I am starting to write more about sports over here. http://tskitishvillainy.tumblr.com/
Have a look.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Late Night Tales
A few years late on this, but here is a great site with really exquisite mixes. Perfect for late night listening in the car, or walking on the street, or with a close group of friends as the night begins to wind down.
It really reminds me of those indie-dude dreams of curating personally everyone else's listening habits. These guys do a great job and base it loosely around the music that has interested or influenced them. Case in point: MGMT putting on the psychedelic melancholy music that always drew me to their debut album.
Also, each mix comes with the curator's cover of one song. Really just a nice cherry on top.
It really reminds me of those indie-dude dreams of curating personally everyone else's listening habits. These guys do a great job and base it loosely around the music that has interested or influenced them. Case in point: MGMT putting on the psychedelic melancholy music that always drew me to their debut album.
Also, each mix comes with the curator's cover of one song. Really just a nice cherry on top.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
How To Fix College Football
The world of college football is bound to be inverted on its axis, and it’s bound to happen soon. It may be that the Mayan Prophecy of 2012 was meant to narrowly target Division 1-A (FBS) College Football. Perhaps Colorado and Nebraska were the oracles that saw the black cloud approaching. Conference realignment is nothing new, as just within the last 20 years the Big 12 and its predecessors have consisted of 8, 10, and 12 teams. What is new though is that all the conferences may be shifting at the same time, which has seismic consequences to the other non-BCS conferences. Assuming what the talking heads have prophesied is true, that in a short period of time college football will revolve around four 16-team power conferences, the structure of crowning achievement currently in place will seem outlandishly dated.
The BCS can barely continue to exist in its current state, considering it rewards winners of BCS conferences with prestigious games, even though they may have won from atrocious football conferences (Hello Big East). With four power conferences, that can no longer continue and the placement of teams into the BCS games will have to become more arbitrary taking more into account the voice of the voters and the computer that computes rankings based on a formula. Likely the resulting games will be skewed and smaller though just as deserving schools will continue to be punished for not being behemoth institutions, think Boise State or TCU.
Luckily I have a solution for the NCAA to consider. Borrowing very heavily from the set-up of English League Football (Soccer) I have a way to even out the inequalities without compromising the interests of the heavily invested parties of the current system. If or once the 4 16-team power conference setup occurs, the system of rewarding teams with bowl games will have to be altered. The fairest way to do this is to follow the European example and reward great seasons by lesser schools with promotion and demote those with awful seasons. In England, the Barclays Premier League is the most prestigious league for club football. The giants of the league are almost constantly assured of remaining in place, notice how Manchester United and Liverpool are comfortably competing for the Premier League Crown, not worrying about relegation. However, clubs like Swansea and Sunderland dread fighting to stay in the top league at the close of the season. It is of utmost importance to avoid finishing in the bottom three due to the financial implications of being relegated to their version of the Minor Leagues.
This same system can improve the quality of the NCAA football season. Assuming the four most powerful football conferences, the Big 10, Pac 12, SEC, and ACC, divide the remains of the teams from the Big East and Big 12 amongst themselves, the Premier League system can be adopted. The remaining teams can make up their own conferences based largely on geographical alignment. Out of the 120 FBS schools, 64 will be part of one of the four power conferences, while the other 56 may split into 4 14-team conferences. The schools that finish last in their power conference will be relegated to one of the lesser conferences. The schools that finish first in their conference will get the promotion to the power conference. Make sense? Let’s assume Boise State does not get chosen to be part of the Pac-16 Power Conference at first, but the subsequent season win their lesser conference they get the promotion to the PAC-16 and take the place of the last place team (probably Colorado).
Now how does that solve the problem of the arbitrary selection process of the BCS you may ask? Well, here is where we borrow from the set-up of the UEFA Champions League. In Europe, the prestige of a league depends on how their best teams fare in the international tournaments. The more teams that go further into international competition over the previous five years, the more teams from that conference then get the opportunity to compete in the more prestigious tournaments. FIFA creates a coefficient to measure the quality of a league a la BCS points. The Champions League is the crème de la crème of football, and the opportunity to compete in it is a sign of accomplishment for a club. Think of what a BCS berth means to a program as a comparable example. Based on these ratings FIFA allocates the club teams from England, Spain, and Germany each with four spots. Then the next three in the FIFA ranking (France, Italy, and Portugal) get three spots, and so on. Obviously this will have to be changed to correspond with the different structure of football.
Thus, the idea is that the four top conferences automatically get their top two teams spots to compete for the National Title. Then based on the results of inter-conference records, with increased weight placed on bowl game performance, the top two conferences get an additional entry into the premier competition. Out of the other four conferences, only two teams will gain entry to compete for a national title. This can be done based on either win/loss record or on their ranking according to the BCS computer/ AP Poll. That leaves 12 teams to compete for the National Championship.
