A7X's Coming Out Party

Orion Fest Review

As an Avenged Sevenfold fan since the first time I saw the video for "Bat Country" at the cafeteria in Montclair State University, Sunday was a magical day. Not only will this be the last time the band will be performing until they release their next album, which probably won't be until late 2013-early 2014, but at Orion Festival 2012, they stole the show. Avenged Sevenfold may have just rained on Metallica's party by  putting on a crazier concert than the original Kings of Metal. One thing is for certain, Avenged Sevenfold is the biggest current hard rock band, and they are showing no signs of slowing down or stopping. Orion Fest could be a passing of the torch from Metallica to Avenged Sevenfold.


I'm sure it was a bittersweet moment for the band, ending a long three years following the death of Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan. They didn't even know if they wanted to continue making music after Nightmare, but the outpouring of love and support from their fans convinced them to carry on in Jimmy's legacy. Thank You Avenged.

From the time that Lars Fucking Ulrich (using that in a respectful way, not like a Bucky Fucking Dent way) introduced them, to the last note of "Unholy Confessions" A7X; Matt Shadows, Zacky Vengeance, Synister Gates, Johnny Christ, and Arin Ilejay; had the Atlantic City crowd in a frenzy while eating out of their hands.

After Lars' glowing introduction, the band came out to arguably it's biggest hit "Nightmare" and sent the crowd jumping for excitement and yelling "ITS YOUR FUCKING NIGHTMARE" along with M Shadows to the dismay of parents there with their teenage sons and daughters. "Critical Acclaim" (still using the Rev's vocals during this song is spine chilling) was next, then Shadows welcomed new fans to this "crazy fucked up family" before "Welcome to the Family". A7X didn't talk between songs as much as they're used to because of a shorter set time, so they kept rocking on with "Almost Easy", "Buried Alive", "Afterlife", and "Beast and the Harlot". 


The crowd was going nuts during the whole set, moshing and crowd surfing. At one point, someone dressed up as Scooby Doo was crowd surfing, which was met with a mildly amused/confused look from Synister Gates. I also saw a girl in zombie face paint crowd surfing as well.

Before "A Little Piece of Heaven" Shadows joked that "it's a love story between two men, no it's a beautiful story of a guy that kills his wife does unspeakable things to her dead body, then she comes back to life and haunts him". This was one of the songs I was hoping to hear since they didn't play it at the other two shows I went to. Unfortunately, "Unholy Confessions" was next, which meant that their time was up, but not before a wild circle pit during the intro to "Crossroads".



At the end of their set, I was a little beat up (an empty Coors Light cooler smacked me in the face during the middle of the concert) but was having the time of my life. Then I was off for the second day of Metallica.

Before I get into the second day though, let me jump back to the first day Metallica played. "Ecstasy of Gold" came on first, which is one of the most badass ways to start a show. Then 'Tallica played the first song they ever wrote "Hit the Lights", and followed it up with one of their most popular hits "Master of Puppets". "The Four Horsemen", "Sad But True", and "Hell and Back", off of their new EP Beyond Magnetic, were played next before they went into playing the entire Ride the Lightning album. 


In an interesting twist they played the album backwards. Some more memorable songs were "Creeping Death", "Fade to Black", and "For Whom the Bell Tolls". Another interesting note was that it was the first time "Escape" was ever played live. 

After a brief intermission, they came back for an encore with "One", "Battery", and "Seek and Destroy".  This was a great concert as well, and Metallica seemed genuinely happy to see how successful the first ever Orion Festival was.

Then came the second day of Metallica.... and it felt like deja vu. After "Ecstasy of Gold" they played "Hit the Lights" and "Master of Puppets" before playing "For Whom the Bell Tolls" for the second time before finally playing "Fuel" and "The Shortest Straw", a song we didn't hear on Saturday.


Just like with Ride the Lightning, a cool video introduced the Black Album, before they started to play it in reverse order, finishing with "The Unforgiven", "Sad But True", and "Enter Sandman". "Blackened", "One", and "Seek and Destroy" finished the night and the festival off. Adding everything up, out of the 20 songs played on Sunday, eight of them were played on Saturday also. 


I hate complaining because Metallica really does put on a great live show, and some fans might have only gone to one show, but that really took me out of the concert. Especially when you're a band as big as Metallica that has more than enough hit songs that fans want to hear.


Overall, Orion Fest was a great experience, but it would've been better if I only went to one day. I wanted to see Ride the Lightning and A7X and they were on different nights.

A7X vs Metallica

On the way back from AC, my cousin Mike and I found a couple of interesting parallels between the two bands we came to see.

To start, both bands trace their roots back to California, with Metallica coming from San Francisco and A7X from Orange County. They both started off playing heavier songs (Kill 'Em All and Sounding the Seventh Trumpet) before slowing down just a little bit. Both bands became extremely popular despite not playing what is usually considered "radio-friendly" music. 

Both bands unfortunately met tragedy but persevered through with Metallica losing original bassist Cliff Burton in 1986, and A7X's drummer The Rev passing away in 2009.

They are very polarizing, finding as many "metalheads" that call them sellouts for becoming popular and making money as you would die-hard fans that know the lyrics of every song. 

Another interesting fact is that their fifth studio albums "Metallica" and "Nightmare" both reached number one in their opening weeks.

As an Avenged Sevenfold fan I can only hope that they continue to make good music for as many years as Metallica has.

Silva v Sonnen

I'm going to get a longer preview up next week, but I'm really excited for this fight. It's been 2 years since their last fight, and the feud is getting hotter. During yesterday's conference call it seems like Chael Sonnen's constant barrage of comments have pushed Anderson Silva over the edge. Some quotes include:

"Chael is a criminal. He's been convicted of crimes. He doesn't deserve to be in the Octagon. When the time is right, I'm going to knock all of his teeth out. I am going to make him eat these words he has said about me and about the UFC. This is the end of the jokes, no more talking."

