Top 20 albums of 2009

It was a strong year for new albums as a whole. I don't feel like I listened to as much new stuff as I really wanted to, but what I did I really liked. Here is my top 20 albums of the year.

1. Manchester Orchestra “Mean Everything To Nothing”
2. Brand New "Daisy"
3. Cursive “Mama, I’m Swollen”
4. Future of the Left "Travels With Myself and Another"
5. Mastodon “Crack The Skye”
6. Sonic Youth "The Eternal"
7. Converge “Axe To Fall”
8. Isis “Wavering Radiant”
9. Coalesce “Ox”
10. Silversun Pickups “Swoon”
11. Animal Collective “Merriweather Post Pavilion”
12. NOFX “Coaster”
13. Slayer “World Painted Blood”
14. …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead “The Century of Self”
15. Kreator “Hordes of Chaos”
16. Mono “Hymn To The Immortal”
17. Pearl Jam “Backspacer”
18. Propagandhi “Supporting Caste”
19. Japandroids “Post-nothing”
20. City of Ships “Look What God Did To Us”

Best Records of the 00's - At The Drive-In "Relationship Of Command"

Everyone liked this record back in 2000. Seriously. When you are thinking about great rock records from this decade, I think fans of pretty much every genre of rock music like At The Drive-In's "Relationship of Command". It's easy to get but at the same time it's also didn't sound like a lot of what was out at the time.



To some people At The Drive-In seemed like a breath of fresh air that came out of nowhere. Those "in the know" (LIKE ME cause I'm so cool) had their previous releases and knew what this band was like. A post-punk Fugazi-ish sound but almost faster and with a great sense of how to do the whole soft/loud contrast, At The Drive-In had put together some great songs - but with "Relationship of Command" they seemed to put it together to last the whole record. The band also had great energy in their live shows and were really a sight to behold. Unfortunately, they got big and then it killed the band. They broke up and two noteworthy bands formed from their ashes - Sparta and The Mars Volta. Both bands then went on to only put out one good record each. Bummer. Maybe they cash in for a reunion tour soon?

Best Records of the 00's - Idlewild "100 Broken Windows"

In the year 2000 my now wife/then girlfriend lived with a couple of guys (what a beginning to a post). One of whom was (is?) an indie rock loving dude who shared some of the same musical interests as me and whom I also watched a lot of Saved By The Bell with. A band he was totally on the nose with that I wasn't really familiar with was Idlewild.



I give him major props for this one. Once I heard it I was immediately hooked. It was punky, but it also for some reason reminded me of R.E.M. at times. It's the scottish band's second album, and their first one (titled Hope Is Important), sounds totally raw. 100 Broken Windows is like taking that record and making it more catch and melodic. I probably listened to it 100 times in 2000 and 2001, especially the song Roseability. Idlewild unfortunately doesn't tour as much as they should so I've only seen them twice but both times they really delivered. The records after this are also worth checking out (although really only The Remote Part and Warnings/Promises). Here's what you should listen to:

Best Records of the 00's - Jimmy Eat World "Bleed American"

Jimmy Eat World came on the scene in the late 90's and made a bit of splash with their album Clarity. Clarity has a huge fanbase, and old school fans of theirs also have a special place in their heart for Static Prevails. While I really like Clarity, and kinda like Static Prevails, the band's breakthrough for me is Bleed American.



Coincidentally (or not?) that was also their breakthrough commercially. The band refined their sound a bit from slower melodies to a lot of fast paced power pop songs for this album, and you can feel it. It's definitely a record that zooms all the way through the end. Although I like some of the follow up albums Futures and Chase This Light, they are nowhere near as good as Bleed American, or what came albums that came before it.

