And the Song of the Decade Is.....

Hello all,

So, I got my Rolling Stone's Decades Issue last week which named their list of best songs, albums, artists and films of the decades. Now, to me, Rolling Stone completely lost their credibility when they put Jonas Brothers on the cover in March, but my subscription doesn't end until January so I gave it a flip through... Here's some of my thoughts on their and my picks...

Song of the Decade: Rolling Stone’s Choice- Crazy by Gnarls Barkley.
First reaction: You’ve got to be f-ing kidding me. So bad Rolling Stone has lost its credibility, and whoever approved this going into print should be publically scorned and job-hunting. I mean, seriously- is there anyone who likes this song?? I can't remmember anyone liking it back then, more or less down the road- and the song of a decade is supposed to be a classic....
While, unfortunately, we were forced to listen to this in bars and clubs wayy to much in 2006, I have a hard time putting Cee-Lo as the face of the decade. This song had no lyrics, an annoying hook and only 3 years later, this song is quickly greeted by changing the station when comes on. This song was popular and all, but unfortunately so was DJ Sammy’s trashpiece Heaven; which clearly shows popularity does NOT make something a classic.
Other questionable mentions on their list: 99 Problems by Jay-Z as #2 (Jay-Z is cool and all but seriously? This is an instant next button push on the CD player), Paper Planes by M.I.A. at #5 (God- our kids are gonna feel sorry for us when they see this list some day…), and Justin Timberlake Cry Me A River at #20 (No comment needed…)
My top 5 songs of the decade:
#5- MGMT- Time to Pretend (2006). Reminded me of a combination of Jim Morrison’s passion and the Flaming Lips’ artistry the first time I heard it. Epic music video.
#4- Daft Punk- One More Time (2001). Completely transformed music by making house/techno music into a  mainstream genre (but unfortunately paving the way for DJ Sammy's Heaven to be played non-stop...) . Not my favourite Daft Punk song (Digital Love) or probably not even top-10 but everyone in the world knows this song.

#3- The Killers- All These Things I’ve Done (2004). "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier"... Stayed on the charts for the better half of a year, has a great music video and even a rapper has been quoted as saying it’s his favourite song of all-time.
#2- 50 cent- In Da Club (2003). If you missed this one, odds are you spent the entire decade on the International Space Station- but even in that case- you still would have still heard it. Can anyone forget the hype behind 50 after this was leaked…
#1- Outkast- Hey Ya! (2005) kids will still be singing “Shake it like a Polaroid Picture” years after Polaroid factories shut it down permanently and I just heard Mike Wilbon ask Tony "What's cooler than being cool?? Ice Cold!" today… ‘nough said. And don't forget about the epic music video....

Album of the Decade: Rolling Stone’s Choice- Kid A by Radiohead.
First Reaction: Agree Completely.

Radiohead’s fourth album, while differing greatly from their previous release OK Computer, proved to be the their breakthrough album in the United States. They were bolder: throwing conventional song structure out the window and focusing more on sound and texture. The sound diversity in this album is superb: ranging from rhythmic keyboards on “Everything in its right place” to  acoustic guitars layered with an atonal string section in “How to Disappear Completely”. The greatest part of Radiohead- they weren’t one and done either- releasing the smashing In Rainbows in 2007 (#30 on Rolling Stone’s list) and Amnesiac only a year after Kid A (#25 of the list).
Questionble mentions: Bruce Springsteen’s Magic (#24)- everything he does (if, in fact, anything he does) isn’t good- and just because this CD is laced with popular political opinions, doesn’t mask the redundant chords, lack of texture and questionable vocals.
Outkast’s Speakerboxxx (#34)- not even their best album.
The rest of my top 5:
#5- Kanye West- The College Dropout- Best Rap CD of the decade. His debut album which combined amazing production, deep lyrics and huge guest appearances to put out the hits “Jesus Walks”, “Slow Jamz”, “School Spirit”, “Never Let me down”, and “Family Business”. Kanye changed his title from a producer trying to rap to a lyricist who also can produce and joined the RZA as the best in the game.

