Poker World Loses a Legend

This morning Chip Reese was found dead in his sleep at 56. Scary. Chip, for those of you who don't know, was considered by many to be the best all-around poker player in the world. He won only three WSOP braclets as he was mainly a cash game player and a frequent member of the Big Game at Bellagio.

Reese cemented his place in poker history in 2006 when he won the inaugural $50,000 Horse event at the World Series for his third, and final, bracelet.

UPDATE: Reese passed away in his sleep in a hospital. he had been admitted the night before with Pneumonia-like symptoms.

Stop Asking Biff the Question!

Go Ducks

I'm not dead

I just noticed that I hadn't posted in nearly 2 months. Welcome to fall. I'm still alive. I'm sure I'll post again soon....maybe....

New Hallowed Record?

In light of a total schmuck laying claim to the all-time HR record, Kevin Hench of Fox Sports has just posted his top ten candidates for the new most hallowed record in all of sports. I thought I would chime in with my list of the top-ten most hallowed records in all of sports:

1. 2,632 - Cal Ripken. There are few numbers in sports that you can say just the number and any average sports fan knows exactly what you are talking about. This is the one record that will NEVER be broken. Even #2 has a chance of going down.

2. 56 - Joe DiMaggio. Nobody has really ever come within 20 games of the hitting streak record, but I believe that somehow, this one is acheivable. It's a long shot, but it could happen. And it will be a major day when it does.

3. 59 - Orel Hershiser. I am not a Dodger fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I love Hershiser. This is a dominant record that I just don't see being broken. It could go down to a closer at some point, but not to a starter.

4. 11 - Phil Hellmuth. Of course this is high on my list. Even though THIS record is also held by a shmuck, it's unique in that two guys are on the edge of catching him and it could happen at any world series event. Hellmuth will probably have 20 bracelets before he dies and will continue to break his own record as he'll be around to play poker a LOT longer than Doyle, and Chan just doesn't play a ton of events any more.

5. 33/28 - Ladanian Tomlinson. Gotta love a Charger holding the single-season touchdown and rushing touchdown records. Especially when he had TWO passing TDs last season!

6. 1080 and the Double Backflip - Nobody and Travis Pastrana. I have turned into an X-games fan. I love watching the pipe events (bike and board) and the MotoX events. Someday someone else will be crazy enough to do a suicidal double-back flip (although Pastrana has said he will never do it again), and eventually people will be doing it with all the other MotoX tricks thrown in. The 1080 is the new holy grail for skateboarding, and has been for eight years. Shaun White will get it down eventually and he'll probably get it done on his snowboard at some point, too.

7. 38,387 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Who is the best basketball player of all-time? Michael Jordan. Even he didn't come within 6,000 points of Kareems all-time scoring mark in the NBA, despite averaging 6 points more per game. Of course, he retired young, but that record still belongs to Kareem regardless. The closest active players (Shaq and Reggie Miller) are at the end of their careers and are still 13,000 points away. Allan Iverson is the next person with any chance to get close. He's played in about half as many games as Kareem and already has 20,824. He averages 27.9 points per game, which is third all-time behind Jordan and Wilt (30.1 each). What about Kobe? He's played in 1/2 a seasons worth of games more than Iverson, but has averaged just 24.6 points per game. Of course, over the last two seasons he's averaged 33.5 ppg and is only getting more dominant. Chances are, he'll pass Iverson in the next two seasons and be on pace to break the record before he's finished.

8. 660/714/755 - Mays/Ruth/Aaron. The day that Alex Rodriguez passes the Hammer, I'll be ready to call him the all-time home run king. He'll also pass Bonds eventually and that'll be icing on the cake.

9. 11- John Wooden. I also have no passion for UCLA, but I have mad love for Wooden. His ten championships as a coach and one as a player will probably never be matched. He was the greatest college basketball coach of all-time and had four undefeated seasons in that time.

10. Undefeated Seasons (College Basketball and NFL). In the NCAA, only 12 teams have gone undefeated since 1939 and the last time it happened was Indiana in 1976 - 31 years ago. Only two teams since have entered the NCAA tournament undefeated and neither of them survived to win the championship. Even more impressively, the 1972 Dolphins are the only team in the history of the NFL to finish with a perfect record. Although the Akron Pros (8-0-1 in 1920) the Canton Bulldogs (21-0-3 between '22 and '23) and the 1929 Green Bay Packers (12-0-1) all had undefeated seasons, none were perfect. The Chicago Bears twice went undefeated through the regular season ('34 and '42), but neither team won it all.

Those Aren't Pecans on your Sticky Bun...

1500 Health Code Violations at Angels Stadium since 2005. My question is this: How could they keep doing Food-Service related business for the past two years?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?

http://www.ocregister.com/news/stadium-food-vermin-1797567-violations-health

More on Yang

This guy is already one of my favorite poker players!

From Gary Wise's Blog at ESPN.com:

Poker is a lonely game. We come to the table, one player vs. an army and fend off the attacks of all comers. People may offer their services as single-serving friends as commonalities are discovered, but even they're eyeing your stack, and what's more, you know they are.

