One of my all time favorite artists, these guys have been around for a longgg time, dropping their debut album, Overcast, back in 1997. Since then they’ve released 7 additional albums, plus countless mixtapes and side projects. So there are a ton of tracks to pick from with these guys, but here’s a good intro for the uninitiated; Trying to Find a Balance.
Life, love, stress, and setbacks.
LA Times – There is no better World Series tradition than the introduction of each player in uniform. If you work for the home team, you get a nice round of applause, even if you are an obscure reliever, a quality assurance coach or a soft tissue specialist. The fan favorites draw the loudest and most sustained applause. Adrian Gonzalez would get a warm ovation, but he is not expected to join the Dodgers for the World Series. It’s his choice. It’s too bad. Gonzalez has played more games without a World Series appearance than all but two active players: Ichiro Suzuki and Brandon Phillips. He would not have played in this World Series because of what the Dodgers said was a recurrence of a back injury, but he had earned a round of cheers from a large and loyal fan base that cherishes him.
I guess it just wasn’t in God’s plan for Adrian Gonzalez to be a part of the Dodgers first World Series in 29 years. Ever since Gonzo made that tone-deaf comment back in 2011 after the epic collapse by his Red Sox I knew he didn’t give a shit about baseball. He just happened to be good at it and was collecting a paycheck. But people would always argue no he does care, he’s just very religious, that quote was taken out of context blah, blah, blah. But now, now that shit has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. I get that the guy is hurt and wouldn’t have played, but you’re not even gonna SHOW UP?? You couldn’t push your vacation back 2 weeks? You just made a hair under $22 Million this year and are still on that 7-year $154 Million contract the Red Sox signed you to back in 2011, I’m pretty sure you can afford the airline fees to reschedule your flights.
Not to mention he’s not exactly Derek Jeter with countless World Series rings. This isn’t exactly a routine occurence for the Dodgers or Gonzo.
“Gonzalez has played more games without a World Series appearance than all but two active players: Ichiro Suzuki and Brandon Phillips.”
Played a game my entire life and I’m 35 now, nearing the end of my career and I *finally* reach the pinnacle of my sport??
Sounds like his teammates are thrilled with the no show too.
Justin Turner, who occupies the locker next to Gonzalez, declined to say whether he was disappointed that Gonzalez had chosen not to bask in World Series applause.
After that Carl Crawford bitchfest article that came out a few weeks ago it reignited my long dormant disdain for that whole 2011 Red Sox team. I almost forgot how much Gonzo was disliked after that whole debacle too. Sure he wasn’t pissing and moaning about Boston the same way his buddy Crawford was, but if there’s one thing Boston hates its a guy who just doesn’t give a shit. You can be the biggest cocksucker in the world, but if you produce, Boston will love you. Josh Beckett was a total asshole, but he was dominant in 2007 helping the Sox win a World Series. Same for John Lackey in 2013. We respect those guys because half of Boston readily admits, practically brags about being a dickhead. We call ourselves Massholes for christ sakes. But give us a guy who doesn’t care? Get the FUCK off my team. At least JD Drew had that grand slam in the ALCS in 2008; that one hit erased years of a disinterested, nonchalant corpse in right field. Theres a reason Trot Nixon, a career .274, is revered in New England and it ain’t his bat.
I love Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, that goes without saying. That guy is a legend and will never have to buy another beer in Boston until the day he dies. But I cannot root for a team that currently employs no show Adrian Gonzalez and “David Price before David Price” Carl Crawford. Sorry Dave, but the Houston Astros throwback jacket is coming out tonight.
Alex Cora is the new manager of the Boston Red Sox and once the Houston Astros win or lose the World Series he’ll walk into a talented, underachieving, promising, and fractured clubhouse. This team could easily make strides and be in the World Series next year or they could just as easily compound their current issues and be fighting for a Wild Card berth. So what can the new skipper do to get this team going in the right direction?
Cora and Dustin Pedroia were of course teammates on the Red Sox from 2006-2008 under Terry Francona. If Cora can get Pedroia on board out of the gate, which it would seem he should have no problem doing, then he’s off to a good start. For whatever reason Pedroia never seemed to be tight with John Farrell and then of course he hated Bobby V.