Best Records of the 00's - Miracle of 86 "Every Famous Last Word"

Every once in a while a record will come along that is really great and nobody knows about it. It feels good to be one of a few people who really appreciate it. You feel bad for the band because they never got big because of the record, they were never playing arenas, never signed a multi record multi million deal. In fact they put the record out and then broke up like a year later. If you meet someone that knows and also loves this record, you are instantly surprised and taken aback that they know of it, but you also immediately trust their taste in music.



Oh yeah I'm talking about "Every Famous Last Word" by Miracle of 86. Every song is great. And nobody ever bought it or talked about it. You all done fucked up. Although Kevin Devine, luckily, is doing just fine and still making great music. But this record ruled. In fact I can't find any Miracle of 86 shit on YouTube - so here's Kevin doing a couple of songs solo. They sound different though obviously.

Check it out:

Best Records of the 00's - Eminem "The Marshall Mathers LP"

I think in the summer of 2000 there was a couple of records I had in rotation - but nothing ruled like that year's Eminem release. Every song seemed so crazy and angry, but at the same time clever, and I loved it.



At the time I worked for a really really small company, where I basically sat in a room with my boss and my one coworker. Me and my coworker Andy listened to this so much we knew pretty much all the words, all the background noises and sound effects and would recite them at times. Although it seems really dated now, with the references to the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears and Carson Daly, at the time it fit as an angry piece of music countering the smiley pop music that dominated. The next record from Eminem "The Eminem Show" was also good, but not quite as great. The two after definitely slipped with "Encore" probably under the category of albums that blow. Here's some of my favorite tracks from Marshall Mathers LP:

Best Records of the 00's - Against Me! "Searching For A Former Clarity"

I had been pretty familiar and interested in the band Against Me! before this record, as their previous albums were solid punk sing along fun. This is the one that really brought it home though. The songs sounded loud, the lyrics were great and it felt like it had been a while since a new punk band really made things sound new. To me this sounded new and it sounded relevant.



I also totally played the shit out of this when I got it, listening to it just about every day, singing along and driving my coworkers who sat in cubes near me crazy. A couple of them even started to know the choruses to songs like "Miami" and "Holy Shit".

The band is also one of the best live bands around. I can't praise them enough. The record after this "New Wave" is also very good, but a little different and "Searching For..." is still my go to Against Me! album. Check out a couple of these tracks here on YouTube:

Best Records of the 00's - Brand New "The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me"

Since we are about to bring this decade to a close, I thought it would be a good idea to spotlight my favorite records of this decade. I typically haven't been writing about music, as I'm honestly not that good at it, but I'd like to share my opinions on what records I think are awesome and write about it briefly. These records are in no particular order. Although with this one, it really is probably my favorite record of this decade.



After putting out two CDs that were either pop punk or emo or whatever you want to call it, Brand New released "The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me" at the end of 2006. I didn't get it at first really, the songs didn't grab me and didn't seem catchy enough. As I listened to it a few times more, they started to seep into my subconcious. Dark and moody with some interesting themes, I still find that three years later this record is still in my heavy rotation. Also, look for the demos to this album where all nine of the songs are called "Untitled".

Favorite songs: Millstone, Degausser, Archers

All songs

NBA Draft Live Blog

Let's try to do this, I will mostly just comment on picks and my thoughts on them.

7:16pm: Apparently some big names have been traded today. And if you put Bilas, Mark Jackson and Van Gundy on a team with LeBron and Shaq they'd win a title. He's already annoying me, any way we could have Stuart Scott switch places with Michael Jackson right now?

7:22pm: 9.8ppg for Rubio. They shouldn't even show international players stats, they are just embarassing.

7:26pm: We are about to hear from Dick Vitale. I guarantee when they wake him up after the draft to recap, he will yell about some good college player falling to round 2 and international players getting taken too early.

7:39pm: Obvious #1. Glad there is one Clipper fan there with an itchy chest. I guess Yuraslov Koralev wasn't available?

7:42pm: Oh god I forgot they have fun facts. Thabeet's should be something like "Fun Fact: Has never actually played basketball."

