Saturday, February 27, 2010

4 Quarters Radio: Episode 6, 2nd Half



The second half of Feb. 23's episode gets off to an abrupt start, with the boys talking about NBA deadline deals, specifically Nate Robinson moving on to the Boston Celtics. They move on to other earth-shattering deals like Antawn Jamison to Cleveland and the ultimate blockbuster...Darko Milicic for Brian Cardinal. Bobby justifies his 1-for-3 prediction on UFC 110, while Scott wonders why so many UFC fighters are getting tummyaches lately. In the 4th quarter, Scott ponders Randy Couture's "interesting" choices in workout music and Josh Barnett's "interesting" thoughts on what it'll take for some promotion to get him to fight again. (Hint: it's not him laying off the 'roids.) Myron Rolle being too smart for the NFL, Tim Tebow doin' work, and MTSU's recruiting class lead us up to the usual show-ending dose of Epic Fail. Excised music: "Strictly Business" by EPMD and "Shock to the System" by Jesse Johnson.

4 Quarters Radio: Episode 6, 1st Half



On the first half of the February 23 episode, Scott, Joseph, and Bobby break down the Tiger Woods Show. They touch on his robotic delivery, Celebrity Apology Mad Libs, the PGA Tour's enabling his behavior, and why his biggest mistake may have been getting married in the first place. In the second quarter, Scott conjures a disturbing visual of himself in a nurse's outfit, then the guys mercifully move on to a hellacious college basketball weekend. Finally, they finish up with talk of Rent-A-Center's new commercial Odd Couple, Whodaman, and Jaromir Jagr's ass. Excised music: "Like the 309" by Johnny Cash and "Donovan Said" by Brian Jonestown Massacre.

Monday, February 22, 2010

4 Quarters Radio Episode 5: 2nd Half



On the second half of the Feb. 16 episode, the boys discuss the NBA All-Star Weekend, complete with Joseph ranting about ball-hogging rookies, the total black hole that is Hasheem Thabeet, and the total white hole that is (allegedly) Chris Kaman. Meanwhile, Scott wants his Shakira-Alicia Keys halftime show back, dammit! Bobby lays down his predictions for UFC 110 (many of which didn't come correct, but we won't hold that against him), and as always, we end by outing some Epic Fails. Excised music: "Madder Red" by Yeasayer and "Batonga" by Angelique Kidjo. As always, listen to the songs for free on Grooveshark.com and if you like them, click the links above to purchase the MP3's from Amazon.

4 Quarters Radio Episode 5: 1st Half




On this episode of 4QR (original air date Feb. 16), Scott, Joseph, and Bobby discuss how they filled their first post-NFL Sunday, stopping to note some NFL players who are very likely disgruntled right now (we call them "restricted free agents"). The Winter Olympics were discussed, including how one trip to the Home Depot could have saved an innocent life. The Pothole 500 (TRFKA the Daytona 500) took a little abuse in the second quarter, and the guys covered some other famous sporting delays, involving bats, bees, bladders, bowels, birds exploding, and birds covering kickoffs. And, of course, we found out Whodaman. Excised music: "Potholes in My Lawn" by De La Soul and "Endorphinmachine" by Prince.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

4 Quarters Radio Episode 4: 2nd Half



On the second half of this episode, Scott and Joseph talk some college hoops while Bobby takes a vacation. Then, in the 4th quarter, Scott and Bobby talk some MMA while Joseph takes a vacation. On 4QR, the pay's lousy, but the benefits are okay. A couple of bonus commercials, including Puppet Zydrunas (RIP) and GoDaddy's "Unrated Web Content" that you probably DON'T wanna see, make their appearances as well. Throw in the weekly dose of Epic Fails, including a highly pissed-off college hoops announcer, and you have a recipe for the most entertaining episode of 4QR ever to hit the Internet...since it's currently the ONLY episode of 4QR to hit the Internet. Excised music: "Don't Get Me Wrong," by the Pretenders and "Ladies of the World" by Flight of the Conchords.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

4 Quarters Radio Episode 4 1st Half



In this episode of 4QR, Colts fans Scott and Joseph struggle to come to grips with the Colts' loss in Super Bowl XLIV. Luckily, they're able to find solace in some amusing Super Bowl ads. Also, they talk a bit about the Pro Football Hall of Fame inductions. Musically, this was Sappy Love Song Week, and the following songs aired in the first half: "Love Stinks" by Adam Sandler from the Wedding Singer (find video on YouTube) and "Roses (Clean Version)" by OutKast. ("Roses" link does NOT go to clean version.) Due to copyright concerns, these songs have been removed from this podcast.

Friday, February 12, 2010

How Some Want "Beautiful Athlete" to Become an Oxymoron

This is the magazine cover that has launched a thousand feminist diatribes about the objectification of female athletes.

The blog post behind that link indicates that only 4% of Sports Illustrated covers over the past 60 years have featured women. One would assume that this includes the swimsuit issue, although it's odd that the blogger, a Dr. Nicole LaVoi, would do so, since she could have then attacked SI for only featuring "women athletes" on less than half that number.

