I'm sorry for my last article being unbearably long, I had a lot to say. This one will be shorter and features a theme, which is rare. A friend asked for an overrated/underrated column, and I can't deny a request because it means someone will read this. It's been done before, but Will Ferrell plays the same character in every movie and he never gets old, so maybe it's like Will Ferrell. I tried to find a counterpart for everything and they are ranked from most eggregiously misrated to only slightly misrated.
Overrated: Lil Wayne. He rhymes the same words over and over, he rarely makes any sense, he mispronounces words and finishes thoughts half way in order to fit rhymes, he's repetitive, his songs have no energy, and he's incredibly popular. His new hit "A Milli" would be the worst song I've ever heard, had I not already heard Lil Wayne's "Phone Home". I understand that he makes frat party music, but so do many other people (often better) and none of them get mention as the heir to rap's throne. It's a well known fact that Lil Wayne just gets high as hell, turns on the mic, and just churns out songs. I can respect that he's at work so often, but if you're not stoned, he just sounds like another stoner retard telling you about something you had to be there to understand.
Underrated: I don't listen to too much rap so it's hard to find a counterpart and most good rap gets popular pretty quick. So I'll give you some albums that I particularly like that aren't that well known or may have and have forgotten about: Lucky Boys Confusion's Commitment, Reel Big Fish's Our Live Album Is Better Than Your Live Album, Vertical Horizon's Everything You Want, Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory, Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here (My Favorite Album Cover Ever), and as much I think Kanye's a punk, he did good on Graduation. The first albums are more underrated and the others are popular but I wanted to represent a lot of genres and those cover more. I also really like the Killers' Hot Fuss, but hate their new stuff.
Overrated: Playoff experience in baseball. So few teams make the playoff (only 3 every year from the AL since the Yanks make it every year) that really not a lot of guys have playoff experience. Sure there are legends who shine every October, but it's such a crapshoot in baseball that lacking a championship ring doesn't really hinder a player's Hall of Fame resume. Since 2000, the final year of the Yankees reign, 4 teams who had just about no playoff experience won the world series. They are the 2001 D'Backs, the 2002 Angels, the 2003 Marlins, and the 2005 White Sox. I had a witty one-liner to drop here, but I just watched a commercial in which a biker gets into to bed with a man in a Geico Gecko suit and can not think.
Underrated: Outifield defense. It sounds like an oxymoron, but it's one of the reasons the Twins have made it this far. When the White Sox played them, I was really impressed and infuriated with their ability to get to balls in the gap, turning doubles into singles or outs. A team also can't be as aggressive tagging against good outfielders. Looking back at the outfields of world series winners (thanks baseball-reference.com), almost all of them had strong defensive outfields. The '01 D'Backs outfielders made 4 errors all year. the '03 Marlins had Juan Pierre when he was good, Miguel Cabrera when he could fit through a door, and Juan Encarnacion had a nifty 7/0 Assist to Error ratio. The '05 White Sox moved Scott Podsednik to left, had Aaron Rowand in center, and Jermaine Dye's league leading 9 assists in right. If a seemingly inferior team keeps winning, take a close look at who's roaming the outfield for them.
Overrated: Missouri and Illinois. Mark it down, Missouri will go 10-3 but get crushed by Texas and Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship. They don't play a real schedule and the Big 12 deserves it's own rant on being overrated. Illinois has Ron Zook at the helm, so they will get 1 big win (probably Missouri), beat the teams they should, and lose to teams of a similar caliber. A final record of 8-4 seems likely.
Underrated: Iowa. This year's Missouri that will end up being vastly overrated after going through a schedule that features no top 10 opponent. Kirk Ferentz is on the hot seat and if he's really a good coach, he'll pull himself off that seat with a 10 or 11 win season.
