NBA Mid-Season: The Dinosaur Days of Winter

The following are a collection of thoughts I've had on the NBA season so far, while spending a majority of my Friday catching up on Dvr'd items.

- Half a season and a handful of games have passed, all-star teams have been announced and it's time for some reflection on what we've seen of this 2013-14 NBA season.

- It sounds like Andrew Bynum is signing with the Indiana Pacers. Now that he's actually (potentially) playing for a real NBA team, he might play like a legitimate NBA player with a third ring on the table.

- Did you hear that? That's the sound of Heat fans panicking.

- Some teams have disappointed (Grizzlies, New York in general, Pelicant's), others have stunned with their legitimacy (Raptors, Suns, Trail Blazers).

- Injuries have been depressingly plentiful AGAIN (Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Manu Ginobili, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Marc Gasol, Nate Robinson, etc.).

- Rajon Rondo returned for what I can only assume is for trade-value reasons while reporters won't stop questioning Kobe about boring topics like the other Lakers who nobody cares about and his all-star ballot (that does not include himself).

- All-star snubs include Kyle Lowry, Lance Stephenson, Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, and Arron Afflalo. I would personally only throw on Stephenson, removing Joakim Noah and Davis, removing Kobe for obvious reasons. Considering Chris Paul will also likely miss the game, I guess I could give his spot to Goran Dragic.

- Remember how I said that the Grizzlies would be in the finals, representing the West vs. the Miami Heat? I'm ready to change that to Thunder-Pacers today. I'll most likely change it before the end of the season but just let it be known that I'm convinced these Pacers are better than Miami right now. They might not have Lebron, but they have the third best player in the league this season in Paul George and a ridiculous supporting cast.

Leaders in the Wiggins-Parker-Embiid-Exum-Smart-Randle-Harrison-Harrison sweepstakes
1. Milwaukee Bucks (WE <3 GIANNIS!)
2. Orlando Magic (Definitely tanking with all that talent)
3. Boston Celtics (These Expiring Contracts can't expire soon enough)
4. Philadelphia 76ers (No please Nerlens, don't come back yet)
5. Shaqramento Kings (Boogie wants a legit teammate!)
6. Cleveland Cavaliers (If Kyrie leaves, there won't be any hope ever again)
7. Los Angeles Lakers (Just trade Pau already!)
8. Utah Jazz (We need any all-star)

- "The Slim Reaper"? It's pronounced "Durantula". Come on ESPN, just because you didn't invent the "Durantula" nickname, doesn't mean you have to create your own.

- Rudy Gay looks semi-rejuvenated after being traded from the Grizz to the Raptors to the Kings. Hopefully, he stays in Sacramento.

- Speaking of the Raptors, My favorite team so far? The Toronto Raptors. Who saw this coming? Answer: Nobody. Sure, I could have seen them slightly above .500 46 games into the season but fourth in the East? I only had them predicted to finish eighth. That's pretty cool. This team's roster is made up of guys who it's hard not to enjoy watching...

(Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports)
Jonas Valanciunas, Kyle Lowry, and Amir Johnson have been quietly improving into a better team than much-hyped teams like the Nets, Knicks, and Pistons

Kyle "Snub?" Lowry: He's finally become the player we all thought he could be. Great passing, good defense, and the ability to score. No longer a coach killer either.

DeMar DeRozan: Former Dunk Contest competitor turned all-star.

Terrence "Tyrannosaurus" Ross: This is the best nickname I've come up with in the past two seasons. He recently blew up for 51 on the Clippers and has shown sporadic flashes of why he was selected eighth overall in 2012.

Jonas Valanciunas, Greivis Vasquez: Hooray European dudes!

Amir Johnson: Quietly awesome defender whose three point shot is being worked on.

Tyler "Psycho T" Hansbrough: Self-explanatory

Chuck Hayes, Patrick Patterson, Steve Novak, John Salmons: All quietly having successful redemption seasons.

My Mid-Season MVP Ballot
1. Kevin Durant
2. Lebron James
3. Paul George

Trades that I want to be made: Pau Gasol to the Heat (because it wouldn't make any sense at all, I just want Pau out of that hell-hole before he's completely washed up).

