and this track goes deeper into that plight and talks about it more generally and brings it to the street level. The first time I really listened to this song and tried to understand what it meant other than the story of a gun told in the first person was when I was walking to the bus stop in Tufts. I took the train to central Boston and then to Providence, and after listening to that verse, everything seemed dirty and riddled with violence. No song had ever done that for me. Thank you Mr. Nas. Now I am cured--listening to enough electro, Wu-Tang and BIG has brought me back to earth.

Dress Archie's Great Rap Verses (Song #3: Notorious BIG feat. Bone Thugz-N-Harmony - Notorious Thugz)

Similar to Widukind, I too would like to applaud HungryforTacos in two ways. First off, this is great way to generate a lot of posts with pretty much guaranteed good content. Second, I have to applaud him for showing me this song all the way back in the beginning of sophomore year in Mike Lau’s car. Ever since then, anytime someone mentions “Good Rap Lyrics” or “Great Rap Verses,” I can’t help but think of this song and Biggie’s first lines… “Armed and dangerous, ain’t too many can bang with us.” And, since I’m trying to reestablish myself in the rotation, I figure I might as well post it for you all.

Notorious BIG feat. Bone Thugz-N-Harmony - Notorious Thugz

I know you guys have this song, but you have to admit Biggie’s verse is absolutely ridiculous.

Good luck at the draft y’all.

So much smoke, need oxygen.

Dress Archie's Great Rap Verses (Song #2: Method Man-I Get My Thang in Action)

I would like to applaud hungryfortacos for the concept. I had thought of compiling a master list, but that requires way too much work and I knew I would leave out way too much, so the song-by-song format is a good idea.
This was the first song that came to my mind. As they say, always go with your instinct.

I Get My Thang in Action - Method Man (2nd Verse)

Meth was my favorite member of Wu-Tang before we saw them at Ruby Skye; since then, I've been obsessed. He has so many qualities that make him a great artist: flow, style, humor, charisma...the list goes on. All of those come in to play in this song, and most notably his second verse.

You don't know me, and you certainly don't know my style.

Dress Archie's Great Rap Verses (Song #1: Too $hort-Gettin' It)

First off I want all the contributors to know this is meant to be an ongoing collaborative effort between all of us and our readers to compile a list of great rap verses. I mean how often do you hear a great verse get ripped and want to either compare it to another verse or see how it stacks up on great verses of all time? I know this happens more frequently then some might expect. And these are in no particular order, so we don't need one winner, and this is something that all the contributors should be able to participate in. But don't post any weak shit.



Too $hort- Gettin' It (Verse 1)
First off let me say that this song sounds greatest by far when the listener is blazed out of their mind. That being said, $hort Dog breaks the mic on his first verse. The funky horns and slow winding beat goes absolutely perfectly with $hort's verses and rhymes. He tells the tale of growing up in Cokeland while teaching all the young players how to play the game. Short Dog acts his age here (unlike in songs like Shake That Monkey or Blow the Whistle) and straight up preaches to all of us. Throw in a classic 90's reference (R.I.P. Johnny Cochran) and you got yourself a classic verse. Here's to you Short. Get in where you fit in.

Out like J-Kidd.

Abriendo Bitches OP-ED Piece #1 (apologies for the length)