#4- The Flaming Lips- Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots- Combines lethal machines, conceptual anthems, Pink Floyd-esque preogressive rock and Neil Young-like passion in talking about everything from killer robots, death and a gutsy heroine. The Lips have been big in the underground/Indy scene since the ‘80s and it’s good to see them finally get their due.
#3- The Killers- Hot Fuss (2004). The boys from Vegas ruffled alot of feathers before their first release by saying they wanna "knock zeppelin and nirvana off their pedestals" but this album is a classic- spurning 5 singles, 3 chart topers and a 2 VMA awards.
#2- Coldplay- A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002). Their sophmore album actually did what no one thought possible and one-upped parachutes. What a work of genious and diversity, moving from the cathartic rock of "Politik" to the hushed tones of "Green Eyes". Classic


Rapper of the Decade: Rolling Stone’s Choice- Kanye West
First Reaction: Agree 110%
I know Kanye would’ve gotten a lot more votes from the public had this poll be conducted before the VMAs. But, this guy brings it. He released 3 chart toping albums this decade- College Dropout, Late Registration and Graduation while producing all of Jay-Zs albums and making numerous guest

appearances. He has joined the RZA and Dr. Dre as rappers who can produce; and his lyrics are meaningful stories, not just rhymes that merely make sense. I know a lot of people wanna see Jay-Z here after his amazingly popular The Blueprint 3 release and I know Jay-Z has great production (Kanye by the way) and hooks; but take a listen to the lyrics of Jay-Zs Empire State of Mind and compare them to Kanye's Everything I Am.... And if he has Sir Paul's approval, he has mine....


Artist of the Decade: Bruce Springsteen "Working Class Superhero"
First Reaction: This has gotta be a f-ing joke.
OK, I know the guy made an American epic when "Born in The U.S.A.", his anti-Vietnam song, was shockingly misunderstood by Richard Nixon and used as his campaign song, but this guy has to be the most overated artist ever. Bruce, to me, has become the guy that everyone thinks they are supposed to like, but no one really does.
My pick: Radiohead, 3 chart-toping albums (Kid A, Amnesiac and In Rainbows).

Lastly this week, I want take care of something I forgot to do last week and give NO respect to whoever made the BCS bowl matchups (I guess Fox or the selection committee, or Tostitos, who knows...) for the TCU-Boise matchup they hit us with in the Fiesta Bowl. I thought after watching Utah dismantle Alabama last year and Boise's win over the Boomer Sooners a few years ago, theses schools would get more respet. TCU looks to be legit this year- but unfortunately by quaranteening them to play Boise (who no one knows much about either), we'll never know. The BCS should have pitted them vs. Florida in the Sugar for several reasons: (1) it would have been way more interesting than playing a Cincy team without a coach, (2) TCU beat 7 bowl eligable teams this year, (3) We would KNOW whether TCU  and the Mountain West is legit. If TCU won, this would make the second year in a row that a Mountain West team beat a SEC team and would give the conference legitimate beef that they are still not a "BCS conference". But, the BCS screwed us again and made the result of the Fiesta bowl, irrelevant. Who cares if TCU pounds Boise??? Also a loss, missing out on creating another classic poster like the one on the left.


As always, be sure to check the "near you" tab on our homepage, www.roosterfly.com, for a list of concerts, games and shows near you....and be sure to check out the BCS National Championship tickets...

Till next week,
MN

There's No Crying In Football!!!!

Hello all,

What do Tim Tebow and Adam Morrison have in common?? Apparently, neither one has watched the all-time cinematic classic, A League of Their Own. Or, if they have, neither one took the words of manager Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks) to heart when he proclaimed (which is rated as the 54th best movie quote of all time by the way- clearly underated!)

Are you crying?? There's no crying in baseball!!!

