testing 123

Radiothon theme (tenative)

Check the label: a history of some of the most influential labels in the past 20 years.

Sign in Salem presents: The Post Game

The Post Game: Super Bowl XLI



Starting this off, welcome to The Post Game, A Sign in Salem's look at the world in sport-just in time for Spring Training! The inaugural feature, of course, deals with the Super Bowl XLI.


Event: Super Bowl XLI (3rd use)



Place: Dolphins Stadium, Miami, FL.



Participants Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears



Peyton Manning wins one, specifically the BIG ONE. Most pundits claimed that he finally came through in the clutch when he beat the New England Patriots, who became his biggest nemesis as soon as they won their storybook Super Bowl in 2002. When I heard all this rabble, I came up with one comparison: The 2004 Boston Red Sox, who had one big demon. After the BoSox shut the fuck out of the Yanks in the BX to complete their historic comeback, everyone (including my own local paper) declared the Curse Closed (haha,aren't they clever). What did the Sox do then? Sweep the Cardinals in 4.



Ironically, the mojo got passed from Massachusetts to Indianapolis, where the presentation of the Lamar Hunt Trophy had every sports-opinion entity almostimmediatelythereafter crowning their ass (if you will). The public had two weeks to soak every angle in-the Dungy angle, the Manning angle, the Vinatieri angle. It was overload to the max(xxxxxxx), exploiting every angle we've already had.



As far as the game itself, the first quarter was exciting, and then the rest was a let down. Laserocket Arm started off the game handing off the ball to Addai, while throwing in a pass here-and-there to remind you that HE'S THE BEST DAMN QUARTERBACK IN THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE,DAMMIT. The Cannon did his part, dinking, dunking, and handing the ball off to Thomas Jones (who has one of the blandest names ever, right up there with Bob Sanders). Then the 2nd quarter came, and the Colts outscored the Bears 10-0 in said period of time.



It was over, earlier than predicted. The game was kept close, thanks to the South Florida rain, the real turf,and the fact that these teams were good (well,Chicago was a One seed, the Colts a Three). After Chicago's two touchdown EXPLOSION in the first quarter, the most they could muster the rest of the game was a Robbie Gould Field Goal, making the loss 12 points instead of 15. 18 on the Colts played a complete game:25/38, 247Yds, 1 TD, 1 INT. He won the MVP, but I still give it to Joseph Addai, kid was nasty goign through that Bears D. Speaking of the Bears...



Rex Grossman played like it was the winter, a time he's not accustomed to,you see. 2006 was Grossman's first big (couldn't think of a better adjective) season for the Bears. Look at the last three Bears starting QBs in the playoffs: Grossman, Kyle Orton, and Jim Miller. None of these names even sound like awesome quarterbacks that you will remember. Grossman has to mature-yeah, I know, Roethlisberger won one (he also was part of a 15-1 team his rookie season). The NFC is wide open-despite not winning a Super Bowl since 2003-meanign that the Bears, the most consistent team in the conference (along with the Eagles and Seahawks) have a legitimate chance next year.



So there ya go, Super Bowl XLI. As you've noticed, A Sign in Salem has moved from a music shift to a sports perspective. Don't worry, you can view the new radio stuff at http://showyettobetitled.blogspot.com/, and music stuff in general at mog.com/watchbatteries.

Waiting.

I don't know who reads this blog. Hell, I don't know who reads this when it gets imported on to facebook. People don't seem to comment, because they're disinterested reading. Maybe it's because I don't fill my entries with memes and disses. Instead, I actually attempt to, you know, write. CRAZY SHIT, I KNOW. Eh, I should get to the point. I've registered the domain www.scamelent.com, where you'll be able to read this and link it to your friends(!). DON'T GO THERE NOW. It takes some time for DNS and ICANN and everybody to get along. Important stuff:


radio show

nine to noon


www.wuvt.vt.edu

Bowl Projections 06-07

My bowl picks for 2006-07, maybe with some insight on certain bowls.

Unless noted, I'm not writing the names of the fucking sponsors.

Picks in BOLD

Poinsettia
Northern Illinois over TCU

Las Vegas
Oregon over BYU

New Orleans
Troy over Rice

Papajohns.com Seriously, .com? Not just Papa John's?
USF over ECU

New Mexico
New Mexico over San Diego St

Armed Forces
Utah over Tulsa

Hawaii
Arizona St over Hawaii

Motor City
Central Michigan over Middle Tennessee

Emerald
UCLA over Florida State

Independence
Oklahoma St over Alabama

Holiday My favorite Non-BCS bowl.
Texas A&M over Cal

Texas
Rutgers over Kansas State....Rutgers gets this? They deserve Gator.

Music City
Clemson over Kentucky

Sun
Oregon State over Mizzou

Liberty
South Carolina over Houston

Insight
Texas Tech over Minnesota

Champs Sports Now we get competitive
Purdue over Maryland

Meineke Car Care
Boston College over Navy

Alamo
Texas over Iowa

Chick-fil-a
VIRGINIA TECH over Georgia. More on this tomorrow...

MPC Computers
Miami (FLA) over Nevada

Outback
Penn State over Tennessee-Knoxville

Cotton
Auburn over Nebraska

Gator
West Fuckin' Virginia over Georgia Tech

Capital One
Wisconsin over Arkansas

Rose Bowl
Michigan over USC. This is a re-match from a few years ago when the current UM team were in their freshman year (more-or-less), I believe. It's a young USC team that lost to two unranked teams, though.

