Superbowl XLVI Thoughts and Prediction

I haven’t done NFL picks all year, but since it’s the big game I decided I should post my prediction.

This has been a tough year for Jets fans. The Giants are mostly responsible for knocking the Jets out of playoff contention, and the Patriots are division rivals who beat the Jets both times in the regular season. This Superbowl is a nightmare for Jets fans, but I can’t NOT watch the Superbowl!

A lot has happened since Superbowl 42, when the Giants stunned the Patriots to end their quest for a perfect season. Since then the Patriots have fallen back down to earth, the Giants have not had much success, and the Jets have dominated the back pages of New York since coach Rex Ryan arrived in 2009. When Rex Ryan arrived he made plenty inflammatory statements saying the Jets were the best team in New York. Rather than ignoring those statements and cherishing/promoting their 2008 Superbowl, the Giants fans(mostly young ones) took the bait and have ignited a rivalry between the Jets and Giants that never really existed much before Rex Ryan arrived. All of it stemming out of pure jealousy of backpages and not reality.

So here we are talking about Superbowl 46, a game that will be tough to watch because if the Giants win you can bet the snobby wing of Giants fans will throw it back in the faces of Jets fans. If the Patriots win we will have to endure the endless gushing of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. It’s a lose-lose for Jets fans.

So who will I be rooting for? Well, it’s a pretty simple decision for me because I always root against the Patriots no matter who they play against.

Who will win? With Rob Gronkowski banged up I expect this to be an interesting game to watch. I fully expect Gronkowski to be used as a decoy to throw to Wes Welker or Chad Ochocinco. The question is will the Giants pass rush get to Tom Brady? I think that answer is yes, and I also think that Brady will get a few gift roughing the passer calls. Unfortunately, I expect the refs to play a big role in this game. It’s up to Eli Manning to blow out the shitty Patriot secondary and not make this a close game at all. The offensive coordinator, Kevin Gilbride also has to call a good game and run the ball against the Patriots.

In the end I see the Giants beating the Patriots 30-17

Review of 2011

As 2011 comes to a close it’s time for me to look back at how it went for me. For most people New Years is a time to get drunk, but for me it’s just a merely ‘turning of the page’.

Most people that know me, or that have read my writings know that I don’t mince my words. I take great pride in my ability to be honest and truthful when it comes to my opinions even if it’s an unpopular opinion or one made in a colorful manner. As I mentioned in my 2010 review, I don’t hide my negativity because I feel that it would be inauthentic to just be positive. We aren’t living in paradise folks!

Like last year my review will be broken down into the categories of personal, sports, entertainment, and politics.

Personal

Well, if you guessed that I’m still unemployed you’re a winner Yes, I’m still unemployed and I am getting extremely frustrated. I’m frustrated with some of the reactions around me that can’t seem to grasp that it’s hard to find a job. So far I have decided not to return to college because I just don’t feel it’s cost effective at the moment. I’m not saying I will never go back to college, but there are aspects of college that I find criminal like losing credits when transferring. Besides looking for jobs I am also researching ways to make an extra buck on my own. More on that later in this review…

As far as this website is concerned I have to admit that I have slacked off too much! That’s something that I will try my hardest to fix in 2012. Now for a few website details… I’m surprised to find out that for the second consecutive year my 24 Season 8 Episode 9: Worst Episode Ever post was my most viewed post of 2011. I’m also pleased that my Education: Brainstormng Questions post was my fourth most viewed post of 2011 in just the few months that it’s been published. Education is probably one of the subjects I will push hard on my blog in 2012. I decided to skip out on my NFL picks year because I didn’t feel it was necessary content on my website. If you want them to return in 2012 please let me know.

Sports

When it comes to sports, 2011 was an absolute disaster for me.