I live in a world where the fact that the Giants’ and catchers reported to camp a few days ago did not excite me or get me pumped for the upcoming season. I like to believe I am a realistic fan. I don’t see the Giants competing for at least two full seasons. And I definitely don’t see us competing if we continue to act on the major league level the way we have been this off-season. We are a team marked by a definite lack of top-level talent in the higher levels of the minor league. We have, in my mind, three prospects, all outfielders, who have potential to be athletic players and make our team fun to watch. But, despite the fact that Brian Sabean stated outright he was going to be leading the team in the rebuilding direction this year and for the next few years, his actions speak consistently to plugging holes that aren’t necessary to be plugged. Look, I still believe Brian Sabean is a good GM, maybe even a great one if the settings are good. But he isn’t the type of GM the Giants specifically need at this time. When I originally started thinking about this post, I was planning on titling it “I wish Mark Shapiro was my GM,” referring to the Indians GM who famously said a few years ago that the Indians were at least two years away from competing, and then promptly went out and traded for young future stars such as Grady Sizemore and Pronk. Basically, Sabean is a GM built for the old style of baseball. One where teams had their superstar and the free agent market was ripe enough that a GM could fill necessary holes with savvy veterans. Look at the Giants winningest teams during his legacy. They are typified by two superstars or elite players (Barry Bonds and Matt Williams and Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent) surrounded by a mix of role players and good fielders such as Jose Cruz, Omar Vizquel, Ray Durham, the list goes on. During the period of 1993 to 2003, only the Yankees and Braves had more wins than the Giants and it seemed like every year the Giants were in the hunt until the very end of the season. But sometime around the turn of the century, baseball began changing. Contracts got longer and more expensive, the steroids era came to a presumable end and thus, younger and fresher talent, with high ceilings and low contracts, became the hot commodities. No more could a team look to fill important holes by signing free agents to reasonable contracts. As such, farm systems are more important than ever. The problem is, amongst the Giants’ successes of the past decade, they seemed to miss these subtle but overall important changes within the baseball world. They had the game’s biggest star, who was always a huge draw with his thunderous home runs and propensity for record-breaking. But, when his body began to finally fall apart, most likely aided by the lack of steroids in his system, the Giants were revealed to be the bare bones team they were from the beginning. Sabean, as good as he was at building a winning team around Bonds, isn’t built to reconstruct a team on young talent. Yes, the Giants did sign a player at the ripe age of 16 who looks destined to be one of the game’s next great home run hitters. And yes, our draft from this past year has already revealed to potential top prospects, Tim Alderson, who I am already sure is going to be the Giants savior at closer with his HUGE frame as well as odd delivery (more on this later), and Wendell Fairley, a black inner-city athlete who has already been given the ceiling of “Carl Crawford with more power.” But, that is less a result of Sabean and more a result of new hirings within our minor league system. Sabean, for his part, looks the same as he did in past years. His one major signing, Aaron Rowand, blocks the development of our only three high-level prospects that show any promise. Rajai Davis made a splash last year when he showed a knack for getting on base as well as stealing at will. Freddie Lewis has significant bop, hit for the cycle, and is still very much a raw talent because he focused on baseball so late in his career. Nate Schierholtz can flat out hit, and he has at every minor league level. He is still young, too, and if he is given the chance he could easily become a complementary player who hits 20 home runs and steals 20 bases. So why aren’t we given these players a chance to play? If we dropped Dave Roberts and ate the rest of his contract, what’s the harm? He is certainly not making our team better prepared for the future. All he does is block our few prospects we have from ever getting their fair chance. Plus, why sign Rowand, a 31 year old player who plays with a definite reckless abandon, to a five year contract? We are signing him for the years when he will decline the most. How does that represent a change in attitude, a focus on the future? I can’t fault Sabean because I simply think it’s really hard to change one’s perspective on the game. I think he would make a good GM for a team with a steady superstar like the Yankees. But, for the Giants and the future of the Giants, he definitely isn’t the right person for the job. I think Widukind and I should launch a coup, and take over the upper management. We’d be sick.

But, what does excite me about this time of year now, besides fantasy baseball, is this is the time when the 2008 top prospects come out. YAY!!!!One!111 So basically, in the last two weeks two of the more important top prospect lists have come out. One from SI’s Kevin Goldstein available at this link

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/02/08/goldstein.top100/index.html

and one from ESPN’s Keith Law available if you have insider at this link

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/insider/columns/story?columnist=law_keith&id=3221365.

Both are fairly trustworthy, but I put both behind Baseball America’s top 100 prospects in terms of accuracy. Unfortunately, BA top 100 for 2008 doesn’t come out to the general public until after spring training, although the list is already available to the members of BA’s subscription service (you have to pay a lot of money, so I didn’t do it).

