Last Day of Classes Gift...

Happy Summer!


B.G.- Xtc and Hennessy


Let's go crazy...

Widukinds Diary Entry #16

A franchise-savior at age 19.

I’m no basketball fan. I never really liked playing when I was younger, I hardly watch college unless it’s the tourney, and I even failed to get my free ticket for the Warriors bandwagon that left last April. But last night, after getting in to the appropriate mindset, I began to appreciate Utah Jazz basketball. This team is a machine. Every player on their team loves the game, cares about the game, and wants to win. They each play specific roles, and do them equally well. Regular people don’t know who Carlos Boozer or Deron Williams are. They just don’t. What makes this so much more impressive is when you broaden your thinking and begin to consider every guy in the NBA; each player has devoted his entire life to the sport, and they have pretty much nothing else going for them. This kind of thinking lends an understanding to the egotistical personality many professional athletes have, as they are thrown in to the most intense competition on the planet starting at age 8. The fact that the Jazz have been able to compile a group of guys who all play so incredibly well together is unbelievable.
This leads me to my second point; the Houston Rockets are not that team. I understand, they won 829,283 games in a row this year, they don’t have Yao, and Rafer Alston has been hurt. Even last night the Rockets almost mounted a surreal comeback in Utah, with Shane Battier and Alston hitting ludicrous threes followed by an emphatic tip-in dunk by Carl Landry to get the game within two. I was watching the game with two Jazz fans, and despite the Rockets surge they remained convinced the game was in hand. After Deron Williams missed his first free throw, I prophetically declared “Watch him miss again, but the Rockets don’t get the rebound.” Williams bricked, and Tracy McGrady got beat out by Mehmet Okur, followed by a dumb foul by Battier in a scramble for the ball. The Rockets lost.
Jazz>Rockets.
Watching the game (in the right mindset, of course), produced a cornucopia of good conversation. Every time I watch the NBA like this I constantly get blown away thinking about the lives of these kids, what freakishly good athletes they are, and how much weed they probably smoke during the season. Last night we began discussing the potential reemergence of the NBA as a true major sport in the US due to the constant influx of young stars today. The 2003 draft class was absolutely insane, with Lebron, Melo, Bosh, and Wade in the top 5 (Darko Milicic, we hardly knew ye). Kobe and AI were “wily” veterans by the time they were 25!
Now, look at that ’03 class. Lebron is disgusting, and singlehandedly wills his team through the season, and Bosh is sick but hasn’t won anything.
But Melo? If the Nuggets fall to the Lakers, he will have lost 5 playoff series in a row. He’s 24 years old, and he could already be the next TMac.
Dwyane Wade? Remember him? The country’s (and hungyfortacos) second-son as recent as 2006 has virtually fallen off the map after unabashedly throwing his body around for 3 years. Seriously, watch this video. He takes 3 jumpers in 4 ½ minutes, but ends up on the ground 8 times. It’s my theory that for three years Wade’s body hit the perfect synthesis, where he could play sick, injured, or dying of the Hanta Virus and still dribble to the lane through his legs and throw up H-O-R-S-E-worthy shots and consequently smash in to the court. Now, he’s a potential has-been at 26.
The 2003 draft class is now being complemented by the rising stars of Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Kevin Durant and Dwight Howard among others. In a few years, everyone in this Diary entry will still most likely be in the NBA; but imagine how many new phenoms will have entered the league by then.

This entry has been a bit rambly, and I didn’t even include half of the notes I took last night, so another entry will most likely be coming up quite soon. If you’re going to take anything away, it should be this: watch the NBA high. Trust me.

Out like Desean Jackson from my dreams. :(

PS. Last enstallment of Wonder Mike Radio this semester, tonight 12-2 AM at http://www.wmre.fm/. Should be a fun one.

Hot Dollar: "I Luv Tha Streetz"

After I did my roots video post (below). I came across a video on the same website by this rapper named Hot Dollar. This song samples the beach boys (which is fucking sick) and this video is raw. wow. compton + mississippi is back...