“What I'm going to do inside the Octagon is something that's going to change the image of the sport. I'm going to beat his ass like he's never been beaten before. I'm going to make sure that every one of his teeth are broken, his arms are broken, his legs will be broken. He's not going to be able to walk out of the octagon by himself.”

"I don't live in the past. The things in the past are in museums. Playtime is over. I'm going to beat Chael like I've never been beaten before. The joke is over. There's no more talking. I know he's on the line listening, and the game is over. I'm going to beat his ass out of the UFC. He's never going to want to fight again after I'm done with him.

“I'm going to beat him maybe the way his parents should have beat him to teach him some manners… I'm going to beat him up like he's never been beat before. He can say whatever he wants, but I'm not playing any more.”

I don't know if that was what Sonnen was trying to do, or if he's shaking in his boots. All I know is that July 7th is going to be crazy.

Euro 2012

Italy is in the middle of an interesting run in the 2012 Euro Cup. After blowing leads against Spain and Croatia during the first two group stage matches, they needed a win and some help against Ireland to advance. The chips fell correctly and Italy advanced into the elite 8 and a match with England.

Italy outplayed the English side for 120 minutes, but in spite of all their good attempts at goal, the game was still tied at 0-0 and went to penalty kicks. As a fan of a soccer team, this is the most agonizing moments. Luckily, Gli Azzuri held on after Alessandro Diamanti's shot went in, and put the Three Lions away. Coach Cesare Prandelli made some interesting decisions, including leaving Serie A leading goal scorer Antonio DiNatale on the bench, despite the 0-0 tie. 

All that matters for Italia now is a date with the favorite Germany on Thurday. Germany has looked unstoppable so far, dominating every team they've faced. An interesting matchup is brewing at midfield between Andrea Pirlo and Bastian Schweinsteiger, and if "The Milan Miracle Man" could outplay Shweiny than Italy has a good chance to advance. Also, Germany hasn't faced a goalie as talented as GiGi Buffon yet in this tournament.

Germany is looking for revenge against Italy, in World Cup 2006 semifinal, goals by Alessandro Del Piero and Fabio Grosso late in extra time put the home team away (they never beat Italy in a competitive game). If the Cattenaccio could hold strong there is no reason to think that between the striking of Mario Balotelli, Antonio Cassano or Antonio DiNatale, and the precision passing of Andrea Pirlo, that Italy can't solve Germany and advance to the finals.  Whoever wins this battle should have no trouble beating either Spain or Portugal to become Campioni Di Europa.

50 Years in Pinstripes

I was listening to Mike Francesa the other day, and thinking about the 50th anniversary all-time Mets team, he asked who would make the Yankees team over that period. Everyone always thinks of Mantle, Yogi, Ruth, Joe D, Gherig, Whitey as all-time greats, but you can't include them on this list. I thought it would be fun to look it over myself to see who I would include.

Catcher

There are only two men in this discussion, Thurman Munson and Jorge Posada. In 11 seasons with the Yankees, Munson batted .292 with 113 HR and 701 RBI. Unfortunately, Munson was taken away from us too young, passing away after an airplane accident. In 17 seasons, Posada hit .273 with 275 HR and 1065 RBI. As the least popular of the Core Four, Posada would probably lose a fan vote, but his numbers are neck and neck with Thurman. That being said, I'd give the honor to Thurman.

First Base

This is a little sac-religious, but this is a three horse race with Don, Tino, and Teixeira. Donnie Baseball played all 14 seasons with the Yankees hitting .307, 222 HR, 1099 RBI. Tino hit .276, 192 HR, 739 RBI in 7 seasons. Finally, in 3+ seasons, Teixeira, .264, 123 HR, 381 RBI, has been impressive, but appears to be declining steadily. Just so I don't overload my inbox with hate mail, I'll go with Mattingly over Tino.

Second Base


One man is the clear favorite, Robinson Cano. Cano is arguably the best current second basemen in the majors, and has hit over 25 HR and 85 RBI in each of the past 3 seasons. Cano is also the only Yankee in history to have over 30 doubles in his first 7 seasons in pinstripes (he has 21 so far this season). Alfonso Soriano could have a case if he didn't get traded for A-Rod after starting for  3 seasons (As much as I hate A-Rod, the Yankees are much better off with Cano and A-Rod than Soriano and Aaron  Boone).

Shortstop

There's only one answer here, Derek Sanderson Jeter. Jeets may be the best shortsop in all of baseball over the past 50 years. He's first in Yankee history with 3178 hits, and is only 30 doubles away from Lou Gherig's Yankee record.

Third Base


A-Rod would have to get the nod. He had a fantastic 2009 postseason, and won the MVP twice as a Yankee. Graig Nettles isn't even in the same race as Rodriguez. A-Rod's 295 HR in pinstripes is the 6th most in Yankee history.

Left Field 


It comes down to two people, Hideki Matsui and Dave Winfield. Winfield often gets overlooked, playing in the dark ages 81-90, but his numbers (.290, 205 HR, 818 RBI in 9 seasons) are comparable to Godzilla's (.292, 140 HR, 597 RBI in 7 seasons). You also have to take into account that Matsui played some of his best years in Japan. I'd give the nod to Winfield here.

