Friday, July 30, 2010

The Chase For 600

600 home runs. Only six players in the history of Major League Baseball have achieved this feat (Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr. & Sammy Sosa) 2 of them will have a dreaded asterisk beside their names in regards to their “alleged” involvement as active participants in the steroid era. Sammy Sosa, is one of them and has the least of the 600 club with 609 career homeruns and the other is the all time leader in homeruns, Barry Bonds, who has a total of 762 career homeruns. These 2 players are often called out as cheaters and many baseball fans disregard their homerun totals and many still believe there are only 4 members of the 600 homerun club and that Hank Aaron is the rightful “homerun king”. As baseball records go, joining the 600 Club is a very big deal (it’s much more difficult to achieve than 3,000 hits or 300 wins). Now there is another player on the cusp of making it into this prestigious club and no one seems to care. Why?

Alex Rodriguez is an enigma, he has been, in my opinion, the 2nd best player in the last 35 years (Ken Griffey Jr being the best between 1989-2000) and the best player in the last 10 (mainly ‘cause Griffey’s body broke down with various debilitating injuries). However, instead of being celebrated as one of the greats in the game A-Rod is continually hated by a vast majority of baseball fans despite him wanting everyone to love him. He was one of my favourite players growing up because he played for my home team the Seattle Mariners (even though I grew up in Vancouver) and his departure from the Mariners was the beginning of his vilification.

What’s so different about A-Rod? After all Griffey left the M’s too but instead of being hated Griffey is celebrated as the greatest Mariner of all time. I believe what makes A-Rod different is three things. First, in 2000 A-Rod had become the M’s cornerstone player as they had dealt their 2 biggest established stars in Griffey and Randy Johnson after losing to the Yankees in the ALCS (yea the M’s were THAT good back in the day) in the hope to rebuild around A-Rod. So he was now the face of the franchise. However, it was not meant to be as a bidding war erupted for A-Rod unlike any other player at the time and the M’s simply could not financially compete with the New York Mets and the Texas Rangers. In the end A-Rod spurned the Mets, who were a better team, for the much inferior Rangers and an absurd contract (10 years/$252 million). No one can blame A-Rod for taking the money but it seems everyone does, he was seen as a sell-out and also someone who hampered his team as the Rangers couldn’t field a competitive team simply because they couldn’t pay anyone else (they’re still feeling the effects of that deal as they head into bankruptcy court). Despite all of that A-Rod had 3 of the best seasons of his career (although we now know they are tainted).

The 2nd reason people hate A-Rod is because he is now also tainted with the steroid asterisk. Why is this more significant for him? It’s because when everything surrounding Barry Bonds and steroids was settling down and it was evident Bonds’ record was tainted; the hope was A-Rod (then thought of as a “clean” player) who had vehemently denied steroid use would be the saviour to reclaim the record. Even the biggest A-Rod haters held out for this hope because they could at least respect the record but when he came out last year and admitted to using performance enhancing drugs and lying to baseball fans about his PED use, it was a big blow to baseball and like a punch in the proverbial “balls” (I’m not trying to be sexist ladies) of baseball fans. So now the haters became uber-haters and A-Rod became another example of “cheating the game” for baseball purists.

The 3rd reason why A-Rod’s “chase for 600” has been so irrelevant is because he isn’t the best everyday player on his team right now, that’s Robinson Cano who recently hit his 1000th hit, and he’s not the face of the franchise, that belongs to the much loved and respected Derek Jeter. So much for all that talk about A-Rod finally earning his pinstripes in this past year's playoffs. He’s been the 3rd best 3rd baseman in his division this year, behind Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria and Boston’s Adrian Beltre. Also, A-Rod turned 35 on July 27, and reports have surfaced that his age and his bothersome hip are both starting to eat at his skill. Meanwhile, statisticians and fans have been debating about whether the Yankees will regret the seven years left on A-Rod's 10-year, $275 million contract and whether his power numbers will stay high enough to pass Bonds' all-time home run record of 762.

A-Rod's talent is unquestioned. But it's bizarre, fans don’t see an A-Rod at-bat as a must-see event. You rarely hear talk about how he's about to enter the realm of baseball's all-time gods which is justified by his stats. Maybe it’s been all the off-the-field dramas that surround him or maybe it’s true that he is the most vilified athlete in sports because of his personality, or maybe the game of baseball is changing and instead of seeing homeruns, fans would rather watch someone like Washington Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg, who has taken the league by storm, throw 100 mph fastballs and back breaking curveballs to strike out 10+ batters a game. One thing is certain, A-Rod will hit 600 homeruns and many more, maybe he’ll break the all-time record or maybe he won’t but one thing is clear, nobody outside of New York (and even some in NY) cares if he does. This brings up an even bigger question, what will A-Rod’s legacy be? Will he ascend to be one of the baseball gods as the stats suggest or will he just be remembered as a great player in a very flawed era?

Peace and Much Love to Ya :)

Friday, July 23, 2010

"Teflon Don" Review

Rick Ross isn't in my top 10 as far as emcees go in the game right now but I would put him in the top 15 that's just me though, others however love his style and laud him as one of the best rappers out right now and that's fine with me 'cause I respect everybody's opinions and realize we all have different tastes. Prejudices aside, I did take a fairly objective view towards his latest release: Teflon Don

Since his hit single “Hustlin’” came out in 2006, Rick Ross has become a heavyweight in the hip-hop game (much to the dismay of 50 Cent) and it's evident in this release. Teflon Don stands on three legs: Ross’ image, the album’s impressive production value, and its supporting cast of featured artists. Seriously, Ross proved he's got some serious superstar cred with the supporting cast on this album with tracks from producers like: J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, No ID, The Inkredibles, Kanye West and Danja just to name a few.

