If you like that classic oldschool sound, then are you in for a treat today cause I’m in one of those moods to review one of my all-time faves from back in the heyday when sh*t just didn’t matter.

I always dug Method Man’s style. He was just insane on the mic throwing out crazy ass lyrics at a rate faster than Jose Reyes on the basepaths.

Back in 1996, Meth reigned supreme producing some big hits including this favorite track, “You’re All I Need.” With also outstanding vocals from Mary J. Blige, it was a winner. And I like Mary J too regardless of whatever she did in terms of HGH shipments.

The music’s the thing and she’s got one of the best voices.

They also did a remix on this song which became pretty darn big at the club scene. I should know!

They just don’t make dope tracks like this anymore. So do yourself a favor, sit back, relax and enjoy it:

Method Man fea. Mary J. Blidge: “You’re All I Need”

no surprise that the video’s pretty hot as well. Greatness personified.

And here’s another from Meth which is just off the charts:

Method Man: “Release Yo’ Delf”

i remember when some teams used to come out to this. It was this along with The Fugees’ “Fu-Gee La,” and a bunch of other cool stuff.

Our pic of the day is back and it’s coming from that great walkoff courtesy of the bat of Washington Nationals’ star third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. So enjoy the first of many great baseball moments 2008 style!

AP Photos Courtesy Getty Images by Drew Hallowell

Here’s also a nice shot of the brand new ballpark:

 

AP Photo Courtesy Getty Images by Pablo Martinez Monsivais

The day has finally arrived! Well, unless you’re from Japan or a Washington Nationals’ fan, most baseball games will officially get underway later today on Opening Day!!!!!

What baseball fan doesn’t love Opening Day? The ceremonial first pitch. The national anthem which brings this country closer together. Baseballs thrown with a purpose. Batting practice. The crack of the bat. A hustling player laying it all out on the line to make a diving catch for a web gem to be seen on still baseball’s best show on ESPN, Baseball Tonight. Hey. As a former Bristol Connecticut employee, I get on them plenty but that’s one show they’ve always gotten right even if they sometimes overhaul key personnel way too much.

Today’s a day for baseball fans across America to rejoice because even if you’re a Pirates fan or Omaha Royals one, the records all are an identical 0-0 with 162 exciting (well they hope anyway) ballgames to play.

As someone who covers minor league ball, I am definitely ready to go! Only another nine or so weeks until the Staten Island Yankees open up!!!!! I’m also going to put in for some Trenton Thunder games and see if I can catch any former players I covered a la Francisco Cervelli and Colin Curtis. Josh Schmidt should also be there as well.

Speaking of Cervelli, the former NY-Penn League All-Star backstop had a little write-up in Sunday’s NY Post about Yankee brass being high on him. We’ll see how he fares in Double-A when he returns from a broken left wrist due to that infamous home plate collision with Tampa’s Elliot Johnson. Expect Cervelli to be back sometime in May.

As far as other former Baby Bombers to follow, Mitch Hilligoss certainly should be one as he’ll likely start down in Tampa looking to continue his upswing after a great second pro season with Charleston which featured a South Atlantic record 38-game hit streak.

Keep a watchful eye on George Kontos, Jonathan Hovis, Seth Fortenberry, Justin Snyder, Damon Sublett, Dellin Betances, Zach McAllister, Taylor Holiday, Mark Melanchon and speedy outfielder Brett Gardner, who will be with Triple A Wilkes Barre/Scranton but could be a September call-up.

Wishing the very best to all the players we covered including Nick Peterson, who gave us a great in depth interview a couple of months ago.

As for last night’s ESPN debut game between the visiting Braves and host Nats at the new $611 million Nationals Park, what a way to start it off as Washington’s best player and most clutch (18 GW RBI’s in 2007) third baseman Ryan Zimmerman walked off against Atlanta with a two out solo blast clearing the 377 foot sign in left center to give his team an exciting and memorable 3-2 home win.

I love Zimmerman. He’s got some David Wright in him, who btw like many other baseball observers I like to win NL MVP. I think Wright’s going to build off last season. He’s the leader of that Met team and won’t tolerate any losing after last September’s epic collapse.