Now, on to my analysis: these two lists agree in principal to many of the top 20 prospects though they differ widely as the list continues on. Law picks Evan Longoria as his top prospect and Jay Bruce as his second best, while Goldstein picks Bruce as his top prospect and Clay Buchholz as his second best. I tend to agree with Goldstein. I think Bruce is the top prospect entering this season. He won last years’ Minor League Player of the Year award and has shown tremendous power potential as well as good plate approach. Everyone keeps calling him the next Larry Walker, which makes me balk a bit because it took Walker seven years in the Major Leagues and one trade out of Montreal before he hit his stride. With the new emphasis on prospect development, prospects are now expected to make immediate impacts and the comparison to Walker suggests Bruce might not be able to do so. That said, I think he will probably make more of an impact than Walker did in his rookie season (.241/.326/.434) and will probably win ROY. I wouldn’t be surprised to see numbers nearing .275 with 25 home runs, with his power growing over the course of the season. I think Longoria is going to be pretty fucking good too, I just think he isn’t surrounded by any players who can really back him up besides Crawford. I do agree with most people though that he will near the numbers of David Wright’s rookie year.

But the thing that really jumped out at me was the inclusion of Angel Villalona in both lists as well as his placement. In the Keith Law one, Angel is listed as the 20^th (he’s 29^th in the Goldstein one). Jesus Christ, the Giants got fucking lucky. For those of you that don’t understand how ridiculous that number is, let me explain it to you. The top 100 prospects is a “whose who” of the next top players in baseball and the top twenty are usually saved for players on the edge of making an impact in the Major Leagues within the next two seasons. Angel is 17. He is Simone Stolzoffs age. And he is the 20^th best prospect in baseball. Last year was his first year in organized baseball. And he is the 20^th best prospect in baseball. He would be a junior in high school right now (or a senior, depending on when he entered kindergarten…if he entered kindergarten). And he is the 20^th best prospect in baseball. Ryan Braun was the 26^th best prospect in baseball before he took the league by storm. I’m so excited. Early scouting reports say his bat is the best to come out of the Dominican in a decade. Think Manny Ramirez, including even the outfield laziness. He’s going to be really really really good. I pray about it every night. Law even has him listed as the top first base prospect in the game already. The two other Giants to be included were Henry Sosa (who is around 80 in both lists), a single A pitcher who posted an ERA sub 1 in the rookie league last year who can literally throw 100 and Tim Alderson, a 19 year old pitcher we drafted in the last first round last year. Alderson is the one who impresses me more of the two and he is listed at 59 in Law’s analysis, high fucking marks for a 19 year old with only about 20 minor league games under his belt. Right now they are billing him as a starter and some projections have him as a potential good number two starter, but most are saying he will eventually move over to closer where he could dominate. Historically, most closers share the trait of having a slightly unusual windup to go with their dominating stuff. It prevents hitters from establishing good timing in only one inning. Frankie Rodriguez, Robb Nen, Trevor Hoffman, Billy Wagner, the list goes on. Alderson has a significant hitch in his delivery as he brings his 6 foot 7 body (he’s fucking huge) down quickly in his windup, hiding the ball really well the whole time, only to surprise the hitter by throwing his body upright once again and coming out from a high three quarter release. I can’t really describe it so here is a link that shows it pretty well:

http://www.pitchingclips.com/players/tim_alderson.htm.

Alderson has pitched from the stretch only since high school so he seems groomed for the position. Hooray.

Apart from that, this blog is supposed to be a Giants and A’s blog so I guess I would be doing an injustice if I didn’t analyze the A’s in my report. I would like to be the first to say Juanfish, I’m jealous. The A’s absolutely raped the White Sox in the Swisher trade. Gio Gonzalez, Fautino de los Santos, and Ryan Sweeney are all mentioned in the top 100 prospects. At the same time, Carlos Gonzalez, the best prospect from the Haren trade, is also considered a top prospect, ranked as high as 26 (Goldstein). Billy Beane is fucking ridiculous at building up a system out of nothing. That said, Daric Barton, believed to be the A’s top prospect currently seems to be losing supporters. His power hasn’t developed as much as people expected (The most homeruns he has had in a season were 13) and at first base his peripheral stats do not make up for poor power numbers. Still, you have to applaud Billy Beane.