Let’s start with the Jets…The Jets made the playoffs last year and went to the AFC Championship game for the second year in a row year which was awesome. During their playoff journey the Jets managed to defeat the Patriots and avenge their blowout loss from the regular season. With the Jets in the AFC Championship game for the second year in a row the expectations were different. The Jets lost the game and to me this was a devastating loss. The team forgot how to tackle in the first half and managed to get within striking distance of the Steelers in the second half only for their awful offensive coordinator to blow four straight plays at the goal line of the Steelers. That was game over

After that AFC championship loss the Jets had expectations through the roof in 2011. Most people including myself saw this year as a Superbowl year. It didn’t take long into the regular season to find out that the Jets were not built for a championship. They’ve struggled mightily on offense all year and we’ve discovered their safeties (defense) couldn’t stop Humpty Dumpty. Currently the Jets have one more game left and need a lot of help to make the playoffs. Miracles can certainly happen, but I’m writing off their Superbowl chances this year. I hope their offensive coordinator gets fired.

When it comes to the Mets I don’t know what to say that hasn’t been said already. I’m so tired of the Wilpon family owning the Mets. I know we are supposed to sympathize with them for losing money because of the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme, but I refuse to. I’m a firm believer that the building of Citifield was out of greed and not necessity. Yes Shea Stadium wasn’t the prettiest stadium, but it was a baseball stadium and not an amusement park or restaurant mall like currently built sports stadiums. So should I really sympathize for an owner who built a new stadium out of greed and tore down a historical stadium? I had so many great memories in Shea Stadium that I feel like the Wilpons tore down a piece of my childhood in exchange for their personal greed. I said I didn’t go to a game in my 2010 review and that remained the same in 2011.

I’ve decided that as long as the Wilpons are still the decision makers I will not be going to anymore Mets games, but that doesn’t mean I wont follow the team. I still follow the team regularly and I feel the team is going in the wrong direction. I can’t stand General Manager Sandy Alderson. The way he dealt with letting Jose Reyes leave the Mets was disrespectful to the fans. He belongs in Congress and not as a baseball GM. Watch him speak his bullshit and you will agree with me.

Knicks basketball can’t come soon enough. I’m so happy the Knicks signed Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler. The Knicks are now a watchable team with reasonable expectations of making the playoffs. Hopefully as the Knicks season rolls along I will forget about the Mets.

The new Nets stadium is currently being built in my neighborhood and it looks really ugly. It’s slated to open in Fall 2012 so by next year’s review I should be able to give the scoop on the effect it has had on my neighborhood. For those wondering I will not change my allegiance!

In the wonderful world of tennis it appears that the era of dominance by Federer has ended and the era of dominance by Novak Djokovic is underway. I’m a Federer fan, but even as a sports fan it always sucks to see someone who was once so good appear to fade. Federer can still compete, but he’s no lock for Grand Slams anymore.

Entertainment

When it comes to entertainment it has been a mixed bag. I haven’t seen anything in the movies this year because I feel like nothing that great has come out. On the other hand when it comes to the world of video games it has been an excellent year. The last time I remember when this many good quality games came out was the late 90s. My favorite game of 2011 was Portal 2. Everything about this game captured me and the innovative co-op multiplayer was what put this game above other games I played in 2011. This is a game that I feel will stand the test of time.

2011 has been a year of me watching different random shows to try to find a good show since “24” has finished. I started watching NBC’s “The Event” in 2010 and it continued in 2011 which I found as an interesting show, but it was missing a special element(don’t know what) that made other shows successful. I never actually finished watching it, but I may try to later on just for closure. I also found myself watching “The Killing” on AMC this year which sucked me in. It’s a murder mystery show with many interesting elements that caught me by surprise. The season finale disappointed a lot of fans, but I had no problem with it. I can’t wait for Season 2. Don’t watch Season 2 without watching Season 1. Another show that I found myself casually watching was “Revenge” on ABC. I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s about a girl who tries to get revenge at various individuals for causing her father’s demise. It’s not the greatest show, but I watch it when I have time. The last show I found myself watching was “Homeland” on Showtime. This is such an awesome show. It’s made by the same people who did “24”. Without spoiling it, this show is about a CIA agent played by Claire Danes who is overseas and finds out that a marine has been turned by terrorists to try to execute a terrorist plot in the United States. This is a really good show and it’s not the same as “24”. The character development is much deeper than in “24” and Claire Danes does an amazing job.

