My favorite wrestlers of this decade

Here are three wrestlers that made me the most excited to tune into wrestling for the past 10 years. In my earlier years I would watch wrestling just to see one person. Now I watch it just to enjoy the sport and entertainment aspects of it. I still tune into wrestling just to see what the following wrestlers do:

Undertaker: It has been amazing to watch the Undertaker transform from an intimidatingly dark wrestler to a bandana wearing, motorcycle riding wrestler back to the dark, creepy wrestler. He maintained his dominance throughout this decade. Many wrestlers have come and gone over time but he has remained successful. One of the most remarkable things about the Undertaker is his ability to play both roles in the heel/face spectrum. When he is a face (goodguy) the fans love him, when he is a heel(badguy) the fans despise him.

The other great thing about Taker is his presence in great matches. His matches at Wrestlemania are a perfect example of that. Even though he always comes out victorious at the annual event, he always puts on a good show.

Kurt Angle: Kurt Angle brought charisma and great technical skills to the squared circle. When he arrived in the WWE at the end of 1999, he began to breeze through the competition. By mid 2000 he was getting a push to the main event status. At No Mercy in 2000, he defeated The Rock to obtain the WWE championship for the first time.

His first year in the WWE is a fine example of what Angle has accomplished this decade. He was able to perform well in the ring with anyone he wrestled and he manipulated the "WWE universe" to hate him when he was bad and love him when he was babyface. After his time in the WWE ended, he moved on to TNA where he has continued to be successful despite his deteriorating health. Hey if a man can wrestle a man can wrestle regardless of how old he is, just ask Ric Flair!

Triple H: One of the few wrestlers who has maintained superstar status from the beginning to the end is the final wrestler on my list. I know marrying the bosses daughter gets you some points but we have to give Triple H some credit. He knows what the fans want. Whether he is a single competitor or apart of a stable like Evolution or DX, he has control of every cut scene and match he is apart of.

The only knock on Triple H is he has repeatedly gotten injured while he has the WWE by the throat. When he was seeing his popularity peak in 2001 he suffered a serious quad injury that took him out of action for about a year. I will say this, everytime he returns from injury he comes back with a chip on his shoulder and brings a major intensity with his presense. This is why Triple H was one of my favorites from this decade.

If you remember the Hell in the Cell in 2000, all three of these men were in the match. Only one of them came out victorious. If you want to find out look it up it was a great match.

5 Ravens selected to participate in the Pro Bowl next month

Congradulations to Haloti Ngata, Ray Rice, Ray Lewis, Leron Mcclain and Ed Reed for being selected for the 2010 AFC Pro Bowl Roster.

Haloti Ngata, Ray Lewis, Leron Mcclain and Ed Reed are all starters in the game. Ray Rice will be a backup which is no knock on his accomplishments because he has talented running backs Chris Johnson and Maurice Jones Drew ahead of him. He beat out Thomas Jones who is the leading rusher on the Jets who are currently the number one rushing offense in the league.

I am not sure Lewis, Mcclain and Reed have actually earned their nods but it is good to see these players being recognized for what they have done in the past.

Wale at Redskins vs Cowboys game

This is just a little video of Wale at a Redskins game. Its funny because he's so passionate about the Deadskins. Its ok Wale, rep what you love regardless of how pathetic the team is.

Skillz- Rap Up 2009

Download skillz 2009 rap mp3

Its that time of year again. Skillz gives us the Rap Up for this year. I love these. They make me laugh everytime but there so true. Enjoy!

Lupe Fiasco - Im Beaming | Audio | Rap Basement

Lupe Fiasco - Im Beaming | Audio | Rap Basement

Great vibe from Lupe Fiasco. Im looking forward to Lasers. Sounds like this will be on there. Listen and enjoy

Are you kidding me?

The Ravens beat themselves in a game at Pittsburgh versus the Steelers. That's right I said it. Over the course of the first three quarters, the Ravens started off poorly falling behind 3-0 then at one point 20-10 but in the third quarter they tied it up at 20-20. There mini-comeback made it look like the Ravens could continue to gather the momentum and keeping running up and down the field in the fourth quarter. But that did not happen because of one word...PENALTIES!!

By the game's end, the Ravens had committed 11 penalties for 113 yards in every faze of the game, offense, defense and special teams. These mistakes costed them several scores and opportunities to eliminate the Steelers chances of winning the game. Derrick Mason, best wide reciever on the team, dropped one of the easiest passes thrown into the endzone you will ever see. Christopher Reeves could have caught that thing!

Honestly, if it weren't for a couple of players' (I will not mention names) undisciplined play, we could be talking about a different score, a different playoff picture and a different attitude towards a team that had the scheme and players to win on Sunday.

Shout out to Todd Heap, Joe Flacco, Ray Rice and Domonique Foxworth for playing well. Rice eclipsed 100 rushing yards against a Steelers defense who had not allowed one in 32 games. Flacco had two touchdown passes and one interception(caused by poor pass protection). Heap had another 2 touchdown day and Foxworth had another interception.

My favorite hip hop albums of this decade.

Sadly this decade is coming to an end. We have witnessed the release of many albums, some superb, some good and some horrific. For right now I will focus on the ones that I enjoyed.Here is a list of 5 of my favorite Hip Hop albums from 2000-2009.

Kanye West Late Registration- This was Kanye's sophmore album but it was no slump. He along with Jon Brian created songs with political value (Crack Music), sentimental value (Hey Mama) and catchy tunes that would replay in your head for days(Gold Digger). The production and arrangement of the songs were terrific. Lyrically he took a step forward.
Best songs on album: Diamonds from Sierra Leone, Touch the Sky and Roses

Outkast Speakerboxx/Love Below- The two disc set featured two solo albums from each rapper. Speakerboxx was Big Boi's side and Love Below was Andre 3000's side. The styles of both cd's contrasted in so many ways but that is what made it great. 3000 seemed to be experiementing with new sounds while keeping some of the Outkast funk sound.