Now, arguably the most difficult part of this plan to come to fruition would be the mandatory playoff needed to determine the national champion. A 12 team playoff, like the NFL, would leave very little question as to who is the most deserving team to be crowned National Champion. Like the NFL, the winners of the power conferences get an automatic bye for the first week. The teams will all be ranked according to their BCS ranking. Thus the #5 team in the country will play #12 or whoever the last ranked place school is that qualified. This will continue until the National Championship game. At most, a team can play three more games than they would have under the current system.
The teams that did not qualify for the BCS Tournament, or whatever the name would be, can continue to play in games like the Chick-Fil-A or Capital One Bowl. Not only would this system not completely alter the premise that every game is crucial in college football, but it would also add importance to the lack-luster games at the end of season for teams struggling to avoid relegation. Sure, a team like Duke would likely be relegated and lose out on the earnings of the power conference, but they can also regain entry in just one year or play schools with comparable talent levels, instead of being demolished by superior competition. Under this plan, who loses?
The BCS can barely continue to exist in its current state, considering it rewards winners of BCS conferences with prestigious games, even though they may have won from atrocious football conferences (Hello Big East). With four power conferences, that can no longer continue and the placement of teams into the BCS games will have to become more arbitrary taking more into account the voice of the voters and the computer that computes rankings based on a formula. Likely the resulting games will be skewed and smaller though just as deserving schools will continue to be punished for not being behemoth institutions, think Boise State or TCU.
Luckily I have a solution for the NCAA to consider. Borrowing very heavily from the set-up of English League Football (Soccer) I have a way to even out the inequalities without compromising the interests of the heavily invested parties of the current system. If or once the 4 16-team power conference setup occurs, the system of rewarding teams with bowl games will have to be altered. The fairest way to do this is to follow the European example and reward great seasons by lesser schools with promotion and demote those with awful seasons. In England, the Barclays Premier League is the most prestigious league for club football. The giants of the league are almost constantly assured of remaining in place, notice how Manchester United and Liverpool are comfortably competing for the Premier League Crown, not worrying about relegation. However, clubs like Swansea and Sunderland dread fighting to stay in the top league at the close of the season. It is of utmost importance to avoid finishing in the bottom three due to the financial implications of being relegated to their version of the Minor Leagues.
This same system can improve the quality of the NCAA football season. Assuming the four most powerful football conferences, the Big 10, Pac 12, SEC, and ACC, divide the remains of the teams from the Big East and Big 12 amongst themselves, the Premier League system can be adopted. The remaining teams can make up their own conferences based largely on geographical alignment. Out of the 120 FBS schools, 64 will be part of one of the four power conferences, while the other 56 may split into 4 14-team conferences. The schools that finish last in their power conference will be relegated to one of the lesser conferences. The schools that finish first in their conference will get the promotion to the power conference. Make sense? Let’s assume Boise State does not get chosen to be part of the Pac-16 Power Conference at first, but the subsequent season win their lesser conference they get the promotion to the PAC-16 and take the place of the last place team (probably Colorado).
Now how does that solve the problem of the arbitrary selection process of the BCS you may ask? Well, here is where we borrow from the set-up of the UEFA Champions League. In Europe, the prestige of a league depends on how their best teams fare in the international tournaments. The more teams that go further into international competition over the previous five years, the more teams from that conference then get the opportunity to compete in the more prestigious tournaments. FIFA creates a coefficient to measure the quality of a league a la BCS points. The Champions League is the crème de la crème of football, and the opportunity to compete in it is a sign of accomplishment for a club. Think of what a BCS berth means to a program as a comparable example. Based on these ratings FIFA allocates the club teams from England, Spain, and Germany each with four spots. Then the next three in the FIFA ranking (France, Italy, and Portugal) get three spots, and so on. Obviously this will have to be changed to correspond with the different structure of football.
Thus, the idea is that the four top conferences automatically get their top two teams spots to compete for the National Title. Then based on the results of inter-conference records, with increased weight placed on bowl game performance, the top two conferences get an additional entry into the premier competition. Out of the other four conferences, only two teams will gain entry to compete for a national title. This can be done based on either win/loss record or on their ranking according to the BCS computer/ AP Poll. That leaves 12 teams to compete for the National Championship.
Now, arguably the most difficult part of this plan to come to fruition would be the mandatory playoff needed to determine the national champion. A 12 team playoff, like the NFL, would leave very little question as to who is the most deserving team to be crowned National Champion. Like the NFL, the winners of the power conferences get an automatic bye for the first week. The teams will all be ranked according to their BCS ranking. Thus the #5 team in the country will play #12 or whoever the last ranked place school is that qualified. This will continue until the National Championship game. At most, a team can play three more games than they would have under the current system.
The teams that did not qualify for the BCS Tournament, or whatever the name would be, can continue to play in games like the Chick-Fil-A or Capital One Bowl. Not only would this system not completely alter the premise that every game is crucial in college football, but it would also add importance to the lack-luster games at the end of season for teams struggling to avoid relegation. Sure, a team like Duke would likely be relegated and lose out on the earnings of the power conference, but they can also regain entry in just one year or play schools with comparable talent levels, instead of being demolished by superior competition. Under this plan, who loses?