Hot Dollar - I Luv Tha Streetz

The Roots go to the Go-Go

The Roots - Rising Up (Feat. Wale & Chrisette Michele)



Blackthought kills the first verse and Wale brings up the second with some hot fire. The Roots sound like their old selves (with a dash of Go-Go), and I am a happy boy. ?love 4 life.

p.s. Spring Music blockbuster coming soon. Stay tuned...

I'M BACK FROM MY HIATUS

My hiatus was really just me forgetting my password, but now I'm back on the blog I'm here to bring you the NFL draft Preview. My title is NINERPRIDE, so I will do an entire 1st round mock draft with notes, because I got to give the people what they want. I’m doing the draft without trades because they are so hard to guess, and because it is only a first round mock, I wouldn’t be able to show the affects of the trade. Thanks for keeping with me up to now, and here we begin:

1) Miami Dolphins: LT Jake Long Michigan. The NFL draft does not officially start until 3pm Eastern Time Saturday, but Michigan’s Jake Long has already been selected and signed as the first overall pick in the draft. To me the pick made sense, he’s probably the safest pick in the draft and gives the Dolphins a stud Offensive Lineman to build the rest of their offense around. You also have to give the guy credit for being the top ranked player, at the deepest position in the draft. They obviously tried to trade down to gain more picks, but they cut their losses and went for the sure thing. Look for him to be a good long time pro, perhaps even a Pro-bowler, but I’m going to go out there, and say that when it is all set and done, he will not have the best pro career of this years offensive lineman.
2) St. Louis Rams: DE Vernon Gholston Ohio St. This is a guy who has shot up draft boards since the NFL scouting Combine. The St. Louis Rams will be looking to add to last years first round pick of Adam Carriker to bolster the D-line. Many people have them drafting Glen Dorsey except that for a team with only 31 sacks, they need to look for someone who could be a perennial double digit sacker. This pick goes hand in hand with Adam Carriker, who was drafted as a ‘tweener DE DT player, moving officially into the rams interior.
3) Atlanta Falcons: DT Glenn Dorsey LSU. This is a pick, that to me, makes far more sense than QB Matt Ryan. At this stage in their franchise the Falcons need help at every possible position, but need to get the most bang for their buck. By this I mean drafting Dorsey with the second pick, and then Brian Brohm QB from Louisville with the 34th pick, addresses two key positions very well. To anyone that has watched an LSU game you understand why he is going #3, he’s an absolute BEAST.
4) Oakland Raiders: RB Darren McFadden Arkansas. Al Davis is one of the stupidest owners in sports, who drafts only based on physical ability and upside. Here I feel like he is making the best decisions, to be honest the fact that McFadden is going to make it to the fourth pick seems like a joke. Yes there are questions about his attitude, but did no one learn there lesson from passing on Peterson until the 7th pick. McFadden is Adrian Peterson on steroids. The other reason why this pick is perfect, is because there is no better way to help the progression of QB Russell than draft a RB who will demand 7 or 8 men in the box, to take the pressure off of Russell over the top. Look for Russell to use his arm strength with McFadden in the backfield.
5) Kansas City Chiefs: OT Brandon Albert Virginia. He is someone who has flown under the radar because he entered the draft as an OG. Guards essentially never get drafted in the first round not to mention top 10. After the Combine people realized that this 6 foot 6 310 pound beast has the quickness and agility to play Tackle with the big boys. His move from Guard to tackle may make it so he won’t start rookie year, but look for Albert to be a great player for a long time in the NFL.
6) New York Jets: DE Chris Long Virginia. He will be a tempting pick for the Raiders at number 4 because of the marketing ties between him and his dad Howie, who played DE for the Raiders. I think this is a steal of a pick at number 6, Chris up until the wire was a good possibility to the dolphins at the number 1 pick. He is one of the most well rounded Offensive lineman to go pro in quite a while. He is great against the run as he totaled 80 tackles, but can get to the QB, as he had 14 sacks in his senior season.
7) New England Bitches: CB Leodis McKelvin Troy. Many people have the Bitches taking someone else at this pick, but with loosing Samuel, Gay (no homo), and Wilson, I don’t understand how they can draft anyone but a DB. Once we’ve narrowed it down to DB, it has to be Cornerback because there are no elite safeties. At Corner it comes down to McKelvin and Run DRC. I feel that although they are both somewhat small school players, McKelvin is a safer pick, and thus the bitches will draft him.
8) Baltimore Ravens: QB Matt Ryan BC. Now that McNair has retired drafting Ryan is key to them being even a decent team this year. Matt Ryan is a stud, who I feel is as much of a sure bet as you can get when drafting QB’s. He doesn’t have the best Arm or accuracy, but he has the most important trait. He makes it happen. In a time when so much worry is put in the combine and your numbers are the only things that seem to matter, just the ability to play seems to get lost.
9) Cincinnati Bengals: DT Sedrick Ellis USC. This is a great pick. To be honest I’m not convinced that Dorsey is any better of a pro prospect than Ellis. At very similar height and weight, but it even seems like Ellis required more double teams. The Bengals also need to get good quality players, and Ellis went through college with no questions about his personality. He is a great fit, and personally one of my favorite players in the draft.
10) New Orleans Saints: DE Derrick Harvey Florida. They have a great offense and need to look to the defense to get them some stops. They would love to get either of the premier DT’s but with them both off the board, they go for the best D player available and get Harvey.