Overrated: Pineapple Express. It came out today, I haven't seen it, I don't know anyone who has, but it will be overrated. It's a movie all about pot and there's nothing a pot head with a burnt out sense of humor loves more than weed jokes. It will be pretty funny, but stoners will laugh too loud, too long, and talk too much about it. Was Knocked Up really that great a movie? No, but it appealed to the the right crowd and it know gets treated like a great movie. Same thing here.
Underrated: Boondock Saints. My favorite move nobody knows. The plot isn't brilliant, but there's lots of action and the movie is shot really well. Will definitely entertain you everytime you see it.
Overrated: Running Backs.
Underrated: Offensive Line. The best running backs in the NFL are products of their offensive line. Look at Larry Johnson after he had 2 Hall of Famers on the left side of his line retire. He went from the best to washed up. After the Vikings picked up Steve Hutchinson, Chester Taylor became a viable offensive option and Adrian Peterson looks like Jesus in pads. Edgerrin James leaves the Colts O-Line for the Cardinals and can't average 3.5 YPC. All the league's best running backs have great offensive lines. A good runner becomes great and a great becomes an all-timer. This is not to doubt the talents of LT, Adrian Peterson, and others, but they would not be anywhere near where they are without a strong group of uglies clearing the way.
Overrated: The Dark Knight. Great movie, not in the top 3 I have ever seen. I've heard too many friends say it's a top 10 movie ever.
Underrated: Boxing. You can download the Margarito-Cotto fight for free online and I recommend you do if you have some free time.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to listen to Tha Carter III and laugh my ass off at Lil Wayne's attempt at music. Then I will feel bad because he makes millions of dollars. Then I will feel good again because he looks like he was hit in the face with a frying pan. Then I will feel bad because he still gets more sex than he can handle. Then finally good again because I don't have chlamydia.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Illinois overrated??! Let's just say after this year the Rose Bowl will be their home away from home. Juice Williams will suprise you.
Missouri was one win away from the national championship game and they are returning everyone, so I can't see them being too overrated (Jeremy Maclin is a God)
Alex Semaca will not only love Pineapple Express, but he will express his love for it on Facebook
The patriots in 02 and 04, and Colts in 06 (they won the year after edge left) and many other succesful teams had average running games at best. But if you look at the last 10 or so champions, the team had a very good quarterback, and in the rare case it didnt they had an otherworldly defense. Having a good running game does not neccesarily lead to championships or superbowl appearances. In fact, a team like the chargers, redskins, or titans who have very good run games dont do much in the playoffs. In general, in the current age, teams who move the ball primarily by running (either by rb or qb) dont win championships. The real key is having a great qb or a great defense. Period.
When you were young is a very good song. Its only second to Mr Brightside.
Lil Wayne is overrated (he is labeled as the face of hip hop?!? ) but he does tend to have catchy lines "I have so many chips you could have a bag if ur a snacker" or "I smoke that kush and I run th Reggie Bush"
Sry for writing so much but ive been stuck in Denver international airport for the last 10 hours. Sleeping on the ground is overrated.
Illinois didn't belong there last year and won't be allowed to get back in for sake of tradition this year. I don't think they are bad, but not a big 10 title contender. They have games at Penn State and Michigan in consecutive weeks, away games at Wisconsin and Missouri, and a big date with Ohio State. I think it's optimistic to say they win 3 of those games, and I expect they win 2. It also wouldn't surprise me if they, like most emerging teams, stumble and lose to a team they shouldn't a long the way. The schedule is just not favorable for them to get to 10 wins.
Last year Missouri was basically the same team as Illinois, as demonstrated by their week 1 showdown, but they almost made the national championship by virtue of playing in a terrible conference. Honestly Kansas nearly went undefeated. Frankly, I feel last year was the weirdest year of college football with so many top 10 teams that had no business being top 10. VT got beat by 40 by LSU and went to the Orange Bowl through a conference bid, that's stupid. If you get beat by 40 by anybody, you're banned from a BCS bowl.
Post a Comment