Some other things of note, Texas used the Mark Texiera trade to stock their system as they have five of the top prospects and my personal favorite is Elvis Andrus, an athletic shortstop who looks to have incredible range as well as a good bat. The Rays have an impressive 9 in the group, but they are still going to suck for eternity (I mean seriously, they have had a top three or five pick for pretty much the entire existence of their organization and have yet to put together any sort of impressive team. Delmon Young was the top prospect for two years and a row and they traded him to the Twins. That franchise is doomed for sure). I think Buchholz is an interesting prospect to watch because he is basically already a finesse pitcher coming out of the minors. I also think he is interesting because he stole 29 laptops from his high school and sold them, and was simultaneously recruited as a wide receiver at Texas and Purdue. A white wide receiver? Must be a helluva athlete for a pitcher. That said, I don’t think it’s really important that he threw a no-hitter in his second start because the only other pitcher to do so in the modern era is Wilson Alvarez. Two last things (I don’t post often so I have a lot to write): I’m scared shitless of the Diamondbacks right now who have a lot of very good pitchers in their system as well as a few hitters to supplement an already stacked major league team. I mean, if Upton was still in the minors he would easily be the top prospect. They’re good and gonna stay good for a long time. And I think Brandon Wood is an interesting prospect to watch/look into. Wood clearly needs a change of scenery after being a top 10 prospect last year and now projecting around the top 40 range. His problem seems mental to me. He’s too pull happy and is overly aggressive. But if he fixes himself, he projects with plus power (think 30 home runs a season from third base) and is a superb infielder, especially at third base. Only problem is, the Angels already have everything they need so someone is going to need to include low level, high ceiling prospects in any potential trade. I think it would be worth a shot for any team with a hole at third base and low level prospects to spare to look into.

Okay that’s it.

Sorry for the length.

Out like my credit card.

A Smorgasbord...

We watched this movie in my Psych class; optical illusions are super cool. I think the fact that things as sophisticated as our eyes and brains can be so terribly fooled by a little paper cut-out is fascinating. However, there are always some assholes in my class who claim the illusion didn't work on them, and make sure to say so just loud enough so the professor might hear them and consequently single them out so they can explain themselves in front of the entire lecture like the douchebags they are. So annoying.

Another group of people I have found to be extremely irritating are complete strangers that walk straight through a door that you're holding for them. There's a lot of ebb and flow at school, with people coming in and out, resulting in a lot of doors that need to be held. I have no problem opening a door, looking over my shoulder, and holding on to it just enough so the next person can reach it and do the same. But some people don't understand how to work as a team, and they decide to kick their walk into a second gear and breeze through so I end up holding the door entirely for them. Usually these are the people who also find it completely superfluous to say "thanks". In Dostoevsky's Underground Man-like fashion, I have fantasized about tapping one of these morons on the shoulder and saying, "hey, jackass, I hope you know door-holding is a fucking team effort, and you just disrupted the entire system, you freeloader. Go root for Junior Seau". Unfortunately for me, I'm an exponentially greater dick in theory than practice, so they get away with it. For shame, me, for shame.

Finally, I got a bonus track for you guys. After signing up to do a radio show (Sundays 12-2 AM EST, Wonder Mike Radio. www.wmre.fm, you have to download RealPlayer, but you'll get to see my pretty face. Tune in to the debut this weekend, you BZs!!!) for WMRE this semester, I got in touch with the station's magazine and was asked to write an article about Supreeme, a local rap group. They're relatively underground and were "discovered" by Murs, who works with them a lot. Some girl gave me their most recent album, and she's supposed to be getting me their contact info soon, so hopefully I can post that article/interview here. For now, here's a song of their album, "Supremacy":

Supply and Demand feat. Murs - Supreeme

I love Murs' verse (the last one).