Today's final table would consist of nine lonely men if not for Jerry Yang's faith. "Am I playing for a higher purpose? Absolutely."

The father of six, with charity and missionary credits on his resume, is a Methodist of the most devout kind; a man who put his life, faith and belief in God, trusting the higher power will know better what to do with such things.

"If I win, I still won't be a full-time poker player," Yang told me on a break after notching his third elimination of the day, his Js-8s outlasting Lee Childs' K-J. "I'll donate 10 percent of my winnings to charity and accept the title with honor, but there are more important things than poker."

What could possibly be more important than poker? Family. His six kids are here cheering dad on. Charity. He'll be making donations to Ronald McDonald House, Make A Wish and other similar institutions. Missionary work. He plans on taking advantage of the WSOP bounty by using his time to help others. It's a noble idea from what seems like a noble man who could make for a most noble champion.

Of course, Yang's devotion is going to inspire some interesting debate about God's place in poker. In an industry built on mathematical logic, prayer has mostly been held off save for those desperate souls seeking help on hitting a two-outer or to those looking to blame the greater power that causes that two-outer to fell them. Jerry Yang, then, could be ushering in an entirely new era. It sure looks like he is thus far.

There are people who will criticize Yang. It's the nature of jealousy that we find reasons to hate those who have the things we want to have. Seasoned players will denounce Yang, refuting his spiritualism as silly. After all, these are people who have dedicated their lives to a pursuit of logic, deflecting the all-too-human longings for a belief that luck can be affected to constantly do the mathematically correct thing. They would tell you that there's no room in poker for spirituality.

Yang may now be showing us there's room for both poker and prayer in one life. He's Moneymaker with a PhD and a bible, an everyman who can't believe he's here and who has faith in his understanding as to why he is. Were we predicting Jerry Yang would be our champion a year ago? A month ago? A day ago? No, but that's the beauty of the game. Any two cards, any one man or woman, can win.

WSOP Champ: Jerry Yang

Text from PokerNews.com:

Well, that's all folks. The crowds have come and gone, the cards have fallen, and a Champion was crowned. Jerry Yang will make a fantastic poker ambassador. His dominance of the final table was reminiscent of Jamie Gold's performance last year, however his victory speech was a polar opposite. Jerry is a naturally humble guy, with a firm faith and a deep respect of his fellow man. He pledged to donate 10% of his winnings to charity, and said that he wanted to give something back to the community. He was very appreciative, and thanked Jeffrey Pollack and his staff for all their hard work throughout the Series. He thanked his wife, who he said worked very hard, but "does not have to work anymore!", and said he was going to ensure his six children received the best education.After all the cameras and bright lights subsided, we caught a glimpse of a real guy, with a solid foundation who loves his family - a true Champion.

I am MUCH happier than I was last year after the main event, because it seems as though a genuine class act, and perhaps a Christian, has won the main event. Watching his exit interview showed that this guy has his head on straight, and as it says above, will be a great ambassador of the next year!

The Final Table, My Two Picks

C'mon Brant - Pick two horses for Tuesday's final table.

I'll take Lee Watkinson and Jon Kalmar (I'll leave you the hottest player at that table- Kravchenko, who has five cashes and one bracelet this year.

Here are the chip counts for the final table:

1. Philip Hilm - 22,070,000
2. Tuan Lam - 21,315,000
3. Jon Kalmar - 20,320,000
4. Raymond Rahme - 16,320,000
5. Lee Childs - 13,240,000
6. Lee Watkinson - 9,925,000
7. Hevad "Rain" Khan - 9,205,000
8. Jerry Yang - 8,450,000
9. Alex Kravchenko - 6,570,000

Final Update: My Ten

I didn't do so bad, if I do say so myself

1. Scotty Nguyen - 11th
2. Kenny Tran - 16th
3. Bill Elder - 23rd
4. Gus Hansen - 61st
5. Humberto Brenes - 83rd
6. Dario Minieri - 96th
7. Chad Brown - 97th
8. Robert Varkoni - 177th
9. Sorel Mizzi - 208th
10. Carlos Mortensen - 217th

And others....

I'm also rooting for these notables still in the field:

1. Spiderman himself, Tobey Maguire
2. Sim Simon, one of the executive producers of the Simpsons
3. Mimi Tran (it would be cool for a woman to make the final table)
4. Hal Lubarsky - A blind man who, through the help of an assistant whispering his cards and the actions around the table into his ear, has survived more than 95% of the field.

Another notable is Godsmack lead singer Sully Erna, who has cashed in the Main Event for the second straight year. Pretty impressive.

Update: Sam Simon, Tobey Maguire and Mimi Tran have all been eliminated (1:30 PST)

The Final Push

Here are my ten ponies for the end of the WSOP:

1. Dario Minieri
2. Gus Hansen
3. Bill Elder
4. Humberto Brenes
5. Sorel Mizzi
6. Chad Brown
7. Robert Varkoni
8. Scott Nguyen
9. Carlos Mortensen
10. Kenny Tran

I took three former world champs, is that wrong?