Pedroia’s like a scorned lover, never letting himself get close to another manager again after the way Francona was ripped away from him. So maybe Pedroia and Cora can bond over how badly the Sox management sandbagged Tito on his way out of town.
In addition to Pedroia, Cora should be well equipped to better connect with the Latino players because he, ya know, is from Puerto Rico and is obviously fluent in Spanish. That alone should do wonders for Latino players that Farrell may not have been able to connect with. Even if Farrell spoke some Spanish, there’s no substitute for a guy that can *conversate* in both languages.
Being just 42 years old, Cora will be the second youngest manager in the MLB and should be in a much better position to connect with the younger Sox players than his predecessor. Cora played in the era of social media and constant media attention in Boston so he understands how to handle it. Plus he was revered in his playing days as a veteran leader that helped mentor younger players. Including ones that would ultimately take his job in guys like Pedroia. So while he may not have managerial experience, he checks all the boxes that would seemingly make for a good manager.
After that all he has to do is get serial malcontent David Price on board. Other than that, jobs a piece of cake. Maybe some sessions on the manager’s couch to do nothing other than vent will help Price release a little steam before he blows another gasket on guys like Dennis Eckersley. I have no idea what Price’s relationship was with Farrell, but the whole “Manager John” thing sure didn’t make it seem like they were buddies. And Price knows that, he’s not stupid. So whether Cora walks in Day 1 and tells Price to sit down and shut up, or he massages the ego of a $217 Million enigma, I leave up to him. But, get a handle on those social circles within the roster and the rest will fall into place.
We needed a Bruins shirt and I’m not looking to just print any old shirt so this one took a while in the think tank, but it. is. here. This Bruins t-shirt is fresh as lettuce and is a must have for any self respecting B’s fan. Show some respect to Rene and this Bruins pre-game tradition by picking one up now. Shoot an email to the300sred@gmail.com to pre-order yours before the first shipment goes out.
Look at that picture! Just solar eclipsing the human gun show himself, Ed Hochuli. Incredible. I don’t know how I missed this, but the NFL is just littered with Grudens and last night we got all 3 on one screen.
We got the OG Jon Gruden up in the booth on Monday Night Football of course, we got his brother the former Arena Football legend Jay Gruden coaching the R-Words and then to my utter dismay we have Jon Gruden’s son, Deuce, working as a strength coach for Washington. Plot twist though; he is the goddamn hulk.
How was this 5’6″ bodybuilder with the last name Gruden not on my watch list? I feel like I should get an internet demerit for missing this. But, make no mistake I am all in on Deuce Gruden now. I am fascinated by this kid. Imagine growing up with Chucky as your dad back in his prime as the Raiders coach? No wonder this kid is a machine.
If Sammy Adams and Mike Stud embodied the frat rap movement, KYLE is leading the way for the introverted guys who take drama classes and play video games. Seriously. Listen to his first album, Beautiful Loser, and you’ll notice how he works in sound effects from games like Star Fox into his music. This is the next guy to pop as he’s been piling up hits the past couple of years and on “Remember Me?” he collabs with Chance the Rapper for a fire flames track.
KYLE signed with Atlantic Records earlier this year so the big guns are now behind him and he had his first radio hit this summer with iSpy, which was one of the biggest songs of the year. Hell the guy was even on AskGaryVee so he’s far from an unknown, but I feel like most people still aren’t in on him. Load up your iPod kids, KYLE bangs.
Look we’ve all been there. I’ve smashed more clickers than I care to admit and so have all of you. Glass houses guys.
That one friend you can’t play Madden with in public. 😂 (h/t @BResports_) pic.twitter.com/UAKEjqiZvU
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 21, 2017
But, this dude flipping the fuck out reminded me of the GOAT Madden meltdown I witnessed in college. I was playing my roommate and I was feeling myself so I picked a shittier team, knowing it would drive this kid up a wall if I took it to him with the 2008 Raiders.
