Monday, October 29, 2012

NFL Midseason Reports and Rankings

It is officially the middle of the season for the NFL. Week 8 is always a great time of the year, because you finally start thinking about playoff predictions, as well as who is in the running for that prized number one pick in the NFL Draft! Here are my rankings for the 1st half of the season, let me know your top 5 teams so far in the comment section below!

1. Falcons (7-0) Yes, they have squeaked by a few wins, but they have a confident QB in Matt Ryan and a great deep threat duo in Julio Jones and Roddy White. Also, don't forget about that old man Tony Gonzales, who is averaging 10 yards a catch. They do however have a tough game against the Cowboys, who got embarrassed by the Giants Sunday. Be prepared for a good game on Sunday night!

2. Giants (6-2) They blew out a good 49er team and Eli continues to impress in the 4th quarter. If they keep this dominance up, they could definitely take the top spot away from the only undefeated team left in the league.

3. 49ers (6-2) People still think Alex Smith is not the answer at QB for this team even after his great season last year that ended in a magical run to the NFC Championship. With all that said, that must hurt the confidence of the former number one pick. After this MNF victory against the Cardinals, Smith must be feeling real good about his future with the 49ers! If he can keep spreading the ball out to targets like Davis, Moss, and Crabtree, the running game will fall into place and they can potentially become a huge offensive juggernaut.

4. Texans (6-1) With the loss against the Packers in Week 6, they looked like a team who had many flaws. With their blow out of the Ravens last week, they showed they are the number one team in the AFC. If they come to play Week 10 against the Bears on Sunday Night, I think they will be a lock for the top of the AFC and have a permanent spot in the top 3, but they need to play consistent to stay there!

5. Bears (6-1) The Bears continue to confuse me. They dismantled a Cowboy team on MNF but looked HORRIBLE against the Packers and today against the Panthers. Lately, Cutler and Marshall ,have been hooking up for more yards, so hopefully they can keep it up because they will be facing a TOUGH defense in both the Texans and 49ers in Week 10 and 11.

6. Packers (5-3) Rodgers did have a shaky start to the season, but it looks like him and Jordy Nelson have found that connection that they had last year that lit up defenses all over the field. He has only thrown 2 interceptions in the past 4 games, so it looks like the Pack have the MVP Rodgers back. Although, with Charles Woodson hurt, that will definitely hurt their secondary.

7. Ravens (5-2) Losing Ray Lewis for the season is a big blow not only for the defense, but for their morale. He has been the heart and soul for that team for the past 15 years. With Ed Reed playing hurt, they look like a team on the decline. If Ray Rice can put this team on his back though, they have a chance to make the playoffs for another year.

8. Patriots (5-3) Even though Wes Welker looks good, it seems like the Patriots dominance in the AFC has come to an end. A loss to the Seahawks and barely a win against the Jets has sealed their fate as a team who is...normal. They are not the superhero/perfect team anymore like they were 5 years ago. They do have an easy schedule for the rest of the season, so I have no doubt that they will make the playoffs, but expect them to start on a long road of decline.

9. Broncos (4-3) Manning is really trying to make these Broncos into a playoff team. If they miss the playoffs this year, expect them in the mix next year. You Broncos fans better thank John Elway for getting rid of Tebow and bringing in Manning, just look at the Jets this year. YIKES!

10. Vikings (5-3) That loss to the Bucaneers on Thursday night hurt them... BAD. Ponder can look like an QB with a lot of potential, but then will turn around with a silly, childish mistake. Besides Ponder, Adrian Peterson looks like he has recovered from that devestating injury last season. Hopefully he can keep it up and Percy Harvin can step it up to turn this Vikings team into the divison winner of a tough NFC North division.

11. Steelers (4-3) This team has the talent to be great, but has yet to impress me this season. Even though they took care of RG3 and the 'Skins, they lost to the Titans and Raiders. This next week, they get to play the Giants, so this is a make-or-break game for them.

12. Cardinals (4-4) Why did people think Kevin Kolb was worth that huge contract? They looked absolutely flat against the 49ers on MNF. Remember when they were undefeated? Yeah...about that...they are on that decline, FAST!

13. Dolphins (4-3) They have a promising future with this new QB, but they need some heavy weapons around him other than Reggie Bush. A few good defensive playmakers wouldn't hurt either.