Maybe Dugan was referring only to women's baseball... But while I think this quote is applicable to not only an all-female baseball team, but perphaps male sports as well; I guess neither Tim Tebow or Adam Morrison agrees with me because as the sports hernia so elegantly stated it- Tim Tebow played a touching tribute to Adam Morrison this weekend when he started crying on the sidelines in the loss to Alabama. Now- while these two do have much in common (mainly the fact they are college superstars with seemingly no place at the next level), there are some differences (besides the fact they play a different sport). But which one is the bigger gaffe???

For all those who don't remmember Morrison's breakdown, Youtube highlights here, but in brief, he broke down with 2.8 seconds left in the sweet sixteen against UCLA with his team down 1 after several Gonzaga turnovers gave UCLA their first lead of the game. To me, Morrison's weep job was waayyy worse for several reasons. First, his team was actually in the game when it happened- Gonzaga was down just 1 with 2.8 seconds left (but UCLA had the ball) when the 6-8 swingman started to breakdown. Second, Morrison actually laid down in the middle of the court (on which there was another game to follow), until several UCLA players felt so bad they stopped celebrating with their guys and went to help him up. Lastly, Gonzaga had a legit look at a game tying and overtime forcing 3-ball at the end of the game- so what would Adam have done if it had gone down??? But, The Sports Hernia, does make a good point- Adam waited till 2.8 seconds to begin crying while Tebow was seen weeping at 1:03 left to go- beating Morrison to the punch by an astounding 61 seconds! In either case, no disrespect at all to either one of these guys, I just wish they would've done us a favor by holding it in until they got to the locker room. But, I do wanna say that Tim Tebow will probably and very deservingly go down as one of the top 5 college football players of all time. The guy is a machine, a warrior, a winner, and I am glad I got to see him play for 4 years! One question I do have about Tebow is I wonder what his teamates think of him?? (Yes, I know they all have to say they love him on interviews and I'm not saying they feel otherwise but am just curious). Watching him yell at defensive players in the defensive huddle in the 4th quarter Saturday made me wonder and got me thinking about how many times I've seen Mariano Rivera yell at Derek Jeter (two players that play totally different positions much like offense vs defense in football) over the years....

As for the games on Saturday, there really isn't much to say about the SEC game other than how shocked I and I'm sure a lot of other people were about how dominate Alabama was. I thought the game would be like last year's in that it would be decided in the 4th quarter, but the Gators never made a push in the 2nd hald and were outscored 13-0 after halftime. Mark Ingram was great- tying the SEC championship game record with 3 TDs, and should gain strong Heisman consideration if not the frontrunner. Greg McElroy was outstanding (12-18, 239 1TD 0INT) for Alabama, and his ability to beat man to man coverage took away Florida's gameplan of putting 8 men in the box all game. Did it look to anyone else like the game winning drive he led against Auburn a couple of weeks ago gave this guy a whole lot more swagger?? I couldn't believe the confidence and zip he had on his throws; completely different than earlier this season.

I want to give NO respect to the 6 voters (4 in the ESPN/Coaches, and 2 in the AP) who gave Texas first place votes after watching their pitiful performance (which they should have lost) against Nebraska on Saturday (I can only justify one vote- if Nick Saban voted Texas #1 to avoid giving his vote to his own team). Now, I am in no way saying that Alabama should be a unanimous #1, because that's not it at all and I would understand TCU getting votes after the amazing dominate season they've had, Cincy after a great win over a very good Pitt team or even Boise (hey they beat Oregon and never stopped rolling), but Texas?? Texas, to me, is everything that is wrong with pre-season polls and the BCS. The Longhorns have proved this year that if you get a high pre-season ranking, the best way to get to a big bowl is by playing NOBODY and hoping a few other bid teams lose. This year, they have played 3 "ranked teams"- Oklahoma without Sam Bradford, Oklahoma State without Des Bryant and Nebraska; and looked good in only one of them (the OSU game, they were close to losing against Oklahoma). They cancelled their annual game vs Arkansas and their other "big" non-conference game was a showdown at Wyoming... Mac Brown took a page out of Les Miles' playbook on Saturday when Texas almost blew a chance to kick a fieldgoal late in the game on what would have gone down as the poorest clock management in the history of college football. Bo Pelini made headlines when overheard in the tunnel after the game saying,

BCS! That's why they make that call! Cheaters! They should be f*cking ashamed to accept that trophy.