We’re going to have more on the Mets and other baseball teams at some point. I’ll maybe even get to the rest of my predictions. Sorry I haven’t gotten to them as I’ve been very bust lately at work.

Still, we’ll make some picks later on today. So keep an eye on it and most importantly, enjoy the baseball!

Tonight’s comes courtesy of victorious Kansas coach Bill Self who was quite relieved to finally guide a school to the Final Four. His team will meet former Jayhawk coach Roy Williams’ Tar Heels next week. For the love of God, go Jayhawks!

“Trust me, I was on both knees. You picture the way you win a big game like that, it would be you make a shot, you celebrate or something happens and you’re able to go congratulate all your coaches and players. This was not one of those deals. I just wanted to make sure that I hurried up and shook hands and the officials left the court so they couldn’t put any time back on the clock.”

 

AP Photos Courtesy Getty Images by Gregory Shamus

And then there were ones. For the first time ever, four No.1 seeds came out of their respective regions each advancing to the Men’s Division I Final Four in San Antonio next weekend.

After Memphis rolled past Texas 85-67 to win the South region, all that was left was for Kansas to beat upstart Davidson and win the Midwest. It didn’t come easy for Bill Self’s Jayhawks, who had to survive a Jason Richards wide miss from 25 feet before hanging on to a well earned 59-57 win over Stephen Curry and the pesky 10th seeded Wildcats.

They were able to do so thanks to some splendid aggressive man-to-man defense which featured a box in one on the tournament’s leading scorer Curry helping to wear him down. The sophomore who was justifiably named the region’s Most Outstanding Player finished just 9-of-25 from the floor and misfired on 12-of-16 contested three’s. Though he drained his last one which put the outcome in doubt for the topseeded Jayhawks, Curry ran out of gas after netting 15 in an effective first half.

“We just forced him into tough shots in the second half,” New York City product Russell Robinson noted after finishing without any points and an uncharacteristic four turnovers despite helping blanket Curry. “We didn’t let him get into a rhythm.” 

“Fatigue was definitely a factor,” a disappointed Curry later admitted. “That four-guard rotation they had really took a toll.”

As it turned out, the 20 year-old Charlotte native was human after all despite demonstrating such poise throughout a brilliant tournament which saw him get 30-or-more against Davidson’s first three victims- No.7 Gonzaga, No.2 Georgetown and No.3 Wisconsin.

It looked like he was well on his way to another 30-point day with 22 and still plenty of time left but Kansas really picked up the pressure forcing Curry into some ill advised shots. In fact, it was his teammates who stepped up giving hopeful fans who came to Detroit what they wanted to see. An actual competitive Regional Final. With apologies to Rick Pitino and Louisville, the other three games sucked lacking any late drama which is what most want to see unless your name is John “JPG” Giagnorio.

Kansas won thanks to the key contribution of overlooked senior center Sasha Kaun. The 6-11 250 pound Melbourne Florida native took advantage of his size advantage, hurting the smaller Wildcats by scoring inside for 13 points hitting on all six field goals. He also grabbed 10 rebounds.

With less than nine minutes to go, it looked like Cinderella might spoil the party. It wasn’t because of Curry either but rather roommate Bryant Barr, who dialed from long distance three consecutive times to give Davidson a 51-47 lead allowing the packed house to sense another possible upset.

The big question heading in was whether Kansas would wilt if put in a tight game. The Midwest’s top seed answered myself and other skeptics by outscoring Davidson 12-2 thanks to the combination of Kaun and Brandon Rush (8 of 12 pts in 2nd half). Rush, who had been ice cold for most of the well played defensive game finally made some plays including a nice runner off the glass as part of a three-point play (he didn’t get fouled but that’s the breaks).

Suddenly, it was Kansas by six with the finish line very much in sight. Especially when Curry had prior misfired on a wide open trey from the left arc off a Jason Richards feed which would’ve made it a one-point game. Instead, Rush swished a pair of free throws to help the Jayhawks extended their lead to six, matching the biggest of the game.