Center Field

Bernie Williams patrolled center for 4 Yankees World Series Championships, while putting up very good numbers, .297, 287 HR, 1257 RBI. Williams' 287 HR is good for 7th All-Time on the Yankees, and his 1257 RBI is 6th All-Time. Not only is he the best center-fielder, he should be a Hall of Famer. Curtis Granderson is off to a good start, but he needs to keep up this pace for a few more seasons before he's even in the discussion.

Right Field

Two of true Yankee fans most favorite players have both started in right, Paul O'Neil (.303, 185 HR, 858 RBI) and Nick Swisher (.267, 91 HR, 298 RBI) . O'Neil is the clear choice here however.

Starting Pitchers

1) Andy Pettitte (206-114, 3.96 ERA)


2) Ron Guidry (170-91, 3.29 ERA)


3) Mel Stottlemyre (164-139, 2.97 ERA)


4) CC Sabathia (68-26, 3.23 ERA)


5) Mike Mussina (123-72, 3.88 ERA)

I left Cone and Wells off the list because they didn't pitch enough games, and Roger Clemens*, I think we all know why.

Closer

Game Over For PacMan?

Boxing

I may not be as knowledgeable about boxing as I am the UFC, but I think I have a pretty good idea on who won a fight.  On Saturday Manny Pacquiao beat Timothy Bradley for most of the 12-round title fight, and fans thought he would cruise to his 55th career victory, and keep his 15 fight win streak intact. Instead, he lost to a shocking split decision (113-115, 115-113, 115-113), earning a victory in only one of the judge's scorecards. Both judges that gave Bradley the win had him winning 5 of the last 6 rounds.

Many experts have floated around reasons why the decision went the way it did, and these are the four most popular reasons:

1) Bob Arum, Pacquiao and Bradley's promoter, had fixed the fight. This makes sense on two levels. First, this was Pacquiao's last fight under contract with Arum, but if he lost Arum had a guaranteed rematch clause in the contract. Thus, if Pacquiao lost then Arum could get one last payday from his star fighter. Also, rumors are that Arum wants a large cut from a proposed fight with Floyd Mayweather, which is one of the issues holding up the fight. If Pacquiao really wants to fight Floyd, it may mean breaking up with Arum. Secondly, Pacquiao could have been involved in it too, since the rematch would make him a ton of money from people waiting to see more controversy. Since it's Pacquiao's fourth career loss, it wouldn't mean as much to him as it would for example the undefeated Mayweather. Am I the only person that found it fishy that Bradley already had a date in mind for a rematch during his post-fight interview.

2) Some big time bettors made sure that Bradley won. On Friday, there was a ton of money coming in on Bradley, enough to change the line over 30 points. For you non-degenerate gamblers, this means that a $100 bet on Bradley would have paid out $380 on Thursday, but only $350 on Friday night (it may not seem like a lot until you realize that some people bet thousands or even millions on the fight). The lines vary based on how much money is coming in for a particular fighter, and a 30 point swing means that a large sum of money was bet on Bradley. If that large amount of money was placed on a fight, the judges might have seen a cut of that to make sure Bradley won.

3) Bradley actually did win the fight. This would have to be answered by someone with more experience than me. However I do notice when watching a UFC fight Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg are scoring a fight different than I am, and can sometimes persuade a viewer that a fighter is winning when he really isn't. The judges don't listen to a broadcast, and should be completely unbiased. Perhaps if I were to rewatch the fight with the sound muted I might have thought Bradley won. 

4) It's just incompetent judging. You've seen refs make bad calls in football, umps call a guy safe when he was out in baseball, and judges scoring a UFC fight wrong, so it could have just been an honest guy that made a mistake, but I highly doubt it.

All that really matters is that it is another black eye for the sport of boxing. More and more fans are turning off the sport and tuning into UFC. When Pacquiao and Mayweather hang up their gloves boxing's days as a major draw are over.

UFC

To be fair, UFC is having their own major problem these past two weeks, and that is fighter injuries killing their announced cards. In the past two weeks, these are the major changes to fights scheduled for the next two months  

• Thiago Silva out of his UFC 149 fight with Shogun Rua 
• Thiago Alves out of UFC 149 fight against Yoshihiro Akiyama
• Michael Bisping out of UFC 149 fight against Tim Boetsch
• Jon Fitch out of UFC on Fuel against Aaron Simpson
• Brian Stann out of UFC on Fox 4 against Hector Lombard
• Vitor Belfort out of UFC 147 against Wanderlei Silva (TUF Brazil Coaches Fight)
• Jose Aldo out of UFC 149 against Eric Koch (Main Event title defense)
• Domick Cruz out of UFC 148 against Urijah Faber (Co-Main Title Defense/TUF Coaches Fight)

All of these inuries has also caused fights and fighter to move from one PPV to another. The main changes are:

• Urijah Faber/Renan Barao Interim Title Defense moves from UFC 148 to UFC 149
• Rich Franklin to fight Wanderlei Silva at UFC 147 instead of Cung Le at UFC 148
• Cung Le to fight Patrick Cote at UFC 148 instead of Rich Franklin
• Brandon Vera to fight Shogun and main event UFC on Fox 4 instead of fighting on UFC on Fuel against James Te-Huna
• Shogun moves from UFC 148 to UFC on Fox 4
• Hector Lombard moves from main event of UFC on Fox 4 against Stann to fighting Tim Boetsch on UFC 149

Think you've got that all down? 

Dana White always says when he wakes up in the morning he doesn't know what kind of bad shit is going to happen, and the past month has been one catastrophe after another for the UFC Boss. If Chael Sonnen or Anderson Silva get injured, pray for his health.

UFC fans are getting past the breaking point of dealing with fighter injuries. On popular MMA message board The UG, fans that bought tickets to these events are thinking about boycotting buying tickets to UFC events until its closer to the day of the fight. This is understandable, because I wouldn't want to buy $500 tickets to see three good fights, and then see two of the fights moved or canceled. 

