Kicked in the balls (A 2009 Detroit Tigers Rant)

I feel like the dude in the strip club who thinks he's actually going to get with the stripper after making it thunderstorm in the club. I feel hoodwinked, bamboozled, hustled. Why? Because of my investment in the 2009 Detroit Tigers.

This perfectly flawed team was dominant for 160+ days this baseball season. Fans of the Tigers got complacent -- almost too complacent. People always said, "Oh it's in the bag", "The AL Central is brutal. The Tigers will make the playoffs with no problems."

Meanwhile the elephant in the room was starting to take up more space and become more prevalent. In my opinion things started to go downhill when they lost 5 of six to the Kansas City Royals in September (aka crunch time). The Royals had nothing to play for, the Tigers were home for 3 of those games. They still proceed to lose 5 of 6. UNACCEPTABLE.

Then comes the 7 game stretch between the surging Twins and the spiteful White Sox (who at the start of last week had nothing to play for). All 7 games were once again at Comerica park and at the time the magic number to clinch a spot was 2. All the Tigers had to do was win 2 games. Once again the Tigers played Russian Roulette with their playoff entry chances. The result? Splitting two with the Twins and only picking up one win against the Sox.

At the same time as the Sox Series the Twins (who were playing .800 ball when it mattered most) had a series with the same Kansas City Royals. On Saturday the 3rd, the Twins faced the almighty Greinke -- and took it to him, forcing him out of the game and not letting him factor into the decision. One clutch hit by Michael Cuddyer later and the Twins have their second biggest win of the week. The tigers lost to the Sox that night, partially due to Miguel Cabrera's drunken excursion the night before.

SIDE NOTE: WHO THE HELL DRINKS WITH THE OPPOSING TEAM DURING A PLAYOFF CHASE?

Sunday arrived with both teams essentially in must-win situations. With a Tigers win and a Twins loss, The Tigers would be in. With a Tigers loss and a Twins win, the Tigers would be out. In the event that both teams won or both teams lost, there would be a tiebreaker game (unlikely at this point but possible). The franchise arm for the Tigers, Justin Verlander winds up taking the entire team on his back and pitches a very solid game for the 2nd time in 6 days (Verlander for Cy Young, I don't care what you say.)

With the tiebreaker scenario actually coming through -- You would think that the Tigers would show some motivation. This is partly true and partly false. True because of the performance put on by Rick Porcello. 8Ks over 5 2/3 innings. I'm glad the Tigers kept him instead of pulling the trigger on a Roy Halladay trade. Miguel Cabrera actually showed up, as well as Magglio Ordonez. Also Fernando Rodney put in work (an excessive amount of it for a closer).

On to the negative aspects of the Tigers performance today: Ryan Raburn thinking he was superman by attempting a sliding catch. I honestly believe the field grew larger when the ball rolled away from Raburn. Laird swinging at a ball more suited towards a cricket match was a low point of the game. Jimmy "Mushmouth" Leyland was also apathetic when he just let Fernando go for 3+ innings. News flash Jimmy: Warm up another pitcher if your closer goes 1+.

The result: The Twins beat the Tigers in an intense game and sealed the 2009 collapse for the Tigers. I can't help but feel let down by this because of the amount I invested into this year's squad after believing the hype. This one hurts just as much as the title.

Witnesses to Windsor's 5th homicide 'unco-operative'

Witnesses to Windsor's 5th homicide 'unco-operative'

Senseless violence in an area of Windsor I'm not so sure people want to visit anymore. My ass will be staying away from Pelissier St. after hours.

Back to the regularly scheduled programming. . .

In a moment of twisted humour, I looked up the infamously famous baby getting kicked by a break dancer video clip on youtube. However I didn't find the version that had the slowed down moment of impact...instead I found a version that takes two things that are highly amusing to me: unintentional violence and sound effects from the old Street Fighter 2 games.

Enjoy -- I did:

25 today. . .

Damn!!!!!!  Time does fly.  I've been told numerous times that I am an old man (relatively speaking) -- what did I do to combat that stigma this weekend?  Bought myself a PS3, watched UFC and consumed way too much alcohol.  Another typical weekend I suppose.  But shout outs are in order for the dozens of people who posted on the wall, text messaged, blackberry messaged or showed up this weekend. 

Episode 15 of Gordon Gartrell Radio

Gordon Gartrell Radio - Episode 15

FINALLY!

Staring down 25

With the 25th birthday in about 9 days, I have come to a conclusion that I am getting old(er).  Is it normal to want to go back in time in re-do certain instances in time?  It's been a topic that has been running through the mind lately.