7:47pm: So glad Thabeet went to Memphis, where we don't ever have to see him and he can learn how to play from Marc Gasol. Somewhere Jim Calhoun just passed out.

7:53pm: An asthmatic who has bad workouts and disappears in big games, James Harden have fun in Oklahoma City. Actually I think this can be a good pick, Russell Westbrook didn't want Rubio around.

7:57pm: Who knew Bilas loved Tyreke Evans this much? Maybe he took his SATs for him. I guess Rubio is going to Minnesota? Also why does it look like he's wearing so much makeup?

8:06pm: I'm sorry but I already love this guy. "I'm Ricky Rubio I don't play like anybody else". Sounds like something Starbury would say.

8:09pm: Love the draft cam. All the people in the Timberwolves draft room were just staring at the TV! Damn I was hoping to have Jonny Flynn as a Knick in case Curry wasn't there. I guess I have to hope that Golden State passes on him and goes Jordan Hill. Applause from the Timberwolves draft room.

8:16pm: I'm slightly crushed. I was really thinking we had a good shot at Curry falling there. Jrue Holiday? Jordan Hill? DeRozan?

8:23pm: Jordan Hill - you better not be the next Channing Frye. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I'm a little disappointed, but he seems like he could fit in with the team ok. I'm glad it's not Gerald Henderson though.

8:28pm: No surprise with the Raptors pick of DeRozan. I'm more surprised I haven't heard Bilas say the word "long" yet as a description. He wants to say it so bad though, I can feel it.

8:34pm: Did Fran Fraschilla/Nathan Lane just say that "the experiment has worked"? A guy who people thought could have been top 3 or top 5 falls to 10 and that's good? The experiment failed.

8:39pm: Could the Nets be one of the more fun teams in the NBA? Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, Skip To My Lou, goofy Brook Lopez, asian Yi Jianlian (ok that was a stretch he sucks), CDR who never plays and now T-Will.

8:41pm: T-Will just made a slight dig at Bilas. Awesome.

8:50pm: Psycho T joins Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy in Indiana. That seems like a good idea to me. Did you know he's an unbelievable competitor with a great work ethic?

8:56pm: Brandon Jennings crashes Earl Clark's party. The experiment worked!

9:03pm: I like Daye on the Pistons. Reminds me of Tayshaun Prince.

9:06pm: Can we just stop having Vitale on the NBA Draft? All he does is champion the winning college players every single time.

9:13pm: For some reason I really like Jrue Holiday, I think a lot of it is because I thought the Knicks would end up with him and I talked myself into him. But I saw him a good bunch and he showed flashes. The sixers I think are kind of a mess though.

9:19pm: Are you kidding me? The T'wolves pick another PG? There has to be a trade. Rubio or Flynn should be a Knick.

9:26pm: So Lawson goes to Denver and now Atlanta picks Teague which makes sense. Time to open some party mix.

9:40pm: Any chance the Blazers said "DeJuan Blair" and someone misheard as "Victor Claver". Probably not. Also, sad that on the Blazers "Potential Depth Chart" Greg Oden is listed as the third key reserve.

9:45pm: That was a better reaction for Omri Casspi going to Sacramento than there was for Jordan Hill drafted by the Knicks.

9:49pm: For a second I thought there weren't even highlights for BJ Mullens. "He needs to learn how to play." I think says it all. He'll be in the DL for a while.

9:54pm: Did people forget about when DeJuan Blair destroyed Hasheem Thabeet? How has he not gotten picked? Someone is going to be really happy to have him fall to them. Maybe my Knickerbockers?

10:13pm: Some internet problems going on there. Still no DeJuan Blair or Sam Young. Can the Knicks please take one of them?

10:15pm: I liked you Q Rich, but we don't really need your contract any more.

10:16pm: Toney Douglas! I'm cool with this at 29. Still would have liked Blair who now goes to the second round?