The biggest problem with this is that there is no solution to the problem. MMA is a physical sport, and you need to spar to prepare for a fight. It's just when the injuries effect the main or co-main of an event that it really hurts the UFC. Add all that on top of Brock Lesnar's retirement (for now) and GSP's year long recovery from a torn ACL (the sports two biggest draws) and Alistair Overeem's failed drug test, and you can see why Dana and Lorenzo might be in an extra bad mood as of late.

Oldest Rivalry in NY is Back!!!

This weekend's upcoming Subway Series has some extra juice because both New York teams are in the top of their respective divisions. As both teams pass the 50-game mark of the season, I figure it's be fun to go position-by-position comparing the Yanks and Mets.

First Base


The case could be made that Mark Teixeira and Ike Davis are the two most disappointing players for their respective teams. Teixiera's batting average has climbed above .250 for only the second time this season, and his 7 double plays are tied for second on the team. The bright side for Mark is that his 9 HR are tied for second on the team, and his 32 RBI puts him third overall. Over in Queens, Ike Davis' season-long slump has him batting .164 with 5 HR and 21 RBI. Things have gotten so bad for the 25-year old that a trip to the minors might be in his future. You have to wonder if Davis was really ready to come back from his rumored Desert Fever that he had during spring training

Edge: Yankees

Second Base


Robinson Cano has bounced back from his slow April, hitting 7 HR with 19 RBI in May, while raising his season average over 15 points. Cano's 8 HR is third among major-league second basemen. Daniel Murphy is a solid player who hits for average, but not power. He is batting .293, and is second on the team with 15 doubles.

Edge: Yankees

Shortstop

Derek Jeter has cooled of a little from his hot start, but his 75 hits is still leads all AL hitters. He is a quintessential lead-off man for the Bombers, putting a runner on base for the big bats in the 2-5 hole. The Mets have had a hole in the shortstop position after losing Jose Reyes this offseason to the Marlins.  Ruben Tejada, Omar Quintanilla, Justin Turner and Jordany Valdespin have all started games this season at short.

Edge: Yankees

Third Base

David Wright is having a career year, his .362 average is second in the NL, and is rewarding the Mets for their belief in him after a couple of down years. His power numbers, 7 HR, are right on par with the rest of his career. His home numbers have improved dramatically, with 4 HR in 94 at-bats this season after hitting only 5 HR in 180 home at-bats last season. Alex Rodriguez has seen a dip in his power numbers, but his .279 average is his highest since 2009. The biggest knock on A-Rod is his production with men in scoring position, and it hasn't gotten better this year. He is batting .170 (9-53) while striking out 11 times.

Edge: Mets

Left Field


Left field has been a mixed bag for both teams this season due to injuries to Jason Bay and Bret Gardner (both guys may be back for this weekend's series). 24-year old Kirk Nieuwenhuis has had a solid start to his major league career, batting .294 with 12 extra-base hits. The Yankees have platooned Andruw Jones and Raul Ibanez in LF and DH this season. Ibanez's 9 HR is more than any Yankee fan could have expected from him

Edge: Mets

Center Field


Yankees centerfielder Curtis Granderson, has a case to be a top-5 outfielder in the majors. The Grandy Man has hit 82 HR in two and a half seasons in pinstripes (he hit 102 HR in six seasons in Detroit). Andres Torres is starting to come into form after getting injured on Opening Day.

Edge: Yankees

Right Field


Lucas Duda (.259, 9 HR, 32 RBI)  and Nick Swisher (.249, 8 HR, 34 RBI) are almost identical players. Swisher gets more recognition playing for the Yankees, but the 26-year old Duda is a little bit better.

Edge: Mets

Catcher


Both teams are missing the days of Mike Piazza and Jorge Posada. Russell Martin got off to a really slow start and is batting just .211 this season, however he has been playing a bit better as of late. Josh Thole has shown some promise, batting .299, but he missed almost the whole month of May with a concussion.

Edge: Mets

Starting Pitchers

The Yankees starting pitching staff (CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, Hiroki Kuroda, Phil Hughes  and Ivan Nova) have started to turn the corner recently, but they rank 25th in the majors with a 4.46 ERA, and have allowed a major-league high 57 homers. In spite of that, they lead the majors with 26 wins. Nova (5.09 ERA) and CC (3.68 ERA) lead the team with 7 wins each.

The Mets starters (R.A. Dickey, Johan Santana, Jon Niese, Dillon Gee) rank 8th in the majors with a 3.71 ERA. The knuckleballer, Dickey is in the process of recording his major-leage high 9th win as I write this, which will eclipse his win total from last season. Johan has been on point this season after missing all of 2011 following a shoulder surgery in Sepember 2010. His 2.39 ERA is 6th best in the majors, but the team often doesn't score for him.

Scheduled Starters: 
Friday: Santana (3-2, 2.38 ERA) vs Kuroda (4-6, 3.82 ERA)  Edge: Mets
Saturday: Gee (4-3. 4.48 ERA) vs Hughes (5-5. 4.96 ERA)    Edge: Yankees
Sunday: Niese (4-2, 4.11 ERA) vs Pettitte (3-2, 2.78 ERA)     Edge: Yankees

Bullpen


What was once the strong suit of the Yankees has suddenly turned into a glaring weakness. Going into the season the Yanks figured they would have Rafael Soriano, Dave Robertson, and Mariano Rivera as their fearsome three-some coming out of the pen. Season-ending injuries to Mo as well as Joba Chamberlain, and a DL stint for D-Rob has put Soriano back into the closing role he knew so well in Tampa. Cory Wade, Clay Rapada, and Boone Logan round out the pen, letting Joe Girardi mix and match based on his giant notebook of stats.

