Raw is Jericho, SuperSmackDown, Tribute to the Troops and more

Image Credit: wwe.com

What a start to WWE week! Following TLC, Monday Night Raw opened to this week's GM, Y2J, announcing the night's 2 HUGE main events. A fan picked street fight with none other than Jericho, himself, and big mouthed Paul Heyman. Followed by rematch of Cena vs Rollins in a steel cage. The street fight couldn't even start before Brock Lesnar laid Jericho out with an F-5. No one expected any physical activity from Heyman. He may have put on some ring gear but that wasn't fooling anyone. I guess Brock feels the need to make up for lost time because he comes out during the steel cage match to remind Cena what he's in for at the Royal Rumble. Rollins hit Cena with a Curb Stomp and exits the cage.

USA Network switched up our regular schedules with a SuperSmackDown Live on Tuesday night. Raw gave us a taste of Roman Reigns but SmackDown showed Fandango what Reigns was really capable of doing. Rowan flies off the top to win the 6 man tag. The Ascension's vignette left me so confused. Did The Road Warriors find the fountain of youth? I don't know who has an easier job, Nikki or Kane. Ziggler nails a Zig-Zag for the win. That's what Rollins gets for talking too much. 

The 12th annual Tribute to the Troops airs tonight at 8pm. Promised to be the most patriotic and heart-warming show of the holiday season, WWE brings together the best of sports entertainment and pop culture. The Tribute will chronicle the Superstar's 2 day trip to Fort Benning, a performance by multi-platinum recording artists, Florida Georgia Line, special messages from a long list of celebrities, and I'm sure a few mediocre matches for good measure. 

-Loveblump

A Look Back at the Good, Bad and Ugly Lessons Learned at Filmons Fresh Coast Ether Event aka Cassidy vs Dizaster

Image Credit: BattleRap.com

I waited till Wednesday to write about the Fresh Coast Ether event for personal reasons. This turned out to be a great thing. Due to the untimely passing of Young B the Future who was the top tier prospect of 2014, the news cycle on Ether has been rather slow. It was the biggest battle event ever thrown. A billionaire by the name of Alki David, the owner of Filmon, a streaming television company who specialize in live streaming events, joined forces with Lush One and the Fresh Coast Music Group to present Ether, this past Saturday live on IPPV. The other name of this event was merely the main event, Cassidy vs Dizaster. I watched, as did many, the first and unplanned second night. For the most part battle fans were expecting Dizaster to kill Cass. This is his forum. No one expected the most debatable battle of the year or the biggest upset of all time. Its a matter of opinion and you will know mine. Lets take a look at all the lessons we learned from Ether, the event as a whole. Please keep in mind these are my opinions. If they are yours, great. If not, fuck yourselves.

Lets first talk about the battles themselves. Watching from home was, kind words would be "challenging," frustrating, and depressing at times. In fact there were so many issues with the stream, it was in the end, freeview content. More on that later as that was a win in the end, the free part that is. The stream and the event started late and there were technical issues abound, in house and digitally. The mics didnt work half the time. One of, well seemingly two, lavaleer mics broke which led to Daylyt and Serious Jones trading equipment mid battle...yup. Second to last battle of the night, second biggest battle of the night. This was Total Slaughter, except the battle guys were supposed to get it right, do it better. However blame cant really be placed on Lush. FilmOn produced the event and handled the video and audio, not Lush. Battle Rap and Pro Wrestling are very much alike in the sense of you kinda need the people from within to handle the decision making, not the exec who thinks they know better. Just because you pay for it doesn't mean you know more than the professionals. I have watched talented filmographers ruin great wrestling due to no idea how to shoot it. Ether was watching the same treatment for battle rap. Fact of the matter is there were issues with mics, with the stream, sound cuttin out both live and on stream. This was incredibly depressing as was missing basically a whole Bigg K round and all sorts of Big T goodness and like half of Real Deal vs Illmac, and part of Ars vs Saurus. What makes it even more bittersweet is that when you see the official release, what its supposed to look like, and what the live experience of the stream was. Also pro wrestling has proven many times, live IPPV are the motherfucker of clean streaming.

Each battle had a pro wrestling MMA style entrance. Battlers, please step your entrance game up. Why not hype shit, barely playing to the crowd at all? Use it to your advantage, to display your identity. Make yourself stand out, its a show. Part of the issue was a la TS, this wasn't really a battle crowd. That is a true sign of a movement becoming an industry, giant events full of people who are there to claim they were there. Therefore, crowd reaction most of the time, on cam at least, not what a crowd for an event like this would be expected to sound like. But please...dont just walk down steps swiftly, have some fun.

Cali Smoov is an up and coming battler from LA. He is a member of Krack City alongside Dizaster, Daylyt and Aktive. Smoov also is apparently reponsible for bringing Lush and David together, therefore may have been the spark to all this. He was given the gift of Death By Caustic. I would never, ever want to battle Daniel Stefani. I have never met him in real life, I am a fan of his as a battler and as a member of the Dirtbag Dan Show podcast and believe he may have the most evil intentions any battler alive. He has ruined careers, marriages, minds (see Daley battle) and laughs. Cali brought bars, some very good. Caustic decided to make him pay for his ego with hateful personals about his reputation and sexuality. Remeber a rap battle isnt just a competition to see who raps better or has better indirect wordplay, its about making someone look bad, a verbal altercation, a fight with words. Caustic beat 11 fancy yet light spin kicks with a haymaker to the jaw. That simple.  Danny Meyers, fresh off an amazing battle with Aye Verb battled Heartless, fresh off a huge upset over Charlie Clips. Didnt see this, however I'm hearing 2-1 Meyers in what i'm sure was a battle full of wit, wordplay, and Meyers running round screaming like a white woman in a slasher movie after big punches. Two battle vets coming off monsterous 2014 preformances, Real Deal and Illmaculate duked it out in a fantastic back and forth. This was a rare close 3-0 in Illmaculates favor. Real Deal was nearly over agressive while Illmaculate is becoming better nearly each time he hits a Cali stage. Two examples of why tiers exist occurred as well. Billy Boondocks won a freestyle tournament at the previous FC event in early November. However this is the equivalent of a guy winning a touch football tournament and then getting put in the All Pro game. He had the unfortunate task of facing a very on Rum Nitty. Nitty was a breakout star of the new Fresh Coast after an epic battle with Danny Meyers a year ago. Since then, he has had some huge battles, including Arsonal in Nittys home town of Phoenix and B Magic for FC. Nitty is one of the hardest hitters in battle rap, and has shutdown bars every battle, showstoppers. This was watching a tee ball player face Randy Johnson. This was the guy you went to high school with who did karate vs Anderson Silva. It was a bloodbath, plain and simple. The other example of this is Aktive vs Big T. Aktive is also Krack City. He is one of the most legit gangsters in battling and is also very very green. He faced the 600 lb. man with the 600 lb. bars, Big Motherfuckin T. T is a monster who had a classic with Diz the prior month. At Ether, he was razor sharp, with gun sound effects firing everywhere. Aktive got taken to school in a wash. These are top tier battlers for a reason. Dont punish your newcomers that way FC. 