14. Seahawks (4-4) Russell Wilson looks great at home, especially when leading his team to victory against Tom Brady and the Patriots. Unfortunately, they don't look that good away from home. Luckily for them, they will be playing 5 of their last 9 games at home so get ready for the successful Russell Wilson.

15.  Colts (4-3) Andrew Luck has had a decent rookie season, given the circumstances of his head coach leaving the team midseason for health reasons. Also, Reggie Wayne is back into the spotlight as one of the most dynamic WR's in the business. Let's just hope he can keep it up before his age catches up to him!

16. Eagles (3-4) As much as I love Andy Reid, Michael Vick is having the worst season of his life other than that little season behind bars. Vick, along with the rest of the offense, needs to learn how to hold onto the football without fumbling it. If they learn how to do that, then they might be able to squeak out a winning record this season.

17. Cowboys (3-4) The most overrated team in the NFL...PERIOD! They have too many problems on the offensive line to try and get some momentum going. They keep putting a band-aid on a recurring problem. If they want to be back into the "good" spotlight, fix the offensive line and it will solve all your problems. Also, now that Al Davis has passed away, Jerry Jones now claims the title as the worst GM/Owner/CEO/President/cry-baby/draft-picker of all time! Congrats Jerry on this new accomplishment, you want a cookie?

18. Redskins (3-5) RG3 is a damn trooper. That hit that gave him a concussion against the Falcons was brutal but he got back up the next week and ran all over the Vikings to win. Even though their defense is lacking their leader Orakpo for the rest of the season, the offense has the potential to lead this team to victory, especially in Weeks 11, 12, and 13, all against their NFC East counterparts.

19. Saints (2-5) Now that Joe Vitt is back as well as Vilma (for now), hopefully the Saints can turn a terrible situation into something better for the fans. What a terrible situation this is, not only for the Saints organization, but for the city of New Orleans. That city NEEDS this team to play well. You can only hope they can turn it around in the 2nd half.

20. Bucaneers (3-4) Coming off that great win against the Vikings on Thursday night, they have 3 straight games against teams under .500. What a great way to get a winning streak and momentum going into Week 12 against the 7-0 Falcons.

21. Chargers (3-4) Their loss to the Broncos last week made them look like a complete joke of a team. They had that game wrapped up in a silver bow and they blew it. Not just the team, but more specifically Philip Rivers. That guy needs to step it up if he wants to be considered a top QB in this league.

22.. Bengals (3-4) I really believe they need a new leader calling the plays. Marvin Lewis was good back in the day, but he shouldn't have been there this long (10 seasons). Their owner seems to be like a little girl when it comes to giving up on the past, I mean just look at the whole Carson Palmer debacle. The dude was past his prime, yet the owner would not give up his "prized possession." If they get rid of Lewis, I think this team could be a force to be reckoned with in the future with Andy Dalton under center.

23. Rams (3-5) Their defense is starting to look pretty good even though they gave up 45 points against the Patriots on Sunday. The NFC West is finally looking like a legitimate division compared to a few years ago where the Seahawks were division champs with a losing record. I like Jeff Fisher as a coach and I think he has the talent to turn this club around to where they belong, and that's competing for the NFC West title each season.

24. Lions (3-4) It looks like the Madden Curse isn't just hurting Megatron. They are just looking like the normal Lions of recent years. Fortunately for them, they do somehow find a way to win those close games

25. Browns (2-6) So, Brandon Weeden is leading all rookie QBs in touchdowns and Trent Richardson looks like a threat for years to come, but they are still the Browns and they always find a way to lose (unfortunately). They do have a new owner that looks like he is interested in making this team better than a bottom feeder so maybe the future for Cleveland might be turning around! We can only dream though...

26. Raiders (3-4) Carson Palmer is not the answer for their winning problems. Darrius Heyward-Bey is not the answer either. This upcoming draft can be crucial for their future success. They can now draft good, quality players, instead of the flashy, showstoppers they have drafted in the past like JaMarcus Russell and Terrelle Pryor.

27. Titans (3-5) They have a mess of a team, and unfortuantely Matt Hasselbeck is leading that team every Sunday. Kenny Britt is their star WR? Come on Tennessee and get someone better than Kenny Britt.

28. Bills (3-4) The Bills looked like a Division II team against the 49ers, but they looked pretty decent against the Cardinals. If they can become a little more consistent and play hard against their next opponents in the Texans and Patriots, their schedule will get a little bit easier, and maybe some wins will go their way.