You know the unbeatable 2008 Raiders that went 4-12 behind stud No. 1 overall pick, and my boy, JaMarcus Russell. If there ever was a guy built for a fucking video game it was this dude. Absolutely awful in real life, but in a video game he had an absolute cannon and he could run his balls off. Thats all I need boys.
So in case you forget just how truly shitty this team really was back in 08, here was the starting skill position players:
QB: JaMarcus Russell
RB: Darren “Run DMC” McFadden
WR: Javon Walker, Chaz Schilens, Ashley Lelie, Johnnie Lee Higgins, Ronald Curry
TE: Zach Miller
Not exactlyyy Murderers Row, but the Raiders did also have Nnamdi Asomugha before he fell off a cliff and DeAngelo Hall patrolling the secondary. (Thats called foreshadowing guys)
So anyways, I am scoring *at will* on QB scrambles out of the shotgun, HB screens, and 70 yard bombs in the air. If JaMarcus Russell saw how much better he was in Madden than in real life I think he might actually kill himself. But to top it all off the Oakland defense is smothering my roommate with interception after interception after interception. My roommate is fucking BOILING and I’m not a huge trash talker so I’m just waiting for the straw to break the camel’s back.
Well that would come in the form of my SEVENTH interception of the day, which also happened to be a pick-six that put me at 70+ points on the afternoon…in the 3rd quarter.
“FUCK THIS GAME!”
Roommate stands up and absolutely Gronk spikes the $50 PS2 clicker into the fucking floor. Let me tell you, I have never seen a piece of hardware fly into so many pieces as that Playstation clicker did. We had to have a closed casket funeral for that PS2 clicker.
And that my friends is why you don’t stream yourself playing a game of Madden because we are all one bullshit play away from rifling a clicker through the goddamn window.
As a fellow beard guy I can certainly appreciate the dedication Jake Arrieta’s well groomed whiskers took to grow. But that doesn’t change the fact that I am not quite sure beardless Jake Arrieta is who he says he is.
Well hello there 👋🏼🙈😍#myoffseasonboyfriend #babyface pic.twitter.com/tqzPJg7cgG
— Brittany Arrieta (@MrsArrieta49) October 22, 2017
Seriously, this is not the same person. The grizzled, bearded, psycho on the mound that turned from a bust prospect with the Orioles into a (sometimes) dominant stud for the Cubs. That guy needs to have a beard because without it he’s just a regular, good looking dude, not a screaming maniac throwing BB’s on the mound. Just don’t go to the Yankees man, can’t let those assholes keep another beard off this planet.
The fog came into Gillette fast last night and after a while you really couldn’t see a damn thing on TV, which must have sucked for the poor sap who dished out $200 bucks to sit in the 300s and couldn’t see shit.
As soon as NBC switched to that Sky Cam angle though I got a sudden rush of dopamine and I had no idea why. This new camera angle they finally switched to after an hour of trying to watch the game through the clouds just seemed right. And then it dawned on me. This is Madden. This is the same angle I’ve been playing football with for 15 years. This is the view I had when I first learned what Spider-2-Y-Banana was, or just how many clickers I could get my roommate to smash by running the perfectly timed HB Screen. Spread em out and go No Huddle for an entire game. This just feels right. NBC, do yourself a favor and get this angle worked into every game as much as you can. Subliminal advertising at its finest because right now I am jones-ing for some Madden.
After a particularly soul crushing edition of Monday morning traffic, #RushHourRap is coming in right around lunch time. So yesterday was the 5 year anniversary of “good kid, m.A.A.d. city” dropping. Not only was it Kendrick Lamar’s coming out party (his second studio album, his first to go Platinum), but it is also one of the best rap albums of the past decade. It was not easy picking just one track from this album, but I had to go with the hard hitting, frenetic, titular “m.A.A.d. city.”
m.A.A.d. city had yuuuge singles including Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe, Swimming Pools, Poetic Justice, The Recipe, and the bass monster Backseat Freestyle. All absolute bangers that still kill it today.
I remember seeing Kendrick open for Kanye at TD Garden in Boston back in 2013 just as he was starting to take off. Now the guy is headlining his own shows at the Garden touring for his latest work, DAMN, what might be my favorite album of the year. Keep killing it k-dot.
The 300s 