After another Curry miss, it looked like the end for the Wildcats but the Jayhawks couldn’t put the final nail down giving their resilient opponents one more slight crack with under 60 seconds to play. Following one of two at the line from teammate Thomas Sander, the Wildcats’ hustle allowed them to get the ball back. When Curry quickly came off a double screen to drain one from downtown suddenly slicing it to 59-57 with still 54 seconds to go, it was back to being up in the air.

Davidson turned up the defensive pressure forcing Kansas into a bad shot before the shot clock expired getting the ball back down two with under 20 seconds remaining.

This is what they came for. This is why you turned on CBS today. To see this kind of exciting finish where here was another underdog trying to pull another George Mason and knock off a major heavyweight to its hit list of Gonzaga, Georgetown and Wisconsin.

Following a timeout, everyone knew who would have the ball. Maybe that was the problem for Davidson. Instead of allowing Richards to take the Kansas guards off the dribble, they opted to let Curry decide it. There was no way the Jayhawks were going to allow that to happen. They wisely doubled forcing Dell Curry’s kid into some indecisiveness which cost his school in the end.

Instead of passing off to an open teammate at the top of the key, he continued to dribble to the right before drawing another double and passing back to Richards, whose desperation off balance 25-footer hit off the left of the backboard.

“They had a lot of bodies and a lot of athletic guys who could chase me,” Curry said. “They did make me work hard, and I had good looks at the end, but they weren’t falling like they did all tournament. We can’t hang our heads. We had opportunities. We just didn’t execute.” 

It allowed Kansas to hold on for dear life and give their coach the big victory he had lacked. Self had guided three different schools to this juncture before only to bow out. However, this time would be much sweeter allowing an emotional coach to bend down and slap the floor as if to say, ‘Thank you.’

Who could blame him? He’d been doubted by many including yours truly. And for once, his team in the face of adversity rose up to the challenge advancing to a Final Four showdown against former coach Roy Williams and North Carolina Tar Heels.

“We expected to win,” Davidson coach Bob McKillop stated.

“We didn’t come here content or satisfied. We expected to win. This has been a 12-month mission. It came down to one final play. That’s the beauty of this game that we play.”

Notes: Kansas guard Mario Chalmers matched Kaun’s output with 13 including three triples. … Richards finished with seven points and a game high nine assists. The senior Davidson point guard led the nation in assists averaging better than eight. With a strong showing, he boosted his NBA Draft stock. While many will point to a talented crop which could include Memphis’ Derrick Rose (21 pts, 9 assists, 6 rebs vs Texas), USC’s O.J. Mayo, UCLA’s Darren Collison, Texas’ D.J. Augustin (16 pts, 4-of-18 FG, 3 assists, 4 turnovers) and UNC’s Ty Lawson, Richards should also be in the mix along with Stanford’s Mitch Johnson and Marquette’s Dominic James. … The loss snapped Davidson’s nation best 25-game win streak. … It will be Kansas’ 13th trip to the Final Four and first in five years when they fell to Syracuse in the championship game.

“Inner Peace”

by Derek Felix

You walk in this certain special place

Where it all seems like a different world

One which you prefer judging by the look on your face

It truly is one of life’s pearls

Taking you away from all the rest which is so fake

Instead you look around and notice what’s real

This has become your eternal escape

The surroundings are very nice with genuine appeal

You admire all that it has to offer

As the sun shines down on you

There’s little doubt that you won’t be bothered

With the bluest ocean and sky ringing true

Making you forget all your life’s struggles

Instead pondering such a perfect paradise

Where there’s no such thing as trouble

Which brings out that smile not once but twice

The joy is all around you on this day

No longer contemplating what went wrong

As you walk on down by the bay

All that you hear is your favorite song

You finally got away from it all

Much more relaxed and pleased

Truly are having a ball

About time you made your inner peace

He shoots the basketball. Swish! If only it were always that easy at this exciting time of year. Or maybe that’s just how it looks through Stephen Curry’s eyes.

The super soph from upstart Davidson led his school to a third consecutive win in the NCAA Div. I Men’s Basketball tournament by putting on another show netting 22 of his game high 33 in the second half of a convincing 73-56 win over No.3 seed Wisconsin to advance to the Midwest Regional Final earlier tonight.