Big Boi took the southern rap route with his album. Collaborated with various artist in the game at the time like Ludacris, Jay-Z as well as some of his closer friends from his hometown Atlanta like Killer Mike and Goodie Mob.
Best songs of the album: Hey Ya, Roses, The Way You Move and Bust

Jay-Z The Black Album- The magnitude of the hype for this album was crazy. This was supposed to be Jay-Z's last album before he went into retirement (obviously that didn't happen). Hov got together some of his favorite producers and compiled a group of songs that made us dance, think and learn a little more about him.
Best songs of the album: 99 problems and Encore

The Diplomats Diplomatic Immunity- The first installment of the Diplomatic Immunity series by Cam'ron, Jim Jones and Juelz Santana was heavily fueled by sped up high pitch samples. The album had songs about selling drugs (Real ******), a personal song (Who am I) and plenty of songs that display how well the soldiers of the Diplomat's camp can rap. For some inexplicable reason the soul samples and crack raps lured me to these rappers. This album forced me to pay attention to this crew. I knew I would be hearing a lot more of them and I was not wrong.
Best songs of the album: Real ****** and I really mean it.

Eminem Marshall Mathers LP- This album featured some of the most outrageous lyrics I have heard in my life. Songs like Amityville and Kill You gave you the hint that something was seriously wrong with this Eminem guy. One thing that was not ailing him was his ability to make songs the masses wanted to hear. Hits like The way I am, The real Slim Shady and Stan all boosted the sales of this record to over 10 million sold. The way Eminem illustrates a perverted fan in Stan is almost unparalled.
Best Songs of the album- Stan, The way I am

Ravens at Steelers. Who wins?

Well Ravens fans knew it would come down to this one. It is week 16 and if the Ravens win they have a great chance of sliding into the playoffs. If they lose, it is pretty much over.

The intriguing matchup for this game seems to make it a must see. Neither team is the defensive titan that they were a year ago but they get the job done. Both team's offenses are putting up points, the Ravens are using Ray Rice to run up and down the field on opponents and the Steelers are allowing Roethlisberger to throw as much as he can. Last week he threw for 503 passing yards against a solid Packers defense. Will this be a shoot out? I do not think so.

The Ravens defense has been improving all year long. They are currently ranked fourth in the league in yards allowed. Despite the crucial injuries to the secondary, the Ravens have been able to hold there own versus all of the average quarterbacks. The problem has been the Ravens defense has not contended well versus elite quarterbacks. Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers, and Brett Favre can all testify that this secondary has its vulnerabilities.

The Ravens have a chance to win as long as they do not turn the ball over and they run the ball effectively. This means that Ray Rice, Willis Mcgahee and Leron Mcclain should all get in some work. But do not get confused, Flacco must be able throw under pressure and punch it in the endzone whenever he has the chance. 14 points will not put away the Steelers on Sunday.

It is unlikely that Ed Reed will play and Lardarius Webb was put on Injured Reserve this past week. This comes at a great time since the team is traveling to Pittsburgh to face Santonio Holmes, Hines Ward and Mike Wallace.

This game would lie in the Ravens favor if it did not take place in Pittsburgh. The Ravens win this game if they can score points in the redzone, take the ball away from the Steelers and prevent turning it over. On Sunday they will do everything but score in the redzone and that will prevent them from winning.

Ravens beat the Bears... So What?

The final score of the Bears vs Ravens game was 31-7. This is not an unexpected outcome seeing as though the Bears had to go through hell and high water just to get to the Baltimore because of the snowstorm. Despite exterior factors the fact is that the Bears really aren't that good this year. Jay Cutler has completed more passes to his opposing defenses that he has to his own recievers(18td's,25int's). The run game has gotten worse from last year and the defense has lost some of its muscle.But enough about them.

Regardless of who the Ravens play, a win is a win. This victory brings the Ravens to 8-6. This puts them in the number 5 spot or the first wildcard spot in the playoff rankings. Obviously there are still two more weeks of the regular season so we have to see how things end up because it's not over yet.

Next week at 1pm the Ravens travel to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers. Now I know the Steelers have a losing record but they just beat Packers last weekend. This means that in any game, the Steelers can really stick it to their opponent. This makes the upcoming game all the more exciting and dangerous for the Ravens. Plus we know that when these teams play it is an all out war. The big issue here is the Ravens do not have the whole calvary.

The secondary has been ravaged by injuries all year. We saw another soldier Lardarius Webb go down last week. He will be out for the rest of the season. Will Ed Reed be back in time for this game? Who knows? Haloti Ngata has not recovered fully from his injury and is still appearing on the injury reports during the week.

Can the Ravens line-up against the Steelers next Sunday and beat them is yet to be seen. But the matchups are looking a little lopsided in favor of the Steelers. I will talk about those later in the week.

Wale- The meeting

Wale - The Meeting | Audio | Rap Basement

"An average ***** with swag or an ugly ***** with talent"? This is one of the many hard hitting and thought provoking lines you here in this song. One of the best non-album songs I have heard from Wale this year. Listen and be amazed!

Mckinney goes to IR; Paschal moves up

Defensive lineman Brandon Mckinney was put on Injured Reserve today. He was gameday inactive vs. the Lions last week. Marcus Paschal,a defensive back who was signed to the practice squad after KJ Gerard moved to the actice roster, will take Mckinney's place on the roster. Paschal has not had a lot of experience starting on any team in the NFL.

This move is not shocking. Mckinney was holding down a roster spot lower on the depth chart anyway. What is surprising is the Ravens do not bring up a wide reciever to the roster seeing as how Kelley Washington is questionable and Mark Clayton is still hurting from injuries. I know they have Demetrius Williams but another body would be great for the passing game. Todd Heap and LJ Smith are hurt to so it would not be too likely to see Cam Cameron to put a tight end in the slot.

Looks like we will see Ray Rice and Derrick Mason targeted for a lot more passes(as if that that were possible). Either that or we will see alot more of the smashmouth run game the offense is capable of having.

Bret Hart returning to WWE?

Bret Hart reportedly signed a contract with the WWE. It was said that he will be appearing on WWE TV programming from January to April. What is his role? That is yet to be seen. Is this even true? I do not know that either. I guess you could call this a rumor for now but I will say that this seems to be outlandish but believable. I guess we'll have to wait til' January.