10:31pm: Adam Silver gets his own chant from the drunks at the start of the second round. Deno's Party House USA is going to be on fire tonight. Dallas and Oklahoma City officially make one of the most meaningless trades in NBA history.

10:41pm: Great reaction by Adam Silver as he reads off the Q Rich/Darko trade. These fans are overpowering him. There better be a Stephen A Smith puppet asking for cheetos on YouTube tomorrow. Also, Dante Cunningham somehow gets drafted before Blair and Young. Um, these guys were the main cogs in a #1 seed.

10:46pm: If Summers gets his act together he can definitely be helpful for the Pistons.

10:51pm: If healthy an outright steal for the Spurs with Blair. They are really fucking smart amidst all the stupidity.

11:15pm: Once Chase Budinger gets picked is when I stop blogging. Later.

11:28pm: I couldn't resist. Do the Suns love having the suckier brothers of better players on their team?

My NBA Mock Draft 2009

Feel free to mock it

2009 NBA Mock Draft

1) Clippers – Blake Griffin, Oklahoma
2) Grizzlies – Hasheem Thabeet, UConn
3) Thunder – Ricky Rubio, Spain
4) Kings – Tyreke Evans, Memphis
5) T’wolves – James Harden, Arizona State
6) T’wolves – Stephen Curry, Davidson
7) Warriors – Jordan Hill, Arizona
8) Knicks – Jrue Holiday, UCLA
9) Raptors – DeMar DeRozan, USC
10) Bucks – Jonny Flynn, Syracuse
11) Nets – Tyler Hansbrough, UNC
12) Bobcats – Terrance Williams, Louisville
13) Pacers – Brandon Jennings
14) Suns – James Johnson, Wake Forest
15) Pistons – Gerald Henderson, Duke
16) Bulls – BJ Mullens, Ohio St.
17) 76ers – Jeff Teague, Wake Forest
18) T’wolves – Earl Clark, Louisville
19) Hawks – Ty Lawson, UNC
20) Jazz – Austin Daye, Gonzaga
21) Hornets – Toney Douglas, Florida State
22) Blazers – Omri Casspi
23) Kings – DeJuan Blair, Pittsburgh
24) Mavs – Eric Maynor, VCU
25) Thunder – Taj Gibson, USC
26) Bulls – Sam Young, Pittsburgh
27) Grizzlies – Nick Cathaletes, Florida
28) T’wolves – DeMarre Carroll, Missouri
29) Knicks – Jack McClinton, Miami
30) Cavs – DaJuan Summers, Georgetown

NBA Season ends - NBA Season begins

The Lakers won the NBA title. Good for them I guess. I think we did, or at least I did, learn a few things in this year's NBA postseason.

- We had a little bit of out with the old guard this year: Tim Duncan out in the first round. Detroit Pistons an 8 seed and destroyed by Cleveland. No Shaq at all (besides Twitter).
- Cleveland needs more than just LeBron to win apparently. Like a real coach.
- Stan Van Gundy is only a slight embarrassment not a complete one. Maybe we all looked past Orlando when we thought Cleveland were going to be this next great team? Dwight Howard and their shooters really came through and you have to give them credit.
- Denver was the second best team. I know that there were a couple of close games in the Lakers/Magic finals, but Denver seemed to play them better to me. I never really thought Orlando would beat the Lakers, but I did think there was a chance of Denver winning. Billups really did make that much of a difference as did the extra gear that 'Melo went to in the playoffs, which was encouraging to see.

Now it's time for some more fun with the NBA Draft coming up on June 25. The NBA Draft is one of my favorite sporting events, even though it doesn't actually involve playing anything or any type of athleticism. Also, we get some nice NBA trade rumours! One of my favorites going on right now is basically the theme of "What can the Cavs do to get better?".