Former NBA long range bomber Dell Curry’s son had been kept relatively in check by some solid man-to-man D by Wisconsin senior guard Michael Flowers, who held him to 11 first half points as each team was knotted at 36. However, the second 20 minutes were a different story. Much like in roasting Davidson’s first couple of victims Gonzaga and Georgetown, the 20 year-old Curry got toasty hot slicing and dicing the Badgers from inside off effective curls inside and from way downtown on what else but his bread and butter.

He along with some unbelievable dishing from overlooked point guard Jason Richards, who dropped 13 dimes and also knocked down three triples finishing with 11 points as well. Aside from finding running mate Curry on the outside for six treys, he also made some sweet passes to third option Andrew Lovedale, who also hit for double digits with 12 going a perfect five-of-five from the floor finishing from in close.

Aside from outscoring the Badgers all by himself 22-20 in the second half, Curry put the dagger in with a classic stepback three from three feet behind the key as the shot clock expired. This kid is just silky smooth and doesn’t feel pressure. He did force the issue a couple of times but bounced back not letting those shots affect his overall game unlike Tennessee’s Chris Lofton, who was abysmal in a blowout loss to Louisville the night before bricking eight of nine from beyond the arc. Last tournament, he played well and had the Volunteers on the verge of upsetting Ohio State. This year, he tanked. Talk about your stock plummeting.

Next up for Davidson, who now owns a nation best 25-game win streak will be top seeded Kansas, who is on the verge of finishing off 12th seeded Villanova on the strength of a productive night from big Brandon Rush (14) along with some hot shooting from scrappy New York product Russell Robinson (15 pts, three treys).

So what did Pop think of his brilliant son’s latest 30-plus point performance?

“In the NBA, I never experienced this as a player. I don’t think even in all my playoff games in my career that I’ve felt like this,” the elder Curry and proud father said after getting plenty of celebratory handshakes.

“To see your son succeed and have fun on a national stage is great.”

Pretty cool stuff.

“It’s hard for a defense to sustain themselves for a whole 40 minutes. Eventually, you’ll find yourself open,” the younger Curry pointed out. “It’s just being patient and sticking to the system that we have at Davidson.”

I never really looked at it from that standpoint. Kudos to him and teammates for keeping their dream season alive. It shall only get tougher against Kansas with plenty at stake this weekend.

As T-Ho might say, “Get your popcorn ready!”

Ever just hear something on the radio again for the first time in so long and were reminded of just how freaking good it was when it came out? That’s how I’d explain Puddle of Mudd’s 2001 album which featured hits such as “Control,” “Drift and Die,” “She ******* Hates Me” along with select fave “Blurry.”

There’s just something about this song which is so kick ass. No. It’s not heavy metal nor does it have to be. Just listening to every word gives you an idea of the special significance to it. It’s got edge.

Oh. And the video’s just tremendous as well. It’s really got that vibe going. The whole father/son thing is really cool too. I really like how it was shot.

As it turned out, Blurry wound up being the band’s top hit reaching No.5 in The States for the Kansas City Missouri act fronted by Wes Scantlin, which got an assist from Fred Durst. Go figure.

Anyway, here’s their best work to date though “Psycho” is a good one with that classic Scantlin vocals along with underrated bandmates Doug Ardito, Christian Stone and Ryan Yerdon.

Puddle of Mudd: “Blurry”

Everything’s so blurry
And everyone’s so fake
And everybody’s so empty
And everything is so messed up
Pre-occupied without you
I cannot live at all
My whole world surrounds you
I stumble then I crawl

You could be my someone
You could be my scene
You know that I’ll protect you
From all of the obscene
I wonder what your doing
Imagine where you are
There’s oceans in between us
But that’s not very far

Everyone is changing
There’s noone left that’s real
To make up your own ending
And let me know just how you feel
Cause I am lost without you
I cannot live at all
My whole world surrounds you
I stumble then I crawl

When you listen to Scantlin sing this, it could pretty much apply to anything. In this case, his son which is very touching.

Hope ya’ll enjoyed this. Until next time.

Edit: It’s a few months later and I came across a rare acoustic version.

