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