On one hand, going back with the wisdom of past experiences could right a numerous amount of wrongs.  On the other hand, the ability to re-write ones own story in life would cheapen the experience itself. 

I guess I'm glad there are no mulligans in life.  The only thing to do is to approach each day as a clean slate.

---

Side note

Crazy song by Black Milk which was posted on Okayplayer.com called Set Go. Check it out!

This song will be on repeat for the rest of the year

Wale's killing it on this one alone. Attention Deficit is already a Day 1 purchase.



The white flags will be out for this one at the next Ghanaian function I go to, I'm puttin money down on it.

Low Tolerance

It seems people are bent on being the most obnoxious S.O.B.s (I guess the S can stand for Spawns in order to be an equal opportunity acronym).

On the positive side, Mike Vick is on an NFL team. However the thought that it's alright to openly rip on the guy is also back in the forefront. Quite frankly, ripping on Mike Vick for dogfighting in 2009 is about as lame / outdated as the following:

• Making, "Superman is a cripple jokes" with respect to Christopher Reeve
  
• Making fun of Vanilla Ice
• Making fun of Hammer's bankruptcy
  
• Holding on to your conspiracy theory about OJ doing back in 94
• Getting angry over someone's middle name (ie. Barack Hussein Obama)

And any other display of ignorance could really be added to that list.

Vick has done his time and he's attempting to re-establish his life. The real outrage with respect to athletes and the law would probably be more accurate with the Donte Stallworth case. 24 days in prison for a vehicular manslaughter? The degree to which people are jaded amazes me everyday only because there are much larger issues on the table on a daily basis. Society needs to focus on the task at hand and not the miniscule, fringe aspects.

Hopefully another blog post in the near future, don't hold your breath though.

Newest impulse purchase. . . The Blackberry 8820

I now have a full appreciation for the song in this clip

I'm just tryin to approximate Barack Obama for the rest of 2009. Aside from the Blackberry, future personal changes will include a return to the basketball courts at warmer temperatures.

- El Duque AKA El Presidente once the blackberry comes in.

The Mike Vick Post

According to ESPN.com (my home page on every computer and my cell phone), Mike Vick is scheduled to be released from a federal penitentiary and allowed to stay in a halfway house. My initial reaction was, "Good for him! The man has done his time and should be allowed to have a second chance." But then I looked at my calendar and realized that Mr. Vick has done 14 months of his 23 month sentence. Wow how time flies.

The even more astonishing fact is people still carry the grudge against Michael Vick. In my opinion all I can ask is what more do people like PETA really want from the guy? He's forsaken millions, claimed bankruptcy, his reputation and his chances of regaining his future employment have all but gone to shit. Aside from the proverbial pound of flesh, there isn't much the dog-a-maniacs can do on this issue before it becomes an obsession.

I for one hope Vick stays out of trouble and manages to find his way back to the NFL (or at the very least, the CFL), because the man was talented on the field and had it not been for his legal bump in the road, he could have done some amazing things in the league. Remember this is the guy who beat Brett Favre AT Green Bay in the playoffs.

The 14th of February Card Company Holiday

NOTE: The 14th of February will not be addressed by its Card Company Holiday name. To me it's just another day.

Why do people mark out (re: go crazy) for Card Company cash-grab holidays such as the 14th of February? It makes people look like sheep. In my opinion, if one needs a calendar to remind them that they must show "affection towards others" in the form of cards / chocolates / and other biodegradable materials, you're playin yourself.

I would rather see random acts of kindness instead of the cop-out style displays of 14th-of-February traditions. Especially this year when the economy has literally fell off the face of the earth. I've arrived at the following conclusion:

If you spend money on a card company manipulated holiday during a recession, you deserve to be called a fool with no questions asked.

I'll keep it brief, the only good thing about the February 14th, 2009 is that a brother can wake up and deposit his check, knowing that a three-day weekend lies ahead thanks to Family Day -- a holiday that I can actually take off from work. Cynical? Probably. It's just how I see it.

Top 10 Hip Hop Albums of 2008

Here is my listing of my favourite albums of the past year. Surprisingly this list was hard to generate only because there was a ton of solid releases this year. Both underground and mainstream artists released very solid albums this year.