R.I.P Chris Henry

Chris Henry, wide reciever for the Cincinatti Bengals died today in Charlotte, Nc after falling off of a pick up truck in a domestic dispute with his fiancee. Henry, who was 6-4 200, had accumulated 119 catches, 1826 recieving yards and 21 touchdowns in his professional career and was considered a talented up and coming reciever in the NFL. The only obstacle to his success was his inability to stay away from off the field quandary. He had been suspended several times for a variety of offenses. Despite his past, he was making a turnaround and settling down. He was preparing to get married in March.

This is a major loss for Chris Henry's family and friends and the Bengals organization. He was a good player and evidently a good friend according to some of his teammates. It is always a shame to see anyone die at such a young age but to see someone with so much potential pass is a tragedy.

Shaun Boothe - Poor Boy

This is a good video. Shaun Boothe has been doing his thing for a while and deserves to get his respect. This conceptual video backs up his arguement. Check it out

And the slammy goes to...

Last night, Monday Night Raw was half Raw/half award show. The Slammy awards which have lost a lot of prestige was thrown in the show vicariously but nevertheless here are your winners:

Tag Team of the Year: Jeri Show (Chris Jericho and Big Show)

Breakout star of the Year: Sheamus- this is an obvious choice after winning the WWE championship at TLC the night before.

Shocker of the Year: CM Punk forces Jeff Hardy to leave WWE- this was shocking to most but not to me. I had already heard the rumors that he was planning to take a "long break". It just turned out this was how he was sent off.

Match of the Year: Shawn Michaels vs Undertaker- this match definitely deserved the award. This was one of the few matches this year that had me on the edge of my seat.

Guest Host of the Year: Bob Barker

Extreme Moment of the Year: Jeff Hardy's jump off the ladder at SummerSlam- this was crazy. We have seen Hardy do this before but the wow-factor of it was unparalled this year.

Oh my Moment of the Year: Michael Cole puking on Chris Jericho.

Diva of the Year: Maria

Superstar of the Year: John Cena- Last night, Cena vowed he will not lose another match until he regains the WWE title. Well the same night there was a tournament for Superstar of the Year. Needless to say Cena sticks to his word... so far

This years Slammy's did not have any shocking awardees. It gave Monday Night Raw a little spice though. I actually watched more than I usually do because I wanted to know who the Superstar of the Year would be. Well, surprise surprise!

Shemus is New WWE champion?!

Last night John Cena lost the WWE title to his opponent Shemus in a tables match. This is definitely a shocker to the WWE universe especially since everyone loves them some John Cena (I hate Cena). What does this mean for WWE?

This is refreshing to me. Finally someone besides Cena, Michaels, Triple H holds the title. Hopefully we see some new twists in the storyline.

Props to the creative team for the balls to pass the title to someone else even if it does not last for a long time.

Tune in to Monday Night Raw at the regular time to see the backlash of this Pay Per View.

Juelz Santana featuring Chris Brown- Back to the Crib video

I've been waiting on this video for a while now. It is everything I expected it to be and a little nothing more. Its your typical music video with a some "Dipset" flavor. Overall it's just a big party. Watch and enjoy!

Ravens beat Lions in convincing fashion.

Here we are the Monday after the Ravens punished the Lions. Was it really all that impressive?

Well I would say yes. The second most impressive thing they did was keep Calvin Johnson in check. The 6-5 240 pound wide reciever (and I use that term loosely) was a huge threat for the Ravens who have had problems defending the big recievers all year long. On Sunday he was held to 4 catches for 37 yards. The defense did this without Ed Reed who was out of the game for injury the second week in a row.

The most impressive thing they did was put up 548(franchise record) total offensive yards against the Lion's defense! Now I know it is just the Lions but a week earlier the same defense forced two interceptions from Carson Palmer. Yesterday we saw Joe Flacco come out of the game with 13 completions for 230 passing yards and a touchdown pass.

The run game accumulated 308 yards and 5 touchdowns on the ground with the combined efforts of Willis Mcgahee, Leron Mcclain and even Jalen Parmele. But wait there's more!

RAY RICE! That's all for the offense I just wanted to mention the best offensive player of the game and possibly the week.

Next week I challenge Flacco to spread that ball around a little more. 9 or his 13 completions went to either Mason or Rice. I know Clayton is out but there are other recievers roaming around the field, somewhere. Even though the offense scored a lot of points, they had some help from the Lions and their poor defense. So lets not crown this offense yet.

On the bright side, the Ravens are a little closer to the playoffs at 7-6!

100 most popular songs of the decade (according to Billboard)

Here is a link to Billboard.com's Hot 100 of the decade. They basically list which songs were played the most from 2000-2009. The biggest surprises are Apologize by One Republic & Timbaland was put higher on the charts that Outkast Hey Ya and the most popular Usher according to this list is U got it bad. I don't believe either one of those but check out the rest list!

Link- http://www.billboard.com/#/charts-decade-end/hot-100-songs?year=2009&begin=1&order=position

Blacroc featuring Mos Def & Jim Jones on Letterman

This is the performance of Ain't nothing like you from Blacroc's album on Late Night with Dave Letterman. Pretty good performance. Funny to watch Mos Def vibe to Jim Jones' rhymes.

Mos Def- Supermagic Video

Video for first track on Mos Def's superb "The Estatic" album. I'll let the video do the talking on this one.

50 Cent- Do you think about me?

New 50 cent video "Do you think about me?". Vivica A. Fox and some other chicks are in this video. Its got slashed tires,voodoo dolls and explosions in it. Check it out!

Beyonce nominated for 10 GRAMMYS!!

Beyonce recieved 10 grammy nominations during the live Grammy Nominations Concert last week. This is definitely an astounding accomplishment in her career. She leads all artist in nominations for the upcoming Grammy Awards.

Halo was nominated for Record of the Year
Single Ladies was nominated for Song of the Year
Sasha Fierce was nominated for Album of the Year

And the list goes on...