Day Two complete

After six days of poker, Day Two is complete in the WSOP Main Event. Daniel Negreanu went out towards the end of day 2B, leaving me with just Paul Wasicka making it to day three. Brant has lost all five of his guys, so I guess I win!

UPDATE: Oops. I missed Paul Wasicka's bust out hand. So it's a split pot for Brant and I.

I propose that we re-draw at the end of Day Three, each picking ten players? Who's in?

Day 1D Update

And I couldn't be happier...

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 21:37:33
2006 WSOP World Champion Jamie Gold Eliminated


Later, Luck Sack!

Main Event Update

Day 1B - Jeff Lisandro Eliminated

Day 1C - Phil Ivey Eliminated

Nick: 4 Left
Brant: 4 Left

Fantasy Main Event

Here are my five:

1. Daniel
2. Greg Raymer
3. Freddy Deeb
4. Paul Wasicka
5. Jeffrey Lisandro

The Main Event

The WSOP main event starts today. Lots of questions waiting to be answered:

How many people will be in the field? Some predict another record (upwards of 10,000 entrants). Some predict that with the online poker laws killing online satellites, the numbers will plummet (Full Tilt Poker alone send more than 1000 players to the tournament last year).

Who will Win? Will it be a professional? It hasn't been for five years. Will it be a good amateur who goes onto have a productive poker career (like Joe Hachem and Greg Raymer) or will it be a fluke player, who goes on to have a joke of a poker career (like Chris Moneymaker and Jamie Gold)?

Will my wife get down to the Rio and get any pictures of any recognizable poker players?!?!?

Will ANY of my favorite players cash?

Just who ARE my favorite players? I've thought about that one lately. I'll post my top-20 sometime during the 14-day long Main Event.

Texas Dolly Goes for #11

The final table of the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship began at 2:30 today. Doyle Brunson, arguably THE greatest player in the history of poker, and the true father of the modern poker boom, starts the day fifth in chips, looking for his 11th World Series of Poker Braclet, which will tie him with Phil Hellmuth for the most all-time.

Doyle is the author of Super-System and Super-System II, the former of which was featured in Rounders as one of the stashes of cash for Matt Damon. Needless to say, Doyle is among the top of my favorite poker players. I love watching him play more than anyone else, because of how amazingly and creatively he plays. There is a reason he was able to win TWO world championships with a 10-2 off-suit, the hand which is known as the Doyle Brunson.

Good Luck Dolly!

I'm a donkey

Call it rust, call it I'm dead money. Call it the luck-sack at my table...I didn't play very well tonight. Sure, I started out just fine. I had flopped a straight on the first hand and turned a full house on the second hand, quickly doubling up my original 3000 chips. Then I spent the next hour pissing away my chips. There was one player at the table (the type of player i hate to play with), a calling station that beat me in big pots twice with hands she had no business being in to begin with (out of position with 5-6 off-suit to hit a straight on the river, that was my favorite). I survived to the first break with just 1000 chips, with blinds at 100/200. The very first hand, i had my favorite hand, as mentioned previously, mullets (pocket 7s). I went all-in under the gun and had no callers, winning the blinds. I lost the blinds back in my blind, and survived to the end of the round with my same 1000.

With 2 minutes before the end of the round and two hands away from what would be 400 in the big blind, I knew I had to go all-in in the next three hands. I look down and see just one of my cards, an Ace. I go All in. Lady Luck-Sack calls me with pocket tens, I flip and see a jack, so my AJ vs. 10-10 is a race. I get a jack on flop, so I figure I'm doubling up, except the flop comes J-8-7, giving her a straight draw. The nine came on the river to give her the straight and bust me out of the tourney.

No matter what happened, it was nice to get out for some daddy time (although it was only for 1 1/2 hours), and actually play brick-and-mortar poker. Maybe I'll get a little cash for my birthday, so I can play again.

Money where my mouth is

One of my father's day presents was a little cash to go play in a tournament at one of the local poker halls. There are two big ones in town (not to mention all of the bars and restaurants that have tournaments all the time). At some point I'm sure I'll become a club member at Full House Poker in downtown, but on Saturday, I'm going to play in a tournament at Royal Flush Poker (really creative names, I know), which is in a different part of Eugene.

The last tournament I played was when we were in SoCal for the kids birthdays and my father-in-law hosted a tournament for about 14 of us. I took second. I haven't played a casino/card house tournament since i took 17th at Pechanga, and that was long before I even moved up to Oregon.

Needless to say, I'm excited. I walked in and checked out the beginning of the tournament last Saturday, and there seemed to be about 50 or so people. At a $35 buy-in, the prize pool will probably only be around $1700, so first place will probably pay around 700. It would be pretty sweet to make the final table and be in the money again.

I posted the Mullets, because they have turned into my lucky hand. At Pechanga, I went all-in and was called by pocket aces. My pocket sevens held up when i hit a straight on the river, knocking out a very pissed off guy who had his aces cracked.