#10. Killer Mike - I Pledge Allegieance To The Grind II
Highlights: "God In The Building" (produced by K4D's The Cancer). This could have been the beat of the year in my opinion. The cinematic theme matched with Killer Mike's lyrics made this a constantly repeated track on the ipod during the summer. Other solid tracks included: "Pressure", "2 Sides" (The only song with Shawty Lo on it that I can tolerate)

Link: http://www.myspace.com/grindtimeonline

[LINK]: God In The Building: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=G2qOw6td2Hg
[LINK]: 2 Sides: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=HeJjqNLsrt0

#9. MURS - Murs For President

The long-awaited major-label debut from underground rap giant, MURS came out in 2008. Murs For President could be summed up as the most left of centre mainstream release that wasn't named 808s and Heartbreak. Give MURS credit for sticking to his guns and not having every "hot right now" rapper be featured on his album. The only rapper featured on the album was Snoop and the result was a solid banger called "Time Is Now." Side note: The producer of this beat may have also had the best producer name of the year, listen to the song to find out. This album may have had one of the craziest sample freaks of all time on the song "Me and This Jawn." The song samples an Isley Brothers song ("For The Love of You") in such a manner that the original should be retired from ever being sampled again.

[LINK]: Time is Now - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=dNe5TmYdfpA
[LINK]: Me and This Jawn - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=jKVpc6MM2hQ

#8. Illa J - Yancey Boys

The younger brother of Jay Dee put out an album this year. To me it only confirmed that Detroit Hip Hop has continued to be slept on for the better part of this decade. It's a damn shame too as Illa J put out an album that continues to make Detroit Hip Hop some of the greatest music out in the scene today. The strongest part of this album lies in Illa J's versatility as a vocalist, rapper and a producer. It's an enjoyable listen from start to finish. It is also a reminder of how talented Illa's brother Jay Dee was as a producer. Dilla's sound was truly timeless.

[LINK]We Here: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=wWPw_mQEXsM

#7. N*E*R*D - Seeing Sounds

This album quite possibly could be higher up on the list, it probably should only because I went to see N*E*R*D perform twice in 2008 (Once at the Glow In Dark Tour in May and again with Common in October). The live performance of this album do the album justice. Hell, I just got around to buying the CD last week. For me to buy a CD these days takes a lot. I guess my only gripe with this album (and my sole justification for having it in this position) would be its length. It's only 12 tracks long.

[LINK]: Yeah You - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=V0pFMRM85r8
[LINK]: You Know What - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=_cdPWwBKplI

#6. Little Brother - Seperate But Equal (Drama Free Edition)

Even though the original was released in 2006, the re-release of the mixtape without DJ Drama and his "Dr-dr-dramatic" sound effects was a much welcomed release in 2008. In similar fashion to the re-release of "And Justus For All", LB included new material in the form of 3 tracks: "Deeper", "Passionflower" and "Playin To Lose" -- all of which are worthy of being mentioned in their own separate paragraphs. Looking forward to what '09 holds for LB without question. I'm also hoping they come to Detroit when it's not conflicting with a family member's birthday =/.

[LINK]: Rollin Out - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=yM2lLPQ8aZc
[LINK]: Deeper - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=e6cw2rtZJl4 (9th on the BEAT!!!)

#5. Young Jeezy - The Recession

To those who know me -- do not think I lost my mind by putting Jeezy's album ahead of an LB release. I can only say that The Recession was an entertaining listen from start to finish. Of course the album hit the scene with "Put On" featuring an auto-tune assisted Kanye West, but even 'Ye was on point with his lyrics. I've rewound his verse way too many times when that song first came out. On to the rest of the album, there are some certified trunk rattling joints on this album. Primarily "Ambitions as a Hustler", "Circulate", "Don't Do It" and one of my favourite tracks of the year, "Who Dat?" I guess the best part about the album as the whole is that Jeezy doesn't deviate from the formula of the trap rapper, he only improves on it. Sometimes consistency wins.

[LINK]: Who Dat - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=7DSVYAJZb4I
Side Note: This video was fairly disappointing. . . . it only confirmed that I'll probably never watch BET again for the rest of my life. Maybe the recession really did affect the music industry =/

[LINK]: Don't Do It - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=YdBtPQMorm8

#4. Hollyweerd - Edible Phat Mixtape

These dudes from Atlanta are the future of hip hop. To those who don't know, Hollyweerd is a group from Atlanta who incorporate elements from many styles into creating their own sound. It has been described as Ghettotechno on some boards -- I just call it dope. It is rare when I co-sign an artist or group based on ONE song, but it happened with "Weirdo." It's radio-friendly but the production was unlike anything I heard at the time. Add to that the inclusion of a saxophone solo from member Staggo Lee, and I was sold on the group's talent. I hope this group doesn't fall through the cracks of the music industry and gets some shine in 2009.

