Brandon Inge: The Crybaby

Alright, enough is enough.

I am so sick and tired of hearing Brandon Inge whine and complain about losing his starting position.

Since losing his starter status at third base, all we’ve heard from Inge is how he’s disappointed about losing his position, how he doesn’t want to catch and how he doesn’t want to be a utility man.

At the same time, he says he’ll do whatever it takes to be part of the team, he’ll play whatever back-up position they want him to, etc.

Yet, I constantly read quotes like this one:

“Kind of a downer feeling,” Inge said after three innings at catcher. “I’m a little frustrated, actually, right now.

“Nothing has changed, but having caught a game reinforces my thoughts. It really makes me realize that I love third base.”

Well, BOO F’N HOO!

Grow up man. You’re in the major leagues! That’s what happens you idiot! If you don’t perform, you get replaced.

If you wouldn’t have posted a .236 batting average last year, you might not even be in this position, so cry me a river you big baby!

And you wonder why we can’t trade your ass! You’re overpaid and under performing. The numbers don’t lie.

Oh, it’s so unfair that we got a better player than you! Waaaaaaah! I hate to break it to you Inge, but that’s the nature of major league sports.

You think the Tigers owe you something? Why? Because you were here when we had 100+ loses in one season, that makes you entitled to start? Please!

The Tigers owe it to themselves, not to mention the fans and the city, to do whatever they feel is necessary to improve the team…not worry about how unhappy you are due to losing your starting spot.

To be honest, I like Brandon Inge. I think he’s a hell of a third baseman…defensively. He can’t hit to save his life, but is still a pretty good third baseman.

But look, if you have a problem being a back-up or a utility man or even riding the pine, all while collecting your $20 million (or however much it is) THEN QUIT!

Or how about you just take your damn money and STFU!

Or here’s a solution: ask the Tigers to release you. It will negate your contract and then you can go sign with another team for $2 million a year. Sound good to you?

Or maybe you’ll be happier being sent down to the minors? Then you can start all you want!

You may have been a fan favorite, but at this point, no one gives a damn about if you’re playing or not, so GET OVER IT.

Awww, what’s wrong? You don’t want a championship ring?

Way to be a team player.

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Neil Young: Music Can’t Change the World

At the Berlin Film Festival last week, Neil Young told reporters that he doesn’t believe music can save the world.

“The time when music could change the world is past,” he said. “I think it would be very naive to think that in this day and age. The world today is a different place, and that it’s time for science and physics and spirituality to make a difference in this world and to try to save the planet.”

In defending his reasoning, Young released this comment:

A Song Alone.
By Neil Young

No one song can change the world. But that doesn’t mean its time to stop singing.
Somewhere on Earth a scientist is alone working. No one knows what he or she is thinking. The secret is just within reach. If I knew that answer I would be singing the song.

This is the Age of innovation. Hope matters. But not hope alone. In the age of innovation, the people’s fuel must be found. That is the biggest challenge. Who is up to the challenge? Who is searching today? All day. All night. Every hour that goes by. I know I am.

My friends write to me don’t give up. I am not giving up. I know this is the time for change. But I know that it’s not a song. Maybe it was. But it isn’t now. It’s an action, an accomplishment, a revelation, a new way. I am searching for the people’s fuel. Will I find it? Yes. I think so. I don’t know why I may have been chosen to help enable a discovery of this magnitude. I know I can only write a song about it when I find it. Until then I can write a song about the search or spend all my time looking. But a song alone will not change the world. Even so, I will keep on singing.

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I don’t quite know how I feel about Young’s comments.

Maybe he’s right. Maybe the time that music could have an affect on the world is in the past.

Today’s music does not have the importance or impact it once had.

It’s a bit disheartening to think that such a great song writer and amazing musician like Neil Young feels that the art of song has lost it’s power to change things.

It’s also encouraging to know that he won’t give up on the power of music.

A song alone will not change the world, no. But, a song alone may change a person, it may change people and only people can change the world…

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Kwame Kilpatrick: On an ‘Assignment from God’

Boy oh boy…where do I begin?

In the midst of all the new developments in the texting scandal, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick took time out of his oh-so-busy schedule to address some issues on a local radio station.

First thing is first: Kilpatrick accused the Detroit Free Press of illegally obtaining the text messages that exposed an affair between him and his chief of staff.

This coming after the fact that they both lied to jurors about the situation.

Kilpatrick said he believes the Free Press “has committed a crime.”

Right. Haven’t you ever heard of the Freedom of Information Act, Mr. Mayor? I thought you were a lawyer once?

The mayor went on to talk about how he is repairing his family life saying, “It’s clear that I’ve been disobedient to God and I’m getting my whipping for it.”

Now, I’m not always that clear about laws and legalities, but if I’m not mistaken, the mayor just perjured himself in that statement by admitting his affair.

He was on the radio for about an hour being interviewed by a friend of his family (surprise, surprise) err, uh, I mean, radio host.

The mayor said that his former chief of staff Christine Beatty did the right thing by resigning after the text message scandal surfaced.

So, let me get this straight. If she is right for resigning, then what does that make you, mayor? I’m still trying to figure that out, so let me know.