29. Jets (3-5) Both of their QBs were voted in the top 3 of most overrated players in the NFL, as voted on by a panel of NFL players. That's pretty embarassing considering there has been a high-profiled QB controversy debate on ESPN for the past 6 months...

30. Panthers (1-6) What happened to that great rookie season by Cam Newton? Everyone thought this kid was the answer for the Panthers to get back to the Super Bowl....well...umm...maybe not.

31. Jaguars (1-6) What happened to Justin Blackmon taking the offense to the new level? Now with MJD out, SOMEONE better step up!

32. Chiefs (1-6) Both options at QB (Matt Cassel and Brady Quinn) are horrible choices to try and get a struggling team out of their funk into winning ways. If they continue on their losing ways, head coach Romeo Crennel could be gone.

Well, there you go folks! My 32 rankings of the NFL teams at the 1st half of the season! As always, please leave comments below so we could get a nice friendly convo going!

Peace and Love!
D

Friday, October 19, 2012

The Luck Of The Second Wild Card

As I sit here watching Game 5 of the NLCS, I cannot help myself but to think how crazy it could be to have the Cardinals in the World Series for another year. At the beginning of the year, they lost Albert Pujols, Dave Duncan (their pitching coach), and Tony LaRussa. Yes, they did add Carlos Beltran, but with losing LaRussa and Pujols, it seemed like a long season for them. Fortunately, Bud Selig added a second Wild Card team into the playoff mix. This new format would have the top two teams outside of the division winners play a one-game playoff to decide who the Wild Card winner is. Since 1994 when the Wild Card was created, four teams have won it all by being the the Wild Card team with St. Louis winning the Series last year. This year, they were lucky enough to get the second Wild Card spot.

Let's play the "What If" game and say what if the Cardinals beat the Giants in the NLCS and move to the World Series and beat the Detroit Tigers. Not only did they beat the Nationals in the NLDS and the Giants in the NLCS, both division winnners, but they would beat a Tiger team who won the AL Central, took down a hot/streaky team in the Oakland A's, and embarrassed the crap out of the Yankees. If that would happen, it could go down as one of the greatest stories in baseball history. Yes, the Cardinals have a good team. They got Freese, Beltran, and Molina leading the offense, and with Carpenter and their bullpen, you could say they deserved to be an elite team, but they still are that second Wild Card team who BARELY made it in!

I say good job Bud Selig for adding this extra team. I watched both Wild Card games and thought it was a definite success. First, you had the Baltimore Orioles, who has not been to the playoffs since the 1990's, beat an elite squad in the Texas Rangers, who many had winning the whole thing! If that wasn't enough, you had the Atlanta Braves, led by Chipper Jones in his farewell season, lose to the Cardinals, who many did not even pick to make the Wild Card. With all that said, I hope the Cardinals lose because I love my San Francisco Giants, but if they do beat the Giants and go ahead and mow down the Tigers, I will give much respect to Mike Matheny, their new manager, along with the entire Cardinals organization. I predict to see this new playoff system become extremely successful with the fans and also gain much revenue for the MLB. I can't believe I am saying this...but..thanks Bud Selig, but most importantly...GO BASEBALL!

Peace and Love!

D

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Muse's The 2nd Law Album Review

Welcome to another post of The Dugout with yours truly! I want to take the time to thank everyone who has checked out this blog in the first few posts I have done! It means a lot that all 5 of you (just kidding...its more than that) take a little time out of your busy schedules to read my thoughts. Now onto the good stuff!

I will just say ahead of time, I love The 2nd Law. I think it is brilliantly mixed and mastered (Mark 'Spike' Stent), but it also shows signs of their roots, which is ROCK! Bellamy shows everyone that he is a reincarnation of Freddie Mercury. The man has chops for days and when he hit that high note at the end of Madness, it brings chills every time! The man is classically trained, vocally and on the piano, and it shows on the album. Let's start with the first half of the album though. The first song, Supremacy is a great opener. Those first 3 strokes on the guitar rock so hard and it sets the tone for the album. With that simple guitar riff, the strings come in and make the song fly! Madness, a single they released before the album released, is brilliant. Its combination of simple lyrics and melodic dub step-ish rhythms make it a great single to promote the album. Songs like Panic Station and Follow Me show their variety of styles in creating music. With Follow Me, the beginning sounds like a song from their older albums, but turns into a dance/electronica type song that is definitely something they haven't done before. Next we have the Olympic theme song, Survival. Need I say more? It was the theme song for the Olympics...I mean, come on people. It's one of my favorites on the album, especially with the Prelude before Survival.