I do have to say, JS and I came to the conclusion after the game it would have been very interesting to see what would've happened if it were Nebraska who needed the extra time and not Texas....

Much respect fot the testicular fortitude Lane Kiffin must have to continue to take jabs at Urban Meyer by saying Alabama was gonna win Saturday's game because "even though Florida has better players, Alabama is so much better coached, more disciplined and does the little things right" on gameday Saturday morning. I do like Lane for not taking the middle of the road, politically correct, 5th ammendment-like responses that most coaches do and for throwing some fire into the Florida-Tennessee rivalry. I also wanna take a moment and reflect on how ballsy he really is, knowing that Florida will be loaded once again next year, Urban Meyer is a proven great coach with two rings, and Tennessee HAS TO PLAY them every year. I do love Lane and he is doing a great job rebuilding the program in Knoxville, but his players may pay the price for this one next year and I don't think anyone can fault Urban if he decides to run it up a little bit....

I wanna give big-ups to Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints for a great come-back win on Sunday, following their beatdown of my Patriots last Monday. I watched and bet (which I obviously lost and will pay up when EJM jr confirms SM md paid up on their last one! haha) on the Saints-Pats game last Monday night with a huge Saints fan from the bayou; and was very impressed with how easily they took care of New England (and actually the fan as well for not relentlessly ragging me....). This Sunday was remarkable, what a great stand on the goaline to hold the Redskins to a missed FG late which gave them the chance to tie it up, and what a great throw over the top by Brees to tie it up. This year's Saints team looks like they have it all; their offense has always been great but the defense is making huge plays- Jonathan Vilma, Roman Harper and off-season signee Darren Sharper have been terrific. They've been fun to watch all year and I hope the Saints-Vikings matchup materializes in the playoffs because I would love to see Favre (even though he looked awful last night) and Brees square off and provide a great QB duel by players not named Brady and Manning.... Also, big props to Robert Meachem for his strip and TD at the end of the first half in what was one of the best football plays I've ever seen.....

Kentucky looked good this weekend, holding off a UNC team that looks like they have enough talent to make a deep tourney run once again despite losing 4 out of their top 5 scorers from last year (only Deion Thompson is back; Ellington, Lawson, Hansborough, Green are all in the NBA). I would love to see these two teams play again in March when the UNC newbies and the Kentucky freshman have a little more experience under their belts....

Whoever takes the ND job will have a much tougher first year after Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate declared for the NFL draft today....

BBC named Nickelback as the worst band of all time. Also making the list, Savage Garden and Maroon 5....

As always please be sure to check the "near you" tab on our homepage, www.roosterfly.com, for a list of games, shows and theatre events in your area and please post any upcomming event you know of as a comment...

Till next week,

MN

YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!!!! and does tiger owe us an explanation???

Good morning all,

To start this week I wanna give big ups to my man Pete Carroll and the USC Trojans for dismanteling in-city foe UCLA 28-7 in the Coliseum on Saturday night, proving that the football monopoly in Los Angeles is officially NOT OVER, and for adding some spice to a rivalry that has been so one sided for the last decade or so (USC has won 10 of the last 11). I stayed up (kickoff wasnt until 10PM!) to catch this one and let me tell you I'm glad I did because the last minute of clock time was about as interesting as I've seen in a long time. So, with under a minute left, USC is up 21-7 and trying to take a knee and run out the clock- only to see UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel call a timeout (what the hell was he doing?? But more than just this game, what the hell was he thinking taking out the ridiculous newspaper ad in the LA Times seen on the right- did he not think this was going to come back to bite him). So, my man Pete Carroll answered by sending his team back out in a power-I formation and running a play action skinny post for a wide open 48-yard Barkley to Williams TD pass (highlights can be seen here). The Trojans then began celebrating on the sidelines and the majority of the UCLA team left their side of the field and walked towards USC- inciting a near riot which took almost 10 minutes to restore order and finish the game. When asked about calling a bomb with under a minute left, Pete jocked the words of my man Herm Edwards and said (the on field interview by the local FoxWest station),