It doesn't stop there either as Ross pulled out some big names for appearances as featured artists, such as: Jay-Z, Kanye, T.I., Drake, Jadakiss, Erykah Badu, Ne-Yo, Diddy, Trey Songz, Gucci Mane, Raphael Saadiq, Styles P and Raekwon. That is an impressive gathering of course but it is also a negative for the album. Sure collaborations are great, but when 11 of the 12 tracks have featured artists with heavy lyrical input it devalues the album as truly just Rick Ross'. Rather it sounds like the album should be titled, "Rick Ross and friends present: Teflon Don".

Ross has improved his wordplay on Teflon Don, which helps the listener forget the utter lack of depth in his lyrics. He just doesn’t have much to say (hence all the artists, maybe?). With Ross, you simply have to take what you hear at face value. He has money, he thinks he’s awesome and yes, he loves his sunglasses. Rick Ross often gets criticized for his less-than-proficient lyricism, and rightfully so (which is why he'll never be in my top 10), but I can’t help but enjoy Teflon Don. Look at the featured artists and try not to be intrigued; Ross is the definition of commercial rap, and he clearly understands the business of hip-hop.

The impressive production value puts this album over the top because it is so beautifully constructed by the myriad of producers providing the beats. Each track seamlessly flows to the next and all in all it's a fun album to listen to. Take it for what it is because it doesn't fail to deliver.

Notable Tracks: "Free Mason feat. Jay-Z", "Aston Martin Music feat. Drake and Chrisette Michele", "Audio Meth feat. Raekwon", and "All The Money In The World feat. Raphael Saadiq"

Rating: 3.75 Stars (out of 5)

Peace and Much Love to Ya :)

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Raptors YoungGunz Dunkoff!!

I've been pretty sick so I haven't been able to type a real thought provoking article but I did promise a post soon and I don't ever go back on my promises. So I decided for this post to keep it fun. For those of y'all who know me personally know that I am a huge Toronto Raptors fan (I still secretly like the Grizzlies even though they left our wonderful city). And with Chris Bosh heading down to Miami (I told y'all that's why he cut his dreads for the fade lol) some Raptors "fans" have abandoned ship but not me. Why? 'Cause of the "Young Gunz" of course!! (also 'cause I stick with my teams through the good and the bad)

The original 3 members of the "Young Gunz" are Amir Johnson, DeMar DeRozan and Sonny Weems. These guys play a fun and high-flying game and it was shown last season. Although they have all been working hard during the Summer to improve, and it's shown as we went 5-0 in Vegas Summer League!! Sonny and DeMar not only participated but were the leading scorers and carried the team, they took some time out after a workout in Toronto to challenge each other to a dunk off to determine who's the best dunker on the team. After watching the video y'all can head on over to www.amirjohnson.com and vote for who you think is the best dunker. right now Amir leads with 49.19% of the vote while DeMar is in 2nd with 41.74% and Sonny is last with the remaining 9.08% of 39,137 votes!! Oh and the losers have to wear tights through downtown Toronto which I'm sure will be filmed by AmirTV. Hope y'all enjoy it and don't forget to vote!!




Peace and Much Love to Ya :)

Saturday, July 17, 2010

A Very Arbitrary Thought.

First of all, I would like to apologize for my absence, I've been on vacation (as JabberWocky has mentioned) and is still in vacation-mode so I'm still shaking off my lazy. Second of all, the new look is awesome =) JabberWocky really goes ABCD (above and beyond the call of duty...I read it on a sign somewhere) and I'm very thankful and grateful!

This is short but it's been on my mind since I've been selecting classes for next year. If you had to choose one, which would you prefer: the same professor for multiple classes or a hot professor? Here's what I've been weighing:

Same professor for multiple classes
Pro- Could be buddy-buddy with the prof and he/she would have to know your name. References are important for grad studies!
Con- Could be a bad/dick professor and you're stuck with him/her for multiple classes! What a nightmare...

Hot professor
Pro- Eye candy and incentive for attending class, as well as actually paying attention (which would allow you to do better in the class)
Con- A huge distraction, trust me. Going to class just to drool and doodle disturbing images (not me I swear) is not the way to go.

What's the verdict y'all? Comment below (I know some of you wanna comment...there's someone out there...) and I'll keep it in mind, I promise!

Until next time!

- Franny.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

A New Look!!

First of all I would like to apologize to all our readers for not updating the blog in a LONG time. I have been very busy with other aspects of my life (yes I do have a social life, contrary to popular belief) and Franny is on vacation so she hasn't been able to blog (actually a valid excuse). However I am back!! and I promise that the blog will be better than ever!!

The first step in the rejuvenation of the blog is the look of the blog. Our regular readers will notice the larger margins in the main text area as well as the "argyle sweater" like pattern as the backdrop ('cause we're so fashionable). This isn't a final look and because we value the opinions of our readers, if you have any suggestions on ways we can improve the design or template let us know and we'll try it out. Also we will be adding some more interactive features on the blog if we can. I have been considering moving the blog from blogger to maybe wordpress or livejournal but for now we're staying with blogger ('cause we're loyal) if we do decide to move the blog to another site we will notify you in an appropriate manner (no we're not gonna do a 1 hour special called "The Decision" on a national tv network).

If you guys have any questions, suggestions, concerns or are looking to be contributors to the blog you can email us at arbitraryopinions@gmail.com, tweet us @ArbitraryO or me @Jabber_Wocky, or just comment in the comments section of this post, we're always looking for cool people to work with and you can obviously post anything you want about anything you want and anyway you want (we are called Arbitrary Opinions for a reason).

That's all for now but I will be posting again very soon!! 'til then,

Peace and Much Love to Ya :)