Up next we had an intermission which included a beautiful young lady fuckin up her own songs and inspiring a movement. After Ether, #Yaki and the decently hot chick rapping it will forever be ingrained in our memory banks. Arsonal battled The Saurus after the whole Yaki thing. This was a great battle from what the feed didnt fuck up, Ars is the most viewed battler alive, Saurus is the most decorated with possibly the most battles. This was street vs backpack between legends on their A games. Though some may say the whole race card 2nd round by Ars was played, the way in which he did it was not. I gave it 2-1 Ars for more quotables, better presence and the fact that Saurus may or may not have left the er at the end of the word.  The next was the battle of the puchline kings, Bigg K vs Concieted. Con is a trailblazer who has influenced battle rap more than nearly everyone and currently appears on MTVs Wild N Out. Bigg K is street battlings great white hope. Con came light, K did not. This was Ortiz vs Shamrock as battle rap. A one sided beatdown of a veteran.  Bigg K is a problem and proved it again. The semi main event was the battle of the night. Serius Jones is an icon, uncrowning Jin in the "good ol days," signing with Luda and DTP, and two giant return battles. Last we saw his face, however it was helping Math Hoffas fist shut down SM3. Daylyt is the king of antics and one of the most advanced writers in the game. His major battles since the summer included dressing in a Spawn costume, stripping down and pulling out Mr. Hankey vs Rex, dressing as the headless horseman vs Real Deal and trying to shit onstage 3rd round, battling Krack City teammate Cali Smoov. He twerked on Smoov and simulated head. Two weeks prior vs Pat Stay for the KOTD title, he dressed as a slave, and basically proceeded to do 3 parts of a one man show which happened to take place during a battle. He came into LA and rapped his fuckin ass off. Days bars usually are better on camera due to being so complex. I got Day 2-1 close, as while Serius was more direct Day was on some other shit. Serius did take the one round freestyle battle after the show got shutdown.

That brings us to the nearly crippling debacle that was the main event. It was the highest profile battle in history. Cassidy the self proclaimed founder of modern day battling, mainstream for over a decade, the first platinum rapper to battle vs Dizaster, Eminems favorite battler, arguably the face of modern battling and a killer on stage. $175,000  for that battle alone. This was the most hyped, most promoted, most anticipated battle ever. A bodybag was expected, a debated classic insued and nothing went as planned. It took nearly 20 minutes to clear the stage, as it was being ordered by fire marshalls. On camera it looked like entourage bullshit. In reality it was, according to Dizaster, a stage full of rival gang members, with Diz having a crew consisting mainly members of the notorious Grape St. Crips and Cass hiring members of Comptons Blood set. Chubby Jag has disputed the paying thing, not the gang thing however.  Half the stage exited, and Cassidy began to spit, four bars. They were, however, four bars that showed he studied Diz. Then more stage fuckery for twenty minutes. Then Cass spit again. He started hot, Charlie Clips impressions and schemes. Yeah, there was the whole use of "gun got a long nose like an elephant" in 2014. After two minutes of writtens, shit got weird. Cassidy began a series of Ar Ab prebuttles and other freestyles for nine minutes. Lush couldn't stop him, Diz even began a round and was stopped, by Cass rapping over him. Diz was shocked but said let him go. Cass went for 9 minutes to us, or five minutes to Cass. Diz then began to spit, and got about 8 bars out before the boos hit. He blamed Cass people in the pit, they claim it was Diz doing the whole fixate on one topic thing that he lost to Arcane by doing. None of that mattered as it took 40 minutes for one round. The biggest battle ever got shut down, the building and the feed dark. The scene took an L on its biggest night, once again. 

NXT's R Evolution and Its Effect On WWE Superstars.

Image Credit: wwe.com

Reports of frustration from WWE's main roster have our Divas and Superstars more focused than ever after seeing how fan reacted to Thursday's event. The success of NXT and stars like Sami Zayn and my favorite fat man, Kevin Owens, sparked a bit of a rivalry leaving everyone fired up for tonight's PPV.

Kevin Owens, formerly Kevin Steen of ROH, debuted with an impressive win over CJ Parker. Parker even tweets "Make no mistake!!! @FightOwenFight is the toughest man I've ever stepped in the ring with!" Owen confirmed that WWE could not water down talent like his, walking away from the ring with a face full of blood and a broken nose. 

Lucha Dragons defeat the Vaudervillians for the Tag Team Championship. Baron Corbin defeated Tye Dillinger. Charlotte retains the Woman's Championship. Sami Zayn, formerly El Generico of ROH and Steen's partner for many years, defeats Adrian Neville becoming the fifth NXT Champion. Some may say Owens shocking attack on Zayn was brilliant story telling, which is true, but we've already seen this fight in a different ring. It was written for Ring of Honor, not WWE. Nonetheless, I'm super stoked to watch this feud unravel in a WWE ring. FLY FATMAN, FLY!

-Loveblump

The Money Grab Continues: MLB Offseason

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The MLB off-season always involves money being thrown around like no other major league sport. This year has been no different, with Giancarlo Stanton being the biggest signing with his 300 million dollar contract. As the off-season goes on we continue to see other smaller, yet still rather big signings and trades. We're also at a point where baseball clubs are trying to trade players because of their other acquisitions; the Boston Red Sox trading Yoenis Cespedes for Rick Porcello, because their outfield is now crowded after the Hanley Ramirez signing.

The Red Sox have been very busy this off-season with acquiring Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval, these moves bolstered their lineup, but what about their rotation? The Red Sox traded for Porecello and Wade Miley, as well as the Justin Masterson signing, a former Red Sox. The Sox were also in the running for Jon Lester, but were beaten by their former GM and the Chicago Cubs. Lester gets a 6 year, 155 million dollar deal. After losing Russell Martin to the Toronto Blue Jays, the Cubs have acquired Lester, Jason Hammels, and replaced Martin with Miguel Montero from the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Cubs aren’t the only Chicago team that have been making serious moves made this year so far, as the White Sox have added Jeff Samardjiza, David Robertson, Zach Duke, and Dan Jennings. While the Miami Marlins are not to be trusted, they have made huge moves such as adding Dee Gordon, Mat Latos, and Andre Rienzo. No one has been more eager to put together a better club than the Dodgers, as they shook up their entire infield by trading Matt Kemp to the Padres. The Dodgers acquired Jimmy Rollins, Howie Kendrick, Enrique Hernandez, Chris Hatcher, and Brandon McCarthy. Ervin Santana also found a new home with the Minnesota Twins for four years. The AL Champion Kansas City Royals acquired Kendrys Morales. The big question is, why have the New York Yankees been so quiet? 

Considering the Bombers have lost Robertson and Jeter retired, why has their only big off-season move been to add Didi Gregorious? Could the answer be that they have a Max deal in mind? Pun aside, Max Scherzer to the Yankees makes sense because the Yankees could use a top of the rotation starter with CC Sabathia getting older. Their lineup is questionable since their big off-season move, Gregorious, is more of a defensive player. Also consider that A Rod is reportedly out of shape, so they could use a pitcher that can keep the game close.

This year’s Winter Meetings could be one of the most memorable with all these deals so far. Normally there are a few deals that happen, but not this year. Ultimately, we still have a good three months until Spring Training starts, so while major dominoes have fallen, there are still moves to be made before Spring Training.

By: Kai Jones

Edited by: Dana P. (E.I.C.)

WWE Monday Night Raw Recap, The Slammy's and More.

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Seth Green hosts The Slammy Awards on this weeks Raw. We start off with a win for Seth Rollins against Ziggler. The "This is Awesome" Award goes to Sting's Debut. No Sting, but Rollins did stop at the podium to give us a piece of his mind and accept the award. Apparently, Sting doesn't deserve the award. 

John Laurinaitis comes out to present 'Surprise Return of the Year" after a match against Kofi and Cody Rhodes. Kofi wins and the award goes to The Ultimate Warrior, of course. Ric Flair's daughter, Charlotte, the NXT's woman's champion, takes on Natalya! It was freaking amazing. Natty wins but all I can think about is how hot wrestling daughters are. Seriously, Foley, Hogan, Hart, McMahon, now Flair. Santino comes out to present. The "OMG Moment of the Year" goes to Brock for ending Taker's streak. Boo. Paul Heyman should fire his make up artist. 

