It is mid February. Valentine’s Day won’t be around the corner for 350 days. Super Bowl ended two weeks ago. The NBA All-Star Weekend and Trade Deadline have passed as well. Heck, the same even goes with the Chinese New Year and Ash Wednesday. Events have passed and I have not blogged anything these past days. Cold streak? Probably. But is there something to look forward to? Of course, there is.
Actually, I want to write about the major sports events that occurred at the first half of February but the dozen articles in ESPN have pretty much stamped ‘you will be redundant’ on my blogs. OK, I am not a popular blogger to think of such stuff but it feels terrible to write about something that articles and columns that you have read have discussed for multiple times. OK, maybe I have skimmed on most since I do not have the time but that’s beside the point… it still has influenced me in some way or the other.
With these, I bring to you… my power rankings on relevant topics in sports and entertainment. Wow, Jeff, is that the best you could think of? An overused theme in sports articles? Seriously?! OK, fine. It is an overused theme but at least there is still no Marc Stein NBA Power Rankings (Hollinger’s does not count because it is automated anyway) released as of the date I am writing this. That and I will try to be unique as much as possible.
NBA Trade Deadline Power Rankings
Most of the trades this year have been salary dump trades where good teams get better and bad teams get worse. Pundits usually claim that trades that involve removing huge contracts in order to be in play for the LeBron James sweepstakes are superb. However, there is no assurance that those teams have gotten the assets they wanted. Thus, I will try to avoid discussing a team that removed a good player in here because they need to pave way for future free agents.
5. Houston Rockets. I am a bit torn on the trades they did. They got a high scorer in Kevin Martin but they took Jeffries’ terrible contract because they wanted Jordan Hill’s potential. Nevertheless, I think the Kmart trade was very good. They optimized Carl Landry by trading him while his stock is up for a very good scorer which would complement Yao Ming (the main reason why they traded Landry)
4. Portland Trailblazers. Got rid of Steve Blake? Check. Got a very good big man? Check. The big guy is on an expiring contract so that he won’t be an issue when Oden and Przybilla return next year? Check. The trade helped them as a team and as a business organization.
Actually, I want to write about the major sports events that occurred at the first half of February but the dozen articles in ESPN have pretty much stamped ‘you will be redundant’ on my blogs. OK, I am not a popular blogger to think of such stuff but it feels terrible to write about something that articles and columns that you have read have discussed for multiple times. OK, maybe I have skimmed on most since I do not have the time but that’s beside the point… it still has influenced me in some way or the other.
With these, I bring to you… my power rankings on relevant topics in sports and entertainment. Wow, Jeff, is that the best you could think of? An overused theme in sports articles? Seriously?! OK, fine. It is an overused theme but at least there is still no Marc Stein NBA Power Rankings (Hollinger’s does not count because it is automated anyway) released as of the date I am writing this. That and I will try to be unique as much as possible.
NBA Trade Deadline Power Rankings
Most of the trades this year have been salary dump trades where good teams get better and bad teams get worse. Pundits usually claim that trades that involve removing huge contracts in order to be in play for the LeBron James sweepstakes are superb. However, there is no assurance that those teams have gotten the assets they wanted. Thus, I will try to avoid discussing a team that removed a good player in here because they need to pave way for future free agents.
5. Houston Rockets. I am a bit torn on the trades they did. They got a high scorer in Kevin Martin but they took Jeffries’ terrible contract because they wanted Jordan Hill’s potential. Nevertheless, I think the Kmart trade was very good. They optimized Carl Landry by trading him while his stock is up for a very good scorer which would complement Yao Ming (the main reason why they traded Landry)
4. Portland Trailblazers. Got rid of Steve Blake? Check. Got a very good big man? Check. The big guy is on an expiring contract so that he won’t be an issue when Oden and Przybilla return next year? Check. The trade helped them as a team and as a business organization.
3. New York Knicks. I know. I know. I stated that I am not going to mention a team which traded a good player away for expiring contracts. But hey, New York did not trade any good players anyway. We all know Jared Jeffries is not a good player. (Oh, you don’t know him? Let’s just say he had an expensive contract) Jordan Hill is just pure potential as of now. As for Nate, he is a ballhog and he does not fit D’Antoni’s system that requires good passing point guards. This is also the reason why Boston is not in the power rankings.
2. Dallas Mavericks. Grand theft. WTF Washington?! Jamison is the guy you need to get rid of because of his huge contract. Caron Butler is not paid that high, why give him away? Dallas got rid of their pot-smoking guard to get a premiere scorer plus a decent defensive center. Mark Cuban, you are a thief. High five for spicing things up in a very predictable Western Conference playoffs.
1. Cleveland Cavaliers. No brainer. Pure grand theft. Cleveland lost Z (which they will get back after Washington buys him out) and got Antawn Jamison. This is not a trade at all – it was just a salary dump. Now, LeBron has no excuse if his team does not win the Finals.