I guess facebook counts as entertainment so I’ll put that here. I’ve found myself not using facebook that often in 2011 because the constant changes are annoying. Facebook is starting to resemble someone who went through so many plastic surgeries that it’s starting to look really ugly. I only sign on facebook when I need to respond to something quick. The random notifications facebook sends are really annoying also. On the other hand, Twitter is my best friend. I use twitter fairly often even if I don’t tweet.

Politics

A little over a year ago I switched my registration from Democrat to Independent and I can honestly say that after every month of 2011 I felt more comfortable with that decision.

When it comes to President Obama I also feel perfectly comfortable saying that he’s been a terrible President. I wanna throw up whenever I hear that he’s a former Constitutional Law professor. The one issue I want to highlight the most is the Wikileaks case of US Army private Bradley Manning, who in my opinion, was a political prisoner of the Obama administration. He’s getting a trial now, but he was denied a speedy trial which is supposed to be his right under Habeas Corpus. Not to mention that President Obama publicly declared Bradley Manning guilty without trial. To make matters even worse there were disturbing reports of Bradley Manning being tortured while in custody. (Google the case if you don’t know it because I don’t feel like writing the synopsis of what he’s accused of it)

Without getting into too much detail here is just a small sample list of other things I don’t like about President Obama that have continued or come to a forefront in 2011:

• Supporting indefinite detention of U.S. Citizens
• Supporting assassination of U.S. Citizens overseas
• Supporting war/conflict with Libya without Congressional approval
• Still Drone attacking the Middle East
• Still supporting Patriot Act
• Continuation of Afghanistan War
• I would have preferred Osama Bin Laden to stand trial

One last final tidbit I want to mention about President Obama is the the praise he’s receiving for pulling troops out of Iraq in 2011. I believe he deserves some praise, but the politics behind the decision have been overlooked by the mainstream. The fact is Iraq didn’t want to grant the U.S. Military immunity in trials and lawsuits and that’s what triggered the withdrawal. If President Obama had it his way the United States would still have a significant presence in Iraq. All that being said, I’m glad that the U.S. is finally out of Iraq.

As 2011 comes to a close Republicans are battling it out for the Republican nomination. The elections don’t start till the Iowa caucuses next week.While most pundits are pushing Mitt Romney and New Gingrich as the top two clowns in the circus of candidates to win the nomination my personal sleeper prediction is that Rick Santorum (Huckabee-lite) will win the Iowa caucuses, lose in New Hampshire, and eventually become the Republican nominee because of his stance on social conservative issues and the fact that he can be viewed by Republicans as a genuine Catholic and family man.

I didn’t forget about Ron Paul. I think he will have a significant impact in the 2012 elections, but will not win the nomination because he is out of the mainstream of the Republican Party. As I am writing this I have not yet decided who to support for President in 2012, but I have already decided not to vote for President Obama. I’m giving Ron Paul a serious look because I agree with him on issues of war and civil liberties, but I disagree with him on a lot of other issues. This racist newsletters story gives me serious pause, but I have a hard time reconciling that he could be opposed to the War on Drugs and be a racist at the same time when the War on Drugs is a racist policy. Yes, I know Ron Paul is not a progressive, but neither is President Obama. As sad as this is to say I think I can point to more positions I support of Ron Paul than I can of President Obama. Whenever I hear or read progressives dismiss the issues of war and civil liberties as minor issues I get a knot in my stomach. I’ll probably elaborate a little more on this in a future post, but like I said I am still undecided! Right now I have no clue what I’m gonna do in 2012 with my vote.