Bray Wyatt cuts a promo for his match at TLC. Ambrose emerges out of a smokey ambulance in a neck brace. He's ready for his match on Sunday. Ladder and chair in hand, nothing can stop this breakout star of the year. He's ready to eat Bray alive. The King presents the "Diva of the Year" award to AJ. She promises to beat Nikki and take back the title. Cena cuts his promo for Sunday. Bellyaching about the stipulations for his match against Rollins. I'm glad that was short and sweet. Former tag team partners, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan, compete for the next match. Harper is disqualified for grabbing a ladder. The "LOL Moment of the Year" goes to Mizdow. I honestly think it should have went to the Wee-L-C match.

Ryback and The Usos win the 6 man tag match. Ricky Steamboat comes out to a standing ovation and presents the award for Match of the Year. Ziggler comes out to accept for Team Cena vs Team Authority at Survivor Series. Booker T presents Roman Reigns with "Superstar of the Year" just before a brief main event of Cena vs Big Show. This feud is never ending. Raw ends with a mini Survivor Series in the ring. Team Cena comes out to battle Team Authority as Rollins is left the last man standing. Will this be the scene Sunday night at Tables, Ladders, Chairs, AND STAIRS!?

-Loveblump

The Disappointing Brooklyn Nets and the Disgraceful New York Knicks.

Image Credit: EliteDaily.com

By: Kai Jones

Edited by: Dana P. (E.I.C.) 

New York City, the city of big lights, big dreams, and big expensive underperforming basketball teams. Anyone that follows basketball knows that the New York Knicks are in the words of Charles Barkley, “TURRIBLE!” The Brooklyn Nets aren’t quite as bad as the Knicks, because they are in the Eastern Conference. They are still one game under .500. Brooklyn is currently in the 8th spot of the eastern conference. Let’s not get into the despair of the Eastern Conference, where one win the Philadelphia 76ers are 7 games back of the 8th spot! Can either team get back to the near top of the Eastern conference,  where both of them were just 2 seasons ago?

Can the New York Knicks? Probably not. Willis Reed is not walking through those doors. On the brighter side, if the Knicks start to understand the Triangle offense and are able to get healthy, they could make the playoffs. 

Experienced veterans JR Smith, Samuel Dalembert, and Jose Calderon have not played up to their career averages. Calderon is especially surprising as he’s been a great point guard wherever he has been. 

Carmelo Anthony has been performing well. The Knicks do have young talent, but if they are going to make the playoffs, Derek Fisher needs to find the right lineups ASAP! 

The Nets are a little closer to the top considering they’re in the playoffs as of right now. This is a team of overpaid, aging veterans. Jarrett Jack and Kevin Garnett have not played up to their contracts. While Deron Williams and Joe Johnson have played well, they are going to have to continue their winning ways of the past few days when they beat the defending champs. 

It sure is sad to be a New York sports fan lately. The Jets and Giants are eliminated from the playoffs, the Mets and Yankees aren’t splashing in free agency, the Knicks can't win, but there is potential hope with the Nets. Brooklyn, we go hard!

WWE Monday Night Raw Recap: The GM Blows Our Cyber Monday Night Raw

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Raw opens with announcements from the new "Anonymous Raw General Manager." I would've loved to see John Cena toss that laptop across the ring but like a gentleman, he closes it softly and cuts him promo. The night takes a turn for the worst as Rollins and what's left of The Authority, send Cena through a table....but not before the rest of Team Cena gets their asses handed to them. The GM reveals that the shot at the Heavyweight Title is on the line at TLC in two weeks. If Cena's not careful, we could have a Rollins vs Brock match in a few months. 

Tag-team Turmoil looked more like a walk in the park for The Usos. After The New Day eliminated The Dust Brothers and Tyson Kidd pinned Kofi, The Usos attack Cesaro and don't even break a sweat taking out Adam Rose. The Usos have nothing to worry about in the ring. Their real problem is The Miz. Jimmy goes nuts after The Miz gets a little flirty complementing Noami's twerking in her new music video, "Dance All Night." He comes out and knocks The Miz right off his feet. I can't wait to see these two in the ring at the PPV. 

Vince was in the building to remind us about his Stone Cold interview on the WWE Network. They try to convince us Big Show is a bully. Fandango vs Swagger turns into Swagger vs Rusev. Ambrose kills Bray Wyatt's rocking chair. Paul Heyman compares Brock Lesnar to Christmas and the 6 man main event let Team Babyface get even for the beat down in the beginning of the show. 

If you weren't paying attention, you would have missed my favorite part of Raw. Saint Mick debuts with Noelle Foley. I try really hard to not to be a pervert so I won't throw in a Mr. Socko joke but Mankind's daughter is smoking hot! Follow her on twitter @NoelleFoley.

Next week Seth Green hosts the Slammys in Greenville, South Carolina. If you have the WWE app, don't forget to vote! 

-Loveblump

Slaughterhouse Invades DTLR To Promote The Release of 'Shady XV'

by: Dana P. (E.I.C.)

Shady Records mega group Slaughterhouse were all about promoting the release of 'Shady XV.' Last week, 'House Gang' (minus Joe Budden) stopped by DTLR at the Livingston Mall location in New Jersey. DTLR is a retailer of urban inspired clothing, sneakers, accessories and more, with multiple locations throughout the United States. DTLR carries name brands such as Nike, Adidas, Timberland, Jordan Brand, and many more. Their staff is also very kind, professional, and helpful!

Fans were able to purchase Shady XV, as Royce Da 5'9, Crooked I, and Joell Ortiz signed autographs and took photos with fans. The men of the hour even did some shopping after the event! 

We caught Slaughterhouse on the way out, as did one lucky DTLR employee, when he stopped Royce to spit a verse for him. Oh and we did in fact get footage of that! Check out the video below. Also be sure to visit www.dtlr.com for all of your shopping needs. 

Does Ray Rice Deserve A Second Chance?

Image Credit: www.usatoday.com

By: Kai Jones

Edited by: Dana P. (E.I.C.)

Ray Rice has done something almost unprecedented. He beat a Roger Goodell suspension. Ray Rice was suspended indefinitely after a video of an assault on his wife, (then fiancé) was leaked, which may have been justified. However considering that, he's already been punished, which is not right. Of course Roger Goodell claimed he was lied to or misled. On Friday, Judge Barbara Jones ruled that Goodell was wrong and made the suspension arbitrarily. So Ray Rice is now an NFL player, what does that mean though?

It means Rice can move past this ugly in incident and focus on himself, his family, and his career. Before this incident, Rice had been a law-abiding citizen and loved by people who knew him. Nothing speaks more to Rice’s character than right after the incident, while his high school removed his jersey from its walls, current students questioned the decision. Also, while the Ravens allowed fans to exchange his jersey, some fans still showed their support of Rice and wore his jersey to the games. After the decision, Rice even had two former teammates tweet their support. Rice was clearly well liked and have never been in the news before for criminal activities, and clearly he made a huge mistake, which he acknowledged. Rice is sorry and ready to get back to football. People may have forgotten but before the incident, Rice was an all-pro, championship winning running back. Who will give him a shot? The biggest rumor has been the Indianapolis Colts because of the injuries to Ahmad Bradshaw and Trent Richardson isn’t living up to expectations, could use a running back for their playoff run.

Aside from Rice, there's Roger Goodell. Roger Goodell has ruled the NFL with almost an iron fist. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ players in 2011, during the lockout, chose not to ratify the new CBA because Goodell gets to be the judge, jury, and sometimes executioner. This was overlooked at the time, but now it seems smart, and maybe Rice and the New Orleans Saints understand. It’s easy to overdose on power, and Goodell has overdosed. With this decision, it shows how much of a snake Goodell can be, as he lied to cover himself. While I respect what he tries to do, the NFL needs a system of checks and balances.

This decision was the right thing to do. Even the constitution won’t let a man be punished twice, so no way should the NFL be allowed to use double jeopardy to save face.

Red Sox Off-Season: Rings Again or Gas For Another Fire Sale?

Image Credit: boston.cbslocal.com

By: Kai Jones

Edited by: Dana P. (E.I.C.) 