And with controversies like this popping up every time an attractive female athlete appears on a magazine cover, is it any wonder SI doesn't make a greater effort? Sure, the kerfuffle kicked up by these feminazis is not bad for SI's circulation, but once all is totaled, is it really worth all the derisive hate mail that the magazine is bound to receive?

Simply because Vonn is pretty (seriously, she's got a real Christie Brinkley thing happening on this cover), any depiction of her on a magazine other than an actual in-race action shot is automatically a Cro-Magnon sexualization, according to blogs like Dr. LaVoi's and others. If a woman's face looks like the north end of a southbound mule, then...what? Is that proof enough that she's gaining notoriety for her athletic ability and not for more prurient reasons? Are a terrible complexion or hideous scar or grotty teeth essential to be truly respected, and not just a sex object?

Sports Illustrated is getting lumped in with Maxim here, and that's a little bit unfair. Examine the cover's caption.

"America's BEST Woman Skier Ever". 

Does it say "America's HOTTEST Woman Skier Ever"? Nope. Is Lindsey a skiing Kournikova, ONLY making magazine covers because she's beautiful?  Um...no. Her resume's more stacked than she is, merely lacking the Olympic medals that seem to elude her primarily because...well, off the slope, the girl's a bloody klutz.

Is the photo of Lindsey oversexualized? Only if you think this one is.


The wet shirt clearly is gratuitous, meant to draw attention to Michael Phelps' sculpted abdominal region. Disagreement is a sign of a clear double standard. At least Lindsey's SORT OF in uniform. But wait...Michael Phelps' uniform has been, on occasion, a tiny pair of Speedo trunks. But there's no potential for the sexualization of a muscular, usually wet guy in a Speedo, is there?

As is often the case, feminism attempts to trumpet freedom of a woman's will, but goes about it in exactly the wrong way. Excoriating female athletes for using ALL of the genetic gifts they were given is an attempt to stifle the athlete's mainstream potential, merely to make some political statement about the athlete refusing to have her career dictated to her by the impulses of the male loins. All it says is that these women are blonde airhead bimbos who have to have men plotting everything, up to how many squares of toilet paper they use to wipe their asses.

Of course, now Lindsey and three other Winter Olympians have well and truly crossed the picket line, haven't they? This is tantamount to treason to their gender, is it not? Unless someone placed a gun to their heads and ordered them to put on swimsuits (or less) and pose with their skis, that is. Free will is only free when you agree with the decisions made, is that it?

At the finish line, it's all about an athlete being able to make a living at their craft. The purses in skiing aren't quite on par with those in tennis or golf, so why does anyone feel the need to step on Lindsey Vonn's chance to make her living using every tool at her disposal? News flash, Dr. LaVoi: Lindsey and Hannah Teter and Lacy Schnoor and Clair Bidez are trading on looks and talent while they have them, because both are ephemeral. They'll both be gone eventually, and if these ladies can get paid in full right now, making a better future for themselves and their children, so be it.

I perfectly get that Dr. LaVoi's approaching the issue from a "what's good for sport and subsequently for society" point of view. What I don't get is how a young girl in rural Minnesota whose parents don't have the money or the inclination to connect their house to the Internet is supposed to find role models who aren't getting respect from the mainstream media (i.e. Sports Illustrated). If Susie can't connect to some skiing or tennis or golf website for detailed research, then about who in her favorite sport is she going to hear? Lindsey Vonn, Maria Sharapova, and Natalie Gulbis, that's who.

Holding attractive athletes like Vonn up as examples of what is wrong with women's sport is not only denigrating to the work they put in to reach a world-class level, but also denying the truism that without some kind of hook, how will the sport reach its greatest potential audience?

Lindsey Vonn is that hook for the Winter Olympics right now. And instead of decrying the fact that the media are objectifying female athletes (for about the 245,349th time since women began playing sports competitively around a century ago), why not come to an understanding that the athletes are, in the end, objectifying themselves with a very specific purpose in mind?

Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva may have said it best when she said, "If we are ugly then no one will be interested." And if no one's interested, then what happens to a sport, male or female?

Thursday, February 11, 2010

20 Years Since Buster Lit Up Tyson? Srsly? Dear God, I'm Old

February 11, 1990.

Yes, that was 20 years ago today that The Baddest Man on the Planet (TM) was captured on film looking like a guy stumbling into the street after a nasty night of drinking...or possibly a rabies patient, depending on how one looks at the mouthpiece.

I was 11 years old at the time, only a couple of years into my great sports awakening. Before I knew that death and taxes were the great guarantees in life, there was only one guarantee that I was personally sure of: Mike Tyson would feed James "Buster" Douglas his own pancreas. Most likely through a straw.

When I got this issue of Sports Illustrated in the mail, it was more of a shock than finding out that there was no Santa Claus. Honestly, I'd posed the "how's he get around the world in one night?" question pretty early, so that one wasn't all that big.

But Tyson losing to this guy? I considered a religious conversion right then and there, because it seemed like a sure sign that the apocalypse was upon us.