I will briefly say that even though I am no longer a Democrat I am absolutely disgusted that President Obama was not primaried. It doesn’t surprise me, but he deserved it. I don’t want to hear any whining from President Obama supporters after the 2012 elections if people vote third party. The argument Democrats love to use to trash third party voters is that primaries are the proper place to challenge incumbents and once the primaries are over you should be obligated to support the nominee of the party. Well, where is the primary? These people are the same clowns that are so scared stiff of primarying a sitting President that they will whine and complain when someone like myself votes third party. Well I hate to break it to these types, but if you never get at least a first opportunity to reject the incumbent then what should you expect? .

One of the major stories of 2011 was the rise of the Occupy Wall St. movement. I haven’t written anything on this subject yet, but I will write something sometime soon. I’m supportive and dismissive of OWS at the same time. This might come as a surprise to some of my readers, but without getting into too much detail I view OWS as a gathering of individuals frustrated with the current political system and unemployment rate that have no sense of direction of where the movement should go from here. Personally, when I get involved in any activity(political or non-political) I like to have a reachable goal. That’s why I’ve stayed away.

All that being said, I followed OWS very closely on twitter and watched most of the live streaming. I was very happy to see the passion and bravery of the protesters. At the same time I was disgusted with how Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD treated the protesters.

I can’t think of anything else so it’s time for me to wrap up!

Wrap Up

I’m usually not into New Years resolutions because I find them very superficial, but in 2012 I actually do have one that I intend to try my hardest to keep. My resolution is to push more content out of this blog and other means than I have ever done before. I enjoy writing and I feel that too many times I held back or got lazy when I shouldn’t have. My number 1 goal for 2012 is to test the blogging, youtubing, and podcasting mediums as a cohesive force of expanding my audience and providing different means of obtaining my content. Who knows maybe it can turn into something meaningful! I might redesign my site layout to make it better organized for my plans in 2012.

Well this article was super long. I appreciate anyone who reads my blog. Feel free to comment or message me if you wish and ill gladly respond.

Have a safe and Happy New Year! Good luck in 2012!

Dre

@DresOpinion

Education: Brainstorming Questions

I think about the topic of education a lot so I’m putting together bits of my opinions and to aid that effort I’m writing down many different questions about the topic of education that I feel are important.  This is not a final list, but only from a quick brainstorming session! Some of the questions below are talked about a lot, but others aren’t given enough thought. Rather than keep this list to myself I want to release it because I feel these are all important questions that need to be addressed. For now I wont provide my answers, but I may in the future.

For my readers, please let me know if there is a subject matter that you feel should be included that I may have missed.  If you have a question that is school type specific like public/charter/parochial feel free to ask because I’m exploring all three types. You will see that certain questions apply to certain types of schools more than others. I’m exploring education as a whole.

Also if, and when I decide to publish some long editorial answers to my blog please let me know which questions you would be most interested in me answering.

Thanks and feel free to comment below!

Dre

Should standardized testing in schools be abolished?

Is the teacher’s union too strong?

Where does teacher responsibility start and end?

Where does parent responsibility start and end?

Is it possible for a “good teacher” to have a class full of failing students?

Should class sizes be reduced?

Should students have more power in deciding the fate of teachers?

What is better? Average to below-average skilled teachers with the best school facilities, or great teachers in a school with out of date school facilities?

Are charter schools necessary?

When it comes to teaching technique and technology should students adapt to the teacher or should teachers adapt to the students?

Should every school have a universal grading system?(How your final grade is made up) Or should teachers be allowed to create their own system?

Should homework levels be monitored and limited?

A teacher and a student have a verbal argument. Could it be possible that the teacher is wrong and antagonized the student?

We’ve all heard the cliché… “The teacher doesn’t hate you. He/She’s only trying to help you.” True or False?

When certain teachers are known of having a policy of providing “extra credit” does that encourage bad work ethic to their students?

Should the “bell curve” grading system be legal?

How do you deal with a teacher that has one class doing well but another class failing?

An entire school class had 55% students graduating. Is that a success or a failure?

What are ways a teacher can lose student confidence?