However…
I think that getting Jamison only helps Cleveland for the short term. He will soon be washed up and they will be paying a lot to keep him. Nevertheless, it does not matter if they end up winning a championship anyway.
Post-Trade Ramblings:
A lot of the trades were actually good for the teams (whether it be financially or by making their teams strong) except for Sacramento and Washington. Sac Town could have gotten more from Kevin Martin’s good contract. Trading him makes sense since they got terrible when he returned to the lineup, but they only got Landry? Seriously? As for Washington, they gave up too much just to break up the Arenas-Butler-Jamison triumvirate.
NBA Post-Trade Power Rankings:
On the Cusp: Denver Nuggets. They can’t beat the true-form Lakers (not the regular season Lakers) with their lineup, why put them in the top five if they have no chance of winning the title?
1. Cleveland Cavaliers. No brainer. Pure grand theft. Cleveland lost Z (which they will get back after Washington buys him out) and got Antawn Jamison. This is not a trade at all – it was just a salary dump. Now, LeBron has no excuse if his team does not win the Finals.
However…
I think that getting Jamison only helps Cleveland for the short term. He will soon be washed up and they will be paying a lot to keep him. Nevertheless, it does not matter if they end up winning a championship anyway.
Post-Trade Ramblings:
A lot of the trades were actually good for the teams (whether it be financially or by making their teams strong) except for Sacramento and Washington. Sac Town could have gotten more from Kevin Martin’s good contract. Trading him makes sense since they got terrible when he returned to the lineup, but they only got Landry? Seriously? As for Washington, they gave up too much just to break up the Arenas-Butler-Jamison triumvirate.
NBA Post-Trade Power Rankings:
On the Cusp: Denver Nuggets. They can’t beat the true-form Lakers (not the regular season Lakers) with their lineup, why put them in the top five if they have no chance of winning the title?
5. Boston Celtics. I started this season believing that they are the best team in the East. However, KG’s injury has destroyed their cause. Getting Nate sure helps scoring-wise but he might screw up the team chemistry. Nevertheless, C’s are lethal with a 100% healthy lineup.
4. Orlando Magic. I am still not sold on getting VC instead of retaining Turk. Nevertheless, they are still strong. They can still beat Cleveland.
3. Dallas Mavericks. Huge jump because of the Butler trade.
4. Orlando Magic. I am still not sold on getting VC instead of retaining Turk. Nevertheless, they are still strong. They can still beat Cleveland.
3. Dallas Mavericks. Huge jump because of the Butler trade.
2. Los Angeles Lakers. Still the Best in the West. I still believe that they are the only shoo-in in the Finals.
1. Cleveland Cavaliers. The Jamison trade made them the favorites to win the whole thing. Yes, the battle in the East is harder in the semis and finals but Cleveland has a more solid lineup than LA. Lakers have more stars but Cleveland has better team chemistry, defense and bench. Those and they have the shoo-in MVP of this season.
The NBA heat is starting to rise up this past week, but so is another show – American Idol. Finally! We are in the voting stages of the competition. I initially liked the audition and Hollywood shows but I must admit that these have become boring because the focus is spread out. It is entertaining but eight shows of the same variation bores me out. Neil Patrick Harris and Katy Perry were awesome judges but the show is still about the contestants (you hear that Simon Cowell? You effin’ leaver.) What makes the show interesting is the fact that the audience gets to root for the contestants. It is just the Top 24 but I have created power rankings based from what I have seen. I am not rooting for anyone yet (or else a potentially good contestant leaves early because I jinxed him/her). Do note though that I have not seen all of the 24 contestants perform yet (not my fault though…some did not get exposure). This is based on how they became memorable to me in a good way and not on how they were pimped (Ashley Rodriguez was heavily pimped but she is just OK for my taste so far).
American Idol Top 24 Power Rankings:
On the Cusp: Todrick Hall and Lilly Scott
The NBA heat is starting to rise up this past week, but so is another show – American Idol. Finally! We are in the voting stages of the competition. I initially liked the audition and Hollywood shows but I must admit that these have become boring because the focus is spread out. It is entertaining but eight shows of the same variation bores me out. Neil Patrick Harris and Katy Perry were awesome judges but the show is still about the contestants (you hear that Simon Cowell? You effin’ leaver.) What makes the show interesting is the fact that the audience gets to root for the contestants. It is just the Top 24 but I have created power rankings based from what I have seen. I am not rooting for anyone yet (or else a potentially good contestant leaves early because I jinxed him/her). Do note though that I have not seen all of the 24 contestants perform yet (not my fault though…some did not get exposure). This is based on how they became memorable to me in a good way and not on how they were pimped (Ashley Rodriguez was heavily pimped but she is just OK for my taste so far).