Pretty much every trade that you see rumoured with the Cavs is going to involve Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic. I think Shaq to the Cavs is pretty much dead at this point, but even still it sounds like a terrible idea to me. Shaq will be injured, and not be able to be active and will slow them down. What this team needs is a dependable player who can either shoot or create on their own, and maybe can show a little leadership. That's why the Antawn Jamison to Cleveland trade idea makes a lot more sense to me.

NL Preview

Told you I'd be late with this. It's been a rough week.

NL East
1) Philadelphia Phillies - Great hitting and pitching should hold up enough to hold off the Mets (unfortunately).
2) New York Mets - Definitely improved and should get the wild card this year.
3) Florida Marlins - Hanley Ramirez is awesome.
4) Atlanta Braves - So glad they don't seem like a powerhouse anymore.
5) Washington Nationals - Dukes, Milledge and Zimmerman could be a good core but not this year.

NL Central
1) Chicago Cubs - Still the most balanced team in the division.
2) St. Louis Cardinals - Shaky bullpen could hold them back.
3) Cincinnati Reds - Could be better if young pitchers improve.
4) Milwaukee Brewers - No CC Sabathia, no playoffs.
5) Pittsburgh Pirates - Finally out of the basement?
6) Houston Astros - Another SP besides Oswalt would really have to step up to make them better.

NL West
1) Arizona Diamondbacks - Solid rotation, solid hitters, bullpen question mark.
2) Los Angeles Dodgers - Keeping Manny keeps them in the mix.
3) San Francisco Giants - One of the best rotations in baseball keeps them this high, if only they didn't have a Molina as their clean up hitter.
4) Colorado Rockies - Remember when they were in the world series two years ago?
5) San Diego Padres - Stink.

NL MVP - Hanley Ramirez, Florida
NL Cy Young - Johan Santana, NY Mets
NL Rookie of the Year - Cameron Maybin, Florida

MLB AL Preview

Look I know it is opening day, and most games are already over, but I'm a bit of a slacker ok? Might as well offer my baseball predictions now - better a little bit late than never. I'll have my NL Preview even later - like tomorrow or something. Trust me, I'm not taking today's games into account:

AL East
1) Boston Red Sox - Rotation is just too deep and I think Papi has another year in him.
2) New York Yankees - Big fat CC Sabathia will make the difference and the Yanks are the Wild Card.
3) Tampa Bay Rays - Young and will be good just not as good.
4) Baltimore Orioles - Never heard of most of their pitching, but that lineup looks dangerous.
5) Toronto Blue Jays - Roy Halladay and nobodies.

AL Central
1) Chicago White Sox - Still think with this balanced team they are the best bet.
2) Minnesota Twins - Hopefully Joe Mauer is ok.
3) Kansas City Royals - Will hang in tight with the White Sox and Twins all year.
4) Cleveland Indians - Your rotation stinks.
5) Detroit Tigers - Possible fire sale by July.

AL West
1) Oakland As - Surprise team that somehow makes it work in a shitty division.
2) Los Angeles Angels - It's just about time they don't win this thing right?
3) Texas Rangers - Just enough to not be in last.
4) Seattle Mariners - Ken Griffey Jr of 15 years ago would have to come back to make a difference.

AL MVP - Grady Sizemore, Cleveland (I know that's crazy since I think they finish below the Royals, but I just don't see that many good candidates. Teixeira? Matt Holliday? Pedroia? I just don't see it.)
AL Cy Young - Zack Greinke, KC
AL Rookie of the Year - Matt Weiters, Baltimore

Robo Recap - April 4, 2009

The thinking is that this feature would be called "This Week In Robot News" but the odds of me actually being able to do this every week are not very good. To sum up my idea for what this optimistically weekly feature is, well, robots are fucking awesome. Let's talk about what is going on with them.