11) Buffalo Bills: WR Devin Thomas Michigan St. This seems ridiculous that there is no WR’s taken in the top 10, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles. Thomas has come from nowhere to essentially a lock for the top WR taken off the board. He should be a good fit for their offense and compliment Evans well.
12) Denver Broncos: RB Rashard Mendenhall Illinois. One could make the argument that the broncos can get 1,000 yards out of any RB in the NFL, but to put the Broncos back into the playoffs and the spotlight a great big fast RB like Mendenhall could bring them a bit of what they have lacked since Portis.
13) Carolina Panthers: OT Ryan Clady Boise St. This is somewhat a case of best player available, plus last years starting RT is moving to guard, and this would give Clady the chance to step in and make plays for a team only a few years removed from the Super Bowl.
14) Chicago Bears: OT Chris Williams Vanderbilt. Chicago is going to go offense and taking any position other than Tackle this early would be a stretch. Look for Williams or possibly Otah, especially is Williams is gone by then.
15) Detroit Lions: LB Keith Rivers USC. He was an absolute stud for USC and has put on great weight since the season ended. Detroit needs to address the defense after going WR in the first round 143 straight drafts. This pick makes even more sense with the loss of Boss Bailey
16) Arizona Cardinals: CB DRC Tennessee St. The Cardinals have all the weapons on offense to put it together especially with adding Brown at tackle last year, and now they need to be able to stop opposing passing games. DRC may be risky but if he has even close to the upside that his cousin has, he’s in business.
17) Minnesota Vikings: DE Phillip Merling Clemson. The Vikings added WR and DB through the off-season, and came off of a promising 2007 season, now they need to fill Udeze’s shoes, who was diagnosed with cancer. Merling is a work horse, who should fit in the Vikings defense well.
18) Houston Texans: OLB Jerod Mayo Tennessee. The Texans continue to bolster their defense by adding rising star mayo. They would love Chris Williams if he is there for Left tackle but mayo would add to this rising defense in Houston.
19) Philadelphia eagles: DB Aqib Talib. This may seem like a shock given the signing of Samuel, but the Eagles are almost certainly going to ship off Lito Sheppard. God pick, great player, but a bit of a pothead. Yeah!
20) Tampa Bay Buccaneers: WR Limas Sweed Texas. Joey Galloway cannot play until he’s 60 and Michael Clayton is not cutting it. Limas Sweed will also be an amazing compliment to Galloway for the seasons they do play together.
21) Washington Redskins: OT Jeff Otah Pittsburgh. He would add great depth to a team who has both of their tackles getting up in age. The Redskins are known for odd drafting so look for them to possibly try to finalize their trade for Ocho Cinco or anything else. The redskins will also try to shock the audience; this year should be no different.
22) Dallas Cowgirls: RB Felix Jones. I love this guy and Jerry Jones gets his razorback. With the Cowgirls having two first round picks, look for Jones to try to trade up to land his top choice razorback McFadden.
23) Pittsburgh Steelers: WR James Hardy Indiana. The Steelers are going to give Rothliscunter what he wants. A big WR that can hopefully catch his terribly throws. If there were a guard who could take Fanacea’s spot, they would be delighted, but there’s no one there.
24) Tennessee Titans: DE Calais Campbell The U. They would love to get Limas Sweed to give Young his first go to option, but with him gone, they look to add to a free agency depleted D-line.
25) Seattle Seahawks: RB Jonathan Stewart U Oregon. If it wasn’t for his late injury he would be gone ages ago, but due to that Seattle lucks out only days after cutting Alexander they get a much more talented big runner in Stewart.
26) Jacksonville Jaguars: DE Kentwan Balmer North Carolina: With Marcus Stroud going to Buffalo over the off-season, Jacksonville needs to add someone in the draft to fill his shoes. Granted they are big shoes, but give him a couple of years, and they should be fine.
27) San Diego Chargers: WR DeSean Jackson California: The Chargers need to add more passing options besides Gates and LT. Jackson has blazing speed and is great deep threat, who will open the field for the running game.
28) Dallas Cowgirls: CB Brandon Flowers Virginia Tech The cowgirls, after addressing the Offense look to the secondary with their second pick. For someone with great awareness but not blazing speed, he should be a perfect nickel and dime corner in Texas.
29) San Francisco Fucking 49ers: RT Gosder Cherilus BC. The best team in sports get much better by adding a beast of a RT who will get immediate playing time once Jonas Jennings gets hurt. Yes this might not be the most flashy pick, but this gives us great young tackles on both sides. I would also love the DeSean Jackson pick, but I personally feel we have to go offense in round one. For anyone wondering this pick is based off the idea that we draft OLB Quentin Groves with the 39th. Addressing RT and OLB with our off-season moves, puts the 49ers into a very legitimate chance at winning the NFC West. I love you 49ers.
30) Green Bay Packers: CB Mike Jenkins USF. The Packers were the surprise of the season, and although the play of Woodson and Harris was amazing they could use depth, and both of those names are veterans that are getting older. Jenkins is big and will go under the wing of Al Harris.
31) New York Football Giants: S Kenny Phillips The U. The Giants, coming off of a surprising Super Bowl win over the Bitches from the east, look to fill the void of Wilson, who signed a huge contract with the raiders. They could also Go LB with a trade up or Connor, or could go possibly go with Reggie Smith, also after a 4.6 40 time his chances for the first round may very well be over.