They say if you love it, then you should let it go. If it comes back then it’s meant to be. When the Boston Red Sox traded away their top 10 prospect in 2005, we're not sure if they thought he would ever play for them again. However, the Red Sox got Hanley Ramirez back on Tuesday. Maybe Ramirez's love for the organization came back easily, considering the 4-year-$88 million dollar contract. The Sox also added champion and former World Series MVP Pablo Sandoval for a 5 year deal worth $95 million, with the fifth year being a club option. The Sox are also fishing for a solid pitcher, as they are offering their former ace Jon Lester a nice sized contract as well. 

Is this like the 2011 debacle where the Sox acquired a lot of big names and had a fire sell the next year? Are the Red Sox a wolf or a mere overhyped sheep?

We really can’t say right now because we still don’t know their rotation or lineup. The Red Sox right now have a lot of talent, and adding Sandoval adds more championship experience to a team that just won a World Series title in 2013, under their current manager John Farrell. For all the fans that may be worried about another fire sale, they must look at the facts. While Terry Francona was also a World Series winning manager, he needed a fresh start away from the organization, which is why the 2011 team did not work. Bobby Valentine was also a great manager in his own respect, but the chemistry was off with that team. John Farrell is a player’s manager and is close to his team. So while this team did not play well last season, the team definitely has plenty of talent. With these additions why wouldn’t they be a big favorite to win it all? The Red Sox have former World Series MVP David Ortiz still, 2-time and reigning Home Run Derby winner Yoenis Céspedes, and former MVP Dustin Pedroia. Adding Lester can only help their rotation, which is key to winning a World Series.

It’s way too early to make a World Series prediction, but on paper you have to agree that the Red Sox have made the biggest splash this off-season.

2014: A Year Of Hip Hop Emotions

Image Credit: XXLMag.com

by: Ashe Samuels

This week we are here to look upon the landscape of hip hop in 2014.  I will preface the following with a brief explanation of my tastes in hip hop. As someone who grew up in NJ (I started listening in 1996 when I was 12) I have a strong affinity for boom bap. I am real big on shit having lyrics, not just a beat and some dude who's stuck on the same thought. I am a huge battle rap fan. I tend to be a snob when it comes to hip hop but fuck it I...love....this....shit. This causes an emotional roller coaster especially because the last two years, it seems as if it is thriving while being killed.  Ill let you think about that. With all that said, I'm going to let you see what my emotions on the music. and everything around it.

Run the Jewels makes me happy as hell. In the past two years, Killer Mike and El-P have served up a one two combo of fuckin haymakers with RTJ 1&2. Dope beats, ridiculous bars, and some of the most tripped out production you've ever heard out of New York, playing these back to back gets me high as fuck without touchin a thing.

Lyricism as a whole resurgance is also a truely beautiful occurance. Eminem and Shady Records decided to make November their bitch. The cypher had everyone talking who was had the best verse, besides Em.  2013 started the whole occurance where Em seemingly decided bar out on the world. The MMLP2 was hit or miss but when he did decide to just go in, (asshole and Rap God most notably) it was like watching an old grandmaster go all ninja on a class full of students half his age, and win. The cypher was a 6 minute quasi-freestyle that was everything in Em we could've asked for. Royce, Ortiz, Crooked, Budden and Yelawolf all had great verses, with Royce and Ortiz battling for a close second. The new material on the album was full of play that back worthy cuts. It's an album full of great bars, quality production and the strongest roster in the game. Even Big Sean was good in his guest spot on Detroit vs. Everybody, and I really, really don't like Big Sean. 

Image Credit: AllHipHop.com

The year started out strong with a quality release for Pusha T, and two a heavyweight release from Freddie Gibbs and Madlib. Gangsta Gibbs is a monster and Madlib is an underground legend on the boards. Pinata is backpack gangsta rap at its finest. Evidence and Alchemist decided to remind hip hop heads why they fucked with them in the first place on Lord Steppington, with the two sharing both the mic and the boards. Atmosphere did the same on Southsiders. Pharoah Monch dropped PTSD which was the deepest album of the year. TDE continued to release dope artists with Ab Souls first major release, which we'll touch on later. Then there was Onyx and #Wakedafucup, but more on that later too. Big Krit dropped Cadillatca, which can only be described as trill soul. Skyzoo and Torae gave us Barrel Bros. A modern age Duck Down style NY classic. The Roots proved why they transcend all genres while still keeping it hip hop "And Then They Shoot Your Cousin." Mixtapes gave us the beast that is King Los dropping his first post Bad Boy effort which showed why he didn't work with Diddy. He is not a single factory, King Los is a fucking MC in every sense. Zero Gravity II has some of the sickest bars on anything released this year. Jon Connor showed why he earned his Aftermath contract on his Kanye West inspired tape. Connor used classic Kanye tracks to create current interpretations. De La came back. We got a taste of Glass House with Slaughterhouse laying out the House rules. Grafh paid tribute to classic hip hop and showed a return to form on 88 Crack Era. It was actually a good year for releases that had content which brought a smile to my jaded, cynical face.

In southern New Jersey and Philadelphia there is a classic hip hop station, it is perhaps the greatest modern format on terrestrial radio. Nothing past around 05 and you can usually get about 7 or 8 quality cuts in a row. Pro Era are a group of rappers who weren't even fetuses when Illmatic dropped, yet make classic NY hip hop. Onyx teamed with a group of European producers who go by Snowgoons to make a boom bap banger of an album. Fredro Starr and Keith Murray made headlines with their battle that was cancelled due to the fuckery of the promoter. De La Soul dropped a mixtape, and Q Tip and Busta gave Midnight Marauders a tribute. DJ Premier decided to mark his territory this year. Ill Bill paid homage on a World Premier complete with a Primo boom bap monster. Prhyme is hip hops version of when Rage Against the Machine grabbed Cornell and formed Audioslave. He also is saying an album with Loaded Lux is in the works. The Lox brought the Trinity to the masses.  

Battle rap getting into mainstream hip hop makes me filled with glee no musical. Was Total Slaughter lacking in execution?  Yes, but who gives a shit. Raps biggest label gave you a battle rap reality show and national ppv. That is a win. As is Loaded Lux doin records with Styles and Cam, Tsu Surf with Joe Budden, !Mayday¡ (Featuring GT Vet and Freestyle champ Wrekonize) with Murs, so on and so forth. The guy who created Holo Tupac bought in and now we have Dizaster vs Cassidy. Joe Budden got roasted by Hollow. Ab Soul ended his LP with a battle vs Daylyt.

2014 brought us Run the Jewels, some great albums, the return of lyricism and legends, and the mixing of mainstream rappers into battle rap. However, it seems it also tried to die a tragic public death on a massive scale. Part two to come, 2014 The Tragic Suicide Note of Hip Hop.

Survivor Series Gives Us Sting and Daniel Bryan, Takes Away Our Power Couple.

Image Credit: wwe.com

Ziggler pins Rollins Sunday night and starts a new era for the WWE Universe. Hunter and Stephanie return to Raw to say their goodbyes before a disappointed Vince takes the duo away from the arena to let the bearded one do his thing. What a waste. I'm starting to believe that they're right, The Authority makes WWE thrive. It's only been one episode and we already need them back. 

If they were desperate enough to bring Sting back, you'd think we'd get him for more than five minutes and a video promo on Raw. Thank God for Daniel Bryan. He came out to interrupt Hunter and start a fifteen minute YES chant. Somewhere in there he managed to get some work done and schedule the matches. Too bad we've already seen all these matches the night before. Ryback defeats Mark Henry. The Miz retains the Tag Team Titles. Tyson Kidd defeats Adam Rose. Brie pins AJ(minus the lesbian kiss). Cena and Ziggler defeat Rollins and the Goons. 

My favorite match of the night was Ambrose vs Luke Harper. A solid match ending in a disqualification by Harper and the Lunatic taking the win. Ambrose, prepping for his TLC match, reaches for tables and ladders which leds to a beat down by Bray Wyatt. I cannot wait for these madmen to face off again next month. 