You have the song, Animal, which sounds like something out of the Radiohead library, with their 5/4 time signature and multitude of electronic sounds. Explorers is great and reminds me of the song they did called Soldier's Poem, except a little more in your face. Big Freeze is probably the song that I have skipped the most on this album. It's great and has a great beat with lyrics, except the song after it is so much better!

Save Me and Liquid State are two songs the bassist Chris Wolstenholme wrote and it gives the album a break from the Bellamy led sounds to a more different approach with Wolstenholme leading. These songs are supposed to be about Chris' past struggles with alcoholism. It is definitely a change of pace on the album and it shows that Bellamy isn't the only one creating masterful hits. Hopefully, Wolstenholme's tunes will be performed on the road, as they deserve to be showcased.

The last two songs, one which was another single they released, and the other being a postlude for the entire album, makes the latter half of The 2nd Law complete. With Unsustainable, you have a dub step song. When I say dub step, I don't mean one person behind a computer messing around. I mean, strings, bass, guitar, chorus, and drums coming together to make a dub step song. If you don't believe me, listen to it. The beginning has strings, brass, and chorus building for a few minutes to make a good intro to the jam filled dub step rock that is about to happen. When you have the dub step come in, like I said earlier, it is not a computer. You can tell the drums, bass, and guitar created a live, instrumental sounded version of a dub step song. Very interesting if you break it all down and it is more complicated than you think. The final song, Isolated System, is a chill song that puts you down slowly off your high you just got after listening to the entire album. It is warm, piano filled, yet has a beat that keeps you wanting more. Such a great way to end an album.

With The 2nd Law being Muses' 6th studio album, I ranked this one as the third best album they have done. The rankings I give all their albums are as follows:

1. Black Holes and Revelations
2. Absolution
3. The 2nd Law
4. Origin of Symmetry
5. The Resistance
6. Showbiz

I will be attending their concert, in the pit, March 10th, 2013 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I will give you a recap of the show and how the songs sound like live compared to in a studio. Thanks for reading The Dugout and please comment below on your thoughts of The 2nd Law!

Peace and Love!
D

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Texas Rangers...Trouble In Paradise?

After many years, the Texas Rangers have become a franchise that many respect and most fear. They took down the Yankees with ease in route to the 2010 World Series, as well as dominating the 2011 Playoffs. You had players like Elvis Andrus and Mike Napoli who before the magical run were no namers to many average fans. This season, Andrus was a prime target in the trade market and Napoli overcame a terrible first half of the season to be selected BY THE FANS as the starting catcher for the AL at the All-Star Game, only because of his performance on the biggest stage of them all, the 2011 World Series. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge Napoli fan, but with those stats being as low as they were (he hit .228 with 12 homers and 30 RBI's), he should have been at home working on that swing while Chicago White Sox's catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who batted .285 with 14 home runs and 45 RBI's, should have taken his spot.

With all that said, the Texas Rangers have made it to the top of the baseball world by showing teams and opposing fans they are not to be messed with. This season was supposed to be the one where they make it to the very top, by winning that championship! Little did we know, Hamilton would become the most hated on the team and the Rangers embarrassed themselves by blowing a 13 game lead at the end of the season, while looking like garbage in the first ever American League Wild Card game against the Baltimore Orioles.

Let's talk about every one's favorite individual, Josh Hamilton! Enough is enough, this man needs a new start and needs to go somewhere else. Is he really worth 6 years, $100 million? Two words people...HELL NO! This guy is not worth 5 years, not even 4! At this rate, I see 2 to 3 GOOD, PRIME years of his career, yet after that, he will become like anyone else past their prime, an afterthought. Don't get me wrong, I respect the hell out of this man. He has continually fought addiction with drugs and alcohol.. One thing that kept occurring this season was the excuse factor. He always had an excuse of something when he wasn't playing his best. Before the season started, he was caught at a Dallas Sherlock's pub relapsing with while hooking up with a random chick in the bathroom. At the start of the season, he couldn't hold on to his bat when swinging. Then it was his slump for a month when he said he was trying to quit chewing tobacco. AFTER THAT, he told everyone about his struggles with caffeine. I mean look...the guy is an amazing player. His 4 home run game against the Orioles was NUTS! For some reason, I just feel he makes too many excuses to get paid $100 million. Look at Adrian Beltre...he is making $96 million in 6 years and this guy makes NO EXCUSES! He forced Ron Washington to play him in games down the stretch where he was hurt, yet still managed to help the team with his bat and glove. That man deserves $96 million, Hamilton does not.