Thanks for reading it all. If I have forgotten anyone or if it has spelling or grammar errors give me a break because this took really god damn long.

Can you beat it?

I just like this picture.

The Worlds Hardest Game. I’m sure the namesake has tried this already; if not, sorry Bubs. You can’t stop. I got to the last level last night. I’m a loser. After trying it for a while, I got really bored and distracted and closed it accidently. It might be a week or eight before I try it again.

Also, here are some bonus slaps off of the Green Eyes Million Dollar Dream mixtape of yesteryear:

The Perfect Murda – Andre Nickatina
This one’s been around. Short track from Nicky T, reminiscent of “Let’s All Get High”. Cop it if you don’t have it already.

Nino [CR3 Preview] – Andre Nickatina
Old school Nickatina is tough to beat.

Show Me the Way – Mac Dre/San Quinn/ Equipto
Nice little diddy I used to have, and rediscovered after re-downloading the album. Puts an interesting spin on The Doors’ “Albama Song (Whiskey Bar)”.

1 Day @ a Time – Mac Dre/ Harm
Sinister beat with a sinister chorus.

M.H.C.G.W. – Baldhead Rick/ Cellski
Sick beat with one of the Bay Area’s finest. And Baldhead Rick.

That’s a lot. Download the whole album if you like. Pay for it, though.

Out like Ocho Cinco (hopefully) from Cincy.

Yet another reason to hate the San Francisco Giants...