Keri Hilson got two nods that night as well. Jay-Z and Lil Wayne lead the Hip Hop artist in nominations but that shouldn't surprise anyone. What surprised me was Money Goes, Honey Stay collabo with Jay-Z and Fabolous got nominated. Don't get me wrong its a great song but it was not amongst the most popular hip hop songs of the year but hey, maybe the academy DOES actually care about quality.

The winners will be announced at the 52nd annual Grammy Awards Ceremony on Jan 31.

Congrats to all the artist who were nominated!

Eminem ft Dr Dre - Hell Breaks Loose | Audio | Rap Basement

Eminem ft Dr Dre - Hell Breaks Loose | Audio | Rap Basement

This song is a perfect example of why Eminem and Dr.Dre are like Brady and Moss. Apart they are great but together they are perfection!

Can the Ravens handle the Packers in Green Bay?

Next Monday night the Ravens have a primetime game vs the Packers. They will be playing at Lambeau Field in December on Monday night. That sounds like a major homefield advantage to me.

The Packers are injury ridden but still manage to fight hard on the weekly basis. They are missing CB Al Harris but still have Charles Woodson, tied fourth in the league in interceptions with seven. This defense has transitioned pretty well from a 4-3 to a 3-4. The rookie Clay Matthews is leading the team in sacks with five. They are currently the number one defense in the league and have a turnover differential of +17. YIKES!

Aaron Rodgers and their offense are sixth in the league and can hit a defense from all sides. Ryan Grant can burst the threw the middle at almost anytime. He has 890 rushing yards so far this year. Aaron Rodgers is no stiff in the pocket. He has 247 yards rushing but is most dangerous when throwing to Jennings, Driver and others. He has 3136 passing yards and a 104.9 passer rating. YIKES!

This game may surprise Ravens fans. Alot of people think the Ravens have instantly started on a playoff run and no team will get in their way. Fact of the matter is the Packers seem to serve a lot on their platter and the Ravens probably cannot handle it all. The way the Ravens win is continue to spread the ball around more on offense like they did vs. the Steelers and play solid pass defense. Of course this is easier said than done!

Juelz Santana ft Carlee Voice - Gangsta Luv (Freestyle) | Audio | Rap Basement

Juelz Santana ft Carlee Voice - Gangsta Luv (Freestyle) | Audio | Rap Basement

Hmm... This is no better than the original by Snoop Dogg. But this is not the first time Juelz Santana has made a corny remake. Santana you just need to focus on putting out the album because freestyles like this are not helping your buzz!

Listen if you dare.

Lupe fiasco new mixtape

Lupe Fiasco released a new mixtape on Thanksgiving called Enemy of the state. It is available for download all over the web. He spits some rediculous stuff on this won. Cop it its available for free and yes its legal... I think.

Roethlisberger NOT playing!

Ben Roethlisberger will not be playing in this showdown between the Steelers and the Ravens tonight. This changes almost everything for the Ravens defense. Stepping in is second year quarterback Dennis Dixon.

This probably means that they will put more of the load on the running backs particularly Rashard Mendenhall since Willie Parker is also on the injury report.

Does this mean the Ravens automatically win... NO. But this will make it much easier for the Ravens to outscore their opponent because their starting quarterback is out. WIth that being said, I think the Ravens win!

Steelers at Ravens

This Sunday night under the bright lights the whole nation will be watching the these two teams buckle up their chin-straps and clash. The 6-4 Pittsburgh Steelers will be coming to Baltimore to take on the Ravens.

The Steelers are the 5th rated passing team in the league averaging 268 passing yards/game and staring cornerback Fabian Washington was just put on IR. This is the biggest problem for the Ravens coming into this game. Harbaugh said that Washington's spot will be replaced by committee although it is widely speculated that Lardarius Webb will get his first start at the position. Whoever starts better be able to get on top of Santonio Holmes who has given the Ravens problem in the last couple of encounters between the two.

On offense, the two tackles for the Ravens handled Freeney and Mathis last week. This week they have a different challenge but they are up to it. James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley have combined for 15 sacks so far this year. If the O-line can provide a push for Ray Rice and protect Flacco in the pocket, the Ravens offense may be able to put up enough points to win.

Since their loss to the Bengals in week 5 the Ravens have been tied for first in the league in scoring defense by allowing just 15.2 points a game. Last week we saw the Ravens defense give Peyton Manning and co. a problem so I know this same defense is capable of tormenting Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense.

The Ravens only win if the offense can be more productive than they have been in the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately it does not turn around in this game.

Steelers 17 Ravens 10.

Injury Report in the Steelers' favor?

Ravens

Terrell Suggs (Doubtful)
Ray Lewis (Questionable)
Ed Reed (Questionable)
Matt Birk (Probable)
Todd Heap (Probable)
Jarret Johnson (Probable)
Haloti Hgata (Probable)
LJ Smith (Probable)

Steelers

Charlie Batch (Out)
Chris Komeatu (Out)
Troy Polomalu (Out)
Travis Kirschke (Questionable)
Ben Roethlisberger (Questionable)
Willie Parker (Probable)


This week we see some of the biggest names from both sides in this contest on the injury report. Ravens chances of playing Terrell Suggs are doubtful and the Steelers will be without Troy Polomalu altogether. Ben Roethlisberger is listed as questionable but will most likely start Sunday night. Ed Reed and Ray Lewis are listed as questionable as well because of foot injuries. Good to see Haloti ngata probable rather than as like he was last week vs the Colts. Looks like the injury report plays in the favor of the Steelers. Especially if Ray Lewis or Ed Reed do not play.

Washington and Lawrence done for the year

Fabian Washington, starting cornerback for the Ravens, was put on IR after he tore his ACL in the game vs the Colts last Sunday. The Ravens signed CB Cary Williams, former Tennessee practice squad member, to take his roster spot although Lardarius Webb is more likely to start in Washington's place.

Matt Lawrence was also put on IR after being inactive for two weeks because of a knee injury. In response, the team signed FB Charles Ali. Ali will probably take Lawrence's place on special teams. This move will not affect Leron Mcclain's reps.