Kilpatrick went on to say that he believes he is on “an assignment from God” to run the city of Detroit and he has no plans to resign.

Assignment from God huh? Hmm.

So, what you are saying, Kwame Kilpatrick, is during the course of running this city, God told you to:

–Have an affair with your chief of staff

–Illegally and wrongfully fire

Mike D’s Top Super Bowl XLII Ads

If you don’t watch the game itself, you definitely watch the commercials.

As a rabid football fan, I obviously enjoy the game the most (even though this year it was boring for three quarters). But, I also enjoy and look forward to seeing wild and clever commercials during the breaks.

Overall, I thought this year’s crop of commercials was pretty weak, but here are a few of my personal favorites…

–I’ve been hearing about the Ironman movie for quite some time. He’s a great Marvel superhero (one of my favorites) and very deserving of his own movie. I can’t even explain how excited I got when I saw this trailer.

–This commercial is awesome for two reasons: 1) the Godfather reference…classic and 2) the Audi R8 is one of my favorite cars out on the road right now. Also, the actor in the commercial played Moe Green in the Godfather movies.

–I just thought this one was really funny. And damn it, the animals are cute…yeah, I said it! By the way, the lady in the car has an extremely scary face.

–Two words: Will. Ferrell.

“Bud Light…suck one”

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Kwame Kilpatrick: Our Teflon Don Mayor

I have refrained from commenting on this Kwame situation for some time now.

I wanted to see and hear what this man was planning on saying to defend himself. And after hearing it last night, I am not in the least bit impressed.

The mayor got up last night and gave his boo-hoo speech, showed a little bit of emotion and said he was sorry to the citizens of Detroit and his family.

News flash people: saying you’re “sorry” is not the same as saying you’re “wrong,” which he did not do.

I, for one, do not buy the story that Kwame is the victim in this situation. That fake emotion and crocodile tears do not fool me and they shouldn’t fool you either.

I think people are really losing sight of the issue at hand. There is so much focus on sex, scandal and texting, that people have forgotten what this is really all about: LIES.

Who cares if this man had an affair with another woman? I don’t and neither should you. That stuff is his personal business.

But personal becomes public when the media gets a hold of it. Still, besides the point. The point is that

R.I.P. Heath Ledger

I am not one for gossip, especially when dealing with celebrities and their personal lives.

But, I must admit I was shocked when I heard about Heath Ledger’s death.

Usually when I find out a celebrity has died, I don’t think much of it to be honest. I read or hear about it, think about it for a bit and that’s that.

But out of all the people who pass on unexpectedly, he is the last one I would think of.

I’ve seen quite a few of his movies and felt he was a good actor. The new Batman movie will no doubt cement his legacy within the cinema world. The role he played as the joker maybe his rise and ultimately his fall as well.

And you know what? For lack of better terms, he seemed to be a good dude.

From what I understand, the guy enjoyed being sober, which is refreshing to hear in my opinion.

I don’t know what happened to him, none of us do. Speculation is a crazy and sometimes not-so-good thing. Even after the autopsy is complete, we still may never know what was really going on with him.

I’m not here to say how sad I am or to say how I can’t believe this happened or how much of a tragedy it is.

Fact is, this is a tragedy in certain respects to certain people. Any time a relatively young person is taken from this world before “their time” is a very sad thing.

No doubt the media have been swooning around this story and will continue to swoon long after we all find out what happened.

I say, enough with the swooning.

I say, acknowledge what happened, pay your respects, however that may be, and let this man rest in peace.

Most importantly, acknowledge that life is extremely precious whether you are a celebrity or a regular person. Do not hold someone to a higher standard because they are in the public eye. Do not hold someone in a higher regard just because they have passed. We are all human beings.

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Soulja Boy: “I’m #1″

After reading the headline, “Soulja Boy Claims He’s The Hottest MC In the Game — Better Than Jay-Z, Kanye…” on MTV.com, I became very angry…and then, very sad.

Months ago, MTV did a “Hottest MCs in the Game” list. The criteria for ranking on that list was as follows: 1) straight-up skills, 2) success (both musical and entrepreneurial), 3) impact on the game and 4) swagger: an MC’s cool factor and how they carry themselves on and off recording.

My tale of the tape: S.B.’s skills are non-existent, his success is pretty good, his impact on the game will be minimal (in the long run) and his swagger…well, who cares?

Yet, if you look at that list, our beloved Soulja Boy is no where to be found.

“I think if y’all did it right now, yeah, I deserve to be on there,” he said. “I’m Grammy-nominated,” he continued, citing his credentials. “If I look at the new list and I compare myself to all 10 of the artists and some don’t add up, I’ll be like, ‘Wow. I should be #1 if it’s right now. I’m #1.“

Soulja Boy was…

Reality TV…in Detroit?

About five minutes ago while perusing the internet, I became kind of excited when I came across the headline, “Al Roker to announce Detroit-based TV show for Spike channel” on the Detroit Freep website.

I thought to myself, “Oh, sweet…a show in Detroit. I guess that’s a good thing…pretty cool.”

Then I actually read the story.