Despite all that happened in the last couple days, wrestling's been a bit of a snooze-fest. Larry the Cable Guy was a big fat flop. They should have let him in the ring. At least it would give us something to talk about. We barely get Sting. Bryan Daniels isn't even wrestling. How can I forget about the anonymous GM emails!? I don't even want to watch next week. 

-Loveblump

Eminem Celebrates 15 Years of Hip Hop With Shady XV, In Stores TODAY!

Image Credit: ShadyRecords.com

by: Dana P. (E.I.C.)

Today feels so SHADY for some reason. That's because Eminem has dropped a double album titled 'Shady XV,' which is available in stores and on iTunes now. The release hype for this album was absolutely genius. As you've already heard here; Em, Slaughterhouse and Yelawolf dropped a HUGE CXVPHER to start up the anticipation. It didn't take much time for yet ANOTHER drop to come out. Shady Records released a mixtape which consists of 66 unreleased tracks.

While Eminem seems to be MIA, Shady Records supergroup Slaughterhouse is out promoting the album, as they are featured on it. Today in New York City, all 4 members of the group will be at Mikey Likes It Ice Cream. They will be serving up a new flavor of ice cream STRAIGHT from Michigan called SHADYVX. If you can't make it out today to meet House Gang, Slaughterhouse is scheduled to sign autographs of the new album at the DTLR Store (Livingston Mall) in New Jersey. We were unable to make it out to todays event, but not to worry. We got you covered! You can be sure to catch HHSS in the house tomorrow as we will be covering the event.

It's so great to see that REAL hip hop music is still alive. Listening to Shady XV along with the Shady Classics mixtape is sure to be very refreshing to all you hip hop heads out there!

The MLB Offseason: The Second Most Exciting Part of the Baseball Year.

By: Kai Jones

Edited by: Dana P. (E.I.C.)

It’s an exciting time in Major League Baseball, as we are in the heart of free agency. Some of the biggest baseball clubs are looking for players to fill their opening day roster, and maybe even be a leader in the push for a World Series.

One of the major prizes, Giancarlo Stanton, in this free agent market has been resigned. Stanton inked a huge 13 years, $325 million dollar deal from the ever criticized Miami Marlins. The deal comes with an opt out after 6 years and $107 million dollars of the deal; but not many players are walking away from 7 years and $218 million dollars, so Stanton is probably a Marlin until they don’t want him to be. Some speculate that it'll be soon, as the Marlins are known to do this, example; (Jose Reyes, Heath Bell, Mark Buehrle, Miguel Cabrera, and the embarrassing list goes on.) However, Stanton wasn’t the only major transaction in the NL East.

The Braves moved big name Jason Heyward to the Cardinals. Heyward’s contract was due to expire, and with the Upton Brothers massive deals, Atlanta wasn’t sure how they were going to pay Heyward. In exchange, the Braves got two promising prospects that could be front-end starters one day in Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins. While these two young stars have been moved, there is and was good talent out there.

Russell Martin inked a $82 million dollar deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. Billy Butler has departed to the team he (and the Kansas City Royals) beat in the Wild Card round, the Oakland Athletics. Speaking off championship, the former World Series MVP Pablo Sandoval is available. He is amongst the massive amount of talent that is available along with Jon Lester, David Robertson, & Nelson Cruz.

Besides the Detroit Tigers who signed DH Victor Martinez to a 4-year/ 68 million dollar deal, the bigger clubs seem to be  quiet on lately. The Red Sox have been active as they offered Lester and Sandoval contracts, but no word on either signing. The New York Yankees and Mets have been pretty quiet other than a few minor signings, similar to the LA and Chicago teams. The Yankees most surprisingly as they have let David Robertson test the market.

Will New York and Chicago be left out of the playoffs again? Thus far the off season has been interesting, but we will see once more names sign and then it really gets crazy as players are like dominoes. Once one falls, they all fall. Who will be the one to start the domino effect? Sandoval, Lester, or Robertson? It will be interesting to watch going forward.

TGIF: Destination Dixie Land, Matt Really Hated Raw, Bad News In January, and More

T.G.I.F. with Matt Dawgs: #279

Good day to you all and welcome to We Want Insanity. I am your host for today, Matt Dawgs and this is my column. Today is the end of the work week and the time to look back at all the goings-on over the past seven days as I wrap it up with a bow and spout it out bit by bit. Buckle up. As previously noted, you can catch my OTHER COLUMN which is the “ WWE NETWORK PPV OF THE WEEK ” where I and 3 friends discussed an old WWE/WCW/ECW PPV from the archives. Join us on SUNDAY as we review WWE "Survivor Series 1987" and check it out to see if it is worth watching. Also check out this week’s “ THE QUESTION ” where James Guttman, James Bullock (why do we have two James writing for the site? We need to change his name to Miguel or something) and myself answer a random question each week. This week’s “Question”, what is professional wrestling’s WORST theme song?

MATT NOTE: Last weekend the North East independent world had a huge weekend with Tommy Dreamer’s “House of Hardcore” selling out the ECW arena on a stacked show, Jersey All Pro Wrestling returning for the first time in over a year and some other independent shows in New Jersey and Long Island doing excellent live attendance for their shows. With that being said, a story that is sucking the life out of all of those involved a small time New Jersey Independent promoter by the name of Mike Morgan. Morgan runs Ace Pro Wrestling out of Union City. That promotion is best known for honing some of the best talent in the North East indies and being a place where a lot of people called their “home fed” including Jay Lethal (who was the school’s trainer and longtime World Champion) and current WWE Divas Champion A.J. Lee (who did most of her training there and even visited it for a WWE.com feature a few years back). Anyway, on Friday November 14^th, Mike Morgan’s oldest son Mike Jr. (20 years old) was walking home from taking his younger siblings, brother Adrian (11 years old) and sister Mileen (15 years old) to the movies to see “Dumb and Dumber To”. Upon walking home, a red Nissan Rogue jumped the curb and struck Mike Jr. and Adrian while narrowly missing Mileen. The car then fled the scene leaving behind a headlight and part of the fender. 11-yr old Adrian was IMPALED ON A FENCE and is in critical condition. 20-yr old Mike is also in critical condition and had to have his right leg amputated in addition to undergoing brain surgery to stop the bleeding. It is a tough situation and Morgan Sr. was the LAST PROMOTER I worked for in my wrestling career. He is an absolute wonderful person with a huge heart who tried to help as many lost causes as he could with professional wrestling. So if you can spare, please help DONATE to a “Go Fund Me” that has been set up to help pay for his son’s mounting medical costs as both kids are not out of the woods yet and will require additional surgeries as well as an extended hospital stay. Late Wednesday evening, the suspects ARE IN CUSTODY.

BONUS MATT NOTE: Happy Thanksgiving to all. There will be NO COLUMN next week. So enjoy the holiday and eat a lot of food. See you in December with both T.G.I.F. and my WWE Network PPV of the Week as since Sunday is Survivor Series, there will be no PPV review either.

WWE NEWS AND NOTES:

- It has been a LONG TIME since I went on a rant like this so sit back and enjoy the ride because this is going to be fun for those of you who call me a WWE apologizer. Yes Chucky, I am looking at you.

- I honestly don’t even know where to start. So many MIND BLOWINGLY STUPID things took place during RAW this week in what was supposed to be the “Go Home” show for Survivor Series yet really only focused on the main event of Survivor Series while everything else was secondary.

