Pacman (Arcadeless Version).

Can you say overhyped?

After watching multiple pre-fight shows on HBO featuring Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton's training methods and the life beyond fighting, I was really pumped up for the May 2nd fight between the two ring warriors.

Each representing opposite sides of the globe added another element to the entire battle.  Hatton's biggest recent fight was a loss to "Money" Mayweather who is recently coming out of retirement to fight in July.  Ironically, Hatton's trainer is Mayweather's father who barely speaks to his son at all.  On the other hand, Pacquiao pretty much ended "The Golden Boy" Oscar De La Hoya's prolific career in his latest fight before taking on tough guy and Manchester native Hatton.

"Pacman" Pacquiao showed why his quick hands and strong work ethic has really paid off knocking down the "Hitman" Hatton down twice in the first round as it seemed that this one was not even close to what it was projected.  Pacman seemed to land everything he threw, while the much slower Hatton seemed to be out of his league.  

If you blinked around halfway through the second round like my roommate did you missed it at first glance.  Manny Pacquiao's insanely quick left hook had the "Hitman" shot down as he fell like a sack of bricks.  Man, you can feel that hit from your seat, Manchester's finest could just do nothing about it; he left himself wide open.  The only thing that looked decently good for Ricky in this fight, if you wish to call it that, was probably his flashy shorts, but that if all was it.  You just got instantly love this guy Pacquiao, he seems to be a pretty much humble and quiet guy and seems to do everything right in the ring; just an enjoyment to watch this guy work his craft.  It is definitley something you have to see to fully visualize so here is the highlights below and its a pretty raw fight and quick enough to watch, but if you want to see the thunderous knockout just fast-forward to the 6:30 mark.

Hopefully a Pacman v. Mayweather fight is in the mix for the near future. It would not dissappoint and would be a must see.

Something Fishy.

A highly anticipated collaboration with the Cool Kids' beat bounding and old school nature but need blood in the game mixed with the veteran and hard-working nature of DJ Cannon has equaled into a pretty solid mixtape known as "Gone Fishing."  This tape offers something for hip hop heads to chew on for free music while waiting for the Cool Kids duo of Chuck Inglish and Mickey Rocks to drop their album of "When Fish Ride Bicycles."

"Champions" was the first single to leak by the tag-team and seemed to stay away from the overly used sample by Queen "We are the Champions" and made the song their own and remains my favorite song off the mixtape so far after a first listen.  The beat just exemplifies what the dudes are all about something that hits hard with a mix of something at the smooth at the beginning that features something a little edgy as well.  

I can definitley relate to these guys though especially to the facet of hearing the same songs over and over on the radio as the bring up points on the depressive medium.  Also, their constant sport-like references from old school Jordans to that of Santonio Holmes.  They look to hit those past memories of times of pagers and riding bikes that have sort of changed the game of hip hop and brought upon a new flavor.  

You have to love the fact that this was for the people though, as the refer time and time again that this was for us and that just making the music gives them their enjoyment, which is real good to hear to say the least.  They could careless if it is downloaded, they are actually wanting us to do that and burn it to cds and blast it in our cars; it seems weird to hear from a mainstream artist but it's a nice breath of fresh air.

DON CANNON AND THE COOL KIDS - GONE FISHIN' from zachwolfe.com/live on Vimeo.

Getting Revenge.

Right behind the steroids problem as the most overheard and annoying sports story has to be ex-Cheesehead Brett Favre and his constant retirement confusion.  

One day he's mowing his lawn, the next day he wants to play professional football again, and the day after that he wants nothing to do with it at all.  Favre has to be one of the most indecisive people if not the most in all of the sports industry as he does not even come close to Michael Jordan's jump to baseball and back to basketball in the "45," which seemed right out of a movie script.  I know this out of retirement situation is much different from his last year trip from the frosty tundra in Green Bay to the media center of New York to play for the J-E-T-S, Jets.  This year he looks to get his "revenge" on the Packers, in which he was the face of the franchise throughout the 1990's.  But why would this Pro Bowl QB want to turn on his faithful Packers and play for the divisionial enemy Minnesota Vikings.  It just all seems so wrong, but seems so right for the NFL and its industrial looks to glorify this rivalry matchup.  