The Mets lead the majors with 12 blown saves, and rank 23rd in the majors with a 4.24 bullpen ERA. Frank Francisco gives Mets fans more gray hairs than Armando Benitez, with a 5.40 ERA. Even more nightmarish is Manny Acosta's 11.86 ERA! Bobby Parnell, Jon Rauch, and Tim Byrdak have all been suitable getting the ball from the starter's hand to Francisco's.

Edge: Yankees

Overall


The Mets are this year's Cinderella story. They have been a scrappy team that won't quit, and even as a Yankee fan it's hard to root against them. The Yankees have underperformed for much of the season, but are only a half game out of first in the AL East. This series will bring some of the juice back to New York baseball, and help rekindle this rivalry.

Forza Juve!!!!

Hey guys, I've been really busy and haven't had a lot of time to update this lately, but here's an extra-large edition for you to chew on.

Juventus

Juventus won the Serie A Championship, the Scudetto, after defeating Cagliari 2-0 a couple of weeks ago, and secured there undefeated season by beating Atalanta 3-1 the following week. Il Bianconeri got help from rivals Inter Milan, who beat AC Milan, and officially crowned Juve champions. Juve finally completed a long road back to recovery from the match fixing scandal of 2005-2006 season, which took away two of their scudetttos, and relegated them to Serie B for a season.  Even though they lost to Napoli in the Coppa Italia Final, Juve has their eyes set on the EUFA Cup starting next season.

This season welcomed new star midfielder Andrea Pirlo, and new head coach, and former player, Antonio Conte. However, it was also a sad goodbye for the legendary Alessandro Del Piero.  After 19 seasons, 514 appearances, and 209 goals, a World Cup Championship, and 8 Scudetti Il Capitano has been told by the team that they will let his contract expire, thus ending his Italian club career. There are rumors that he may join the MLS next season. The legendary number 10 won't be retired, but hopefully Juve will wait for the right player to come along before giving it out again. Del Piero was always known for his class both on the pitch and off it, and I hope he is happy in the next stop in his great career.  Grazie Per Tutti Alex.

Bamboozle Fest

I'm going to switch gears here to talk briefly about the 2012 Bamboozle Music Fest in Asbury Park this weekend. This was my first time going to Bamboozle, and had a great time. On the beach and boardwalk of Asbury Park, the music festival had a nice backdrop. In total there were 6 stages, with a variety of music genres represented. I wasn't able to make the first night when Skrillex and Incubus headlined, but went on Saturday and Sunday. 

On Saturday, The All-American Rejects were the first band I saw. While not being a big fan of their music, I thought that they had a good 30 minute set, playing all their hits. Next on the main stage was Jimmy Eat World, who had a decent set, including their most popular hit "The Middle". The next act up was the day's co-headliner My Chemical Romance. Nothing against them, but it was a huge disappointment thinking that they were playing in place of Blink 182, who canceled two weeks ago due to a medical issue with drummer Travis Barker. The night finished out with the Foo Fighters, who had an amazing 2-hour set. The Foo's are a great live band led by frontman Dave Grohl. They were scheduled to play at Saturday Night Live later in the evening, so Grohl had the crowd yell "Live from New Jersey it's Saturday Night!"The set that included "My Hero", "All My Life", "Rope" and finished with "Everlong". The people running the festival made a mistake by having Jersey Shore star DJ Pauly D playing in a small enclosed stage. I was going to check him out after the Foo was done playing, but there was a crowd of a couple hundred people waiting outside while security shouted that no one else is going to be allowed in. This was a curious decision considering that there weren't going to be any other bands playing on the main stage after 9:30, and on the other two nights the main act was on until 11.

On Sunday the first band' I saw was Buckcherry. They had a good energetic 45-minute set that included "Sorry" "Lit Up" and finished with "Crazy Bitch". Lead singer Josh Todd added some funny comments between songs. I would have rather seen them co-headline the day then Brand New or The Gaslight Anthem,  but it gave me and my buddies some time to walk around the festival grounds a little, and also catch some of Andrew Dice Clay's hilarious comedy set. Sunday's (and arguably the festival's) biggest act was saved for last as Jersey's own Bon Jovi took the stage. 

                       

Bon Jovi added a strange dynamic to the festival, because a lot of the teenagers that were there earlier left in a mob (probably because it was past their bedtime on a school night), and in came a crowd of people in there 40's to see their heroes growing up. Jon Bon Jovi and the rest of the band, however proved that you can't put an age on good musiThc (even teasing at one point that they're not in a competition with these younger bands before Jon jokingly said "turn this baby up to 10 and let's show them") .  The band played for over two hours and included all their hits "Bad Medicine" "It's My Life" "Wanted Dead or Alive" and "Runaway". Bon Jovi got sentimental at one point saying when they first started playing 30 years ago they only ever hoped to sell out Asbury Park's famous Convention Center, and wanted to give back to the town that helped give them a start to their careers as opposed to the massive Metlife Stadium. The festival closed with an encore of perhaps their biggest hit "Livin' on a Prayer", which was followed by a fireworks display, and everyone went home happy. I'd recommend for everyone to go to Bamboozle Fest next year, especially if it's held in Asbury Park again.

UFC 146

UFC is set for one of their biggest shows of the year, literally, as they are holding an all-heavyweight show for the first time in the company's history. UFC fights are now an annual tradition of Memorial Day weekend along with beer, the Jersey Shore, and hamburgers. The card was dampened a little bit because of the positive drug test by Alistair Overeem, that effected both the main and co-main event. The show's prelims are stacked with mid-level talent, that includes Jamie Varner, Mayhem Miller and Dan  Hardy. 