You play to win the game. Hey, they're calling timeouts so we're running pass plays, just some good solid football

Well said Pete. First, I want to pay tribute to the great Herm Edwards and one of the greatest post-game news conferences of all time which you can see here- (can anyone think of one better than this one??? JS tweeted me a couple of good thoughts- the Jim Mora rant definately being one, Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy's tirade being another, and who can forget about Dennis Green's meltdown???... By the way, Herm's rant is a response to a reporter asking him why he faked a FG- and was turned into a great Coors Light Commercial) any reference to it always gets me excited. Second, what the hell is Rick Neuheisel doing??? USC was trying to run out the clock and end a game which was clearly over- why drag it out??? All blame goes to him- if you are still making moves, so should the other team. Dumb move by Rick and he got the what he deserved- and his team burned for a late TD. In any case, this should make this rivalry a little more saucey in years to come (that is if UCLA can ever get players with anywhere near the talent USC has year after year to make it close).... And one more quick point- will someone please hire Herm?? As much as I love seeing him in the studio as an ESPN analyst- he is a great coach, even better on the podium, a classy guy and the NFL misses him....

So, Tiger has made the news lately after wrecking his car in a non-alcohol related accident going less than 30MPH in his own driveway at 230 in the morning. Police reported that all 4 windows as well as the rear window were smashed out by a golfclub (which Tiger said his wife did in order to help save him), and he went to the hospital where he was treated for facial cuts... To be honest, I really don't care what happened, but I do disagree with the sentiment that Tiger doesn't have to explain it. As a celeb, I understand privacy is difficult, but I don't really feel all that sorry for him because the public has paid him over $1 BILLION dollars (through corporate deals, supporting his golf tournaments and buying products he endorses) and to me, you can't have it both ways. If you don't want the celeb status and money associated with it- don't take it. But if you are the most marketed person on the planet, the highest paid athlete and continue to take huge endorsement deals- you owe explenations to those who pay your salary. And great point made by my man BB today- Tiger went to Stanford (dubbed The Harvard of the West by Zack Morris) which is a great school and you know he's a smart dude. He should take a lesson from athletes and famous people who have been in bad positions before- which has shown that the American public will forgive, and doesn't mind that our superheroes have flaws- but will not put up with being lied to and trying to be outsmarted- (just ask the 42nd President of the United States who was forgiven once he came clean, but almost impeached and scorned in public when he tried to cover the truth up). Other less than perfect celebs who have been pardoned in the court of public opinion- Kobe (the scandal in Colorado), Carmelo (the stop snitchin' tape), Axel Rose (jumped off stage and assulted a fan), Ray Lewis (what happened in that alley??), and many more....

So, in a move that is complete expected, Notre Dame has fired head coach Charlie Weis after 5 completely lackluster seasons in South Bend. A couple of weeks ago, I made my case for why Weis should be gone and who I think will replace him. One thing I will say about Charlie is he is thought of as an offensive genius- whether that is true or not no one knows... But, I do expect to see him land on his feet as an NFL coordinator in the very near future (maybe with his boy Brady Quinn in Cleveland??)

The SEC Championship is this weekend!! Check back later this week for my thoughts on what should be a great great football game between two very very well coached (since Les Miles isn't involved) teams with NFL talent all over the field. If you are planning on heading to ATL and need tickets- check here...

Till Thursday,

MN

See Ya Charlie!! but who's next?? and is it too much to ask T.O. to attempt a block??