Should teachers be more directly involved in pushing particular struggling students towards tutoring?

Should parents be more involved in school decisions?

Should alumni have a direct say in the future of their Alma mater?

Should evolution and intelligent design be taught in schools?

Should school prayer be allowed in public schools?

Should high schools be required by law to provide SAT prep to their students?

Should all schools receive the same amount of funding?

As it stands today all high schools encourage their students to go to college after they graduate. Should NOT going to college also be taught as an option?

Should all-girls and all-boys schools be allowed legally?

Should public schools enforce a dress code/uniform?

Should the idea of “zoned schools” be abolished?

Should Sex-ed be taught in schools?

Should schools be required to provide healthy foods?

Should schools be required to provide food at all?

Should school hours be extended?

Should public city colleges be free?

DreReviews: Waiting for ‘Superman’ (Documentary)

Overall Thoughts: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

THE GOOD: Does a good job making you feel bad for the kids and families that are documented.

THE BAD: Length, use of facts and overall flow. There is no real fluidity in this documentary.

The UGLY: The documentary doesn’t do the the subject justice. Doesn’t properly explain why teachers are to blame for the bad public school system when compared to the so called “success” of charter schools. Ignores many other variables plaguing the public school system and indirectly promotes school testing through the entire narrative of the documentary.

Subs, Comments, and Thumbs Up greatly appreciated.

Dre

http://www.youtube.com/DreReviews
http://www.twitter.com/DreReviews

Oscar Picks 2011 and My ‘Upset Special’

1. Best Leading Actor – Colin Firth
2. Best Supporting Actor – Christian Bale
3. Best Leading Actress – Natalie Portman
4. Best Supporting Actress – Melissa Leo
5. Best Animated Feature – How to Train Your Dragon
6. Best Art Direction – Alice in Wonderland
7. Best Cinematography – The King’s Speech
8. Best Costumes – Alice in Wonderland
9. Best Director – Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky
10. Best  Documentary Feature – Inside Job
11. Best Documentary Short Subject – Strangers No More
12. Best Film Editing – Black Swan
13. Best Foreign Language Film – Incendies (Canada)
14. Best Makeup – The Wolfman
15. Best Original Score – How to Train Your Dragon
16. Best Original Song – “If I Rise” from 127 Hours
17. Best Adapted Screenplay – The Social Network
18. Best Original Screenplay – The Kids Are All Right
19. Best Animated Short – The Gruffalo
20. Best Live Action Short – Wish 143
21. Best  Sound Editing – Inception
22. Best Sound Mixing – Inception
23. Best Visual Effects – Inception
24. Best Picture – Black Swan

UPSET SPECIAL: “How to Train Your Dragon” for Best Original Score. The animated film “Up” won Best Original Score last year and this year I am confident that “How to Train Your Dragon” will continue the animated streak by pulling off the upset because the score helps make “How to Train Your Dragon” a masterpiece. The score is near constant the entire time and adds a lot of emotion and chills throughout the movie. I’m surprised this is considered an upset, but in my opinion this is a no-brainer.

Did the NYPD Fudge Facts about the Arrest of Brooklyn Madman? You be the Judge

If you are in the New York City area most likely you were aware of the manhunt for this man from Brooklyn named Maksim Gelman that went on the loose after killing his mother, ex-girlfriend, stepfather and subsequently attacked other people in his path while on the loose. This became a huge manhunt and a lot of police resources were used to catch the suspect. Maksim Gelman was eventually apprehended on the 3 train.

I have not seen anyone else write or talk about this, but there appears to be an inconsistency in the report on who was the real ‘hero’ when Maksim Gelman was arrested on the No. 3 train. The report in NY Daily News versus the report in the New York Times seem very inconsistent.