Dan Hardy is probably fighting for his UFC career, losing his last four fights, including a title match against GSP. The Brit was saved by Dana White because of his exciting fighting style, but he needs to win here against Duane Ludwig. Former WEC champion Jamie Varner is getting his second chance with the Zuffa-owned company, after being released in Decemer 2010. He will be facing undefeated Edison Barboza, who made national headlines by knocking out Terry Etim with a spinnig heel kick in January. Finally, Jason "Mayhem" Miller is going to need an impressive outing, after gassing out and looking out of his league against Michael Bisping in December. Ultimate Fighter 7 winner CB Dollaway also needs a win to break his two fight losing streak.

Now onto the big guys, 6'11" Stefan Struve kicks off the PPV portion of the show against LaVar Johnson, who is coming off a short layoff following his first round knockout of Pat Barry on Cinco de Mayo. Struve's height proves to be a matchup problem for nearly everyone he fights, and will have a 7 inch height advantage on Saturday. The 24 year old Swede has had a good career, but he still hasn't proven that he could be mid-level guys consistently yet. LaVar Johnson is heavy handed, but his conditioning has yet to be tested inside the Octagon.

The undefeated 28-year old Shane Del Rosario makes his UFC debut against another young undefeated fighter, Stipe Miocic. I haven't seen a lot of either of these guys, but a big win on this card could put one of them in a good position in the heavyweight division. To be honest, I'd rather see any of the three prelim matches I listed above over this, but a whole heavyweight show is pretty cool.

The always entertaining Roy Neslon takes on Dave Herman. Only one of Herman's 24 career fights has gone to a decision, but for all the smack people say about Big Country, they can't deny his heart, only being knocked out once in his career. This has potential to be one of the best fights on the show.

In the co-main event former Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasqez goes into battle against Antonio "Big Foot" Silva. Velasquez looked unbeatable until his first title defense against Junior Dos Santos, when he was knocked out in the first minute of the UFC's first fight on national TV. Cain draws an easier fight (he was scheduled to fight Frank Mir until Overeem's suspension moved Mir up to the main event), but he can't take Big Foot for granted. Silva stopped the legendary Fedor Emelianenko last February in Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix. A win by Cain should make him the number one contender for either a rematch with JDS or a fight with Mir.

The main event is an interesting matchup with Junior Dos Santos putting his heavyweight crown on the line against Frank Mir. The champ is coming off a 6-month layoff due to knee surgery. JDS has won his last nine fights, and hasn't lost since 2007! Frank Mir poses an interesting challenge to Dos Santos, following perhaps the most impressive win of his career, getting Big Nog to tapout to a sickening kimura. If Mir can take Dos Santos down and use his superior submission game he has a really good chance to win the fight. Even though his striking has improved, Mir can't beat Dos Santos in a striking match. Mir has also proven in the past he can go into the championship rounds, while Dos Santos looked like he was getting winded in his 3-round decision against Shane Carwin.

Predictions

Struve submission over Johnson

Miocic decision over Del Rosario

Herman KO over Nelson

Velasquez KO over Silva

Mir submission over Dos Santos

Yankees

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I just don't think this Yankee team is very good. The season-ending injury to Mariano Rivera seemed to expose this team as a $200 million dollar fraud. The team has gone 8-10 since the legendary closer was laying in pain on the warning track in Kansas City. 

It seems like they never have a lead because you can only trust 1-2 of our starting pitchers, and the offense looks putrid with guys on base. When I see a team with Chris Stewart, Dwayne Wise, and Jayson Nix as a 7-9 hitters I think of the team in Queens, not the big brother Yankees.

The team looks like it might waste it's opportunity with Andy Pettitte finding the Fountain of Youth. 

If the team has the bases loaded an no one out, and FAIL TO SCORE A RUN, I may throw a remote through my 46-inch flat screen. 

Can we trade Mark Teixeira and A-Rod for a bag of balls? No takers?

I'm so mad I can't even put together full sentences.... maybe I'll try this again next week

Amare Attacks the Glass and other thoughts

A lot of things have happened in the New York sports world in the past week. From the NHL and NBA Playoffs, the NFL Draft, and UFC on Fox 3 live from the Izod Center this weekend. On top of all that there was the Jon Jones-Rashad Evans fight and Brock Lesnar's return to WWE at Extreme Rules.

NBA 

Amare Stoudemire joined the long list of New York athletes, most notably Kevin Brown, to injure himself by punching something out of frustration. Knicks fans have asked for Stoudemire to attack the glass, but we didn't mean to punch a glass door of a fire extinguisher. I can't wait for Mike Francesa to interview the fire extinguisher on his show today at 1. "The fiah extunguishah is a stahting pitchah!!!"

This has been one of a series of setbacks to Amare's Knicks career in the past 12 months. He injured his back doing circus dunks in warmups during last year's playoffs, looked lifeless during most of the 2011-12 regular season, re-injured his back in March, and lost his former Suns head coach Mike D'Antoni. During all of this, Carmelo Anthony took over the team and looked like the superstars the Knickerbockers were hoping they would get when they traded half the team to the Denver Nuggets for him last season.  

The Knicks currently are behind two games to none against the reigning Eastern Conference Champs, the Miami Heat, and really haven't shown that they can sustain a run against them. LeBron has been on another planet this season in hopes for his first ring, and the Knicks are just pawns on his way to the Finals. 