Out like Roger the Rocket.

AMG + Quik = The Fixxers

Ya dig? I posted The Fixxers single "So Good" (ft. Rich Boy) about two months ago in my "New Music" post, and I had no idea what these guys had in store for the future. I checked the blog punchyourmother, that widukind showed me, and I saw that the crew had released their first full length album, Midnight Life. I promptly downloaded and was pleasantly unsurprised at how much I liked it. The beats vary widely, from simple flutes and phone FX sounds in "Off Da Hook", to a clean piano and drum riff for "Smoke II Much", to an intricate rhythm of synth, bells and bongos in "Sippi Sippi". Although completely different, all of these tracks come together very well to make a pretty complete album. AMG and Quik are back in my book.

The Fixxers - "Smoke II Much" | The Fixxers - "So Good"

The Fixxers - Midnight Life

Only 4 left...

With only 4 episodes remaining in the greatest television show of all time, I found something I thought you guys might appreciate. This is the link for Tim Goodman's blog, in which he essentially only talks about The Wire. If you don't know who Tim Goodman is, he's the TV Critic for the Chronicle and is a real good writer and a pretty funny guy as well (he used to be on KFOG in the mornings all the time when I would be driving to school). His blog's definitely worth a look.

We Got It 4 Cheap Vol. 3

This album has been featured on almost every music blog that I check, not matter the genre that they focus on. I thought I would put it up here in case you guys haven't gotten it yet. Supposed to be great. Vol. 2 is pretty sick as well. Malice and Pusher bring it with the Re-Up Gang (and a little help from Drama)...

The Re-Up Gang - We Got It 4 Cheap Vol. 3 (w/ DJ Drama)
The Re-Up Gang - We Got It 4 Cheap Vol. 3 (w/o DJ Drama)
(Two separate discs, get both)

Who shot ya...William Gant...

ONYX!

Hungry and I were checking out the vast body of knowledge that is the infallible wikipedia, when Mr. Hungry, who was sitting next to me, came across a juicy nugget of information regarding the best show on television (I think you all know what that is). Look at the title to this post and the man on the far right of the picture. Who's that? None other than our man Marquis Hilton (b.k.a. "Bird"), who loves that shiny pistol of his so much that it got his thrown in the pokey for a long time because he shot a state's witness, the late William Gant (R.I.P). Props to our man Omar for stepping to the plate and witnessing against that muthafucker. Back the the real world (what can be more real than The Wire, right?). The actor who plays Bird in the show also lives another life in the entertainment world, and that is as Fredro Starr, a member of the hip-hop group, ONYX. Exploration ensues. I get their first album, Bacdafucup (say it phonetically). Mmm...mmm...good. Nothing quite strikes a chord in my body like mid-nineties hard-core rap. And nothing can quite beat the titles of their songs, which harken back to the title of the album, for example: "Bichasniguz", "Atak of Da Bal-Hedz", and my favorite "Black Vagina Finda". To make matters even more enticing, the album also contains one of my favorite tracks of 1993, "Slam", which reminds me of feeling like a badass at SFDS, I was tough as nails, delivering ass-kickings every lunchtime to (as yung Canard would say) GUMPS. My favorite tracks include "Bichasniguz", "Atak of Da Bal-Hedz", and "Slam", however I would recommend downloading the full album. So don your black hoodies, grab you teks, and brace yo self.

Onyx - Bacdafucup

:) (Rant of an Elated and Exhausted Giants Fan #4)

Rich Seubert: Wow Tiki you are fucking pussy quitter bitch, how do you feel?

Wow. The most amazing and nerve racking experience of my life. Fuck the Pats. Fuck Bill Simmons. Fuck Bill Belicheck. Fuck Tom Brady. No more undefeated. No more Eli Manning garbage talk. That win was for all the Giants fans, all of New York, but much more importantly and this encompasses all of you, that win was for everyone who wanted to see the fucking empire go down.