- The show opened with a marathon of a promo by Triple H and Stephanie with the rest of Team Authority where he legit spoke for 16 minutes and didn’t say one single solitary word that was noteworthy other than setting up Luke Harper vs. Dolph Ziggler. I get it. The show is 3 hours and it isn’t WWE’s choice. But honestly, do not let people ramble on and on and on and on without anything to say. Also....would someone in creative PLEASE come up with a new outline for the show? The drawn out promo to start the show is played out. We need a breath of fresh air to help break the monotony. It wasn’t until HHH and Steph rambled for 15 minutes that Ryback came out to tell them that he isn’t on Team Cena or Team Authority. He is on his own team. That was after Stephanie showed Ryback clips of John Cena burying him verbally when they feuded in 2012 including mocking Ryback at the time.

- By the way, for the sake of continuity, would it have been so hard to have Mark Henry and Rusev standing on OPPOSITE sides of the ring instead as close to each other as they were sanding considering they were just feuding not too long ago doing the Russia vs. USA thing?

- Luke Harper DEFEATED Dolph Ziggler to capture the Intercontinental Title. This is a significant moment because it means that either Ziggler is set to get a major push finally or....Harper is going to be buried now because the IC Champ has been nothing but jobber fodder for several years now. Either way, while a good, stiff match between two good workers, this is significant because Ziggler is on Team Cena and before the match officially got underway he was laid out by Seth Rollins, Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury yet conspicuous by his absence was Ziggler’s team captain this Sunday, John Cena. Weird.

- By the way, I really like how they have repackaged both Luke Harper and Eric Rowan after breaking them away from Bray Wyatt without repackaging them at all. They are exactly the same. WTF?

- Grumpy Cat, or as Cole called him, “Grumpy THE Cat”. I refuse to put this over with words. I am not. That will be the LAST I mention of him in this column so if you liked a skit involving him on the show that took place, please refrain from mentioning it because I will not put it over. It’s DUMB.

- I am completely lost by the Adam Rose/Bunny angle. WHO THE F*CK IS THE HEEL AND WHO THE F*CK IS THE BABYFACE?!?!?!?!!? Why am I supposed to care again? What is going on? PS – I was thisclose to turning off the TV as soon as Rose lost and then confronted the Bunny who started to HUMP ADAM ROSE . I am not making this up. The Bunny was humping Adam Rose from behind and the announcers acknowledged it as such in a “comedic” way. I quote comedic because it was not funny in any way, shape or form and not for nothing, it was NOT very PG rated. So stupid and almost ruined you readers from getting my complete RAW thoughts this week.

- So after opening the show with a long, drawn out promo to open the show, WWE decided that it would be best to add a Bray Wyatt in-ring promo to close the first hour of RAW. And you KNOW how I have felt about Bray Wyatt’s promos lately. Same old sh*t. Thank god Dean Ambrose appeared on the Titan Tron and legitimately began complaining about Bray’s promos being long and nonsensical. Looks like Dean has been reading T.G.I.F. with Matt Dawgs huh??? He then appears FROM BEHIND Bray and attacks as the Titan Tron was a pre-taped promo. Cool angle but again, way too long.

- The second hour opens with Ryback coming out to eat some more. His opponent was Cesaro. My first though harkened back to “Who the f*ck did Cesaro piss off backstage?” Like, I now NEED to know because his burial has been so bad of late. Do you remember when Cesaro won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and then became a Paul Heyman guy the following evening and everyone thought he was going to get a legit main event run? HAHA!!! Good times. Anyway, after a few minutes of back and forth action I felt relieved. Cesaro was not getting squashed. This was great......until I realized that Ryback was getting such a big push of late. He is being protected as a main event guy. Both the top heels and top babyfaces are feuding over him. So if that is the case and that is where the booking is taking you, to building Ryback, WHY THE F*CK WOULD YOU BOOK HIM IN A 14 MINUTE COMPETITIVE MATCH VS. A GUY YOU HAVE MADE LOOK LIKE A FOOL AS OF LATE ?!?!?!?!?!?! I do not get it. Ryback looked slow and tired after 4 minutes. Cesaro absolutely should not have been doing multiple power moves on him. Just terrible booking of Ryback.

- Lana and Rusev are a great act. I really hope WWE stops with the minor stifling of their growth like they had the past few weeks with Stephanie McMahon talking down to them and making them look inferior to them. Vince McMahon, despite being the Mr. McMahon character and the boss NEVER made his main event talents look like fools. Never would he have talked down to Steve Austin, The Rock, The Undertaker, Kane, Mankind, Triple H, etc and if the small chance that he did, NEVER in a million years would they just stand there and take it. I HATE when Steph does that to people. Anyway, Lana discussed Kim Kardashian and then teased a topless photo that she had. The crowd popped and she showed a topless photo of Vladimir Putin. SOLID F*CKING GOLD!!!!! The angle was getting heat and then WWE sucked it out of the building by sending out Heath Slater. Sigh. SQUASH CITY .

- Then, in what is yet another insanely INSANE SEGMENT , Big Show came out for his match and Stephanie McMahon interrupted him. She noted that she wanted him to quit Team Cena and in exchange she would name him as the first inductee to the 2015 WWE Hall of Fame. Big Show put the mic down and began whispered to her but was interrupted by Sheamus. Before the interruption I would like to point out that it was not that long ago when Stephanie and Triple H threatened to fire Show and made his life miserable. Now they want him in the Hall of Fame. For arguments sake, I will let this slide by saying that they were doing whatever they could as heels to keep their power by keeping Show off Team Cena. That is fine. But then you look at the other side of the coin and SHOW WAS ACTUALLY CONSIDERING THIS!!!! The Big Show, who HATED Stephanie and HHH and was crying when they fired him and he had to beg to come back and turn on Daniel Bryan in order to do so CONSIDERED TRUSTING STEPHANIE MCMAHON!!!! So Sheamus comes out and Stephanie threatens him with deportation. Yes. DEPORTATION. WTF??? Stephanie books Big Show vs. Sheamus IN A MATCH . But before it could get anywhere, Rusev and Mark Henry run out and destroy both men including “injuring” Sheamus and thus taking him out of the Survivor Series main event.

- Sheamus is undergoing surgery hence why he was written out. It is not major surgery and he isn't expected to miss significant time.

- The above angle is SUPER NOTEWORTHY because unless WWE is planning on turning John Cena HEEL on Sunday at Survivor Series in the swerve of all swerves, WHY IN THE WORLD DID CENA NOT COME OUT AGAIN AND HELP HIS TEAMMATES FROM GETTING A BEATING?!?!?!?! He is in the building because they showed him being interviewed by Renee Young and again watching Ryback’s match on a monitor. Where was he during this???

- Brie Bella dressed up as A.J. (cause Nikki wanted to prep for her match with A.J. on Sunday) DEFEATED Nikki due to an A.J. distraction. I have heard constant rumors that A.J. is done with WWE after Sunday at Survivor Series so this could be her exit storyline after losing to Nikki at the PPV. This fire was further fueled as A.J. apparently created an EBAY account toward the end of October and has been periodically auctioning old ring gear on the site. After the match, A.J. laid out BOTH Bellas. Please note I have NO CONFIRMATION that A.J. is in fact leaving. It is just rumor and innuendo at this point.

- By the way, it has almost been 30 days meaning that Brie Bella is going to no longer be Nikki’s assistant soon. What a waste of an angle!!!!! They did nothing for this angle at all.

- FANDANGO ON SUNDAY?!?!?! Nice, I thought he was dead.

- It’s a “ NEW DAY ” for Big E. Langston. This is a complete 180 from when this angle debuted in July. Whatever though, it is something new and fresh on our televisions.

- Cena confronted Ryback backstage and asked him to join the team. Ryback reiterated that he is Team Ryback. Cena then decided to insult him further as if that is a good way to get him to join. SMH. He did have a good line though with the insult saying “For a guy who is always wanted to be fed more, it’s odd that he finally gets to the big table and suddenly isn’t hungry.”

- Next week’s RAW host is Larry the Cable Guy. I am so glad it is 2005 again!!! Honestly, WWE is doing this because he is starring in a sequel to the 1996 “Jingle All The Way” film which Santino Marrella has a role in.