I also had a monster hand at a home tournament, I held the walking sticks and saw a flop with two other players. The flop came out 7-7H-QH. I slowplayed my quads, trying to keep the other two guys in, hoping they might both have a heart-draw. After the turn and river both brought hearts, I made a comment saying "one of us has the Ace of Hearts, one of us has the King, and one of us is full of crap". Both other players went all in, I called, and sure enough, I was right. One had the Ace of Hearts, one had the king, and I knocked out both flushes with my quads. It was beautiful.

Missing the GSAC

Just saw one video on Youtube of the APU at Biola game last year that APU won with 5 second to go. They brought out a fake Eagle to pump up the crowd then he ripped off a red shirt to reveal a Cougar 'Blackout' shirt underneath. BRUTAL, but funny. I can't believe how much I miss the rivalry. I also miss Ken Ammann and Concordia Basketball a bit. Finally found this clip, too:

Best.Song.Ever.

A while back I did a list of my favorite songs of all time. Of course, a ton of U2 songs were on there, along with Jeff Buckley's version of Hallelujah, Comfortably Numb, I Walk the Line, Sympathy for the Devil, Garth's "The River", and a handful of Beatles songs.

I'm not sure where exactly I had Imagine on the list, probably somewhere close to the top, but under U2's "One". Well, as of today, I'm making it #1 on my list (sorry, Mr. Hewson). I've always loved the song. Now I have a strange reason to bump it to #1. Imagine has stood the test of time, and is such a damn beautiful song, that I believe it is impossible to cover poorly. I have not heard a bad version of it. On Tuesday the Instant Karma Darfur benefit CD was released, and it included three versions of the song: Jack Johnson, Me'Shell NGodechello, and...Avril Lavigne. Now, I kinda like Avril (guilty pleasure), but she doesn't have a stellar voice. Her cover of Imagine......AMAZING.

So that got me thinking: Are there any bad covers of Imagine out there? A search on Itunes found me some possibilities: A Perfect Circle, Dolly Parton, Ruben Studdard, Rick Springfield.....Antonio Banderas. Every single version sounded good, even Banderas (no, no, no...too sexy!!!).

Find me another song that can be covered by ANYONE in any style and still sound incredible.

Update

Negreanu finished third in the shootout. The 5K No-Limit Hold 'em event started yesterday and after the first day, Jennifer Tilly is fourth in chips. I just don't get it. She is a braclet winner (the 2005 Ladies event), but every time I've seen her play, she comes off like a bigger donkey than me! And her "teacher" is Phil "The Unabomber" Laak, who I think is one of the most overrated players in poker.

Then again, I read both of their columns in Bluff Magazine every month, and they are both rather intelligent about the game. But then again, so is Phil Gordon, one of the greatest Poker minds out there, who NEVER produces on the felt. He has ZERO braclets, but has taught me more about poker than any other pro (probably because I haven't read Supersystem yet).

The countdown is on: six days until the best new event of the year: The World Championship Heads-Up No-Limit Hold 'em!

Negreanu: Final Table

My favorite professional, Daniel Negreanu is at the final table tonight of the two-day No-Limit Hold 'em Shootout. This event is unique in that there are three "Rounds" of sit-and-go shootout tournaments. If you win your table in the first round (90 of the 900 entrants) then you are automatically in the money, and you move onto the semifinals (9 tables, ten people on each). Negreanu is one of the nine guys to win in that round, and will play the final table tonight, going for his third braclet. He's got a formidable foe in Erick "E-Dog" Lindgren, who also has some braclets to his credit.

I love the shootout, because you have to play heads up twice before you even get to the final table, and it's the most similar thing to the home games I'm used to playing.

Eleventh Heaven

Odelay is official turning into PokerBlog for the summer. I live vicariously through the participants in the World Series of Poker, following everything intently on the internets, just wishing that I was able to go there and play.

Phil Hellmuth Jr. has just won his record-breaking 11th World Series of Poker braclet (the big prize, in addition to a huge mound of cash, that you get for winning one of the 50-odd events in the World Series of Poker). With #11 he breaks the tie that he had with other legends Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson.

Hellmuth takes a ton of heat as the "poker brat" as he has been villified in this day and age of 24-7 televised poker. He truly is an arrogant prick, and he has the biggest ego in poker. But here's the thing: Everytime he says that he is the "greatest no-limit holdem player in the world", He's RIGHT. All 11 of his braclets have come in the event. He was the youngest main event champion of all-time (Beating Johnny Chan in 1989 to keep Chan from getting his third straight title), and he now holds records for most braclets and most cashes at the World Series. He is unbelievably good.

I still don't like him a whole lot, but my hat is off today to Phil Hellmuth for winning #11. Now lets just hope Doyle Brunson can win another one!

If you're missing Lost already...

Sawyer S.O.B. Ever notice that Sawyer from Lost is the expert at delivering a certain line?