The injury bug has arisen again in past few weeks. It has gotten Haruki Nakamura and the two aforementioned injured players in the last two weeks. Hopefully the Ravens have enough talented depth to effectively replace the these players. Otherwise the already slim chances of getting ending with a winning record gets even tougher to accomplish.

Charles Hamilton - Charles Hamilton is back

Charles Hamilton - Charles Hamilton Is Back | Audio | Rap Basement

Charles hamilton is a crazy monkey cuz this song is bananas. Sounds like he is coming back with a vengence and I like it!

Survivor Series- "Pretty good"!

I attended Survivor Series last night and it was my first time attending a live wrestling event. It was truly enjoyable. The crowd has all kinds of fans mixed together, the pyrotechnics were super-loud and you get to see what happens in between matches.

But during the matches there was plenty of lively entertainment. The elimination matches were good. Team Miz vs Team Morrison did not impress me but Team Kofi vs Team Orton did. The way Kofi finished the matched was incredible even though I was anticipating seeing him RKO'ed by Randy Orton. The triple threat matched between Chris Jericho, Big Show and Undertaker was average. I knew Taker was going to win I only watched to see which move he would use to win with. Finally, the main event lived up to the hype. Shawn Michaels set the tone by knocking out Triple H early with the Sweet Chin Music. The only dissapointment was, CENA WON!

Overall, it was a great experience. I must say I did miss the commentary of King, Cole and the rest but during the action that became just an afterthought. Survivor Series was not superb but it was pretty good.

Not good enough...

The Ravens lost to the Indianapolis Colts by 2. The final score was 17-15. The game was a field goal race after Indianapolis came out and scored quickly on the first drive of the game. If just one of their many goal line attempts resulted in a touchdown rather then a field goal attempt, they would have won the game.

The defense did their part in preventing Peyton Manning from running up the score even though he had almost 300 passing yards. They forced several turnovers in key situations.

The offense was moving the ball in between the 20's but in the redzone they froze up. They started of the game as they usually do by not scoring a touchdown in the first half but when they clock struck 0 at the end of the fourth they still had not scored a touchdown. Bright spots- Ray Rice (20 carries-70 yards/7 catches-64 yards) and Derrick Mason (9 catches-142 yards).

Now the Ravens are at 5-5. People are saying they can get into the playoffs at 10-6. This means that in order for the Ravens to go they can only lose one more game. Honestly, it looks like the Ravens will not be playing in the playoffs this year. They are already sliding out of the picture and they have not even played Pittsburgh yet. Looks like serious trouble!

Colts at Ravens

I am pretty nervious about this one. The Ravens beat one of the worst teams in the Nfl in an unconvincing fashion. This week they will be facing one of if not THE best team in the Nfl. Here is how these teams match-up:

Offense

Total Offense
Ravens: 348.9 ypg (13th)
Colts: 401.1 ypg (3rd)

Rushing Offense
Ravens: 118.1 ypg (14th)
Colts: 86.0 ypg (29th)

Passing Offense
Ravens: 230.8 ypg (15th)
Colts: 315.1 ypg (1st)

Defense

Total Defense
Ravens: 302.8 ypg (7th)
Colts: 322.7 ypg (13th)

Rushing Defense
Ravens: 93.9 ypg (5th)
Colts: 108.7 ypg (14th)

Passing Defense
Ravens: 208.9 ypg (13th)
Colts: 214.0 ypg (16th)

Ultimately it will come down to how well the Ravens defense does in stopping the Colts offense. Without Terrell Suggs, the Ravens will lose some of their pass rushing force. The secondary will not be able to handle the repitoire Manning has to work with. Flacco and Rice may be able to put up some points against this defense but not enough to best Manning and co.

The only chance for the Ravens to win is for their offense to start off hot otherwise the win will be almost unreachable by halftime.

Colts 33 Ravens 17

Jay-Z finally gets his first #1 single as a lead performer

This week Jay-Z's song Empire State of Mind featuring Alicia Keys topped the Hot 100. This makes it the first time Jay-Z has topped the charts as a lead artist. He has been apart of number one songs like Rihanna's Umbrella, Beyonce's Crazy in Love and Mariah Carey's Heartbreaker but never made a chart topper of his own.

This settles the argument about which Jay-Z song is the most popular of all time. I guess it is not H to the Izzo or 02' Bonnie and Clyde its this one. Congratulations Jay, took you long enough!

B.O.B/Bobby Ray- No Mans Land

Here is a video from B.O.B or Bobby Ray or whatever is name is. Its not all that hip hop sounding but its a good video. Watch it!

This game really could have been on Sunday at 1pm...

The Ravens defeated the Cleveland Browns 16-0 on Monday Night Football in a nationally televised uncaptivating game. The birds won but not in the dominating fashion I and many others expected. This can be partially accredited to the seven penalties for fourty-three yards Baltimore committed.

Also the Ravens scored all of their points in the third quarter. At half time neither team had put up any points. The closest attempt came from a field goal attempt that Steve Hauschka missed. Because of this, I would not be surprised if the Ravens bring in the someone to try out for that position.

We saw the offense start slowly again. The Browns defense was getting major pressure of Flacco from almost every angle and as a result Flacco could not throw the deep ball that he wanted.

In the second half, we saw the Ravens energized by a touchdown drive that ended with a 13 yard touchdown run by Ray Rice. From there, the defense did there part by creating turnovers and robbing the Browns offense of any dignity they thought they brought of the locker room. Dawan Landry had a 48 yard pick-six. The second interception thrown by Brady Quinn was intercepted by Chris Carr and led to one of the only two kicks made by Hauschka on the night(had an extra point blocked).

I was glad to see the Ravens get their hands on the opposing quarterback. They had four sacks, two from linebackers. Jarret Johnson has become the pass rusher that Terrell Suggs was supposed to be. Speaking of Suggs, he came out of the game earlier because of an injury.