The New York Times account:

The next intended victim of Mr. Gelman’s turned out, in the end, to be Mr. Lozito, a tattooed, 6-foot-2, 270-pound devotee of mixed martial arts, only adding to the seeming haphazardness of events. Mr. Gelman lunged at him on the subway with the knife. Mr. Lozito said he knew he had to do something quickly (“or he was going to cut me up”) and so he rushed at Mr. Gelman with an improvised move that was somewhere between a single-leg takedown and a tackle.

Once on the ground, Mr. Lozito grabbed his attacker around the waist, and the officers from the motorman’s cab rushed to help. They handcuffed and arrested Mr. Gelman, who was awaiting arraignment Sunday night.

The NY Daily News account:

The next time you hear people call cops trigger-happy or complain about their overtime and pensions, think of Police Officer Terrance Howell, who was riding with his partner in the motorman’s compartment of a No. 3 train Saturday morning, peering into the tunnel for a murderous maniac.
There suddenly came a pounding on the door.

Whoever was pounding loudly announced that he was the police. Howell and his partner opened the door to see the very maniac they and the entire NYPD were hunting. Maksim Gelman was 6 feet of blind, unreasoning rage, and he was reaching for the big knife in his waistband. He had just slashed his latest victim moments before, and there was bright, fresh blood on the blade. Howell was 6-feet-5 of pure, brave righteousness. He pounced on Gelman and brought him down, a tackle where the stakes are your life.

The knife that had killed three and stabbed three others clattered to the floor. Howell’s partner, Police Officer Tamara Taylor, grabbed it. Gelman no doubt would have loved to have made his next victim one of the cops, but he would not be hurting anybody else.

In the next moment, off-duty Detective Marcelo Razzo appeared and helped subdue the raving killer. A civilian jumped in as well.

It does definitely sound like one of these accounts is not accurate and if I were to be a betting man I would say it’s the NYPD side. Keep in mind that nowhere in the NY Daily News account does it mention Mr. Lovito grabbing the suspect around the waist once the officers open the motorman’s door. In fact it doesn’t even mention Mr. Lovito at all!

Anyway, I’m going to stop right here and leave it up to my readers to judge this.

Do you agree that there are inconsistencies in both reports?
If so, which side do you believe?

NFL 2010 Picks: Superbowl XLV and Prop Picks!

This has been a rough last two weeks because I am very angry that the Jets aren’t in the Superbowl. That being said, Packers vs Steelers is a very good match up not only because of the teams themselves, but because the fan bases are the best in the NFL.

I want the Packers to win to stick it to Brett Favre. This will be a close game, but I think the Packers defense will be the big difference. I expect Big Ben to get banged up and Aaron Rodgers to carve up the Steelers secondary.

Favorite vs Underdog (Yahoo Spread)

Packers vs Steelers 2.5
PACKERS

For the first time ever I’m going to make special prop predictions! I’m using the lines they give from this website. I will only pick some of them.

Which region will have the higher local TV Rating?
Green bay

How long will it take Christina Aguilera to sing the National Anthem?
Over/Under – 1 minute 50 seconds
OVER

How long will Christina Aguilera hold the note “Brave” at the end of the National Anthem?
Over/Under – 6 seconds
OVER

What will Fergie be wearing when she appears first on stage during the Super Bowl Halftime Show?
Shorts (Above Knees)

Super Bowl XLV – How Many Times will FOX show Jerry Jones on TV during the Game?
Over/Under – 3
OVER

Who will FOX show first on TV during the game?
Jessica Szohr (Aaron Rodger’s Girlfriend)
Ashley Harlan (Ben Roethlisberger’s Fiancee)
ASHLEY HARLAN

Super Bowl XLV – How Many Times will FOX mention “Brett Favre” on TV during the Game?
Over/Under – 2.5
OVER

What Color will the Gatorade be that is dumped on the Head Coach of the Winning Super Bowl Team?
Yellow

Who will the Super Bowl MVP of the Game thank first?
Teammates

Which Super Bowl commercial will have a higher rating on USA Today’s annual Ad Meter?
Doritos

Team to win the opening coin toss
Pittsburgh Steelers

MVP
Aaron Rodgers