July 10th, 2007 - - Could It Come any sooner!?!?

And a bonus link
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1Sq3D039JCY

Angels 19, Dodgers 4

What a great weekend, huh!?!?!?

Ok, One More

Best. Idol Moment. Ever.

The Last Idol Post

This season has been just boring enough that I am official just as sick of writing about American Idol as you are of reading what I have to say about it. Thus, this will most likely be my last post on the subject until after the finale. A few things floating around in my brain:

• Bottom line is: All four of these singers could win this thing, even Lakisha if she shines like she used to over the next few weeks


• I think that Jordan should and will win but, of course, you never know.


• Blake put together an epic performance last week. I now have him ranked just slightly above Melinda for my #2 spot, simply because I want to see him in the final. A Melinda v. Jordan finale would be rather repetitive and boring. Blake would give it some diversity and some vigor.


• Melinda doesn't need to win. She's the Daughtry of this year in that way. Of course, all four of 'em will have careers regardless.


• Final Four: The time when upsets become the norm: LaToya London, Chris Daughtry, Tamyra Gray, Anthony Federo...ok, maybe not that one. So will someone shocking go home this week? I ask "What would be shocking"? Jordan would shock everyone, but honestly, it's all so close that nothing would suprise me.


• Why the heck are they doing "Boogie" night for the top-four? I almost don't even want to watch. Are they that desparate that they have to invite a Gibb?!?!

Top Six and a New #1

#1 Jordin Sparks - Another phenomenal performance and I finally move her up to #1. It's fun to see how much she has blossomed this year. I have had her in my top-four all season, but it's time to face reality: No matter how technically brilliant Melinda is, she is a niche performer with little cross-over appeal (More on that below). Jordin is the perfect American Idol and is by far the most marketable performer. Oh, and she was freaking incredible last night.

#2 Melinda Doolittle - Not to take anything away from Mindy-do. She is the most polished, technically sound, talented performer at this stage in the competition that Idol has probably ever seen. But is she a good American Idol? Here's how I look at it: Who are the most successful of the past American Idols? I would say Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. Who are the least commercially successful? Ruben and Fantasia. Why? Cross-Market appeal. Both Ruben and Fantasia are limited Genre performers. They just aren't going to have a big hit that will rise to #1 on the R&B, Gospel AND Pop charts. Kelly and Carrie can have the same song on the pop charts, the rock charts (Kelly) the Gospel and Country Charts (Carrie) at the same time. It's all about that cross-over marketability. Doolittle, I believe, will fall into that later category, where she is HUGE on the R&B chart, or the gospel chart, but struggles to maintain pop success. A long justification for bumping her to #2, but it was needed, especially after she sang such a big powerful God-Lovin' Faith Hill song last night, that I totally loved.

#3 Blake Lewis - The only one with any true upset potential (because Lakisha has been fading so fast) left in the competition. I respect the guy for going with one of my all-time favoritist songs (Lennon's Imagine), but there is just something a little wierd and a little off when he just sits and sings a straight slow ballad and actually just sings. I can't even put my finger on it, it's just....wierd. I dunno. We haven't had any beatboxing in a while, either. At first I was afraid (i was petrified) that he would over-kill it, now I think he's been underutilizing an entertaining aspect of his performance repertoire.

#4 Lakisha - Did she really cover past American Idol winners two weeks in a row? Obviously, the single baby-mama is an inspiration to her, but really? A Fantasia song on a night like Idol-Gives-Back? Really?

#5 Chris Richardson - I will shoot myself in the head before I put him higher than the four above, but the dude had a GREAT performance last night. Great song for the night, great performance. Great voice. I have nothing to criticize about the performance.

#6 Phil Stacey - Dude butchered a GREAT Garth Brooks song. I thought he would do a solid country ballad a little justice, but, NOPE. It was wretched. Time for the Weekly World News' Bat-Boy to take a hike!

Idol Top Seven

1. Melinda Doolittle
2. Jordin Sparks - She just keeps getting better and better. Melinda is more polished, but this kid SHOULD be the next American Idol.
3. LaKisha - My girl has been weak the last few weeks. Mind you "Lakisha Weak" is a billion times better than "Chris Richardson Strong"...
4. Blake Lewis - I wanted him to bust out something more upbeat on Country night, that he could lay down some beatbox to, so I was disappointed. Instead, he sang a song that really needs a redneck twine to sound good.
5. Sanjaya Malakar - I was hoping for one of the sillier Shania Twain songs from him (Man, I feel like a woman?). Another creepy/entertaining performance.
6. Phil Stacey - Nothing entertaining about it. I'm just not a fan. I'm extremely indifferent about him. He adds NOTHING to the show.
7. Chris Richardson - Every week I talk about wanting to kick him in the balls, or punch him in the face. I've run out of places that I want to physically hurt Mr. K-Fed/Timberlake.

Idle Top-8

So for all of the zero people that still read my blog, I'm changing up my idol ranking tonight. There are three categories: The Good, The Bad and the Sanjaya. There are just four performers that I remotely care for, three that I really don't like and then, well, Mr. Vote for the Worst.