I wish I had more insightful stuff to say and maybe at some point I will but I'll try to put some of my ideas out there. Eli Manning = greater than Big Ben. Eli Manning = no more pussy talk, no more anything talk because he was the only motherfucking quarterback who could beat the motherfucking evil Pats this whole year. Justin Tuck = monster. Spags = genius. I'm sure we're gonna lose him to the fucking Skins now, but honestly, Coughlin should retire and he should be head coach. Michael Strahan = you deserve to go out on top. Plaxico Burress = you don't show up and then you fucking torch them for the big 6. David Tyree = people are gonna know your name now son. Ahmad Bradshaw = one of the biggest plays in getting that fumble back. Kevin Boss = to quote Widukind: "Shockey who?" Tom Brady = I hope you end up with Gisele on the stage of Metal Skool. Tony Romo = homo.

Much love. I love you all. I love the Giants. I love New York. I might try to go down to the parade. I love all my boys for rooting for the Giants, no lie we couldn't have done it without all you guys supporting us tonight. For real I mean that. SUPER BOWL CHAMPS 2008 NEW YORK GIANTS BABY!!!

Out like Tom Brady, Bill Belicheck, perfection, and Tiki Motherfucking Pussy Barber.

Edit: The thing I want to get across most and I am just realizing it is that I am so happy for everyone. I am so so so happy for Eli Manning cause the New York media will never have anything to say against him again. I am so happy for David Tyree, the 4th wide receiver who gets no love and whose mother died. I am so happy for everyone else that's what feels best. I am so so happy.

Widukind Diary Entry #12

Topic 1) The other day on the Discovery Channel (I watch alot of the Discovery Channel), there was some show about how different animals raise their young. The last subject, as usual, was human beings. The family they chose to show was some Japanese couple whose daughter still lived with them, even though she was like 25. However, this wasn't a case of an impoverished family where the children are obligated to live with their aging parents to help take care of the rest of their relatives, or a woman who was temporarily residing in her parents house as she bounced between jobs; no, this Japanese woman was literally just mooching. She actually said something along the lines of "its very financially sound to live with my parents, because that way I can spend my money on anything I want". This way of living seems so fucking stupid to me that I can't even comprehend how this girl had the guts to justify her situation. I consider this woman the epitome of defeatist, the archetype of loser, and even the creator of a new term, the "anti-evolver". She is doing nothing but degrading the human race. Literally. Imagine if everyone had an attitude like that.

Thus...I hereby announce the creation of the "Dress Archie Anti-Evolver List"; anybody who seems like all they are doing is sapping the life juice of the human race and sending us backwards in time is eligible. To date I have two people: this Japanese woman, and Tom Tancredo. Feel free to add on.
Topic 2) So far this year I've gotten two free bags of Doritos from a vending machine. I pay for one, the thing starts spinning, the bag gets stuck so the thing keeps spinning, two bags fall down, and Mikel=very happy. Getting things that you like for free when you don't expect it is probably one of the most rewarding experiences on the planet. Even if it's just a bag of Doritos that cost $.80, it makes you feel special, like there's a purpose for you in life and that someone is watching over you. I really like Doritos.

Topic 3) I have figured out the best way to assert dominance over any Marin asshole who thinks they're hella tight. If said asshole make any type of claim suggesting Marins superiority over San Francisco, all you say is: "well if Mill Valley is so fucking awesome, then how come you have to tell everybody you're from San Francisco?" (Duped silence) "Yeah. That's what I thought. Asshole."

Topic 4) Hungryfortacos (Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!11!!1oen!!oeleven111!!) and I have already talked about this, but I highly suggest everyone go check out Oh Word's list of 50 Incredible Rap Songs You Have To Hear Right Now, their compilation of the greatest rap songs that you've probably never heard. They came out with this earlier in 2007, but have re-linked the original posts, all except the first 10 with their own zip files. I downloaded every song, and it's real legit.