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Allow me to reintroduce myself
First off I'd like to apologize for the extended hiatus. If this was at all like the NBA Lockout, I would have threatened to blog abroad, but instead I'll do this pro-bono.
I've written some this summer, so stay tuned for some updates.
For example the Rapture released an album for mass consumption on Tuesday. I have some opinions on it.
"In The Grace of Your Love"
The Rapture have had a tumultuous history during their time as a band. Once the indie dance punk darlings of a daring New York scene, the Rapture were the “it” band. Working with the DFA studio, the Rapture’s success helped pave the inroads for the genre to take off. Their previous releases, Echoes and Pieces of the People We Love were loud, fun, and raucous. The synths squealed, the drums pummeled, and co-vocalists Luke Jenner and Mattie Safer yelped on top of it all. That was four years ago though.
Since then Mattie has left the band, they went on an extended hiatus, and they’ve grown up. The maturity that comes with facing a creative crisis, while scrambling to get the band together comes out in In the Grace of Your Love. The lead track “It Takes Time to be a Man” starts off in a jazzy groove with a piano jangling in the background, and delves into the reflective nature of a band that has grown up. The songs have sprawled out, losing much of the tight fury from the previous albums. Instead, the band gives their ideas more time to breathe and develop within a song. “How deep is Your Love” clocks in at over six minutes, where ideas build on top of each other, naturally maneuvering the song into a sound the band had not previously explored.
Unfortunately, the ideas that were so tightly jammed into brief moments of dance punk bliss on the previous albums have largely evaded the band on this album. The ideas on this album seem more contrived and have to be coerced out, and there are not enough them to sustain throughout. The momentum of the album fades, the spastic energy has been drained, and the effort just becomes tired.
The long hiatus may be the cause for the brevity of the inspired ideas. Parts of this album do dazzle and bring back memories of what the band once was. Unfortunately, the new look Rapture sound more mature but miss the entire point of their sound, and leave behind a disappointing comeback album.
P.S
The title for this post is from Jay-Z's "Encore". Fake Shore Drive has a post about his 50 greatest songs. I disagree with a lot of the picks. Stay tuned, I've been in a heavy-rap mood lately, and will have things to discuss.
I've written some this summer, so stay tuned for some updates.
For example the Rapture released an album for mass consumption on Tuesday. I have some opinions on it.
"In The Grace of Your Love"
The Rapture have had a tumultuous history during their time as a band. Once the indie dance punk darlings of a daring New York scene, the Rapture were the “it” band. Working with the DFA studio, the Rapture’s success helped pave the inroads for the genre to take off. Their previous releases, Echoes and Pieces of the People We Love were loud, fun, and raucous. The synths squealed, the drums pummeled, and co-vocalists Luke Jenner and Mattie Safer yelped on top of it all. That was four years ago though.
Since then Mattie has left the band, they went on an extended hiatus, and they’ve grown up. The maturity that comes with facing a creative crisis, while scrambling to get the band together comes out in In the Grace of Your Love. The lead track “It Takes Time to be a Man” starts off in a jazzy groove with a piano jangling in the background, and delves into the reflective nature of a band that has grown up. The songs have sprawled out, losing much of the tight fury from the previous albums. Instead, the band gives their ideas more time to breathe and develop within a song. “How deep is Your Love” clocks in at over six minutes, where ideas build on top of each other, naturally maneuvering the song into a sound the band had not previously explored.
Unfortunately, the ideas that were so tightly jammed into brief moments of dance punk bliss on the previous albums have largely evaded the band on this album. The ideas on this album seem more contrived and have to be coerced out, and there are not enough them to sustain throughout. The momentum of the album fades, the spastic energy has been drained, and the effort just becomes tired.
The long hiatus may be the cause for the brevity of the inspired ideas. Parts of this album do dazzle and bring back memories of what the band once was. Unfortunately, the new look Rapture sound more mature but miss the entire point of their sound, and leave behind a disappointing comeback album.
P.S
The title for this post is from Jay-Z's "Encore". Fake Shore Drive has a post about his 50 greatest songs. I disagree with a lot of the picks. Stay tuned, I've been in a heavy-rap mood lately, and will have things to discuss.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Funny Ha Ha
Can someone please explain to me the difference between dubstep, techno, and electronica?
ohitsjustin:
dubstep is like wahwahwahwahwahwahwah
and techno is like uns uns uns uns uns uns
and electronica is like deedledeedledeenerdoodeedledoodeedle
i hope that helped
via (badkarat)
ohitsjustin:
dubstep is like wahwahwahwahwahwahwah
and techno is like uns uns uns uns uns uns
and electronica is like deedledeedledeenerdoodeedledoodeedle
i hope that helped
via (badkarat)
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Another Parks and Rec Link
If you all don't watch the show, well then you won't "really" get it. But here is a tubmlr of cats that look like Ron Swanson.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)