- The Miz & Mizdow & Goldust & Stardust vs. The Usos & Los Matadores. WWE FUN FACT: I read my column from exactly a year ago last week and going into LAST YEAR’S SURVIVOR SERIES, do you know who was feuding? If you guessed Cody Rhodes & Goldust vs. The Usos you WIN!!! They have been feuding for ONE YEAR!!! WTF?!?!?! Anyway, MAJOR PROPS to Miz who busted out Heel 101 school stuff during this match. The crowd was going apesh*t for Mizdown wanting him in the match. When Miz made the tag to him, the crowd erupted like Hogan slammed Andre. As soon as Mizdow got in the ring, Miz blind tagged himself back in. AMAZING!!!!!

- With about 20 minutes remaining in the show, the Authority came out for the contract signing to the main event of Survivor Series. 20 MINUTES LEFT. Lots of talking here by HHH and Steph. Cena came out with no teammates since they were all taken out and he did nothing all show to help them from being beaten down. So obviously he has no partners. Not only did he have no partners come out but instead of being combative and anti-authority (no pun intended) when confronting HHH and Steph, He.......Cracked......Jokes.

HE CRACKED JOKES.

HE CRACKED JOKES!!!!!!

- John Cena, with a chance to end the Authority’s reign on Sunday and with no teammates to stand beside him since they were all injured while he just watched from a monitor backstage instead of helping, found this situation to be funny enough that he could crack jokes that weren’t funny about it. I AM COMPLETELY AT A LOSS FOR WORDS AT THIS. No one, not Cena, not Vince McMahon, not Triple H, not Stephanie, not Michael Hayes, not Arn Anderson, not Dean Malenko, not Michael Cole, not JBL, not Big Show, not Sheamus, not Luke Harper, not anyone in the building who saw the script before the show went on the air realized how f*cking stupid this was?? No one? All the great wrestling minds that work for this company and no one spoke up? Anyway, Cena gets slapped and he decides he wants to fight everyone on the Authority right now, by himself. Dolph Ziggler comes out to help even though Cena didn’t do the same for him. Then Big Show comes out even though Cena didn’t do the same for him. No Sheamus though because he was taken out of the main event in exchange for....ERIC ROWAN. Yes, Eric Rowan who has been playing the role of Lenny Small from “Of Mice and Men” on television for the past few weeks is now in the main event picture. WHAT. THE. F*CK?!?!?! Then Cesaro came out to even the score but he sided with the Authority. That was a tease apparently because now the Authority for some unknown reason had 6 guys instead of 5. Um....dumb. But Ryback came out and officially joined Team Cena. Cena LAID OUT HHH to end the show by putting him through a table. To reiterate my comment from a few weeks ago, no idea why Triple H didn’t sign up for his own team since he wants the best possible team he can get in order to win. Once again, stupid booking. Such an awful show and minus the main event build, the rest of the card for Survivor Series was an afterthought.

- See more at: http://www.wewantinsanity.com/am2/publish/Dawgs/T_G_I_F_with_Matt_Dawgs_112114.shtml#sthash.7hSEF6bt.dpuf

Why LaGarrette Blount's Release Should Bother You As A Football Fan And A Person

Image Credit: deadspin.com

by: Josh Henderson

Twitter: @verybadwrong

In late August, Pittsburgh Steelers' running back Lagarrette Blount was arrested with teammate LeVeon Bell for marijuana possession. Sports media, fantasy football players, and fans speculated what his arrest's impact would be on the Steelers' season. In the middle of November, we got our answer when Blount was released by the Steelers.

The Steelers have been owned by the Rooneys since, well, forever, and the Rooneys are often cited as exemplifying how teams should be run. Steelers' fans love to say, "Well, the Rooneys would never tolerate that behavior." They do, though. They have. Just not when bad behavior is directed internally.

Regardless of your personal beliefs of how marijuana should be treated legally, it's illegal in Pennsylvania, federally, and in the NFL. LaGarrette Blount broke this law. The Steelers knew and accepted this. After his arrest, head coach Mike Tomlin said "everything was on the table" as far as disciplining Blount. That table turned out to be bare. Later, he said they would deal any punishment internally: NFL speak for "We'll do nothing. Let Godell be the bad guy."

The Steelers did grow tired of Blount, though. Why? Because he questioned his role in the offense. Because he had no carries and dressed to leave their game against the Titans early. Oh, and because he still has a suspension pending from the NFL stemming from his arrest. But that's not the Steelers' problem anymore. They cut him because he disrespected the Steelers, after doing nothing when he broke the law. That's how the NFL works. Remember the code from A Few Good Men? Unit, Code, God, Country? In the NFL, it's team, league, production, contract.

Good luck, LaGarrette, you're on your own now. Oh, and thanks for the early season production.

Contract Signing and Grumpy Cat; Monday Night Raw Recap

Image Credit: wwe.com

Heading into Survivor Series, "Team Cena" has The Authority on their toes. The fate of WWE lies in their hands after all. Stephanie tries every trick in the book to change Ryback's mind. He declares he is only playing for one team and that's Team Ryback. Threats of deportation couldn't sway Shemus. Bribes of Hall of Fame induction did nothing to persuade Big Show to switch teams. Ziggler comes out looking better than ever for his match against Luke Harper. The match doesn't even start before it's interfered by The Goons. Rollins has a lot to say on commentary. Harper defeats Ziggler by pin fall for the Intercontinental Championship. Mark Henry took Shemus out with a World's Strongest Slam. Big Show and Ziggler are both injured. The Authority wants to wear out Team Cena so there is nothing left of them. There's very little Cena can do but pray to take The Authority out of power. 

A confrontation between Ambrose and Wyatt gave us a taste of what we're in for Sunday night. Despite what Bray has to say about The Lunatic, he does not need saving. Dean Ambrose, "the most dangerous man in the world," because he can't love? Give me a break. He's dangerous because he's smart. I don't know which one of us is more excited that he finally gets his hands on Wyatt. 

As I predicted, Grumpy Cat was the best part of Raw. By far the best celebrity guest this year (besides Foley). Miz was great. That kiss good-bye made my heart skip a beat. Even Erick Rowan wants the cat! She is too cute. Next week Larry the Cable Guy graces our television screens with his presence. Why aren't the guests wrestling anymore? When Snooki came on she looked great in the ring. Bring her back! These celebrities are getting away with doing nothing and it sucks for the fans. 

Hunter makes a very valid point during the contract signing. The future of his family depends on this company. They have more to lose than anyone else. They are going to make sure they win this match. Cena searches the crowd for a new team. He promises the King and Queen will watch their team fall. Team Cena gets a few new members Erick Rowan, Cesaro, and Ryback and sends Hunter through a table to close the show.

-Loveblump

BET’s ’106 & Park’ To End An Era As A Live Television Program & Transition To A Digital Platform

Image Credit: BET Networks

Its seems as though the era of music countdowns on television is slowly coming to an end as BET's 106 & Park Live announced that the program would be turning its lights out on December 19. After an impressive 14 year run, the countdown has undergo changes in everything from hosts to studios, but continued to win over the hearts of its viewers all over. In a statement released on November 14, BET's President of Music Programming and Specials, Stephen Hill, recapped on some of the countdown's most memorable moments since it's air date in September 2000 with it's original host AJ Calloway and Marie Antoinette Wright (Free) to date with Bow Wow and Keshia Chanté.

"AJ accepting Janet Jackson’s challenge to…dance. Bow Wow laying that kiss on Tyra Banks(or was it the other way around?). Free crawling around the set LIKE Catwoman WITH Catwoman Halle Berry. Julissa’s taking over Halloween as “Wonder Woman.” Keshia brilliantly bonding with First Lady Michelle Obama. Paigion flying around the world with Rihanna on a 777. Rocsi salsa dancing with Victor Cruz and putting him to shame. Shorty and Ms. Mykie’s killer rap, “The History of Justin Timberlake,” visably thrilling JT himself.Terrence beatboxing while Jamie Foxx rhymed. Tigger making Tom Cruise do the of-the-moment “motorcycle dance.'"