Hello all,

To start this week I want to give big ups to my man Cortland Finnegan for locking T.O. down in the Titans 41-17 beatdown of the Bills this weekend. I actually took the 2.5 hour trek up I-65 (yes, 2.5 hrs- nice work JS) to Nashville and got to watch Cortland battle T.O. for most the day in person. We got to see a little bit of everything: lock down man to man D, T.O. finding a couple of holes in the zone to get some catches (3 for 81 yards on the day), trash talk after almost every play, and T.O. absolutely refusing to run block or run full speed if he wasn't the primary route on a play. Having never seen T.O. play in person before, I was amazed by this part of his game. We watched the DB come from his side to stop the run countless times throughout the day; I mean not only did he not consider making contact on a block but didn't even move enough to get between the man checking him and the ball to at least alter the defenders path. It's a tribute to how great Cortland was to rattle T.O. to the point where T.O. was scared to block him on runs.... I've always thought T.O. was a super competitive guy who didn't know how to control his emotions on the sideline; but, after watching the game Sunday, I think he is just a numbers guy who would rather have a big game and lose than have low numbers and win- because winners throw blocks (which is why Hines Ward has 2 rings and T.O. has none!). Overall, good win for the Titans and great game by Cortland....

So, what do Charlie Weis, Bob Davie and Ty Willingham have in common?? The same winning percentage (.583) as the head coach of Notre Dame... Davie and Willingham were fired; but, so far Weis has kept his job when his record compared to the other two is actually way worse. If you look at Weis' tenure in South Bend, his first two years (9-3 and 10-3) were clearly his best; and as everyone knows, his success during these two seasons clearly rests on the talent handed to him by Willingham's stellar recruiting- in the 10-3 2006 (His best season by far!!!!) Sugar Bowl season, he had 8 pre-season all-americans (Brady Quinn , Jeff Samardzija, Darius Walker , Tom Zbikowski, Ryan Harris, Victor Abiamiri and John Sullivan)- NONE of which were his recruits. Even this time underachieved, ranked #3 in the pre-season polls, the only ranked team they beat was #19 Penn State and they were absolutely blown out it all 3 of their other games against ranked teams (47-21 at home to #15 Michigan, 44-21 at USC- to a team who just lost Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart, and 41-14 in the Sugar Bowl against LSU- which brings up the question why the hell did they get a Sugar Bowl Bid???). So, if you look at his record without the 1st 2 years because none of the players were his, he stands at 16-19 (seriously... and he is still there???)!!  His teams have suffered some humiliating losses over this stretch as well- in 2007, a Weis coached ND squad lost to Navy for the first time in 43 years (yes, 43 years, and the game was in South Bend!), and again in 2009- now I'm not knocking Navy because I respect the hell out of every one of those guys, but ND has a such a crazy recruiting advantage over them (average difference up front is 46 lbs) that this game shouldn't be close and losing should be out of the question. In 2008, Weis lost at home on senior day to an 8-loss Syracuse team with a lame duck head coach. His record against winning teams (not even ranked but just winning) is a brutal 8-19, Willingham's was 12-15, Davie's was 18-22. Against teams with a losing record: Weis is 19-2 and just to compare it to a good coach-  Lou Holtz's was 47-1, Ty Willingham was 9-1- which brings up another point- Weis has the same winning percentage as Ty Willingham despite playing a much easier schedule (twice as many games against losing teams!!!)... Also, even though Weis was brought in under the "offensive genius lable" because of his time as the Patriots coordinator, he has been shut out 3 times so far at Notre Dame (with 2 Heisman candidate QBs I might add), which is the same total of shutouts they had from 1965-2001!!! Right now they are sitting at 6-4 with two losable games left (they have a chance against UCONN but are going to get steamrolled by Stanford) and despite being picked by many people to go to a BCS bowl and by at least one moron (who works for ESPN) to win the national championship, they'll probably finish at 7-6 with a minor bowl appearance and will lose their QB to the NFL draft after the season. So, why is Weis still at ND?? Because they might not be able to afford to fire him. As you may remmeber, 7-games into his ND career and after a 34-31 LOSS (yes, you read this right, a loss) to USC (remmember the game when Reggie Bush pushed Leinart over the goal-line on the last second sneak play- and he still has never beaten USC by the way), he was given a 10-year 30+ million dollar contract extension of which he still has 6 years at over 3 mil per year left... Notre Dame is still paying Ty Willingham about $700k a year, so if you combine that with the 1.5-2 mil per year Chuck would probably get and the 2-3 mil per year it would take to get a top flight coach- that is getting pretty expensive (yes, even for Notre Dame). But, they certainly can't afford to keep him either...