The question now is where do the Knicks go from here, to improve for next season. With Amare's contract it's going to be tough to get rid of him, but it's also difficult to pay a 6th man that much money. Also, the point guard position is a question mark. Was Linsanity a month-long Cinderella story that won't be repeated or could he maintain success throughout a whole 82-game season? If the answer is no, is Iman Shumpert going to start at the point, or do the Knicks have to look for a free agent. Finally, is Mike Woodson going to have the interim title taken from his job, or do the Dolans try to get Phil Jackson back for one last run to a ring?

NFL

The Jets had a really good draft, getting two pass rushers and a legit threat at Wide Receiver. The first round selection of Quinton Coples, a defensive end from UNC, is a risk-reward type of player. He has the physical tools to be a great DE, but there have been questions about his lack of commitment. If any coach can get a player like that to perform well it is Rex Ryan. 

After trading up, Gang Green took Stephen Hill, wide receiver out of Georgia Tech. Hill was the quickest receiver in the combine, and at 6' 4" has good height. Hill is credited with being a good run blocking WR, and now it looks unlikely that the Jets will bring back Braylon Edwards. Another positive about Hill is that he has experience with the option offense, and with Tim Tebow on the roster that's a huge plus.

Finally, in the third round they drafted Demario Davis inside linebacker out of Arkansas State. Davis looks like a big hitter with a fast motor and should be a fun player to watch. He'll split time with Bart Scott at ILB this season.

While getting some raw athletic talent, I don't think any of these guys are can't miss prospects, but learning under some of our veteran leader, these rookies will have a good chance to be successful. The one major complaint I have is that we didn't draft an offensive tackle to replace Wayne Hunter, and waited until the 6th round to draft a linemen.
Grade: B-

UFC

Jon Jones picked apart Rashad Evans to earn a unanimous decision victory at UFC 145. The list for potential opponents for Jones at 205 is dwindling, after defeating Rua, Rampage, Machida and now Evans. Dana White announced that Dan Henderson is most likely going get the next chance at Bones. The rest of pay-per view wasn't very newsworthy, with Rory MacDonald picking apart Che Mills in the co-main. 

On Saturday, UFC on Fox is live from Izod Center. It will be my second live UFC experience, and can agree with Dana White that the live event experience of the UFC is one of the best in sports. I would urge anyone who reads this and enjoys the sport to go to at least one live event. You can still buy tickets for Saturday's show on stubhub for under $30. 

The main card features four fights, that despite not being packed with stars, should all be really entertaining fights. The main event is Nate Diaz against Jersey's own Jim Miller, with the winner becoming a favorite to fight the winner of Edgar-Henderson II. Miller is 8-1 in his past nine fights, with the loss coming to current champ Ben Henderson. Meanwhile, Nate Diaz has been hot and cold in his last ten fights, going 5-5. Like his brother Nick, Nate has great conditioning and loves to turn the fight into a brawl. Meanwhile, Jim would rather fight a more technical style. 

Josh Koscheck battles Johny Hendricks in the co-main event. The 34-year old Koscheck is looking to get retribution for his teammate and friend Jon Fitch, who was knocked out by Hendricks at UFC 141 in December. Kos is hoping that a win puts his name back into title contention at the 170 lb division. Hendricks is very good up and coming fighter, going 9-1 in his ten fights in the WEC/UFC, who has knockout power.

The always entertaining Rousimar Palhares takes on Alan Belcher in the third fight. Palhares has a dangerous heel hook, that he won seven fights with. The 28-year old Belcher has been in the UFC for 6 years, and has compiled an 8-4 record. He is a well-rounded fighter. 

In the opener, Pat Barry takes on Lavar Johnson. In there last 14 fights combined, only one of them ended in a decision, so it's almost a guarantee that someone is going to be looking up at the lights at the end of the fight. Barry had his best performance in January against Christian Morecraft. Meanwhile, Johnson knocked out Joey Beltran in his UFC debut in January.

Predictions:

Miller by Submission over Diaz

Koscheck Decision over Hendricks

Palhares Submission over Belcher

Barry Knockout over Johson

WWE

The main event of Extreme Rules was everything I expected to see and then some. Brock Lesnar picked apart John Cena in his return to the WWE squared circle, including opening up Cena with a UFC-style elbow to the top of his head. For 17 minutes plus, the former UFC Champion looked like he never missed a beat, and put on of the most intense matches in the PG-era of WWE. It felt like I was watching a scripted MMA fight, which included Brock putting Cena in a kimura.

That was until the finish, when Super Cena came back to win again, and left me scratching my head. Brock took a tumble to the outside of the ring everyone held there breath that he didn't tear his ACL. After that, Cena punched Brock with a chain, and hit the FU on steel steps, and that put Brock down in his return to the WWE. Ironically, it was very similar to Lesnar's UFC debut when he dominated Frank Mir until getting caught in a heel hook. Unfortunately, UFC can't control the outcome of the fights, and WWE can.

It looks like Vince brought Brock back to teach everyone a lesson, that you don't leave WWE on bad terms and come crawling back when your other career is over (especially now that UFC is more popular). Vince McMahon's huge ego may have gotten in the way of making him a ton of money, just like when he screwed up the WCW Invasion angle. I could be completely wrong, and WWE could have a great long-term plan, but after the PPV and Raw last night I'm very skeptical.

UFC 145: Jones vs Evans Preview

UFC 145

After almost two long months, UFC returns to pay-per view this Saturday the 21st. I can't remember the last time the UFC went so long between shows (the Fuel show last weekend doesn't really count). The show is main-evented by one of the biggest grudge matches in the sport, a fight between Jon "Bones" Jones and "Suga" Rashad Evans for the Light Heavyweight Title. The story is well known at this point, but in case you don't know I'm going to give you a brief history lesson.