The disgruntled veteren quarterback jumped ship after retiring from his old home in Wisconsin and then tried to come back but was turned down by a team looking to move on with Aaron Rodgers at the healm.  It seemed like a sort of slap in the face at the time, but he is the one that put himself in that situation in the first place; he asked for a leave and when he changed his mind, Green Bay had changed their business plans with his departure.  It seems like artificial revenge thus, if Favre decides to the Vikes as I do think he eventually will with a top-notch running back with Adrian Peterson to dish the ball off to and lessen the weight and the stingiest run-D on the other side of the ball looks to keep the pressure off John Madden's favorite wrangler wearing quarterback.  Time will tell with Brett Favre's decision making, but the NFC North would be that much more interesting with him making a reappearance to the game of tackle football.

Goosebumps.

Arguably the greatest basketball player of all-time.  Even though I was way to young to ever see this man play one of my favorite sports, from what I have heard this guy could just straight out ball.  Eleven Championships in thirteen years of play with five MVP awards and a twelve time All-Star as well, Russell defines success and puts today's athletes to shame.

Bill Russell has left a strong impact with the NBA, but an even stronger one with the prestigious Boston Celtics.  He is just one of those historical figures that defines Boston sports in general and his humble ways have inspired many more than he will ever know.  The art of the shot block was molded by Russell and I am constantly reminded by that from my grandfather who lives for the old school.

I was watching "Jim Rome is Burning" recently on ESPN and caught a feature segment of Rome interviewing the Celtic great.  The constantly unselfish Russell just makes me appreciate being a huge Celtics fanatic and gives a history lesson to all those bandwagon jumpers after the acquistion of Ray Allen and KG.

Rome is in the middle of his end of interview review of Bill Russell... 

-Rome: "We're talking to Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Russell, and the book..."
-Russell cuts off Rome: "Jim Rome."
-Rome: "Yes?"
-Russell: "I apologize for interrupting you. Can you do me a favor?"
-Rome: "Absolutely. What is it?"
-Russell: "When you introduce me, can you please refer to me as the former captain of the Boston Celtics? That means way more to me then any Hall of Fame or other personal title. That was the most important thing for me."

The huge thud that occured right after this clip was my jaw hitting the ground once again.  Russell goes from saying of how good of friends he was with coaching master, Red Auerbach and how there is now a "vacuum" inside him from what he is missing from Auerbach to correcting Rome in a goosebump provoking way.  I do not know why I was amazed to hear this from a Renaissance Man in terms of Russell, but from watching recent NBA playoff action, it shows how far ahead he is beyond these active "stars."  It makes me sick to my stomach now watching the extra flashy Cleveland Lebron James's as I think they are referred to act as cocky as they do.  I do know they are crushing some slightly above average talent in their first two rounds of play and they have the mean force of James, but what have the accomplished yet?....First Seed in the East and the NBA MVP, yes that is all nice and cool, but it's all about winning in professional sports and they have yet to hoist the title in this Lebron era.  I do respect his game and what he has done at such a young age, but Russell just embarrasses guys like this with his humble statements and pro-Boston comments.  NBA history class is in session and Bill Russell is running the school.

Alright, Alright I've Heard Enough.

Alright we got it already; Manny Ramirez took performance-enhancing drugs.  This picture just says it all I think; it's like A-Rod is saying "Hey buddy, we found you and your next and good luck to you too because you can take the heat from me."