This allowed Paul Kruger to get some signficant time in at outside linebacker and from what I saw I was not impressed. His first instinct seems to be bull rush but he cannot succeed by that being his only way of rushing the passer. I saw him try a spin move one time and it did not help his cause. I will say he has potential to develop into a Jarret Johnsonesque player but he needs a lot more time.

Overall, I learned that the Ravens are not the team they came into the season as. In the Chiefs game I saw a team with enough offensive fire power to compensate for their defensive shortcomings. But on Monday the offense could not take advantage of the opportunities their defense gave them. I think the next two games are going to be VERY difficult for the Ravens. The undefeated Colts and the Steelers will not be as easy to shut out.

HipHopDX | Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News, & Rap Music News | Katt Williams Speaks On Recent Arrest

HipHopDX | Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News, & Rap Music News | Katt Williams Speaks On Recent Arrest

Katt Williams speaks on being arrested on charges of burglary and criminal trespassing. Thats right people, he was accused of stealing 3,500 dollars worth of jewelry. I got one question. With all the money he has, isn't this chump change? Well that's Williams' defense. Check it out!

AFC North is theirs for the taking. No NOT the Ravens!

Today the Bengals traveled to Pittsburgh and defeated their closest division competition Steelers 18-12 for the second time this year. This means that the Bengals have swept both the Steelers and Ravens this year and are standing firm at the top of the division at 7-2.

Today they beat the Steelers with their defensive muscle although the Steelers earned more offensive yards then they did. Neither quarterback threw for more than 200 passing yards nor did a running back earn more than 50 yards rushing yards. Cedric Benson left the game early with a hip injury so this left the Bengals without their superproductive running game(why didnt this happen last week, I dont know).

The biggest play for the Bengals was a 96 yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the first quarter. This got the cats up early but the defense won the game by keeping the Steelers' offense from touching the endzone.

At this point the division belongs to the Bengals as long as they play like this. Now the Ravens have to beat the suddenly pass happy Steelers with their suspect pass defense twice in order to finish second place in the AFC North and have a chance for a wildcard spot.

I haven't written this season of yet Ravens fans. The team is just going to have to win every easy game and surprise us with a couple of upsets to get to the playoffs. Priority #1 is win at least 2 of the last three division games. If they win against the Browns on Monday, they will be one small step closer to sliding on their pads in January.

Oh its just the Cleveland Browns, no biggie! Right?

On Monday Night Football the Baltimore Ravens are going to Cleveland to take on the stagnant Browns. Looking at both team's records you would think the an average team will be facing off against a horrible team. That is not the case here.

The Ravens offense is rolling on all cylinders this year except when they face a defense that can consistently get in Joe Flacco's face. The Browns are not one of those teams. The Ravens are currently ranked 10th in the league for offensive yards gained per game. Ray Rice is a dual threat that can smash a defense running through the A gap or catch a pass out the backfield and run up the sidelines. Flacco still has pass threats Todd Heap and Derrick Mason but this year Kelley Washington, nine year veteran, has stepped up and become a consistent third down conversion man from the slot.

The defense has been inconsistent so far this year but I think they will show up and look good on Monday because of the offense they are playing against.

The Browns offense's inability to develop productivity is mostly to blame on not having one quarterback they trust to lead their offense to success. One week they have Derek Anderson starting he plays a pathetic game and a week later they choose Brady Quinn to start. They have been doing this all year. At the reciever position they traded their best option away to the Jets. So now they have Mohammed Massaquoi who can get open for the big play but will not do it on a consistent basis. This is probably the only thing the Ravens' "D" should seriously pay attention to because the run game will not be a challenge to the front seven.

Their leading rusher is former Raven first round pick Jamal Lewis. He is aging and declining so he will not be a threat the Ravens have to worry about.

Their defense has some good players like D'Qwell Jackson, Eric Barton and Shawn Rogers on their roster but two of those three are done for the season. The worst ranked defense in the Nfl will be disected by Flacco and his variety of weapons. Ray Rice will run wild and when the Browns defense puts eight in the box, Flacco will unleash the deep ball.

If the Ravens score points and do not turn over the ball, they will take home a "W". They need this divsion win to stay with the teams in the wildcard run. The Browns are not good enough to push around the Ravens like the Bengals did.

Ravens 27, Browns 7

ECW sucks... WE KNOW!!

RVD recently spoke with a British newspaper about today's ECW and how the product is horribly watered down and this was Mcmahon's plan the whole time. Vince basically used the One Night Stand ppv in 2006 to let people know he was using the name to start another show.

The problem is ECW is not ECW. The acronym stands for Extreme Championship Wrestling but when I watch ECW every match is a normal singles match. Rarely do I see a chair hit anything but the butts of the people on Ringside. It's an hour of third tier wrestling with no excitement. This is why no one watches it. The only way for ECW to regain its glory and respect as a hardcore dynasty is to end it now with one REAL hardcore show. There is no point of belaboring the situation.The only good that comes from it is the fact that the show is just a way for the superstars barely on roster to compete.

WWE needs to either find a way to spice up the show now or kill it because its already dead!

Mike Tyson Arrested at LAX

Mike Tyson Arrested at LAX (TMZ)

Shame. Mike Tyson just keeps digging himself deeper into this ditch of deplorability. Basically Tyson punched a guy in the paparazzi and put him in the hospital. Of course, TMZ has it first.

Lupe Fiasco - All The Way Turnt Up (Freestyle) | Audio | Rap Basement

Lupe Fiasco - All The Way Turnt Up (Freestyle) | Audio | Rap Basement

It know this is just a freestyle but I CANT STOP LISTENING TO IT! The beat came from JR writer's Cinecrack 1.5 mixtape but I do not know who produced it. The point is this is SICK. I just might listen to it two more times after I finish here, feel free to join me!

Wale- Attention Deficit (Must Buy Dont Download)

Washington Post Review of Wale- Attention Deficit
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/09/AR2009110903355.html
XXlmag Review of Wale- Attention Deficit
http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=57181
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WHAT I THINK

It feels like we have been waiting an eternity for this album to be released. And now that it is finally out it was worth the anticipation. This album is what I expected from Wale. It showcases his lyrical acumen over some quality beats. Producers like Mark Ronson, Cool & Dre, Best Kept Secret and The Neptunes all contribute to Wale's debut major release. With the help of some renown and up & coming artist Wale creates a polished, good collection of conscience, club and car cruising songs to vibe to. Chillin the debut single from the album features Lady Gaga and is clearly the attempt to capture the attention of clubbers and does a decent job.