[LINK]: Weirdo - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=xkSuCKl0Rx0
[LINK]: Ur Smile - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL7wX21LxvY (9th on the beat!)

GET THEIR NEWEST MIXTAPE "Electricity Showroom" HERE:
http://www.mediafire.com/?qymfrdigtik OR HERE


#3. Elzhi - The Preface

2008 was the year of Detroit Hip Hop. It is really unbelievable how much Detroit is overlooked when compared to other hip-hop heavy cities. Of course it doesn't do artists like Jay Dee, Illa J, Slum Village, Royce Da 5'9", Guilty Simpson and Black Milk justice when one turns on 97.9 or 102.7 and hear 3-5 T-Pain / Lil Wayne songs in a row. That's another blog for another day. Elzhi of Slum Village released his debut CD on an independent label, FatBeats. Knowing it wouldn't be released in stores on Canadian soil anytime soon, I forked over the cash a week before it released because of how ill Elzhi is as a lyricist. The purchase was entirely justified after the 3rd track (Guessing Game).

[LINK]: Motown 25 - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=YGwAs0GiKNc
[LINK]: Colors - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=p4Hw9vwx-qU

#2-A. The Roots - Rising Down

The legendary roots crew. What more can be said? The group is the most underrated act in music. Period. Rising Down took the mood from Game Theory and went to an entirely different level with it. The music was darker and edgier than the last album. "Criminal", "Get Busy" and "Rising Up" are the album's best tracks, but it's like differentiating between a 98 and a 96 on a test. . . all of the songs at one point or another got a ton of play in the intrep this year.

Quite frankly the only reason why this album wasn't #1 was because of the ruthless nature of the brevity of the track "Unwritten." Clocking in at 1:22, the song ends before it really begins. . . but then I guess that's why it's called Unwritten....

[LINK]: Unwritten - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=PjP1FDaVq94
[LINK]: Rising Up - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=D5HGPD3rWqA

2-B: Wale - The Mixtape About Nothing

Due his featured appearance on Rising Up, Wale had to make the list of my favourite albums somehow. Luckily, he released "The Mixtape About Nothing" themed after the format of The Seinfeld series. It was well executed by Wale as every song had "The" in front of the song title similar to the Episode title in each of the Seinfeld episodes in the series. Wale is putting D.C. on the hip-hop map. Songs like "The Kramer" and "The Grown Up" show his lyrical versatility. Whenever he releases his official album, I'm coppin it on the first day.

[LINK]: The Kramer - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=bp05cNnsR3I (For those who don't like the N-Word in their music, you have been forwarned. The opening sample is Michael Richard's racial outburst)

[LINK]: The Grown Up - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=TV0sYJbYODQ

#1 - Black Milk - Tronic

Another Detroit artist. Another solid album. Why don't people support real, organic hip hop these days? I'll never know. I could blame the internet or short attention spans, but people should give the "underground" or the "backpacker" more of a chance. Black Milk does fill the former role, but his sound gravitates to both labels. Tronic was initially slept on by yours truly -- figuratively and literally. At first I obtained it and figured I'd listen to it later. After some time passed, I wound up buying the album on iTunes (a first for me) and put it on the iPod. From the moment "Long Story Short" came on over the speakers, I was impressed. The production on the album is top-notch and Black holds his own as a lyricist. For a producer-rapper, it's kind of odd for an individual to succeed at both on every single track. Black Milk bats .800 on this album. Favourites on this album were "Losing Out" (feat. Royce Da 5'9"), "Long Story Short", "Hell Yeah", "Give The Drummer Sum" and "The Matrix"

[LINK]: The Matrix - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=aDtE4J3pD9w
[LINK]: Long Story Short - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=MUM_q58bWe0
[LINK]: Give The Drummer Sum - http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=kcP8QJ_tTP0

Honourable Mentions:
Q-Tip - The Renaissance
Nas - Untitled (those who know really know that this album was snuffed creatively by Def jam)
Ludacris - Theatre of The Mind
Snoop - Ego Trippin (Snoop had fun on this album, Sensual Seduction (or its other title) was the proof)
Kidz In The Hall - The In Crowd

2009 Son

Happy New Year, 2009 is the year of "Keepin it Movin" -- I'm goin to try to make a sincere attempt to limit the everyday negativity. One can only be a hater for so long.

The "10 Best Albums of 2008" posts will be coming soon.