Super Bowl 51 Halftime Show

FINALLY!!! It’s something I’ve been begging for for years. As yet another big middle finger to the hypermasculinity of football, Lady Gaga is set to perform the halftime show in this season’s Super Bowl. You may remember she had already sung the national anthem at this past Super Bowl, but this is the real deal. It comes after two years of other such high profile events: her duets album with Tony Bennett, multiple awards show performances, the aforementioned national anthem, appearing in American Horror Story, and now this.

Gaga is another in a string of recent acts like Katy Perry and Beyonce, twice really for the latter, that you’d think no typical football fan likes. But they are all beloved by many and fitting for the show. There’s just so much she can do with this though. Will it be a medley of old tracks? Mostly stuff from the soon-to-be-released new album? Likely it’s going to be both. I mean you don’t go to a Britney Spears show in Vegas just to see everything from her cd Glory, right? No.

If you had to ask me, her best cd was by far The Fame Monster, the EP deluxe addition to her first album The Fame, so that’s the stuff I want to see. Though since it will more than likely be a complete medley, I say start out with an opening of Bad Romance, transition into Paparazzi or Poker Face, something from her next album Joanne, and end it with The Edge Of Glory or Applause. The great thing about Gaga used to be that you don’t know what to expect with her though. You can never forget the meat dress, her male alter ego Jo Calderone, or arriving on the red carpet in a giant egg. That stuff is classic her and nobody can ever match that level of randomness and artistry, aside from David Bowie of course. There’s been no details about the setlist or what will go on, so it’s all up in the air.

Regardless of what goes down, this will be the spectacle of 2017. There is nobody like Mother Monster. Long live the queen!

The Brent Primus Show – “Worst Weekend of My Life” (Ep. 104) [9/28/16]

B uploads the podcast to his own channel again because the Gardens Soundcloud continues not to work.

Get Trumped: The Democratic Party

Bananas absolute bananas. That is the only way to describe the debates last night. The moderating was terrible. Donald Trump did not say much besides sticking up for his business and trying to clear his name. Hillary Clinton sat and just watched Trump speak and gave her old political BS, that no one takes serious anymore.

The most surprising part of the night was when all of the polls came out to see who won the debate. CNN first reported that Hillary won in a landslide but every single poll that has came out since has Trump winning in a landslide. I’m not exaggerating. Every. Single. Poll. I thought he did a good job debating for his first time one on one but I did not expect him to be getting every poll going his way.

Bottom line is no matter how good Hillary Clinton does in a debate she will never beat Donald Trump. The only person capable of beating Trump in a debate is Bernie Sanders.

Trump and Sanders were definitely America’s two favorite presidential nominees because of their use of language. The way they spoke to their audiences with passion, inspired their followers. Hillary Clinton does not have that fire in her heart and her supporters don’t even have that inspiration to put in work to see her get elected as President of the United States.

You read it hear first, no matter what Hillary or Trump does on the debate stage. Donald Trump will always win. Sadly the only hope the Democratic Party had at stopping Trump was Bernie Sanders who should have gotten the party’s nomination. I am not a Bernie Sanders supporter but it is obvious to say that their corrupt political decision of giving Hillary the nomination will hurt them in the long run.

The prediction of what will happen in the next month is pretty clear. Trump will win the next two debates by a landslide just like he did last night, whether he speaks with substance or not. When election day rolls around, you will see Trump once again on top. For the last time I will say- Trump will win because he has the ability to inspire people. Whether you agree with his policies or not, you have to admit he does strike passion in American’s eyes. Newsflash to every American out there, Hillary cannot win on Never Trump voters alone.

The Hug Seen ‘Round The World

 

Well there’s something you never thought you’d see. The Obamas and ‘Dubya’ were at a Smithsonian opening together, where it’s important to note it was centered on African American culture no less. Laura’s thinking “God, why did I kill that guy as a teenager?” and the president’s glaring at his predecessor like “Bro, get away from my woman before you catch THESE hands.” Nobody expected this though. It’s republican and democrat, Texas and Chicago, Rangers and White Sox. (Remember, Obama threw out a first pitch at one of their games. Sorry @ all Cubs fans. That’s another thing you’ll never get.)

The internet went crazy over this, but that’s to be expected when something of this magnitude happens. Cue the edits.

Brad needs some love after the breakup.

Plants can be presidents?

Oh, Donald. Are you gonna marry Michelle next?

There’s so many to see and so many to laugh at. Please, in these trying times where so many bad things happen, it’s good to have this kind of stuff to see.

Jose Fernandez killed in boating accident

Wow, so tragic. Truly one of the best pitchers I’ve ever seen. Nasty stuff to go along with a larger than life personality. This really sucks.

 

RIP

Grey’s Anatomy Is Back

(Spoilers below…)

The show that never seems to end is back: it’s season 13 of Grey’s Anatomy. Last night was the season premiere so here’s your roundup of what went down.

Mer and Riggs

They made out late last season, so of course there’s been some tension leading from there. Maggie reveals she really likes Riggs at Amelia and Owen’s wedding, surprising Meredith. The tension continues to this current season so in the end of the episode Mer breaks it off in a way between the two, but they’ll likely get back together soon.