 

"We all have our favorite moments from the show that has put youth culture on television daily since the first year of this century. We have pride in being involved with the show that has welcomed almost every movie star, music superstar and fresh-faced talent you can name (you can even throw in a first lady). We’ve all laughed with and been entertained by the young men and women hosts that have charmed us at 6 p.m. (and more recently 5 p.m.) each weekday."

Shortly after serenading viewers with the sweet memories of 106 & Park Live , he soon shed light on how the show will transition to a digital platform - since that's were a majority of the show's audience lives when interacting with musical content now in days.

"It’s been a great 14-year run as America’s top music/variety show on cable. And now that very valuable brand is going to take its talents to the digital realm. The interactive brand you helped build, 106 & Park, is alive and well…and it’s moving to the space in which our audience NOW interacts with music the most: online. It’ll be very exciting to connect with the millions of people that are already engaged with 106 & Park and other BET digital and social media entities and bring content that will further evolve the 106 & Park brand — and enhance the overall BET Networks brand. As we transition to the digital space, we look to continue 106 & Park’s role as both a leader of and a mirror to youth culture. We’ll have more information to share about how that is to roll out very soon."

According to the statement, December 19 won't necessarily be the last time you can check 106 & Park out on the air. In addition to the digital show, the countdown will still air for it's legendary specials like the New Year's Eve show 106 & Party and the BET Awards' red carpet show Live, Red and Ready. But going forward, the livest audience will just have to turn up for the show on the weekdays from their computer/smartphone screens.

Check out the full statement released by BET here.

— Brittany C. Jackson

@_exclusivelyB

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: The 1994 Stanley Cup Championship New York Rangers.

Image Credit: NYDailyNew.com

by: Dana P. (E.I.C.)

We are back with yet another EXCLUSIVE interview! We'd first like to thank the very AMAZING staff at MAB Celebrity for letting us be apart of this event. If you love sports, you should definitely check out some of their upcoming shows. We have been attending various MAB shows throughout the years, and we were absolutely honored to have been apart of this historic event!

MAB-Celebrity does public signings throughout the United States, but not to worry. Don't live in the area and need something signed? MAB also does private signings. Check them out here for a list of upcoming private and public signings.

On October 25th, we arrived early and got to meet and greet with some of the 1994 Stanley Cup Championship winners, the New York Rangers.

We also met none other then "The Nature Boy" himself, Ric Flair! Woooooo! Although we were unable to interview Flair, it was great to meet such a humble down to earth guy, who seemed to be in very good spirits and happy to be there. Hulk Hogan also appeared at That 90's Show, however we were also unable to obtain and interview with him. Hogan was in great spirits and seemed very happy to be there.

Please check out our interview below. Jay Wells, Steve Larmer, Joe Kucor and Stephane Matteau, (better known as the Ranger who scored the game winning goal in the 1994 cup) discuss the current state of the Rangers, Madison Square Garden, Anthony Duclair, Gary Bettman and the two lockouts, as well as what it was like winning the 1994 cup and a lot more.

The Social Commentary of Battle Rap

Image Credit: zimbio.com

by: Ashe Samuels

Dearly Beloved,

Welcome again to my column now to be titled, "Seasoning for the Unseasoned." Today we are gathered to speak about the social commentary that is a foundation of hip hop and also becoming one in battle rap, as well.

Hip hop has been speaking on class warfare for decades, the haves vs the have not so to speak. Battling is no different. A few weeks ago, URL released two major battles; Tsu Surf vs. Hitman Hollow, and the young Canadian Charron vs. Shotgun Suge. In Hitman vs. Surf, Surf began to go in about Hitmans upbringing. Surf, from Newark, used his third round to talk about how Hitman, though he comes with Blood affiliation, is from a two parent household and is a college athlete. He used wordplay to illustrate that he was more street due to not having parents and having to fend for himself. It was arguably the best round from Surf in quite some time. Dizaster, who is one of the most highly regarded in the world, has been dissed many times for not only having rich parents but also living with him till his late twenties. Pat Stay even claimed that anyone could be Diz due to him not needing to have a job, therefore being able to dedicate himself to battling while everyone else had to balance work and battling. Canada's Kaliente was often dissed due to being homeless, but used that struggle to hit hard against Tycoon Tax. While you wont hear all the so rich and I have nicer shit bars you do from modern hip hop, there will always be the "I'm harder because i came up harder" aspect to battling. Those are just some recent examples.

Race relations have always been a hot topic in hip hop, and battling is no exception. Murda Mook ended his battle against Iron Solomon with a Trayvon Martin angle complete with a hoodie. Shotgun Suge began his battle against Charron by saying "this ain't a battle this is justice for Mike Brown." Charron, a white Canadian MC who won 106 and Parks Freestyle Friday but was excluded  from the 2013 Cyphers for being too white and Canadian, used his whiteness to his advantage to win over an oftentimes hostile NYC crowd. From a fantastic Columbine name flip (this is Columbine a white kid taking a shotgun to school), to his final round rebuttal about being a skinny white kid in hip hop and the problems it caused (what you know about shaking Norbes hand and he mistakes you for the camera man). Oftentimes the "you lost to a white boy" card gets played, such as the first time Diz battled Arsonal and the reverse happens at times, such as when Aye Verb confusingly called King of the Dot fans racist. I say confusing in that particular case as the battle took place in LA, in front of a mostly black and Latino crowd. Dizaster, of Lebenese decent, used 90% Asian bars, though hilarious ones against veteran A-Class. Cadalack Ron gets uncomfortably racist at times, though what does one expect from a guy who may or may not have shot dope, mid battle, on camera? If you are white and battle in URL, you being white will probably be half your opponents material, and you being white will be half of yours. That is where some of the beauty lies, almost a racial dialogue through dissing.

Image Credit: goodfellamedia.com

With the rise of Young Thug and the Wayne kissin Baby fiasco, homosexual culture has been on the rise in hip hop. Battle rap is the same, but different. Pat Stay battled Rone in a compliment battle, where two battlers literally compliment each other instead of saying awful shit to each other. The lead up was quite, well, gay. They acted really gay towards each other. The battle had many twings of that as well. No Shame is a transgender battler who has had great showings in AHAT and BOTZ, and has shown herself to be far more than a gimmick earning the respect of her peers. Then, there is Daylyt, battle raps Andy Kaufman. In the leadup to his battle with Pat Stay, they have begun to basically send weird prison love blogs to each other. Its basically battle raps version of gay chicken at this point. Day has also said things like he'd fuck Diddy, possibly to get put on, possibly just because. He warned Aye Verb before their battle that he would try to make out with him onstage. He battled fellow Krack City member Cali Smoov at a non battle event with over a million streaming viewers. He also put out a Young Thug diss called "Choppers" and "Pink Skirts," in which he rapped in a short pink dress and twerked with an AK-47. The weird part is that Day is a heterosexual man with a kid, who is doing this to troll battle raps homophobia and the outlandishly gay movement in hip hop at the same damn time.

Though many claim it to be overly mysoginistic, battle rapvis far from pro domestic violence. Bonnie Godiva brought out Uno Lavoz ex girlfriend on stage in her third round to basically put him on trial for rape. Sketch Menace also called out Uno on the allegations. Hollow the Don flipped out on Joe Budden for supposedly hitting women, stopping in the middle of his round. Hollohan has been called out for his alleged mistreatment of women in many battles. A lot of battlers get away with a lot of things, but no one gets daps for actually hitting a chick.

As I said before, battling has something for everyone. Super lyrical aggressive rhymes? Turn to battle rap. You want thought provoking bars with incredible replay value? Battle rap. You want some social commentary on the side? Yup. Battle rap has that too.