- Little known movie Exterminator City has an awesome robot sword fight scene that I have recently found on the internets. Seriously, one of the robots is wearing a fucking trenchcoat! Check it out:


- Ok, I watch that Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles show on Fox. I honestly don't know many people who watch it besides me, but they are missing out. Maybe it was kinda stupid at first, and yes, it can be ridiculous at times. The acting is not always the best. But there are robots, and there are cool fight scenes, and the whole overall story of what is going on is actually pretty good. You know the deal, let's stop Skynet from making robots. Well, the last couple of weeks have been especially good - and (spoiler alert?) they've killed off like three characters in the past month. One of those characters being John Connor's uncle, Derek Reese, played by the underrated (yes, I said it) Brian Austin Green. Well the weird thing about it was the way they killed him off - it wasn't even at the end of the episode like what would normally happen. There was a fight with a terminator and he just shot BAG right in the head and kept going. Like he didn't even matter. I guess that terminator represents America.

- Speaking of Brian Austin Green - his ladyfriend Megan Fox is in the new Transformers 2 coming out this summer, and the new trailer is now available. Check it out here. I did like the first one - of course, it had robots fighting and Megan Fox, what more do you need (I won't go into my unwavering support of Shia LaBeouf, which goes back to Even Stevens). It had it's problems - nonsensical plot, too many characters, me not being able to tell which robot was which, but I ended up looking past those faults. The movie didn't take itself too seriously and had a good bit of humor which makes me think i will end up seeing the sequel in the theater.

- Japan is looking forward, as usual, and is aiming to have a robot walk the moon by 2020. I'm not really sure what the point is other than just being able to say "we had a fucking robot walking on the moon, suck it world!". I guess the robot can do some kind of scouting? Maybe they can colonize up there and build a robot community? Robot world on the moon. I'd visit.

I miss you Predator

Last night was another bad loss for the Knicks as they lost to the Nuggets 111-104. At least we got to see an old friend, Renaldo Balkman. Or as they used to refer to him as on the old Max Kellerman radio show "The Predator". The nickname was well earned - the pronounced features of his face and crazy hair make him look like the Predator, but also the way he went after the ball and went after defenders - he was frighteningly pesky and fast. There's a chance that he still is but I don't really get to see him. He was without a doubt my favorite Knick last year.


I am a fan of Mike D'antoni, but there was no need for him to go after Balkman the way he did yesterday. It was just reacting to him saying that the Knicks regretted trading him, which they clearly don't - but why kick a guy when he's down? He's got great passion for the game, I mean he has the fucking words "Hustle" and "Harder" tattooed on his legs! I know he wouldn't really fit in with the Knicks now since he has no jumpshot, but maybe he can work on it? Eh, probably not. Well, at least his current teammates appreciate him.

I for one miss you Predator, and I want you to know that I would have bought your jersey if it was ever available for purchase.

A Great Match

So it looks like John Calipari is taking the money (surprise!) and going to Kentucky. This should be interesting folks. Will he take his recruits? It looks like Memphis's top two recruits, wait actually the country's top two recruits, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, will follow Calipari out the door. And there's a good chance they follow him to Kentucky. What a great job by Kentucky. Or at least it will be a great job until they are under NCAA investigations for recruiting violations within three years.

One thing we can say for sure about Calipari is that he is a tremendous recruiter.. CDR talks about it with the NY Times to share a little insight to why he likes the greasy haired yeller.

This all works for me as I already dislike Calipari and Kentucky basketball. So why not put them all together?

Elite Hate?

I am a huge college basketball fan. I understand that it really isn't for everyone. Even people who love sports, and love basketball, for some reason may not have the patience to watch a college game because in their mind it isn't as high quality as the pro game. Two main factors - a longer shot clock and a game more controlled by coaches rather than stars - are probably why the college game is a more strategic and perhaps "slow" game of basketball. For myself, these are reasons why I probably like it better. We see more than just isolation plays for superstars out of your typical college hoops team.