American Idol Top 24 Power Rankings:
On the Cusp: Todrick Hall and Lilly Scott
5. Katie Stevens. One of the hyped contestants but I think is still good. Her style of singing does not actually appeal that much to me but her rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “For Once In My Life” was memorable enough (although I remembered it more because it was Ari Gold and his wife’s theme song in Entourage)
4. Siobhan Magnus. I admit that she caught my attention because she was cute (just like 5-6 other girls in the Top 24) but I also have to note that she has an awkward, awful and weird mouth while singing (it was 100 times worse than Kris Allen’s monkey face last year). That’s an understatement. Nevertheless with whatever exposure she had (which in total would be less than five minutes), she was still good as she’s got the pipes for it.
3. Andrew Garcia. I am not biased towards the girls. See? There is a guy in this list. This guy has a cool voice that I think would easily catapult him as an early favorite to reach the top 12. However, he has the makings of a Danny Gokey (due to being overpimped). Anyway, Danny ended up third last year so this is just right for him.
2. Crystal Bowersox. Very talented lady. She had not just one but two instruments in her final Hollywood Week performance!
3. Andrew Garcia. I am not biased towards the girls. See? There is a guy in this list. This guy has a cool voice that I think would easily catapult him as an early favorite to reach the top 12. However, he has the makings of a Danny Gokey (due to being overpimped). Anyway, Danny ended up third last year so this is just right for him.
2. Crystal Bowersox. Very talented lady. She had not just one but two instruments in her final Hollywood Week performance!
1. Didi Benami. 4 women out of 5. Hmmm… OK, I am biased (why would I be interested in viewing a YouTube of a guy singer this early anyway?). Although, this week’s Top 4 were not YouTube people because I really did remember them from watching TV. Anyway, Didi caught my attention when she performed Kara DioGuardi’s “Terrified.” That was the first time that a female contestant became notable because of her singing this season (during the auditions, I initially thought that we are going to have a weak female cast this year. Yup, I thought the males were more talented but since I was never interested in knowing them, they did not place in the list… OK, fine I am biased.) I initially thought that we will be having a dearth of eye candy chicks like last season but I was very glad that I was wrong. Didi was the first standout and her performance continues to amaze me. Heck, I did not know the song but her performance blew me away. I checked Kara and Katharine McPhee’s versions but Didi’s (though it was short) was the best. She has the Brooke White distinct voice (and she is a chick!) Nevertheless, it was just one song so I am not digging her yet. But so far, she is the best this week.
Who will I be rooting for? To be honest, I still do not know. Maybe when we get into the Top 12. I will probably be sorry for the contestant because I may jinx her (just like Alexis Grace from last year). I just hope that this season would turn to be an outstanding season.
By the way, can we have a chick in the American Idol season finale this year? I don’t want to watch a sausagefest of a season finale again. OK, I will stop before I start losing credibility in my power rankings (which I judged because of talent and relevance. Seriously. Stop laughing at your seat. I really mean it.)
Who will I be rooting for? To be honest, I still do not know. Maybe when we get into the Top 12. I will probably be sorry for the contestant because I may jinx her (just like Alexis Grace from last year). I just hope that this season would turn to be an outstanding season.
By the way, can we have a chick in the American Idol season finale this year? I don’t want to watch a sausagefest of a season finale again. OK, I will stop before I start losing credibility in my power rankings (which I judged because of talent and relevance. Seriously. Stop laughing at your seat. I really mean it.)
Other Topics I Should Have Written About
• Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints for winning the Super Bowl. After watching all the teams I rooted for lose in the NFL Playoffs, I finally chose the correct team this time. I am not a Saints fan but I cheered wildly in front of my laptop (using streaming) when Peyton Manning’s pass was intercepted and turned into a touchdown. Peyton Manning's face after the interception = Priceless. Awesome game that was. I have been in anti-Colts mode this year and it was a perfect finish for me. New Orleans finally got something to celebrate for (other than Mardi Gras).
• As expected, Ateneo’s Women Volleyball team entered the playoffs and lost. The team is very good offensively but they lack the defensive fort to be competitive in the games that matter. Sad ending for them yesterday but it was still a great season. As for the Finals, I am actually rooting for La Salle to beat UST (yes, you read it right). I just like the balance in the Green and White squad. However, I won’t be betting for them to win it because UST has huge momentum right now.
• As expected, Ateneo’s Women Volleyball team entered the playoffs and lost. The team is very good offensively but they lack the defensive fort to be competitive in the games that matter. Sad ending for them yesterday but it was still a great season. As for the Finals, I am actually rooting for La Salle to beat UST (yes, you read it right). I just like the balance in the Green and White squad. However, I won’t be betting for them to win it because UST has huge momentum right now.
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