I'm back from a posting hiatus and despite a still existing drought of posting ideas in my mind, I think I have found something we can all agree on. There are a number of reasons to dislike this year's Giants team: we suck, we have players no one has ever heard of, and Dave Roberts. Yet I think this might be the most damning piece of evidence yet. Apparently (I discovered this while reading something about MLB giveaways ) the Giants wives and significant others play a game every year against the wives and significant others of the A's. Fortunately for all of us, a picture was included (posted up above). Upon close scrutiny and examination, it became apparent that the A's wives were a lot hotter than the Giants wives (aside from the chunker in the middle, I assume she's Joe Blanton's wife). See for yourself...

Now obviously this merited further research, so I searched "giants wives a's wives" on google (who knows, maybe I could have found some nudies), and came across a collection of photos of the A's wives. Wow. These are some fucking stunnas. Ogle away for yourself.











Unfortunately, no such photos could be found for the Giants wives, obviously revealing they are so homely no perverted stalker (see Watkins, Harrison) would want to take pictures of them. One consideration should be taken however. The Giants team last year was much older than the Giants team of this year (I don't think the opposite would be possible unless we injected them all with so many steroids we ended up with a team of gorillas), so the potential of young hot wives is much higher. All I know is I can't wait to the annual game this year, being held at Pac-Bell on June 14th (a mere week before Beerfest for the A's :D). Hopefully RJ can get me some field passes.

Bonus winner: Mrs. Kotsay

Widukinds Diary Entry #15

After taking Microeconomics last semester, I have become much more aware of how I spend my money. Before I purchase something, like three tacos from Chipotle or this totally sick jacket I got off e-Bay, I usually take some time to assess the situation and ask myself this question: “Am I going to get $7 of pleasure from these tacos, or $9 worth of compliments from wearing this jacket?” In these two cases, the answer is undoubtedly “yes”. (In all truth, I don’t really suggest this way of using money, because I almost always answer myself with “yes”. A better method is probably “Michael you’re an idiot because there’s no way this jacket is legit if it costs $9, shipping included”.)
Where am I going with all this? The other day I dropped $15 on MLB TV so I could watch my Giants everyday here in Atlanta. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still pleased in the purchase, because I’ve been able to listen to the great Vin Scully and watch pretty much any game I want, but whenever I watch the Giants I can’t help feeling like I’m slowly decaying inside. Brian Sabean and his boy-toy Barry Zito should be paying me; watching this bullshit is not giving me $15 of pleasure. I should not have to pay to watch a minor league baseball team. Other teams should not have to waste their time playing a minor league baseball team. Other fans should not have to pay to watch their team play a minor league baseball team. “Michael,” you say, “c’mon. You know this team would run train on any AAA team.” First of all, probably not. Second of all, I concede that the Giants aren’t really a minor league baseball team; no minor league baseball team is this old. Do you even understand what a joke the Giants “youth movement” is? Fred Lewis? 27 years young. Rajai Davis? Also 27. David Ortmeier? He’ll turn 27 on May 11th. Eugenio Velez will turn 26 five days later. Brian Bofuckass is only 23, but I would still assume that’s enough time to comprehend the concept that staying on first base is good, and getting picked off is bad.
Let’s provide two comparisons to the Giants youth poovement. The Dodgers and Brewers outscored the Giants 34-12 over 6 games and handed them 5 losses, capped off with today’s bloody-diarrhea inducing 7-0 shutout. Prince Fielder is almost…wait for it…24. Corey Hart is 26, Ryan Braun and Rickie Weeks both 25. The Dodgers have a similar array of young talent: Matt Kemp is 23, James Loney is almost 24, and Russell Martin is 25. For fuck-sake, the Brewers even have great young arms in Yovani Gallardo, Manny Parra, and Carlos Villanueva (who the Giants traded away in 2004 for Wayne fucking Franklin), and the Dodgers have two young phenoms of their own in Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw. That’s supposed to be our goddamn trump card: “Yeah, but we have good young pitching!” Bullshit. These teams are way younger, and way, way, way better than us. It is literally disgusting. I talked to my dad today who referenced my last post by saying “Why do the Giants look like they’re running around with feces coming out of their asses?”

So...would a team of penguins do better than the 2008 San Francisco Giants? Should I even ask?