Like I've said before, at this point I just want him to stick around for the entertainment value of it all, seeing him try to tackle all of the genres. I watch T.V. to be entertained and I can't get angry about the results of American Idol. Honestly.

So first for the Good:

1. Melinda Doolittle - I was finally able to come to a decision and rank my front-runner after last night. Not that Melinda was all that super (read boring and dated), it had more to do with LaKisha making a really bad song selection and just facing that Melinda is flat better.

2. LaKisha

3. Jordin Sparks - I think she has the best "pop" hope to actually be a bankable start out of this competition, at least of the womens. Melinda and LaKisha, like Ruben Studdard before them, are very niche - old school soul performers when it comes down to it.

4. Blake Lewis - I still like this guy. Do I think he's a great singer? No, but he's darn perfect to be the American Idol regardless. And he had the only performance last night that has stuck in my head at all!

The Sanjina has to rank #5 by default. That is how far I want to see him get into the competition. Of course, I care so little this season about who really wins it, that, if he gets this far, even I might start voting for him. I would be pretty darn funny to see him get to the finals!

And now the BAD, and at this point, I just want to lump them all together: The Whore, the Wannabe and the Freaky Bald Dude. Hailey might have covered herself up a little bit better this week, but she compensated by throwing on the street walker eyeshadow and lipstick. Way to go! (SIDE NOTE: Thank you Simon for saying what everyone else is thinking: You're voice can't compete, so keep taking off your clothes every week to get the vote) I am back to wanting to kick Chris Richardson in the balls, especially after he destroyed a good Carlos Santana/Rob Thomas song. and Powder err...Phil Stacey, he just adds zero entertainment value to the show. He's lame.

For your viewing pleasure

Idol Nine

1. DoKisha LaMelinda - I just can't pick a front runner still. My head says MindyDo, but my heart is still with Kiki. They were both nails last night as always. Dial-Idol, which was finally accurate again last week (the text-messagers didn't vote for Chris Sligh either), says that one of our lovely ladies takes a hit this week, so we'll see...

3. Gina Glocksen - She had such a great performance that I just can't move her down. I want to see her do well in the show. I could lose Jordin and not be sad, I could lose Blake and not care, but if Gina leaves, that blows.

4. Jordin - Last night she finally had a performance where I never though of her as the 17-year old baby. She held her own with the older contestants. Imagine how this girl is going to be in eleven years when she's the same age that Melinda is now?!?

5. Blake Lewis - Great all-around performance. Not the perfect vocal, but it was still alot of fun.

6. Chris Richardson - Only moves "Up" out of default because i had to move the next guy down. Timberfed had a decent performance. I'm not hating the guy as much anymore, he's a nice enough kid, I am just completely lukewarm about him.

7. Phil Stacey - I'm over Phil.

8. Sanjina - You read that right. I moved him up a spot. He isn't going anywhere for a while, so it's nice to at least be entertained by him every week, and I definitely was entertained last night. His vocal, insidentally, was the best that he has shown YET in the semifinals and finals. Still mediocre, but not terrible like usual.

9. The Whore - Hailey Scarnato just really needs to dissappear and this week, finally, I think it might happen.

This is cooler than R2D2 Mailboxes!

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/32140

Opening Day

Angels win, Dodgers lost. What could be better? Oh, and Gary Matthews Jr. is staying off of my "Spit list" for now. How refreshing was it to see a center fielder who ACTUALLY KNOWS HOW TO MAKE PLAYS ON THE BALL!?!?!? It's so nice to have Friggin banished back to leftfield again!

In other Angels news: Percy official retired as an Angel yesterday.

This got me thinking about how they haven't put anyone in the Angels Hall of Fame in a while, or retired any numbers. I think the next no-brainer for BOTH is #31 - Chuck Finley. I'm suprised it hasn't happened yet. C'mon Arte, get 'er dun! Percival, I think, should be in the Angels HOF, but not have the number retired. We'll see....eventually.

AI6: Top-Ten

1. Mindy-Kisha Doolittle - A Pair of Donna Summer songs - The Top two stay the same this week. I just can't pick a favorite anymore between the two of them. I feel more attached to LaKisha, but Melinda is just a little better performer/singer.

3. Gina Glocksen - I'll Stand By You - If she keeps making these perfect song choices, she's going to stick around for a while. Heaping piles of praise from the judges won't hurt either. I am liking her more and more. Hopefully she'll stay consistent.

4. Jordin - Hey Baby - Her performance was an absolute mess. This has been my problem with her that I've said over and over - Because she's so far behind Mindy and Kiki, she HAS to pick the perfect song every week. This wasn't it.

5. Chris Sligh - He REALLY took a hit this week. He picked the right song, but couldn't nail it. Looking so unprofessional at this stage is not a good thing. I love the guy, but he's not going to be around very long with stuff like this.