So who is going to replace him?? I've heard of several names. One being former super bowl winning coach Jon Gruden, who like Weis has no college experience but unlike Weis was a very successful HEAD coach in the NFL and is known as a great motivator. However, Gruden agreed to a contract extension as an analyst with ESPN yesterday, the timing of which seems to cast doubt on his level of interest. But, I'd love to see "Chucky" (I mean look at that picture) at ND and watch him go crazy on NBC. Next is Urban Meyer- I'm not even going to address this one- there is no chance he is going to leave the perfect set-up he has at UF. Chris Peterson has a great record (32-3) at Boise State, is known as a great recruiter and his players love him- but he not known on the national stage and if Notre Dame is willing to eat over 20 mil to fire Weis, I couldn't see them not going after a bigger name... Could that be Brian Kelly who has led Cincinnati to the national spotlight and has a 147-54 career record??

Charlie Weis' futility as a head coach, combined with the flops of Eric Mangini and Romeo Crennel brings up another point- how good is Bill Belichick?? and how much of a role do his assistants actually have? I know many people (including myself) are questioning his move to go for it on Sunday night, but the Pats have constantly contended every year (even last year without Tom Brady) for the past decade which is amazing in a sport with a salary cap...

Sir Elton John and Billy Joel have postponed their tour once again due to a medical illness...

Jay-Z has cancelled the remaining dates of his 2009 tour due to "scheduling conflicts". He was supposed to appear in Lubbock and Albuquerque before the finale in Austin, TX. He plans on expanding his 2010 tour... Wow....

Kanye returned to the stage last night in London which marked his first high-profile appearance since the VMA disaster....

The SEC championship with a BCS title game berth on the line will match up Alabama with Florida on December 5th, plenty of good seats availible...

As always, please post any shows, events or news you know of. And be sure to check out the "near you" tab on our homepage, www.roosterfly.com for a list of concerts, sporting events and shows in your area!

Till next time,

MN

Safin wants agassi to give titles back... and aerosmith without Steven Tyler????

Hello all,

To start this week, I learned that Steven Tyler has left Aerosmith and even more amazingly the band actually thinks they can go on without him after reading this in Rolling Stone. Apparently their break up is messy- their has been tension it the band since their summer tour disaster when Tyler fell and broke his shoulder on stage. During their last several stops (which Tyler only played in because of contractual obligations) he traveled separately, refused to rehearse and left November 1st after their concert in Abu Dhabi without talking to anyone in the band planning on launching a new solo "Brand Tyler". Now, the band has split before- in 1979 and 1981 guitatists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford left the band and were replaced (but the band was completely unproductive during this time), but returned in 1983. To me, this is very different. Aerosmith without Steven Tyler would be like the Rolling Stones without Mick Jagger (which no one would want to see!)- his voice is the heart and soul of the band (combined with other things of course) and very distinct. Joe Perry has compared this to Led Zeppelin continuing after the tragic loss of John Bohnam. However, Bonham was the drummer, not the lead singer. Their have been some bands that have successfully endured a lead singer change (Pink Floyd twice, Alice in Chains, Deep Purple, Styx, Van Halen, Genesis, AC/DC) but there also have been lots that haven't- The Doors actually released 2 albums and toured following Jim Morrison's death (but neither album has even been re-released on CD and getting air play is completely out of the question if that tells you anything about their success....). Given their success (best-selling American hard rock band of all time with more than 150 million albums worldwide, hold the record for the most gold and multi-platinum albums by an American group, 21 Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, nine #1 Mainstream Rock hits, four Grammy Awards, and ten MTV Video Music Awards) I have a hard time believing they will stay spilt- but if they do- please follow the path of the Foo Fighters (formed by former Nirvana members after Cobain's death) instead of Journey... Besides is anyone else sick of bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Marshall Tucker Band that tour around with no original members??