So here it is:

Puddle of Mudd: “Blurry“-acoustic set

love the drum beats and like the way Wes sang it tho he sounded odd at times before really turning it up a few notches towards the end.

 

AP Photo Courtesy Getty Images

So isn’t about time I had one of these total randomness blog entries? I think so! Really. It’s about freaking time. There’s so much going on which is what makes it all worthwhile. So let’s get to it in no order:

1.Does anyone really care about the beginning of the baseball season in Japan? Find me one good reason two Major League teams should travel all that way to play. And no. Save me the whole Dice K argument or whatever. It just makes no sense and screws fans here in the process cause nobody in their right mind is getting up at 6 AM (3 Pacific) to watch the Red Sox take on the Athletics in two games. They split btw. I only know that cause my buddy Steve Lepore told me. People have lives. Baseball soldout big time here!

2.Are the Mets really delusional enough to let Ruben Gotay go through waivers for freaking Nelson Figueroa off one good Spring? Man. That’s just brutal. If Luis Castillo’s already day-to-day with his legs getting worse, what’s he going to be like in four years? Leave it to the game’s most overrated GM Omar Minaya to explain this one.

3.If Andy Pettite’s back continues to be an issue, that Yankee rotation sure is thin and unproven. And who thinks Moose can comeback from last year? Really. Anyone? 

4.I didn’t even know Chris Webber still played anyway.

5.When Roger Federer gets whipped by American underachiever Mardy Fish in any tournament, that’s cause for concern no matter what he says. I’d love to be a fly on Andy Roddick’s wall after that one. His best friend can get Roger but he hasn’t in nearly five years.

6.Who else thinks the two Serbs Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic will be No.1 on the WTA and ATP tours by the end of the summer?

7.LeBron gets my vote for MVP on that average Cleveland roster.

8.Remember when the AI trade to Denver was supposed to be the end for the 76ers? How’s that working out? Just for the record, I always was a huge fan of Andre Miller from the time he starred for Utah in college. The versatile point guard who runs the show for the now two over 76ers has been overlooked for a while.

9.Overlooked NBA rookies:

A.Thaddeus Young , 76ers

B.Daequan Cook, Heat 

C.Nick Young, Wizards

D.Jeff Green, Sonics

E.Luis Scola/Carl Landry, Rockets

F.Al Thornton, Clippers

10.Underrated NBA superstar has to be the Hornets’ David West. He could flat out ball at Xavier but somehow fell to New Orleans at No.18 overall in the 2003 Draft. The 27 year-old Teaneck New Jersey native averages better than 20 along with over nine boards, 2.3 assists and more than a block-per-night. West dropped 20 including the winner from 17 with 0.6 seconds left as the Hornets edged the Cavs 100-99.

So, who were a few of the players taken ahead of him five years prior you ask? Aside from the Big Four of LeBron, Carmelo, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade who were all givens, you had Chris Kaman, Kirk Hinrich and T.J. Ford all go in the top 10 and turn into solid players. Too bad Ford’s feet are a mess.

Here are some of the gems:

2.Pistons- Darko Milicic (with third NBA team if the Grizzlies count)

9.Knicks- Michael Sweetney (packaged for Eddy “Fat Albert” Curry)

10.Wizards- Jarvis Hayes (key reserve now for Pistons)

11.Warriors- Mickael Pietrus (still with team but can you say bust)

12.Sonics- Nick Collison (taken despite knowledge he’d miss rookie yr)

13.Grizzlies- Marcus Banks (explains a whole lot, on 4th team in Miami and answer to Shaq trivia question)

14.Sonics- Luke Ridnour (not a bad player but nothing special)

15.Magic- Reece Gaines (before they lucked into Dwight Howard, they actually took the former Louisville star guard that high. He’s out of the league)

16.Celtics- Troy Bell (remember when he was really good for BC? Well, he never panned out)

17.Suns- Zarko Cabarkapa (who???)

Steals from that draft include Josh Howard (29th-Mavs), Mo Williams (47th-Jazz), Travis Outlaw (23rd-Blazers), Boris Diaw (21st-Hawks), Carlos Delfino (25th-Pistons), Leandro Barbosa (28th-Spurs), Jason Kapono (31st-Cavs), Luke Walton (32nd-Lakers), Steve Blake (38th-Wizards), Kyle Korver (51st-Nets) and James Jones (49th-Pacers).

