Fantasy Football

Many of you have probably already caught the fantasy football bug. For those of you who haven't, I don't recommend it. It's not worth it.

While this is not my first season "playing" fantasy football (I "played" last year but never kept up with it and thus finished in last place), it may be my last. I was on the fence about "playing" this year because I wasn't sure that I would have the time to keep up with it and being a huge sports fan and a sport management major, I did not want my friends to think I was completely stupid.

So I agreed to play in my friend, Jeremy's league. I did tons of research before the season began to decide who I would draft. When the draft rolled around, I felt very confident about my chances. Then I ended up with the first overall pick and selected the consensus #1 LaDanian Tomlinson. I also picked up Drew Brees and David Garrard as my QB's, Steve Smith, Donald Driver, and Santana Moss at WR, and Willie Parker and LDT at RB with a steal of Matt Forte as a back up RB. I thought I was set.

Well Tomlinson hurt his big toe in week one and Steve Smith was suspended for punching his own teammate but I was able to still eek out a win. Weeks 2 and 3 I've had to face the two highest scoring teams in our league and I've gotten destroyed because LDT's still not playing, David Garrard has been horrible, and everyone else with the exception of Santana Moss has underperformed.

The bad thing about fantasy football though, is that it's so addictive. I can't go to bed on Saturday with out checking injury reports and making sure that my roster is set for Sunday. Then on Sunday I can't rest until I see how my guys performed that day. I wouldn't even mind spending this much time following my fantasy team if I was winning but having all my players sit out is killing me and I can't take it anymore.

What are your feeling on Fantasy Football? Try and see if you can convince me to play again next year.

Slamball Is Back!!!

Slamball is quite possibly the greatest sport ever invented... ever. It combines basketball with trampolines. Who didn't do that as a kid in your driveway? I know I did. Well Slamball had a good run on Spike TV back in 2002-2004 but it went away for a while. Well no need to worry, my friends. Slamball is back and it's on tv! Tune into the Vs. Network Saturday afternoons to catch high flying hard hitting action. The championship game will be played on CBS too! Me and my good friend Zach are doing a project for our sports finance class on Slamball. For those of you not as familiar with Slamball, I encourage you to watch the following video:

Good News!!!

So today we were given some great news!!! The Foreign Exchange will be dropping their second album "Leave It All Behind" next month. For those of you who don't know, Foreign Exchange is the combination of rapper, Phonte from Little Brother (out of Durham, NC) and producer Nicolay (of the Netherlands). The two first collaborated with the classic 2004 album Connected. They are well-known for being one of the first groups to make an album without actually ever seeing each other. Connected was made by sending files back and forth over instant messenger. "Leave It All Behind" is scheduled to drop Oct 7 on iTunes and Oct 14 in stores as a double album with disc 2 featuring full instrumentals. Below is what the cover will look like. I love it. I can't wait.

Step Brothers

2 of my favorite NBA point guards, Steve Nash & Baron Davis, goofing off together in LA. Enjoy!

Sesame Street Gangsta's

I found this on YouTube and had to post it! This is a hilarious edit of the classic rap song "Ante Up" by M.O.P. from Brooklyn. You just have to watch it. Hilarious!

New Common Video - Announcement feat. Pharrell

This song has been out for a minute but this video just hit the web today. I've been a fan of Common for a while and really enjoyed all of his recent colaborations with Kanye West for his last two albums: Be and Finding Forever. I am really excited for his new album though which drops later this fall. The new album, entitled Invicible Summer, features production by Pharrell and Chad of N*E*R*D. This song and Universal Mind Control are two great examples of Pharrell and Chad's space aged sound and fit perfectly to Common's smooth lyrics. Common and N*E*R*D are going on tour this fall and making a stop at NC State to perform at the Pack Howl Homecoming Concert Friday, October 3rd. I got my tickets and I'm very excited. What a great birthday present! Enjoy the video!

Artist Profile: Wale

My new favorite artist is Washington D.C. rapper, Wale (pronounced Wha-lay). He recently signed a joint venture record deal with British DJ Mark Ronson's Allido Records and Interscope. He and his manager have put together a great website called elitaste.com (see link to the right) through which they release free songs and mixtapes as well as sell retro sneakers.

Wale also has a clothing deal with boutique clothier 10 Deep who produces signature Wale T-shirts that when purchased come with a hard copy of his mixtapes.

His most recent mixtapes are 100 Miles and Running and The Mixtape About Nothing. The former blends hip-hop with go-go music. Go-go music is a style of funk music using live instrumentation that was popular in the DC Area during the 70's & 80's. On 100 Miles and Running, Wale also remixes Lily Allen's Smile, Amy Winehouse's Rehab, and French Disco artists Justice's D.A.N.C.E. (see video below).

His other mixtape is A Mixtape About Nothing. It's a tribute to long-running tv sitcom Seinfeld. The mixtape features samples of scenes from Seinfeld in between in each song. Wale also had a featured "Single of the Week" on iTunes with the smash hit Nike Boots.

If you're not up on Wale, you need to be. This guy is the future of hip-hop. I'm a huge fan. He's also been co-signed by Mark Ronson, Jay-Z, Fat Joe, and others. Check out elitaste.com to download A Mixtape About Nothing for free.