Major League Baseball is tainted. We've heard the story over and over and it has just gotten plain sickening in my opinion.  Whether it be Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, A-Rod, Rafael Palmeiro, or who ever else is featured on the Mitchell Report that took these enhancers, its the same story every time.  So why is it glamified all over ESPN and every other sports channel?  Each player that has been caught uses lie to lie to cover up the situation and try to sneakily get by with a slap on the wrist.  These PR moves have been done constantly by first denying the fact of taking the drugs then admitting and being "truly" sorry about what happened in the past.  I was watching Marion Jones's admittance to using steroids during her dominance in track and field and the Olympics and you kind of have to just laugh that they are actually trying to make the fans feel bad for them when they cheated the sport that they controlled for years.  We, as sports fans, are suckers for great athletes and giving them extra chances, but I have had enough especially after the latest case involved "Manny being Manny."  These repetitive occassions of steroid use have not only turned me away from baseball, but some other sports in general.  It makes you think if so many baseball stars are taking these enhancers who says that basketball and football players are not as well, it just seems to be too obvious to get a step ahead of other competition.  Its a sad day in sports when you have to look back and say maybe that our 2004 World Series Championship may hold a mental asterisk upon it with Ramirez on that magical squad, which Bill Simmons wrote recently in an ESPN article.  

On the other hand, Manny could care less about what we think about this so why should we.  Again he seems to be in his own little world and is saying everything right now to sort of save what is left of his image.  You kind of feel bad for the Los Angeles Dodgers for a second with them having such a great start to their season with so much young talent and potential then as a Red Sox fan you think we've been down that road and did you guys really missed how he screwed us over in Boston.  I think its time as sports fan to step our foot down finally, I've had enough hearing it everyday about steroid users admitting and asking for forgivence; the other atheletes you have to feel for now is those who are clean, but which ones are really left out there? I just hope Papi Ortiz is not the next to come out, but it seems apparent after the horrible seaon he is having so far with such a fall from greatness scenario in place.

CBS's continuous media mogul mentality.

President Obama picked it right, the North Carolina Tar Heels won the Men's Basketball National Championship last Monday in blowout fashion over through their veteran leadership over Michigan State.

The president made a correct choice here and CBS seemed to constantly make the proper choices throughout their full coverage of the national event. From switching between games at a sense of smoothness and style as well as keeping their priorities in check to the game's that were in their most important stages, CBS seem to be on point during this recent March Madness season. Throughout this hectic situation at hand, the CBS media team showed why they are destination for this popular event year in and year out.

I think another reason that set them apart was their website in terms of full media coverage surrounding the 64 Teams in contention for the title. Seeing that CBS would only be able to televise one game at a time, the option they presented on their site to watch other live games at that time seem to set them apart from other contenders such as ESPN. They as well used to option for these live games to be seen in high definition without a further cost, but only a simple download. These elements combined altogether show that CBS is a power mogul not only in sports media but in media altogether and continue to push the envelope. Hopefully, we will see a repeat performance out of this power player next March Madness.

Asher Who?

As we study audience this week, I feel that no one right now is more set on an audience than Asher Roth (Roth was actually the other member of the duo that was seen on the Kid Cudi feature that I previously posted). Yes, he is something new in the hip-hop's mainstream; how couldn't he be though has feasted off of the mindset of the college population and looks like the average white kid trying to make it big.  I do think that his first single "I Love College" is very much played out by now, but he hits his target right in the chest.  He's been able to deal with the Eminem comparisons and throw those out the window and make a name for himself as well as show that hes not just a one hit wonder.  From looking further into this dude he seems real and looks to be very easy to relate to, thus his potentially huge audience.  

I first discovered Asher Roth from a July 2008 mixtape that he was featured on with heavily known DJ Drama as well as Don Cannon.  On this tape, Roth jumped onto a variety of well known track instrumentals from John Mayer's "Waiting On The World To Change," to the new song at the time "Black Mags" by the Cool Kids, as well as the Lil' Wayne older song "Cannon" that almost everyone has a verse to by now.  Roth has taken what is relevant and known and therefore given that a ridiculous twist in terms of what is everyday hip hop.

Roth's album "Asleep In The Bread Aisle" ironically drops this 4/20 as he has dropped only a couple tracks so far in sequential order to keep fans on the edge of their seat.  His newest song to release is named "Be By Myself" and features the well-known artist Cee-Lo, member of Gnarls Barkley.  The song is real smooth and shows that he can touch another element in his music and is another eye-opener and creates much more anticipation for this upcoming album.  Asher Roth seems to be someone commitment to his work and it seems very cool that he is touch with those that have paved the way for him and seems to be in it for the right reasons so far.