Some pretty good names there but it does make you ponder what the heck scouts were looking at. The NBA Draft is always fun but boy oh boy, can you find some absolute duds which is what this history lesson proves.

Fyi…the Knicks took Maciej Lampe. Remember when he was supposed to be some homerun? The next big Euro star? Try more like Euro trash! Well, at least they got Starbury for him. Funny sometimes how things turn out.

11.My good buddy and NY Hockey Report co-host Joe McDonald says the Rangers are coming out of the East. I just want to know how so unless that power play becomes more reliable than Con Edison. I agree with WFAN’s Steve Somers on this team. They’re baffling. Some nights, they look like world beaters and others like the other night, they leave you scratching your head. How can a diehard Blueshirt fan take this team seriously? They’re just too hot and cold for my liking. I’m sticking with Montreal.

12.If you didn’t catch tonight’s NYHR, do yourself a favor and do so because it happened to be one of the most random and funny shows we’ve done. The whole time, Joe and Lepore were picking me apart on my absurd theories which covered a variety of topics. Where the heck was Gary Harding anyway? Warming up the golf clubs for Rick DiPietro?!?!?!?!?!?!

13.There are some nights where you swear the Devils couldn’t score into a whorehouse if they tried.

14.Over/under on tonight’s Ranger/Devil total goals is at a gaudy one and a half. Just thought you’d like to know!

15.Alexander Ovechkin’s 61 is the most meaningful since Roger Maris.

16.Stat line of the night or not:

Player A- 17:26, 2-of-6 FG, 0-1 FT,  5 Pts, 4 Rebs, 2 A

Player B- 11:01, 2-of-4 FG, 1-3 FT, 5 Pts, 3 Rebs, 1 A

Dubious minds want to know what John “JPG” Giagnorio has to say about this one.

17.Maybe I’m in the minority on this one but I love all the drama that Jose Canseco’s new book is creating. Sure beats Spring Training. Did anyone else notice some similarities between Mr. Canseco’s former wife and Mrs. Alex Rodriguez?

18.In case anyone cared, Team Dumb and Dumber won a game last night and lost some ground in the lottery race.

19.That emotion on Adam Morrison’s face during Gonzaga’s first round loss at the hands of Stephen Curry and Davidson was the most passion he’s exhibited since his final game where he broke down on the court in that awful UCLA collapse.

20.Lepore says the Wild aren’t responding to Jacques Lemaire but they sure have a funny way of showing it posting a big win over Edmonton to jump back into first in that wacky Northwest. I still say that same Minny team could make some noise this Spring.

21.Maybe Erik Bedard wasn’t such a great investment for the Mariners. I guess we’ll find out when April hits.

This was written over on my Xanga in about 12 minutes for no apparent reason outside how lyrical I can really be when I can’t sleep.

Enjoy!

A Troubled Mind”

by Derek Felix

You come to me tired and weak

Not really knowing what’s around your domain

As I sit there so don’t even think

Boom boom thunder and lightning pouring rain

You come to me thoughtless and hopeless

Lost in your own world without much reason

It’s no wonder you constantly lose focus

After committing malicious acts of treason

You come to me desperate for hope

When I’m far from a miracle worker

God damn I ain’t the freaking pope

Just someone devious with a furor

You come to me singing your tired sad tune

As if I was the only person to turn

Might be in for a rude awakening as I go boom

Next time stop and think and you’ll finally learn

You come to me as if I got my shit together

When it’s far from the truth

Much like all the cruddy weather

Just want to get drunk and raise the motherfucking roof

You come to me because you’re in dire need

Hoping I can somehow erase all your pain

When you’d be better off getting high and smoking weed

Ain’t it about time to go Cypress Hill inside the membrane

You come to me as if I really know

When there’s nothing I can do

Isn’t it about time you pick up and go

It’s finally time for ya to buy a clue

You come to me to take your mind off things

Which might seem logical for today

Blasting away on your electric guitar as we sing

Hate to break it to you but your problem ain’t going away