Regardless of everything above, mostly every sports fan loves the NCAA tournament. The lure of filling out a bracket as well as the appealing format of the tournament to crown a champion really appeals to just about everyone. So although the regular season doesn't get a lot of love from the sports media, the spotlight does turn to college hoops come March Madness time.

This year, I have already heard and read a lot of complaining about the games being boring. This is fucking bullshit. Sure, there have been more blowouts than usual, and not as many big upsets. But do people realize this isn't a scripted show? It's totally fine to complain when an episode of Lost is disappointing or this week's Three and a Half Men sucked, but fuck you for expecting every basketball game to be down to the wire. This is sports. We don't know who is going to win and we can't control if the games are close so either accept that and enjoy the dominating team's brilliant performance or shut the fuck up and change the channel.

Sorry about that. Lets quickly preview this weekend's games:

Missouri vs. UConn: Out of the four games this weekend, this is the one I am most certain about the outcome (not that this means much). A.J. Price has averaged 20 points, 5 boards and 6 assists in this tournament thus far and if not for how great Blake Griffin has been he would be the favorite for tourney MVP. I think he figures out Missouri's pressure. Prediction: UConn

Villanova vs. Pitt: Pitt is just of one of those teams in the past that has struggled in early games when we expect them to dominate but then will surprise us by crushing someone good. Like today, when they make Scottie Reynolds turn the ball over. Prediction: Pitt

Louisville vs. Michigan St.: The Spartans really BigTenified that game last night vs. Kansas. Nobody wanted to hit shots until the end of the game. Louisville has looked unstoppable, but really who have they played? They have had a really lucky draw in the tournament thus far, and in the Big East tournament as well. Prediction: Michigan St.

UNC vs. Oklahoma: Oh boy it's Griffin vs. Psycho T. Something tells me we will hear a lot about that matchup. Unfortunately for Oklahoma, the rest of their team is nowhere near as good as the rest of UNC and Ty Lawson is obviously on a mission. What has really been helpful for the Tar Heels has been Danny Green's play of late. Prediction: UNC

I look forward to seeing how wrong I was.

Who Is Mike Taylor?

So I was at the Knicks vs. Clippers game here at the Garden on Wednesday night. It was everything you would expect - tons of scoring, absolutely no defense, stupid decisions, Al Harrington hanging on the rim (I swear he was doing it to avoid landing on someone, really), Mike Dunleavy calling time outs at inappropriate points, and of course a Knick collapse which ultimately cost them the game (Clips won 140-135 in OT). The game did contain one thing I did not expect, and that was a player named Mike Taylor.

Image courtesy Getty Images

Since I'm starting a new blog here, let me just back up for a minute. I, being a lifelong New Yorker, am I lifelong Knick fan. I have a friend who went to school out west and he is a Clippers fan, so we have gone to this Knicks/Clippers game the last couple years. In recent years these teams have been pretty dreadful, the exception being 2006 when the Clippers, led by Elton Brand, made it all the way to the West Semis.

Back to Mike Taylor, this dude totally appeared out of nowhere to drop 35 on the Knicks. It was really one of the most dominating performances I had ever seen in person. In fact, it was the most points scored by a rookie at the Garden since AI did it in '96. Of course take into account that the Knicks play virtually no defense and Chris Duhon is quite slow, but nonetheless Taylor was hitting shots from all over the floor and seemed to be taking it to the hole at will. It appeared that he was literally running circles around the Knicks, which you can see here at about 1:57 in.

It seems that Taylor was actually the first player drafted directly from the NBDL into the NBA. SLAM online had a great profile on Taylor yesterday which gives us an idea of where he's been in recent years. Basically he had three run ins with the law while at Iowa State, including stealing a bottle of cold medicine from a convenience store. Hope that cold was worth it Mike, you could have been great in college. I do hope to see him play again, although that could be tough since the Clippers (luckily) are not on TV too much.

Day One

So I'm going to try this blog thing I guess. Look here for my thoughts on sports, comics, music, and whatever other thing pops into my brain.