April’s Baby

As seen in the season 12 finale, Ben had to perform an emergency c-section on April’s baby at home. Both were expected to die but miraculously survived. In the premiere April is in the hospital resting and healing with her new baby, named Harriet, and Jackson’s mom/Harriet’s grandma argues with April over what the baby’s last name should be. Luckily, all is well in the end.

Jo Leaves Again, Or Does She?

Also happening in the season 12 finale, Jo reveals to DeLuca first that she is already married and left her last husband and changed her name because he beat her. (totally fucked up, right?) DeLuca took het back to her apartment from the bar to make sure she’s safe, but he fell on her on her and Karev’s bed, only to have him then come home and beat the shit out of DeLuca. But now, in the premiere, Jo struggles all episode with this and the info that DeLuca knows about her past life, threatening to Dr. Webber that she’ll leave Grey Sloan and start anew again, only in the end changing her mind.

…which leads us toooooo…

Karev In Jail

The main episode-long plot is the aftermath of Karev beating up DeLuca back in the apartment. The former’s hand is injured and the latter’s face all messed up, mostly hurt in the eyes. The police arrive at the hospital with various characters working and they all eventually get questioned. Bailey informs them she didn’t know what happened but her husband, Ben Warren, had suspicions after seeing Alex’s hand and DeLuca’s poor reaction to seeing that Karev was taking care of him. Meredith also knew the whole time it was in fact Karev who beat up DeLuca and not just a random accident or mugging, eventually turning him in and the two talk in jail.

Sooooooo much drama in an hour. Can’t wait for next week.

The Brent Primus Show – “Christmas Lights” (Ep. 103) [9/21/16]

B talks to himself for an hour about Christmas lights.

Note: Uploading this was a DISASTER. Almost as bad as the show. First, our Soundcloud didn’t work. Then our YouTube didn’t work. Meanwhile my MacBook is crashing left and right because the RAM is jacked up from macOS Sierra plus it’s on its last legs anyway. Then I created a separate YouTube channel for all of our podcasts but that also didn’t work. So I just uploaded it on my personal page for now. Oh well. Chaos.

NFL Week 2 Roundup, Week 3 Predictions

Week 2 of the NFL season wrapped up with rookie quarterback Carson Wentz leading the Eagles to a 29-14 victory over the Chicago Bears. Wentz takes my weekend MVP as he looked calm, cool, and collective in his first road win of his young NFL career. Yes, his first two professional games have been against the Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears, but Wentz has looked impressive. The second overall pick in this year’s NFL draft has completed 60% of his passes, thrown 3 touchdowns, no interceptions and has a quarterback rating of 93.8 in his first two games. Wentz looks like he is going to give the Eagles a chance to contend for the NFC East title. My worst NFL week 2 individual performance goes to the entire Jacksonville Jaguars team. As the saying goes, there is no I in team, so I have to give the Jaguars as a whole the worst performance of the weekend. In week 1, the Jags played the Green Bay Packers extremely well on both sides of the ball and were able to contend until the last play of the game where they were stopped on a 4th and 1 wide receiver screen. This weekend, the Jaguars were completely out of the game just minutes into the 3rd quarter trailing by 28 to a Chargers team that just lost their best wide receiver to injury. The Chargers turned the ball over 3 times on offense, missed a field goal, and gave up 38 points on defense. A team that had high hopes of contending for an AFC South title this season and  spent a ton of money building their defense in the offseason,  looks like the Jaguars of old.

My team of the week went to the Minnesota Vikings who defeated the Packers 17-14 in a defensive showdown. No Teddy Bridgewater? No Problem. Paging Sam Bradford. Did I see this right? Sam Bradford, former Philadelphia Eagle and St. Louis Ram outplaying Aaron Rodgers on Sunday night. Yes. Bradford went 22-31 with 286 yards and 2 touchdowns while connecting with Stefon Diggs 9 times for 182 yards and a touchdown. Bradford ran the offense efficiently and was able to take over the game through the air with Adrian Peterson struggling to get anything going on the ground. The Vikings played extremely well on the other side of the ball as well. They forced 3 fumbles and recovered a crucial fumble in the 4th quarter. Trae Waynes got beat all night in his match ups, but stepped up in the 4th quarter and intercepted an under thrown pass by Aaron Rodgers to Davante Adams to put the game away. The Vikings defense has looked solid in each of their games this season and should continue to be a top 10 defense throughout the season barring any injuries.

Moving onto week 3, here are my picks:

Patriots 20 Texans 17  Cardinals 31 Bills 17  Raiders 22 Titans 20  Dolphins 24 Browns 17  Jaguars 24 Ravens 20  Packers 34 Lions 24  Broncos 17 Bengals 14 Panthers 28 Vikings 20 Giants 30 Redskins 27 Buccaneers 20 Rams 17  Seahawks 24 San Francisco 14 Chiefs 24 Jets 20  Colts 35 Chargers 31  Steelers 30 Eagles 20 Cowboys 24 Bears 17  Saints 40 Falcons 34

Week 3 MVP prediction:

Aaron Rodgers. I can’t see Rodgers having two bad games in a row at Lambeau Field this week against the Detroit Lions. Rodgers has struggled dating back to last year. In his last 14 games he has not had a passer rating above 100 and last year he had a passer rating of 92.7, which was lower than his first season as a starter in 2008. With Jordy Nelson getting his legs back underneath him and Randall Cobb 100% healthy, Rodgers is poised for a bounce back game this weekend.  I think Rodgers throws for 280 plus yards, 4 touchdowns, and no interceptions.