6. Blake Lewis - The Cure's Love Song - I'm still not sure what I think about his performance last night. He has a great voice and it was cool to see him strip away the gimmick and just sing a ballady song for once. It was a restrained performance and you could see that/feel that. You could tell that he was uncomfortable holding back like that.

7. Phil Stacey - Every Breath You Take - I'm suprised the judges didn't rip him for unoriginality. He once again showed what a great voice he has and this was a very strong night for him.

8. Timberfed - Don't Speak - I still want to punch him in the face. I hated his Boy-Band version of a No Doubt song. It just felt wrong.

9. Haley Scarnato - True Colors - With Sanjina getting all of the VFTW help, I can't believe that THIS CHICK hasn't been booted yet. Am I the only one who is sick of her whoring it up to cover up the fact that she can't sing?!?!? She is the poor man's Katherine McPhee. All Style, no substance.

10. Sanjina - It's just comical at this point. Gwen Stefani ripped on him in her video clip, Simon virtually said "I give up, America likes you for some strange reason". And Ryan ALMOST alluded to the vote-for-the-worst help. He said something along the lines of "To vote for Sanjaya, for a number of reasons, dial......" It was a subliminal slip, if you ask me. And to be quite honest - Although he is absolutely TERRIBLE, he sure is fun to watch every week and as long as it's mediocre people going home and not great people, I don't care if he sticks around anymore. You don't want to watch, but you can't look away!!

AI6: Round One - The Whale Heard 'round the World

1. Kiki (God Bless the Child) - LaKisha can do no wrong. One of the few times that I have thought to myself "Must. Own. Single. NOW!" I LOVE her.

1B. Melinda Doolittle (Home from The Wiz) - Melinda truly proved that #1 - She is one of only two people with a legitimate shot at winning this season, and #2 - She can sing the frickin' phone book! This was perhaps the worst song choice, and the worst Melinda performance yet, but it was still better than 90% of the stuff we've seen this entire season.

3. Jordin Sparks (If We Hold on Together) - The song was a little cheesy, but Jordin showed tonight that she has a VOICE that can compete with the big two. The question is can she compete all-around (personality, stage presence, etc.)?

4. Chris Sligh (Endless Love) - Even before Randy made the comparison, I said to myself "Chris turned this into a Coldplay song". While I commend the effort, and I absolutely love this guy as a person and as a performer, the problem is that Endless Love is NOT a Coldplay song, and the arrangement turned into a complete mess! That misstep might just cost him, too. Dial Idol has him in the bottom three. You can go find the other bottom three on your own, I don’t want to ruin any surprises (since they have been perfectly accurate so far this season).

5. Gina Glocksen (Love Child) – Not my favorite performance by any means, but I still like her. It was a weird performance.

6. Stephanie Edwards (Love Hangover) – I liked it a lot better than the judges did. She did pretty darn good, but she is so overshadowed by the other three women that are in her same style, that she will probably be going home sooner than she should.

7. Blake Lewis (You Keep Me Hanging On) – What the heck happened to Blake?!?!?! He wanted to make it a contemporary song. The problem was, he “modernized” it right up to 1984. Way to go. It’s feast or famine when you make a song your own and try and put it into your own style. Blake’s remix was clearly famine this week.

8. Brandon Rogers (You Can’t Hurry Love) – I figured out what’s wrong with Brandon. He’s a great a cappella singer. Ever since the Semis, when he’s played with music, he’s been terrible. I REALLY wanted to like him, But I just don’t.

9. Phil Stacey (I’m Gunna Make You Love Me) – No you’re not. I guess he’s still a decent singer; he was just way too Michael Bolton-y for me.

10. Haley Scarnato (Missing You) – But we won’t be missing YOU. The good news: She was (barely) better than Mr. Malakar. The Bad news: He’s got a lot of Vote For the Worst steam, thanks to the Howard Stern radio show.

11. Timberfed (The Boss) – If I was on the cruise ship that this guy was singing on, well, I’d be spending a lot of time in the casino. I don’t hate him as much as I did Elliott Yamin, but it’s close.
12. Sangina (Ain’t No Mountain) – How funny was it to hear Simon Cowell call Diana Ross a Whale?!?! Honestly! When he said, “If you hear a giant Wail in Beverly Hills”, I think 100% of American heard something different!!!! What else is there to say. He was bad. We all know he sucks. Now he has to throw in a different crappy hairstyle to his mop every week? Who cares! We always joke about Paula slipping her room key to the male competitors that she pines for. Maybe Sanjina was hoping to get a room key slipped to him from Seacrest.

American Idol - Top 12

I know you've all been holding your breath to see my first rankings of the season for American Idol (at least Crystal has). There isn't a shadow of a doubt that a woman will win this season. I believe the producers helped stack the deck on that side because the WANT a female winner, and let a more watered down group of guys into the semifinals. That being said, my rankings truly reflect how feast or famine it is with the dudes this season.

1. Lakisha Jones - Is she better than Mandisa? I think she is, and Mandisa was my favorite last season until she got the early boot. I love her story, her personality and her freaking amazing voice.