The 32-year old Evans and 24-year old Jones were both friends while training out of Greg Jackson's camp, when an injury forced Evans out of a scheduled title fight against Shogun Rua in March of 2011. The UFC gave the opportunity to his training buddy Jonny Bones, who went on to defeat Rua in the third round. The story from here is a he said/she said, but the gist of it is that Jon Jones said that he wouldn't have a problem defending his belt against Evans, despite there being an unwritten rule in Jackson's camp that teammates won't fight each other. Evans felt betrayed by his former friend and coach, and severed his relationship with Jackson MMA.

The two men were scheduled to fight both at UFC 133 in August, but Jones was injured; then again i December at UFC 140, but this time it was Evans that pulled out with a thumb injury. Now neither men have any excuses, and we'll find out on Saturday who the better man truly is. 

On paper, Jones is younger, stronger, and taller, and honestly should win the fight. He has looked unstoppable in the UFC, going 9-1, with his only loss a controversial disqualification against Matt Hamill. His fighting style is comparable to a young Anderson Silva, with a wide array of jaw-dropping strikes. Evans has compiled a 12-1-1 record in the UFC, with 7 wins coming via decision. Evans has the edge in experience and wrestling, and will have to take Jones down at will if he hopes to win the fight.  Prediction: Evans by split decision 

Rest of the Card:

The rest of this card is pretty weak, with a couple upper-mid card guys fighting some younger lesser known guys.

Rory MacDonald TKO over Che Mills

Brendan Schaub KO over Ben Rothwell

Miguel Torres Decision over Michael McDonald

Mark Homick Submission over Eddie Yagin

Mark Bocek Submission over John Alessio

Yankees

The Yanks haven't looked impressive in the young season so far, with the loan bright spot coming out of the bullpen. Offensively, once again, they fail to come through with any consistency with runners in scoring position, instead opting to go with the long ball. A-Rod and Teixeira continue to show their age, while Captain Jeter is playing like he's 27 again. Am I the only one that groans everytime Chris Stewart gets out while we have Francisco Cervelli in the Minors?

Meanwhile the starting pitching has left a lot to be desired. Hiroki "Hooker Spit"Kuroda has had two horrible starts, and is looking like another guy from the NL that can't pitch well in the AL. Freddy Garcia's magic carpet lost it's steam and has crashed down to earth, and is making Yankee fans miss AJ Burnett. I'm counting down the days until the calvary comes with Andy Pettitte and Michael Pineda to save the day.

A good series against the struggling Red Sox this weekend will certainly help heal some wounds, but I am concerned for the team's future. 

NBA

The Knicks look like they are locked into the 7 seed and a probable date with 2 and a Half Men and the rest of the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs. If Carmelo can keep up his MVP-calibre play when A'mare Stoudemire returns, they have a chance to pull off the upset. They can't turn the ball over the way they have against the Heat, because is Miami is just too good in the fast break.

RIP New Jersey Nets 1977-2012.... On Monday the Nets will play their last game in New Jersey, before moving to Brooklyn. While the team has had more losing seasons than the Washington Generals, it feels weird to think that the Garden State won't have an NBA team to call their own. Who would of thought that just ten years ago, when they were going to their first of back-to-back NBA Finals appearances. 

Jets

The NFL announced the 2012 schedule, and here is my way too early prediction for the Jets.


9/9 -- Sunday -- Buffalo, 1 p.m., CBS 
9/16 -- Sunday -- at Pittsburgh, 4:15 p.m., CBS 
9/23 -- Sunday -- at Miami, 1 p.m., CBS 
9/30 -- Sunday -- San Francisco, 1 p.m., FOX 


At the very least, we should split their first four games, and possibly go 3-1. We should win both divisional match-ups against the Bills and Phins. I could see our offense struggling in Pittsbrugh week 2, with the team still getting used to new coordinator Tony Sparano. The 49ers could have a disappointing 2012 season, after shocking the world in 2011.


10/8 -- Monday -- Houston, 8:30 p.m., ESPN 
10/14 -- Sunday -- Indianapolis, 1 p.m., CBS 
10/21 -- Sunday -- at New England, 4:15 p.m., CBS 
10/28 -- Sunday -- Miami, 1 p.m., CBS 
11/4 -- Bye 


I like having a bye week right in the middle in of the season. Knowing the Jets too well, I wouldn't be shocked if we go 1-3 here, losing to Houston, and the Pats, and a lookahead game against Indy sandwiched in between as a possible upset loss. 


11/11 -- Sunday -- at Seattle, 4:05 p.m., CBS 
11/18 -- Sunday -- at St. Louis, 1 p.m., CBS 
11/22 -- Thursday -- New England, 8:20 p.m., NBC 
12/2 -- Sunday -- Arizona, 1 p.m.*, FOX* 


The team should be able build up steam here, going 4-0 in this stretch, with 3 winnable games. A marquee matchup against the Pats on Turkey Day at home, where we usually play them well, could be a highlight of our season. 


12/9 -- Sunday -- at Jacksonville, 1 p.m.*, CBS* 
12/17 -- Monday -- at Tennessee, 8:30 p.m., ESPN 
12/23 -- Sunday -- San Diego, 8:20 p.m.*, NBC* 
12/30 -- Sunday -- at Buffalo, 1 p.m.*, CBS*


The Jets finish up an easy second half schedule, with the only true test coming against the Chargers week 16. 


I can see the Jets going 10-6, playing a pretty fair schedule. We get lucky playing some easier games on the road (Seahawks, Rams, Jaguars, Titans) while playing tougher teams at home (49ers, Texans, Chargers). That should be good enough to make the Wild Card in a competitive AFC.