One of my favorites: I like most of them but Beautiful Bliss lets fans hear all of artist signed to Roc Nation (Jay-Z's new label) on one track and I must say it is truly epic listening to perhaps the future of urban music. Hey you never know the talent is there.

Extra Point: I love the fact that Wale does not lose track of where he came from. In fact he uses it to seperate himself from the rest of the Hip Hop game that is from generally everywhere but D.C. Many of his metaphors refer to things that are familiar to homegrown Washingtonians but are foreign to anyone else. A prime example of this is Go-Go music. You can hear the influence of that music genre in many of the instrumentals on this album. This maybe be a barrier for nationwide fans but I do not think it will affect anyone's view of the overall album. This is a masterful complilation of good hip hop especially in our current time when jerks and juice men are prominent.

Go to target or bestbuy or wherever you go to buy cd's (Walmart for youngsters), purchase this album and support a talented young artist with stifling stardom potential.

The day after

Man oh Man was I wrong. Not only did the Ravens lose but they lose in a way I did not expect.

The Ravens defense did not get off the field on third downs and allowed the Bengals offense to sustain long scoring drives in the first half. Contrary to my belief, the Ravens did not play poorly because they gave up alot of big plays, they let Cedric Benson run rampant on them. Benson had another hundred yard rushing game with 117 yards on 34 carries. Although all of this was without Haloti Ngata, I honestly do not think he would have made a huge impact in this game. The defense was just embarrassed.

The Ravens offense was simply pathetic yesterday. Joe Flacco had two interceptions and no touchdown passes. The last attempt at a scoring drive Flacco took sack after sack virtually eliminating the slim chance they had of scoring. The only score Baltimore generated was two yard run by Ray Rice. Rice was the only bright spot on this side of the ball. He had 135 total yards from scrimmage.

Once again when the team is counting on him to nail the kick, Steve hauschka chokes! He missed a 38 yard attempt with 6:12 left in the game after Ed Reed forced a turnover to put them in position. Him making the kick would have switch the momentum to the Ravens favor and would have gotten the team that much closer to winning. What should the Ravens do with this guy? I am not saying that he lost this game but earlier this season versus the Vikings he had the game in his lap but he let it slip away. He has definitely become quite the liability and I don't think he has given the Ravens a reason to trust him in clutch time.

Overall the Ravens are showing how inconsistent they are and just made getting to the playoffs a lot harder. At this point they probably won't win the division. They have already been swept by the Bengals and they have not even played the Steelers yet. Baltimore you should be ashamed of yourself.

Ravens at Bengals

Well here is the most important divisional game for the Ravens so far this year. It's a bigger deal because of the lost to the Bengals earlier this year when they came to Baltimore.

The key points will be stopping Cedric Benson without Haloti Ngata. The Ravens also must stop Carson Palmer from consistently connecting deep ball with his plethora of receivers. DC(Defensive Coordinator) Mattison dialed up the pressure last week against the Broncos. This week he MUST get just as much or more pressure on Carson Palmer otherwise it will be a long embarrassing day for the defense.

On offense, they must be able to drive down the field on this defense. Odom, their sack leader, is out for the season so their pass rush may be easier to contain. Derrick Mason must catch the ball! Last game vs the Bengals he did not have a single catch. The final way for the offense to be successful is to continue to get Ray Rice involved in every way possible. Let him catch some check downs and/or run the ball in the I formation. He is one of the best open field runners in NFL and only good things can come if the ball is in his hands.

One would think that going to Cincinatti would be a huge disadvatage for the Ravens but I do not think the crowd will be much of a factor. The Ravens have played well on the road ever since John Harbaugh became the head coach. If the Ravens play good fundamental football, do not turn it over, and force their opponents to make some mistakes they should come out victorious.

Pick- Ravens 24 Bengals 20

GMA Preview of 20/20 interview w/ Rihanna

Wow. Finally someone in this relationship reveals the emotions involved. Theres not much more to add there. Ill let Rihanna speak because she tells it best.

Benson - Ngata = Reason for Ravens fans to worry

This Sunday the Baltimore Ravens will travel to Cincinnati to face the AFC North leading Cincinnati Bengals. Earlier this year when the Bengals came to Baltimore Carson Palmer led a fourth quarter comeback assisted by Baltimore's defensive penalties. Cedric Benson ran for 120 yards and broke the streak the defense had of 39 consecutive games without allowing a 100 yard rusher and worst of all they won the game and got the divisional win they needed to sit at atop their division.

This year Benson has had a comeback year making a home in the top 5 rushing leaders so far this year. On the other hand, the Ravens run defense had seemed to regress to a soft vulnerable defense incapable of defending the run. The Bengals, Patriots and Vikings all had a hand in the ravens falling from first in the division to third in the month of October.

They did it by taking advantage of the underperforming secondary and having just a little bit of luck. The Bengals game winning touchdown was thrown right down the middle of the field where Andre Caldwell stepped in virtually untouched. The Patriots were getting man handled by the Ravens offensive line in the fourth quarter until Flacco through the perfect pass to Mark Clayton for what would have been a first down but it was dropped. Then a week later when the Ravens drive down the field on the Vikings defense, the lose when Steve Hauschka misses a kick in the final seconds of the game.

But this Sunday after the Ravens defeating the Broncos at home in what seemed to be the revival of the intimidating Ravens defense the Ravens could very well split the series this year between the Birds and Cats (Ravens and Bengals people jeez!). If the defense can treat Benson like Knowshown Moreno, they should have a good chance of grabbing the "W" in a hostile environment at Paul Brown Stadium.