Rajon Rondo or Ricky Rubio to the Knicks (At least give us SOME semblance of a reason to keep watching these nationally-aired Knick games)

Kyrie Irving to the Heat (Won't happen but it's fun to troll Cleveland)

O.J. Mayo to the Suns 

Thaddeus Young to the Nets

Gordon Hayward to the Celtics (THE BUTLER-COMBO EFFECT)

Ryan Anderson to the Rockets (Houston doesn't shoot enough threes, sarcasm very much noted)

J.J. Hickson to the Bobcats

- Now that they're the eight seed, can we please see some Bobcats? I'm very curious about them and have no frame of reference for this mystery team owned by Michael Jordan)

IN REVIEW: I like the Pacers over the Thunder in 7 today. Tomorrow, I might just like the Heat again. They're incredibly interchangeable at this point in the season. Luckily, there's a whole 35-40 games left for me to figure things like this out. Pau Gasol needs to go ASAP and the All-star lineups draw no major disagreements from myself except for Kobe's respect-votes. 

Good luck to the NBA on staying healthy and Adam Silver on the new gig. It'll be a great second half and a fun all-star break.

This Isn't Your Slightly Older Family Member's Grammy Ceremony

Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder once said "I'm not sure what this means... I don't think it means anything" while accepting a Grammy Award. He was spot on correct. This award means nothing other than a snobby Santa Monica-based academy rewarding bragging rights to people who do not need any more bragging rights than they already have. With that said, it's still fascinating for some reason to see whom this academy rewards as the best of the best in music. Maybe it's just that psychologically, we all love having opinions and some even enjoy arguing with one another when they have differing views. Specifically, Twitter EXPLODES during award shows. Why are people so interested? They have rooting interests (AKA: 90% Beliebers) and watching famous people who potentially don't like each other is hilarious and the chance that the celebrities are intoxicated and/or have a negative reaction just adds to the talking points (AKA: Faith Hill and Carrie Underwood). Although I've already made 2013-based music posts on the best albums and best songs from last year, I will do one final prediction-based music piece to wrap a bow on this musical award season featuring who should win the grammy's and who will win the grammy's. I will never follow these up with results because I don't like admitting when I'm wrong. It's a flaw, but I'm working on it.

Record of the Year

And the nominees are...

- "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke ft. Pharrell and T.I.
- "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk ft. Pharrell
- "Locked Out Of Heaven" by Bruno Mars
- "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons
- "Royals" by Lorde

Who should win? "Royals"
Who will win? "Royals"

"Royals" was written and performed by Lorde and there's nothing the Grammy's love more than singer/songwriter. It was a well done ear-worm near the end of the Grammy eligibility period (October 1st, 2012 - September 30, 2013) and Lorde will deliver some sort of strange speech after a good performance (she is set to perform at the Grammy's). It's a shame that the only thing people will be able to talk about afterward is how weird she dresses or something ridiculous of that nature. Imagine Dragons (AKA: Nickleback cover band) sneaked their way onto this list where any of the three Macklemore hits belong.

Album of the Year

And the nominees are...

- Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City by Kendrick Lamar
- Random Access Memories by Daft Punk
- Red by Taylor Swift
- The Blessed Unrest by Sara Bareilles
- The Heist by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Who should win? The Heist
Who will win? The Blessed Unrest

Kendrick Lamar would win this award any other year. It just so happens that Macklemore & Ryan Lewis released The Heist two weeks prior, one week into Grammy eligibility. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis did not have the hype that Kendrick Lamar had built via summer festivals, EP release, and Dr. Dre. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis created their empire all on their own, without a record label and if that's not worth album of the year, then I don't know what is. With that said, the Grammy's are stupid every 5 or so years and this is going to be another occurrence of pure idiocy on their parts. While there are five very deserving albums nominated, none were a surprise other than Sara Bareilles's The Blessed Unrest. In 2008, Herbie Hancock beat Amy Winehouse's Back To Black and Kanye West's Graduation. Two classic albums from the last decade lost out to a composer's tribute album to Joni fucking Mitchell. This is what makes the Grammy's so unpredictable and I get the feeling that if they were bold enough to nominate Sara Bareilles out of virtually nowhere, they'll give her the award and Twitter will freak out as this is would be third on the list of Grammy travesties (Looking at you, Jethro Tull). 