Now onto the Texas Rangers and their not so happy finish of the 2012 season. They finished with a 93 win season, which is definitely a successful season, yet in Ranger Nation, was a complete failure. Yes, Colby Lewis' departure in the middle of the season hurt them, and also other slumps with Young and Holland definitely did not help their case for another deep playoff run, but somehow they managed to pull off a good string of wins to be 13 games away from a third straight AL West pennant. They looked like they had home-field advantage locked up and were saving their strength for the playoffs. If only we thought it would be that easy. They managed to do something the Red Sox did a few years ago in BLOWING their lead and imploding by the end of the season. All they had to do was win one single game in Oakland, against an A's team who many wrote off even before the season began, yet they struggled in that series and got swept while losing their chance for home-field and the AL West title. If that wasn't enough, many fans saw Hamilton drop a routine fly ball, where some say that dropped ball swung the momentum all the way into Oakland's hands and killed everything the Rangers did in the 161 games before that. Many also saw Hamilton and Wash argue while in the dugout. The two men who you would NEVER think would yell or make a scene in a dugout did, and it looked ugly. That showed that the Rangers dominance, which was built in the playoffs of 2010, was over. I had a bad feeling going into the Wild Card game, and my gut was right. They played like little kids, missing routine plays and not succeeding on the Orioles mistakes. Some could say the Rangers played well, but the Orioles played better. With Hamilton going 0-4 and Napoli going 0-3, the Rangers had a rough night.

O's manager, Buck Showalter out managed Wash that night as well. He made smart decisions with his bullpen by putting in O'Day and Johnson at the right times, and it shut the offense of the Rangers down. We can only hope next season will not be as brutal at the end as this one was, as it was tough to swallow seeing those players leave before they even got to the ALDS.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as it was putting my thoughts down on a virtual notepad and please comment below so we can converse on the topic of the state of the Texas Rangers as well as Josh Hamilton.

Peace and Love!
D

Not Your Generic Introduction

Well folks, it is FINALLY HERE! The Dugout has come to blog form and will transform the virtual sports world forever! Hold on to your pants, because you are about to go on a magical journey with me, Derek Ficken, as I will talk about anything and everything there is to talk about with my two passions in life, music and sports! Are you excited? I sure am! HERE WE GO!


With this first post, I want to keep it basic and introduce myself if you do not know me. My name is Derek Ficken and I am a sports fanatic. I bleed for my teams, in every color they wear. I hate their rivals and I can be that guy that yells at the TV… sorry. I was born and raised in Fremont, California, which is a city close to the Bay Area. My dad raised me the right way in rooting for teams like the San Francisco 49ers, San Francisco Giants, Oakland A’s, Oakland Raiders, San Jose Sharks, and the Golden State Warriors. Unfortunately, I moved away at the age of 10 and moved to a little place named the DFW metroplex. Here, I started cheering for the Texas Rangers, Dallas Mavericks, and Dallas Stars. To this day, I will always hate the Dallas Cowboys. That will never change. My friends think I do it to spite them but in fact, I do it because I am a 49er fan for life. Even though for my hatred of the Cowboys, I plan to cover them and talk about their season as it progresses. As I grew up a sports fan, I learned of a new passion in the world, and that is music. I am a jazz musician as well as a music freak. I listen to bands like Muse and Radiohead while listening to artists such as Erykah Badu and John Coltrane. I am all over the place when it comes to music and I plan to talk about many things going on in the music world, whether its comments on new albums or whatever. I want you, the reader and my audience, to come away with a sense of knowledge on things you did not know before you started reading my posts. I also want you to be engaged with me in the comments section below. I want you to fight me in words on how stupid I am for criticizing Josh Hamilton (which you will see in the next post) or how you agree with my stance on Mike Napoli (which will also be in the next post).


Please help me become better as I hope I can bring new thoughts and ideas to you. Thank you so much for taking the time to check this out and be on the lookout for my next post!


Peace and Love!
D