The only setback will be whether Haloti Ngata will anchor down the defensive line when showtime comes. He has a sprained ankle and has missed Wednesday's practice. That does not sound all that bad but now there is speculation that he may not play at all this weekend. If the Ravens are without one of the best defensive tackles in the league(by that I am refering to Ngata) come Sunday, the middle of the defense maybe more vulnerable to big plays bursting through the middle than they were three games ago.

Justin Bannan is talented but there is only one Haloti Ngata. Lets hope and pray that 92 is standing tall come Sunday at 1:00pm.

J-3 & Sir Real- Feelin it (remix)

This is a great remake from a couple guys that people should open their ears to. They are young and talented. J-3 is grinding and has other videos on youtube and Sir Real has a MySpace if you want to check them out. You should play this if you ride with early Jay-Z (Reasonable Doubt, Streets is Watching and In my Lifetime, Vol 1)because these guys are for real.

J-3
http://www.youtube.com/jaytothethird

Sir Real
http://www.myspace.com/emyhrthebeatmaker

(Redskins) You know its bad when...

your owner feels that he has to tell the press that his team has been underperforming and is a dissapointment. Being from the land of the Skins, I know how passionate the fans are for that franchise but really folks? This has to be one of the worst teams in the league in almost every aspect. Their 24th ranked offense is atrocious considering some of the readily available weapons Jason Campbell has to work with. Special teams is nothing to look twice at seeing as though their oppenents this year all have a higher punt return average than they. And worse of all their first seven games included all losing teams and they came out 2-5!
If I were head coach of their next opponent the only thing I would gameplan for is playing against their defense who is currently ranked 5th in the league. They are doing a decent job of stoping oppenents from returning kicks up and down the field on them.

But Jason Campbell has been given chance after chance to emerge as a valuable quarterback but it hasn't worked out. If that situation with Campbell were to ever succeed, everyone around him would have to play exceptionally well but that is not the case. There are crucial imperfections in the offensive line, Clinton Portis is not running a step past decent and Santana Moss would have to more like Randy Moss in order to cover up how bad his quarterback is playing.

There needs to be some serious changes very soon (perhaps during the season) to make this team better. Because Jason Campbell is no Doug Williams and Jim Zorn is no Joe Gibbs so the redskins need to stop thinking this offense is going to magically come together somehow. But at this rate there will be no need to take immediate action, the Redskins are going to have a very long off-season to work on their problems because they WON'T be playing in January!

Rihanna is back on her ish!

Rihanna ft Young Jeezy - Hard (Dirty) | Audio | Rap Basement

After hearing Russian Roulette, I was happy to hear music from Rihanna again but I was worried that the song was way to dark for the masses to get attached to. But now, Rihanna is radio ready with this Jeezy assisted track. She is cocky but is subtly cocky. Jeezy was like extra sugar in cake batter, the result is enjoyable with him but would be just as sweet without him. In the first verse, she is almost rapping which caught my attention. She could have slid that verse in Run this town... Just kidding.

You go Rihanna. You go hard and we know it. You said it best "Your the hottest ***** in here". You go hard and you're officially back on your ish!

Jay-Z feat Alicia Keys- Empire State of Mind

One of the most anthemic songs of the year finally has an official music video for fans to watch and enjoy. Empire State of Mind, an ode to Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' hometown New York City, has gained major steam in the past month. Their performance at the 2009 Video Music Awards fueled the fire that is now the buzz this song has generated. When that song plays you feel like New York City is a grungy but magical place where dreams come true. Many who have listened to the riveting song would say that the song has an unparalleled "vibe".

I loved the song from the first time I heard it. The prestine vocals of Alicia Keys and the honest and at certain times grimy lyrics of Jay-Z's verses capture New York in the few minutes song plays. The music video just further emphasizes the message these two are trying to relay. People you must watch the video and feel the passion these artist are pouring out of themselves into the this amazing piece of art.

Processed Food Linked to Depression Research Says

This is an interesting article about how researcher experimented to see whether or not Fried and/or processed foods can lead to depression. Long story short... Yes. According to the article,"people with a diet heavy in processed food had a 58 percent higher risk of depression". Of course with every fried food bashing research experiment, they suggest eating more fruits and vegetables, blah. You can also eat fish to counteract this trend but I think thats only if the fish avoids the frying pan.

Moral of the Story people if your diet is donuts in the morning, burger and fries in the afternoon and fried chicken for dinner, you'll probably wake up the next day more depressed. So lighten up, pick up an apple and live life the happy and healthy way although personally I don't see what's wrong with a box of Krispy Kreme's every now and then.

If you want to read the article check this out, http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091102/hl_afp/lifestylebritainhealthresearch

The Return of Ric Flair

I knew it I knew it. I knew the nature boy was not going to hang up his robe forever. Ric Flair is currently training twice-a-day to get back in shape to perform in the ring in the forseeable future.Personally I enjoyed watching the nature boy set foot in the ring and make entire arenas shout "WOOOOOOO!!" on his command. But does his return to the squared- circle diminish the send off Shawn Michaels and the WWE gave him at Wrestlemania XXIV that earned he and Shawn Michaels 2008 PWI Match of the Year? Even though he is no longer wrestling with the WWE, all the emotions involved with the possiblility of seeing Ric Flair wrestle for the last time seem to be all for not.
Nature boy admit it, eventually even you have to call it quits. Let some younger talent take the spotlight and establish a name for themselves. You are too old to be limosine riding, wheeling and dealing and so forth. Hang em up naitch... YOUR DONE!

Broncos vs Ravens

Well Purple City, you wanted the shut-down defense the Ravens are known for to show up on Sunday versus the then undefeated Denver Broncos. They did. Not only did the Ravens win the game and once again rise above.500, they also made a statement by statistically embarrassing one of the best teams in the NFL. I will say this if the Ravens can consistently play that well in all three fazes of the game. We will be watching the Ravens take the field in January. Flaps your wingz Ravens fans cuz we're all birds of a purple feather!

It begins

Okay people. I know the world has been waiting to here what I have to say about various topics so here it is. Hip Hop, Football, Wrestling and just other random stuff its all here so in the words of the immortal Black Eyed Peas... LETS GET IT STARTED!