This stupid fool Al Roker is teaming with Spike TV and the U.S. DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency for dummies that don’t know) for a reality show titled, you guessed it, “DEA.”

The show will consist of showing task force officers as they “tackle the region’s illegal drug problem.”

These officers will be attempting the shut down of “street-level dealers and the stopping of international traffickers.”

What in the hell Al Roker has to do with any of that I’m not sure. You’re guess is as good as mine. I thought he was a damn weatherman.

The only question I have is, why? Why Detroit? It could have been any other major metropolitan area in the U.S. Why Detroit?!

Like this area of the state and the people in it don’t have enough problems and struggles. No, now we must now watch Roker and the morons at Spike TV give people across the nation the impression that our city is rampant with drug dealers.

And who in the hell involved with the City of Detroit allowed this ridiculousness to happen?

Add this to the list of being the “murder capital of the world.”

Just another blow to the image of the city.

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More Thoughts on American Gladiators

After watching it again last night, a few things occurred to me that hadn’t after the first episode.

Perhaps I was overly excited at the notion of seeing A.G. back on the air after all these years. I used to enjoy the old one so much that I couldn’t wait for the new one.

In hindsight, I guess I shouldn’t have been so ecstatic.

I realize this now after watching Monday’s episode, hence the hindsight factor.

I did not pick up on what I like to call the “WWF” element of the show, meaning, I didn’t realize it was staged. Now, not only are

The Grammys are a farce

You know something? I am realizing that The Grammys SUCK and are pretty much worthless when judging music. Here are a few reasons why…

Nominees:

Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group
(For duo, group or collaborative performances of Rap only. Singles or Tracks only.)

Party Like A Rockstar
Shop Boyz
Track from: Rockstar Mentality
[OnDeck/Universal Republic Records]

Best Rap Song
(A Songwriter(s) Award. For Song Eligibility Guidelines see Category #3. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.)

Crank That (Soulja Boy)
Soulja Boy Tell’Em, songwriter (Soulja Boy Tell’Em)
[Collipark/Interscope Records; Publisher: Element 9 Recordings]

Now, disregard whoever else is nominated in this given categories. Its not really important. But just the simple fact that these idiots, these chumps, these losers, these posers like Soulja Boy and the Shop Boyz are even considered for a Grammy, let alone nominated, is a farce! These no-talent ass-clowns

American Gladiators is back!

I would just like to take the time and effort to say how ECSTATIC I am to have American Gladiators back on the air!

I just caught the first episode tonight and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Kinda brought me back to the early 90s when all the people with mullets and whatnot would compete.

Also, Hulk Hogan is hosting the new show. That alone makes it pretty sweet right there.

The new one seemed pretty good thus far. The old events (like Assault, Joust and the one where they swing on the rings) were all there. They even have some new events along with those.

However, I must say that while several of the gladiators had some cool names and all that, they lacked personality.

And the contestants seemed really cheesed up, particularly in their responses to questions. Now, I remember the Q & A after an event being spontaneous on the old version. With the new version, it all seemed fake, even preplanned. Shit, I swear I even saw one guy looking at the ground reading from a cue card! Highly disappointing and extremely annoying.

But hell, that won’t stop me from watching it!

Martz: Just Another Scapegoat

I can not stress how happy I am that the Lions fired Mike Martz.

His offensive scheme is far too complicated for Detroit.

And its not that it doesn’t work. Its the fact that we simply do not have the players to execute it correctly.

Martz seemed to think he was still in St. Louis with Kurt Warner and the boys. I don’t think he came to the realization that this was a Detroit team with a far inferior talent level than what he is used to.

If players can’t learn and execute an offensive system after two years of practice, it is time to move on, and that’s what the Lions did.

It’s not Martz’s fault the Lions do not have the “horses,” so to say. What is his fault is his poor play calling and terrible substitutions.

Does the combination of McDonald and Furrey sound powerful to you? Me either. Hey, let’s draft Calvin Johnson number two and then throw to him twice every other game. Great idea. Not to mention how TJ Duckett was highly underused until the end of the season when it didn’t even matter.

C’mon, do you really expect to win a football game when you run the ball SIX times a game? You have to be a damn fool. No wonder Kevin Jones wants off of the team. And no wonder Kitna wants Martz to stay…he throws the ball 50 times a game!

Anyone who knows anything about football knows that to win, you must run the ball. And not just run it, but run it well.

Sadly, Martz did not do this even though head coach Rod Marinelli swears by his motto of “pounding the rock.”

However, I do not mean to make Martz the scapegoat. His is just a minor problem in a huge tangled web of larger problems called the Detroit Lions.

And how smart are they? They promote the offensive line coach…the one responsible for allowing the most sacks in the NFL. Again, just another coach who doesn’t have the horses to do the job correctly.

Does the organization not know that a good offensive line is the foundation and basis of any good offense? Apparently not.

What I don’t get is how a regular fan, such as myself, can see just about everything wrong with the Lions and the upper management of the organization can’t. Perhaps they do not care. In which case, neither should we.

I don’t even know why I (and other Lions fans like myself) even bother wasting their time trying to figure out what’s going on over there at Ford Field. We all know who the real culprits are…

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