 

 

Ho Hum, B1G Dominates Again

To no one’s surprise, the Big Ten Conference dominated the college football weekend again. Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, and, now, Nebraska defeated non-conference opponents to improve the B1G overall record to something like 504-3. Now, one of those loses was Iowa, who lost to National Champion/Power North Dakota State at home when they were favored by 18 points, the only true blemish for a B1G power thus far.

Ohio State routed Oklahoma on National TV at the same time Sparty cruised past Notre Dame after dropping 36-straight points on the Irish. I said it was a must-win weekend for the B1G, and the teams delivered.

Michigan started slow but ended up blowing out the Buffaloes from Colorado, and Nebraska became the favorite in the B1G West after upsetting Oregon. Wisconsin struggled for much of the day, but took home an important W before now facing MSU, UM, OSU, and Iowa in four consecutive weeks (they will lose all four).

It really, really sucks Iowa lost because now there could be chaos if the Hawkeyes manage to win the West again and make the Big Ten Championship Game. If they somehow could upset Ohio State, Michigan, or Michigan State, the conference would be shutout of the College Football Playoff. Not to mention, a win over Iowa in the title game this year will not be of the same importance as a win over last year’s undefeated squad. Huge loss for Kirk Ferentz and his new contract.

Onto my list of contenders…

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Clemson
4. Michigan
5. Michigan State
6. Houston
7. Stanford

Notice I did not include Louisville, who will not make the College Football Playoff because they will either lose to Clemson or Houston. They’re irrelevant, and I don’t believe the hype. They were not on my original list and I will not include them now. They remind me of Utah last season, who started hot, routed Oregon, but ultimately fell apart in a resemblance of what will happen to the Cardinals.

The Big 12 might as well cancel their season. Completely meaningless at this point. TEXAS IS BACK, FOLKS!

Reinforce-Mets

There’s no question that the New York Mets have suffered from the injury bug throughout the better portion of the 2016 season. Pretty much every player the roster (David Wright, Matt Harvey, Asdrubal Cabrera, Yoenis Cespedes, Jose Reyes, Zack Wheeler, and Neil Walker) has been plagued with DL stints and nagging injuries. Over the next few days, the New York Mets will welcome back Juan Lagares, Lucas Duda, and Jacob Degrom. Even with all of the injuries this season, the Mets have managed to keep their head above water going into tonight 8 games above .500 with 16 games left in the season. Juan Lagares will provide the Mets with a much needed right- handed outfield bat and speed on the base paths. He will improve the outfield defense as his speed allows him to track down balls in the alley that Yoenis Cespedes is unable to get to because of his ailing right quad. Lagares will be a great asset off of the bench for Terry Collins as a pinch runner and defensive replacement late in games down the playoff stretch.

It seems as if Lucas Duda hasn’t seen action in a big league uniform since he made the throwing error from first base to home last year in the World Series. He has only played in 39 games this year and has been out since early May due to a back injury. In those 39 games, Duda hit 7 home runs and was on pace to have another 30 home run season before the injury. James Loney has provided steady defense at first base while hitting .261 with 7 home runs and 29 RBI in 310 at bats. Although Loney has been a decent fill in at first, the 32 year old is starting to look as if his age is catching up with him late in the season. Loney is hitting just .200 with 1 home run and 5 RBIs over his last 30 games and has been losing playing time to Wilmer Flores. Terry Collins has reiterated that Duda will be used in a pinch hitting role for his first few games back and will be able to return as soon as tomorrow. Duda will provide the Mets with power in the middle of the order and protection behind Yoenis Cespedes in the lineup.

The most encouraging news that the Mets have received is that of the return of Jacob Degrom. Sidelined since September 4th with forearm inflammation that has caused Degrom to miss multiple starts, Degrom looks to add to an already potent rotation. Degrom played a huge role in the Mets playoff run last year going 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 13 innings during the postseason. Degrom has carried that success into this year posting a 3.04 ERA, with 7 wins, and 143 strikeouts, while dealing with various injuries and poor run support in his starts. Last year, the big 3 of Syndegaard, Degrom, and Harvey carried the Mets into the postseason and to the World Series. This year, Bartolo Colon will have to join Jacob Degrom and Noah Syndergaard as the big 3 as Matt Harvey is out for the season and Steven Matz has proved to be inconsistent possibly due to bone spurs.

Assuming the Mets continue their strong play over the next two and a half weeks of the season, their roster now contains a nucleus of players that were on the World Series team last season. With the return of Juan Lagares, Lucas Duda, and Jacob Degrom, the Mets now have the depth capable of producing a playoff birth via Wild Card spot and possible World Series appearance.