Song of the Year

And the nominees are...

- "Just Give Me A Reason" by Pink ft. Nate Ruess
- "Locked Out Of Heaven" by Bruno Mars
- "Roar" by Katy Perry
- "Royals" by Lorde
- "Same Love" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Mary Lambert

Who should win? "Same Love"
Who will win? "Same Love"

Photograph: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images

The Grammy's would like to think that they're hip and current with the times but they have yet to hand a rap/hip hop song with song of the year honors. With the deeper meaning behind the songwriting, "Same Love" will probably win and should for that reason as well. The Grammy's couldn't possibly screw this up... could they?

Best New Artist

And the nominees are...

- Ed Sheeran
- James Blake
- Kacey Musgraves
- Kendrick Lamar 
- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Who should win? Kendrick Lamar
Who will win? James Blake

This category has been known to upset quite a few people as the only definition for an artist to become eligible for this award is "For a new artist who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording which establishes the public identity of that artist." That's a horribly vague definition that allowed Bon Iver to win the award for their second album. ESPARANZA SPALDING beat out a cavalcade of all-star musicians (Drake, Florence + The Machine, Justin Bieber, Mumford & Sons) in 2010 for this award. It is genuinely the least predictable award and I have a feeling that 2013 Mercury Prize winner James Blake gets this award over the clearly better nominee Kendrick Lamar (and I love James Blake's music so that's tough to admit) and the most popular Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. I also think Kacey Musgraves is a nice sleeper for those of you who want to bet on this in Vegas.

Best Pop Solo Performance

And the nominees are...

- "Brave" by Sara Bareilles
- "Mirrors" by Justin Timberlake
- "Roar" by Katy Perry
- "Royals" by Lorde
- "When I Was Your Man" by Bruno Mars

Who should win? Lorde
Who will win? Lorde

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

And the nominees are...

- "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke ft. Pharrell and T.I.
- "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk ft. Pharrell
- "Just Give Me A Reason" by Pink ft. Nate Ruess
- "Stay" by Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko
- "Suit & Tie" by Justin Timberlake ft. Jay-Z

Who should win? "Get Lucky"
Who will win? "Just Give Me A Reason"

It's going to be a damn shame when Pink gets a grammy from her worst album of a great fifteen year career. I don't know if Daft Punk gets a single grammy for Random Access Memories or it's biggest track, "Get Lucky" but they've definitely earned at minimum one award.

Best Pop Vocal Album

And the nominees are...

- Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke
- Paradise by Lana Del Rey
- Pure Heroine by Lorde
- The 20/20 Experience - The Complete Experience by Justin Timberlake
- Unorthodox Jukebox by Bruno Mars

Who should win? Lana Del Rey
Who will win? Justin Timberlake

My thoughts on The 20/20 Experience... Part 1: Very good, not quite worth a grammy nod. Part 2: Complete fart of an album that lacked the effort part 1 had. This prediction is completely based on gut feeling. Timberlake was big in 2013 thanks to "Suit & Tie", "Mirrors", "Take Back The Night", and "TKO". One big problem I have with this award (probably) going to JT is that other than his first two singles, every song sounds very similar off of 20/20 and that should not be rewarded in this category. I may seem like I'm completely contradicting myself by then giving the award to Lana Del Rey, but the woman had to re-build her entire career and genre just to stay in the business and now she's nominated for a grammy. That's impressive.

Best Rock Performance

And the nominees are...

- "Always Alright" by Alabama Shakes
- "I'm Shakin'" by Jack White
- "Kashmir (Live)" by Led Zeppelin
- "My God Is The Sun" by Queens of the Stone Age
- "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons
- "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" by David Bowie

Who should win? Jack White
Who will win? Imagine Dragons

Seriously though, Imagine Dragons? C'mon Grammy's!

Best Alternative Music Album

And the nominees are...

- Hesitation Marks by Nine Inch Nails
- Lonerism by Tame Impala
- Modern Vampires of the City by Vampire Weekend
- The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You by Neko Case
- Trouble Will Find Me by The National

Who should win? Vampire Weekend & Neko Case (Yes, ties are possible)
Who will win? Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend is the clear favorite in the alt-music field and the only other nominee with any chance is probably The National. I just really love that Neko Case record and believe it deserves more recognition than it will get.