In hindsight, the only real world ended that night may have been Iron Mike's. It was only a year-and-a-half later that Tyson was arrested for rape, but he'd already been going through a circus, firing trainers, having promoters dueling over him, and ending a disastrous marriage. In comparison, jail may have been a holiday.

We may just now get to find out what the real issues have been with Mike, thanks to filmmaker James Toback and his critically praised documentary Tyson. Next time the wife and I head to Blockbuster, I'm most definitely grabbing a copy of that one off the shelf.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go have some prune juice and sit on the can for an hour, because I'm suddenly feeling extremely aged.


Exhibit #218 Of Why Ovechkin > Gretzky



That, friends, is 6'2", 220-pound Alexander Ovechkin absolutely demolishing 6'7", 250-pound Hal Gill of the Montreal Canadiens. At first, it resulted in a goal, but after some consultation, the referees tooketh away.

This kind of fullback intensity is why I enjoy watching Ovechkin play over pretty much anyone that's ever strapped on skates.

Gretzky never had the size or the inclination to do that to anybody. Mario Lemieux never wanted anywhere near that kind of check, even though he was plenty big enough to do it. Same with Jaromir Jagr.

You have to look at players like Rick Tocchet or Brendan Shanahan to find that sort of cross between sniper and enforcer, but Ovechkin will surpass most everything either of those two ever did...provided he doesn't kill himself smoking some fool in the process.

Comparing Tocchet to Ovie is sort of like comparing a Windstar to a Hummer. And on a good day, Shanny might get to be the A-Team van.

It's a rare talent who can thrill you with a sweet, otherworldly goal one night and then some other night, absolutely bitchslap a mammoth defenseman into the goal mouth. And me, I like a little nasty with my nice. Thrash on, Alex. Thrash on.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

4 Quarters: The Music, Volume 1

If you read this, than you'd have to be somewhat blind to not notice that I've also been pimping my radio show, 4 Quarters, pretty heavily.

I'm having a lot of fun doing it so far, but I am far from a finished product on the radio. Of course, that's the best reason to be doing the show, for practice and training.

I've tried to record the first three episodes for podcasts, but through assorted operator errors and technical problems (okay, more of the former than the latter), I've managed to get the first 80 minutes of episode 3 recorded, and nothing else. Bah.

But, for those who haven't heard an explanation of the show's format, we (myself and my co-hosts Joseph and Bobby) divide the two hours into four segments separated by breaks mandated by the station. During those breaks, we play promos for the station's other shows, PSA's, etc. We separate ourselves from the other sports shows by incorporating music into our breaks, with a tremendous blend of genres and time periods.

Hence the point of this post. To get a feel for the kind of stuff we've been playing over the first three episodes, I'll present the 12 songs that have graced our breaks. If you'd like to listen to any of them, I highly recommend Grooveshark. Just click this link, and once Grooveshark loads, just enter the artist's name and look for the song.

If there's a Rhapsody link next to a song, that means it's not currently on Grooveshark, and you can go to Rhapsody to listen to it.

Clicking on song titles will take you to Amazon, where you can download the song. Clicking on artists will allow you to download the entire album on which the mentioned song appears.

Episode 1:
1st Intermission: "(Don't) Give Hate a Chance" by Jamiroquai (This one was actually a last-minute substitution when the computer lost connection in mid-tune. I had to quickly pick something off of our touchscreen menu, and settled on Jay Kay and his hat. Not a bad choice, all in all.)
Halftime: "White Knuckles" by OK Go
3rd Intermission: "Giving Up the Gun" by Vampire Weekend
Postgame: "Creative Juices" by Har Mar Superstar (Rhapsody)

Episode 2:
1st Intermission: "Counseling" (Clean Version) by Clipse feat. Nicole Hurst (Rhapsody...I introduced this one as "Tiger's Theme"...listen and you'll hear why.)
Halftime: "Ride On" by Parliament
3rd Intermission: "Fallin' and Flyin'" by Jeff Bridges and Colin Farrell (From the Crazy Heart soundtrack)
Postgame: "Something I Do" by Robert Earl Keen (Rhapsody)

Episode 3:
1st Intermission: "I'm In Miami Trick" by LMFAO (A love song from me and Joseph, the show's resident Colts fans, to all the Steelers/Cowboys/Patriots/other obnoxious fanbases who might be wondering where our team can be found this Super Bowl weekend.) (Note: single download is clean version, album download is NOT)
Halftime: "Let the Madness Begin" by Fozzy (fronted by WWE Superstar Chris Jericho, pictured above)
3rd Intermission: "Romance is Boring" by Los Campesinos!
Postgame: "Stella the Artist" by David Gray

So, there you have it. Makes for sort of an interesting playlist, don't it? I know I have fun digging through the "crates," as it were.

One of these days, I'll be getting a full show recorded and put up for podcast, hopefully at Blip.tv. Rest assured that everyone checking Facebook, Twitter, and this blog will hear about it as soon as the first show (er, fourth show) is online.

Otherwise, I assure you that it'll be worth your time to go to WMTS.org and click on the headphones to listen live every Tuesday Noon to 2 Central...if only to hear what we'll be playing next.