1.5. Melinda Doolittle - She was a solid 2nd until she threw the 90-yard touchdown pass this week. An unbelievable performance with attitude, personality and a dominant voice. I think it's so funny how she kinda "turns off" her stage persona the second she sees Ryan and the judges and turns back into the shy, cute backup singer. But as Simon said, she's a Tiger!

3. Chris Sligh - I don't know how long his voice is going to keep him in the competition. That's the bad news. The good news is. He has THE BEST personality of any finalist in six seasons. He's hilarious and fun and DOES have a pretty good voice. And I really want him to stick around long enough to make David Hasselhoff cry!

4. Gina Glocksen - It's Nikki McKibben with a better voice, better personality and a smarter sense of what she needs to do in this competition. She rocked the house last week and I hope she gets to stick around for a while. I want her in Abba week and in Gwen Stefani week, for sure.

5. Blake Lewis - The only other guy I like besides Chris, and he's probably a better overall performer than Sligh. I was really worried about him overkilling the beatbox thing, but so far he has used it well. I'm afraid for him in coming weeks, because he is such a niche performer.

6. Stephanie Edwards - The beginning of the second tier. She has the goods, but she has struggled for the past few weeks. I really WANT her to be good.

7. Jordin Sparks - Jordin should have waited three years before trying out for Idol, and she could have had a better chance to win the whole thing. I just don't see her being able to make the right song choices every week. And I don't see her being able to outlast the other singers in her "genre group", to put it nicely.

8. Brandon Rogers - Like Stephanie, he's a lot better than he has performed. I want to see him do well, too.

9. Haley Scarnato - Another person who I WANT to like. I don't know if she has the goods to keep sliding through, but I want to see her grow as a singer every week.

10. Phil Stacey - He had been my third-highest guy for a while, but there is just something about him that is starting to rub me the wrong way. This is one person who could end up jumping quite a bit on my list.

11. Chris Richardson, hereforeto be known as TimberFed - I suppose he's a good singer, and he's got the ladies. I HATE HIM. He's Justin Timberlake without actual talent. He's Kevin Federline without a bald ex-wife. He's the poser saggy-pants white guy-who doesn't know he's white. He's Jamie Kennedy's B-Rad in Malibu's Most Wanted. I hate him.

12. Sanjaya Malakar - Can someone PLEASE explain to me what the hell he is still doing here. WHY do people like him. HOW on earth is he still getting the tween vote? The only reason I'm not more upset about it is because really, in the 6 guy/6 girl format, who would have been a better male choice? Sundance (I have another not-so-PG nickname for him)? Jared Hand-over-the-face Cotter? None of them are worthy of the top-12, and that's more of the problem. I would love to see Sabrina Sloan (Guadalupe Streisand) get another crack. I'd like to see Alaina get another shot. They would have been better choices for the top-12, but I digress.

Top-Ten Songs Named After Women

Sorry, Paul Hutchins, but you got your list totally wrong:

I Agree with:

Eleanor Rigby -- The Beatles
Ana Ng -- They Might Be Giants
Maggie Mae -- Rod Stewart
Billie Jean -- Michael Jackson
Layla -- Eric Clapton
Anna Begins -- Counting Crows

But you left Out:
Be My Yoko Ono -- Barenaked Ladies
Ms. Jackson - Outcast
Mrs. Robinson - Simon & Garfunkel
Visions of Johanna - Bob Dylan
To Ramona - Bob Dylan
Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll - Bob Dylan
Maggie's Farm - Bob Dylan
Amanda - Boston
See Emily Play - Pink Floyd
Gloria - U2 (I think I cheated here)
Grace - U2 (and here, too)

I'm sure there's a ton more that I'm just not thinking of!

You Get What You Give

I haven't written in a while, and I don't really have anything important to say, but I saw this picture of Dave Evans and thought it was worth posting about. It's from a Time Magazine article from last year when they were at Abbey Road with Green Day. Most of the article is about Music Rising and all, but the final question was "what two contemporary songs would you most want your name attached to. He says Wonderwall by Oasis (obvious choice) and You Get What You Give by the New Radicals.

That one suprises me, although I think if U2 had written that song (minus the celebrity disses at the end), it would probably be one of their biggest hits of all time.

And it's funny to me, because there was this guy at Biola, who dated a friend of Melissa, who ...shall we say was not all that interested in the truth. He claimed to have hung out with the Mark Tremonti from Creed (even scored me an "autograph") and he also said that he helped to write the New Radicals album, but couldn't have his name listed because of some songwriters union thing. Nice.

It's a Lie!

I miss my family, but I don't miss the OC! Orange County

You're rich, pretty, and living a charmed life. (Or you seriously wish you were.) From Disneyland to Laguna Beach, you're all about living the California dream life. Just make sure to marry rich - so you don't have to work for it!

Where Does Your Inner Californian Belong?

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2007-01-03-the-OC-canceled_x.htm?csp=34

I almost got sad, but then I remembered that I haven't watched the show since Marissa started kissing girls.