Fiesta
Oklahoma over Boise State. OU isn't a walk-over conference winner like the Pitt team that faced Utah two years ago.

Orange
Louisville over Wake Forest. This pick'll probably bite me in the ass, but c'mon. Are either of the teams interesting? The best player on Wake is a PUNTER.

Sugar
LSU over Notre Dame. Yeah, because a team that lost to the ranked teams it played and had to depend on two collapses deserves a bid.

International
Cincinnati over Western Michigan. What the fuck? Why is this game on in between the BCS bowls?

GMAC
Southern Miss over Ohio. Ohio is one of Playboy's top ten party schools. They also have Frank Solich as coach. I still don't think they'll win.

BCS CHAMPIONSHIP
THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY over Florida. This promises to be a good game. But, tOSU just has too many weapons.

This is just an anticipatory column.

I should be editing a geology portfolio right now, but I decided to take a break. With blogging of course. I haven't written anything in about two weeks, so I'm back with some content. College is winding down, and it looks like I'm going to survive my first semester,with decent grades. Unfortunately, I have stuff to do this week and it's subconsciously winding down on me. But you know what you really want? Music, and lots of my horrid opinions on it. Well, you're going to get two shabby reviews of bands I liked more junior of high school. BUT, before finals, you'll get my Mainstream/CollegeandIndie Artists, Songs, and Albums of the Year. That happens next week (say, reading day?). For now, the reviews of two albums that probably have dissenting sides though that's stupid as hell.

Senses Fail, Still Searching

Senses Fail are a New Jersey scremao outfit that gained popularity after their 2004 release Let It Enfold You. Their debut album was so popular that it was re-released with different packaging in 2005. Between now and then, the band has toured and recorded their third release and second album, Still Searching. While Let It Enfold You focused on the usual long names and short depth, Searching seems to have a concept behind it. OK, not a concept so much as a running theme with the word "faith". Yes, there are references to girlfriends, but they seem to be the same just-more-than-simple metaphors. "I was the chapstick in your purse to keep you smooth/I was the finger in your throat to keep you cute" from "Every Day is a Struggle" is the new "Half-smoked cigarettes and you're the trash that infects my sheets" from 2004's "Choke on This." Searching throws those in there for fun, but seems to focus on the lead singer/narrator's self-problems. What we get is a "genius with a headache" who repeatedly talks about his problems with pills and living and depression and whatever else cliche you can think of. At least Senses Fail pokes fun of themselvs with "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues". Musically, it's what you expect from Senses Fail, with a few keyboards hey and there. Cause hey, everybody loves keyboards these days. It's like, "We were a screamo band during the screamo explosion of 2004, like during the whole Taste of Chaos beginning, Warped getting shittier era, but then, "KEYBOARDS!" we can totally have musical depth like we're Squarepusher meets TV on the Radio meets Thursday!". Just stick to what you do, kids. .....3/5. They could do better...i almost gave them a 2 1/2.


My Chemical Romance, "The Black Parade"

MCR. Gerard and company are back with ANOTHER concept album, but this one is darker (really) than Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge . MCR's last album helped break them into the mainstream, especially after the success of the video for "Helena". My problem with this is that the slower "Helena" allowed MCR to choose a weaker follow-up single in "The Ghost of You". The album had several better choices for follwo-up singles, including "You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison" or "Thank You for the Venom". Well, it didn't help, and MCR just kinda lingered over the last year and a half. What do they come up with now? No longer is it demolition lovers and shit, it's now The Patient. MCR's choice for a lead single, "Welcome to the Black Parade" is somewhat wordy, and a really bad attempt at Queen. Furthermore, "Mama" has tow things that piss me off: A cameo by Liza Manelli (What The FUCK?) and a blatant ripoff of Gogol Bordello. Other tracks on the album sound very MCR, wit the poppunkpseudogothiness that we've come to know, love, and respect. Their choice for a ballad, though, is a bad one. It lacks the volume, velocity, and overall encompassing effect of a song like "Ghost of You". The song is "Cancer", and it has a piano, and takes that cue. Little buildup happens. The lyrics are the saving grace, I guess of the album. Gerard lets us listen to a nicely constructed album, except for the song "Famous Last Words". The title, lyrics, and overall presentation are very pase and kinda boring. But, the album is still a good disc to listen to and molds well. 4/5...and they desreve it. They got more coming up their sleeve.


the AWARDS show next week

radiothon.tests.such.

Taking a break from studying, right now. Geology is taught in sucha way that I hear words and not concepts, but I'm falling asleep by the first fifteen mintues in the lecture because my last class was boring. After I get through tomorrow, my semester will be downhill. This is good, because college has come up to me, smacked me in the face, and said "Fuck, you'll get better at this next time." With the exam tomorrom, I'll have a heavy burden lifted off of my shoulders and such.

Tomorrow is really big in terms of my involvement with RADIOTHON. I'll be stopping by the Drillfield remote, of course, on my way to class. But, I have to MC Valerie's show from 7-9 pm, when she plays the best fo the Hammond Organ. She plays good funk, so I'll probably enjoy it. The biggest even by far is LOCAL ZONE EXTRAVAGANZA at Squires. A bunch of local bands playing for donations, and it looks good. I'll finally get to see Philip Uster and the House Floor (there's a government joke if you look closely).

Who wants to hear more Mission of Burma? Just me.