Best R&B Song

And the nominees are...

- "Best of Me" by Anthony Hamilton
- "Love and War" by Tamar Braxton
- "Only One" by P.J. Morton ft. Stevie Wonder
- "Pusher Love Girl" by Justin Timberlake
- "Without Me" by Fantasia ft. Missy Elliot and Kelly Rowland

Who should win? "Without Me"
Who will win? "Only One"

Any chance the academy gets to hand an award to Stevie Wonder, they'll do it.

Best Rap Performance

And the nominees are...

- "Berzerk" by Eminem
- "Started From The Bottom" by Drake
- "Swimming Pools (Drank)" by Kendrick Lamar
- "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Wanz
- "Tom Ford" by Jay-Z

Who should win? "Thrift Shop"
Who will win? "Thrift Shop"

Best Rap Song

And the nominees are...

- "Fuckin' Problems" by A$ap Rocky ft. Drake, 2 Chainz, and Kendrick Lamar
- "Holy Grail" by Jay-Z ft. Justin Timberlake
- "New Slaves" by Kanye West
- "Started From The Bottom" by Drake
- "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Wanz

Who should win? Kanye West
Who will win? Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Clearly, Yeezus was snubbed for Album of the Year honors. The Grammy's will not cease to fail me again and will go with popularity ("Thrift Shop") over quality ("New Slaves"). I like "Thrift Shop", there just isn't as much meaning behind it as "New Slaves". At the end of the day, I think we're all rooting for "Fuckin' Problems" as it'd be hilarious to see all those rappers on stage, especially Kendrick and Drake after that "Control" verse by Kendrick. 

Best Rap Album

And the nominees are...

- Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City by Kendrick Lamar
- Magna Carta... Holy Grail by Jay-Z
- Nothing Was The Same by Drake
- The Heist by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
- Yeezus by Kanye West

DISCLAIMER: LET'S STOP FOOLING OURSELVES, THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT AWARD OF THE NIGHT

Who should win? Kendrick or Kanye, I'm fine with either of the two greatest rap albums I've ever had the pleasure of listening to.
Who will win? Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and there's nothing wrong with this.

Adele, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis? The Grammy's seem to get a hard-on for one particular act every year whether there are other deserving candidates or not. This year, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis will (deservedly so) win a ton of awards, even in categories with better nominees. The Heist is great, Yeezus and Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City are on the next level of greatness. Kendrick should not be counted out of this award but Kanye should not attend as he'll probably get shut out.  

Two Final Predictions: Adele will win any award she is nominated for (and "Skyfall" is eligible).
Capital Cities' "Safe And Sound" wins Best Music Video over Jay Z's performance art film for "Picasso Baby".

The Grammy Awards show will broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/P

Quick Paragraph of Thoughts on Richard Sherman Interview

I find it interesting how when a black player is involved in something like Sherman's post-game interview, we're quick to throw out a word like "thug". That word has more effect than just calling him a "douche" or something that gets thrown around on a daily basis and has no effect. If you checked twitter at all last night, Sherman's post-game interview basically incited a race-debate and it was sad to witness. If Richard's on your team, you LOVED what he did last night. If Colin Kaepernick is on your team, you LOVE the bicep kiss. It all comes down to who is on your team of choice and that's okay. Where it gets wrong is when you attack somebody's character in a defamatory matter just based off of one or two instances that you notice. You don't know the men off the field, stop acting like you do and don't spread hatred. - A-Todd out.


MMQB Article Written by Richard Sherman  <- Good stuff.

Robert Beck/Sports Illustrated/The MMQB

Bowl Game Pick Results

(Click on pictures to zoom in)

20/35 isn't bad.... it's not good, but it's not bad. I got the most important game (BCS Championship) right and that's good enough for me. My undoing was faith in higher seeded teams that fell out of favor late on still caring (Ex: Baylor, Alabama, Ohio State, Arizona State, etc.). Here's to the 2014 season in which we'll see a whole new crop of players and less noteworthy players on Alabama, Texas A&M, and Louisville as they all try to replace legendary quarterbacks.