So, I was kinda suprised by the strong reaction of Marat Safin who angrily asserted that Andre Agassi should forfeit his career titles and prize money after confessing he used crystal meth during his early playing days. Agassi tested positive for crystal meth is 1997 and avoided a 3 month suspension by duping the ATP into believing his story that he accidently drank one of his assistant's spiked colas. While I find the ATP's acceptance of his BS story and willingness to sweep it under the rug disgusting, I have to say I think Safin is a moron who is bitter Agassi's career was far better than his (Agassi won 8 grand slams including the career grand slam and over $31 mil in prize money which is 3rd all time; Safin won 2 grand slams) even though Safan was a very good player and ranked #1 in the world at one point. My reasoning is this, while taking crystal meth is a big deal the fact of the matter is it is not a performance enhancing drug (and it does a hell of a lot of harm) like Barry Bonds took. Agassi was known as an arrogant, wild, brat during his early playing days but matured into a different person as he aged.  There are plenty of professional athletes that have been linked to recreational drug use, none more decorated that Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, who justified his pot use as a way to control his migraine headaches (and I have never heard someone say that Kareem needs to return his 6 NBA championship and 3 NCAA championship rings!).What about the Pittsburg drug trials and the cocaine use that plagues baseball in the 1980s (Tim Rains admittied to keeping a GRAM of cocaine in his back pocket during games!!!)? Dave Parker was one of the players suspended for the season, only to have it dropped when he agreed to do community service, and believe it or not he got to keep his 2 world series rings and 1978 NL MVP award. So, by following this precedent- Agassi has done more than enough to clear his name by now and show he has changed since his earlier days. Roy Johnson thinks Agassi is the most charitable athlete of this generation, Agassi has founded a K-12 school for disadvantaged youth which has a 100% college acceptance rate, raised over $60 million for disadvantaged youth through his foundation, founded the Cottage for Medically Fragile Children, dounded Athletes for Hope and has been awarded the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award- I would say that qualifies as community service. Let's blame the ATP too for this- if they bought Agassi's excuse so easily, how many other players could have been taking other drugs and getting away with it?? And what's equally disturbing is that the ATP recently dropped a cocaine related suspension of Richard Gasquet, who won his argument that his positive test was due to kissing a woman in a nightclub in Miami. Apparently, in this case, history repeats itself when it comes to the ATPs ability to enforce its drug related policies. And I got to give props to Gasquet for his creativity in coming up with his excuse...

Jay-Z will be in Nashville, TN on Friday (Nov 13) performing at Vandy....

Blues legend B.B. King has announced the whole schedule for his 2009/2010 tour. B.B. is 84 years old this year and still going strong, amazing...

In NFL action, the Pats and the Colts renew their rivalry on Sunday with the Colts undefeated record on the line. These teams have had so many memorable regular season and playoff games over the past few years (including my favorite: the 21-6 New England playoff win when the fans started a "Cut than meat" chant that lasted the entire 4th quarter in response to Peyton's mastercard commercial) and it is always a treat to watch the 2 best QBs in the game square off...

Alabama and Florida both try to stay focused on their current opponents with the SEC championship looming... Should be a great game with a national championship berth on the line, be sure to check out us for tickets if you are going...

As always be sure to post any good upcoming shows and events you know of, and be sure to check out the "Near You" Tab on our homepage, http://www.roosterfly.com/, for tickets to upcoming events in your area.

Till next time,

MN