RIP Linsanity: A Timeline of Linsanity in New York

Linsanity has been declared dead more times than Saturday Night Live. First, it was Carmelo's return that killed the phenomenon, then it was the Miami Heat defense in that pre-all star break disaster, and then it was the torn cartilage that sidelined Lin for the Knicks playoff run. Every time, though, it was thought that Linsanity would return, as great as it was the first time, to blow everyone's mind like it's Valentines day 2012 all over again. Now, it seems like time has run out though, on Lin's 15 minutes, at least in New York. The Knicks, by all accounts, will not be matching the Rockets' "ridiculous" offer and Lin will be taking his millions of Asian fans to Houston. We could debate whether or not Lin is a money hungry, ungrateful back up guard with limited skills who just got lucky, or if the Knicks are making the biggest mistake in their history by not holding on to what could be a great, young pro no matter the cost, but that's all conjecture. We have no idea how Lin's career will turn out, if he'll prove himself to be a flash in the pan (albeit a really bright flash) or the second coming of Steve Nash. Either way, it appears his time in New York is done. It was fun while it lasted.

A quick history of important dates in Linsanity

• December 27th, 2011 The Knicks announce they are claiming Jeremy Lin off waivers, making him the first Chinese or Taiwanese player to suit up in the orange and blue. Me and a handful of other Asian Knicks fans are moderately excited even though we know he'll never get off the bench.





• February 3rd, 2012- Lin gets off the bench and actually plays in a loss in Boston. He doesn't contribute much but shows some signs of life (which the Knicks had been sorely missing during this period).






• February 4th, 2012- The day before the Super Bowl, the Knicks are reeling. Playing the third game of the lockout necessitated back to back to back schedule, Mike D'Antoni is willing to try anything short of shaving his moustache to find a winning combination. Lin scores 25 points on an array of layups and jumpers. Knicks fans begin to lose their minds.






• February 10th, 2012- After two more games that saw a few ridiculous plays, including a buzzer beater that caused Clyde Frazier to say "some things are meant to be" and a dunk past John Wall, Lin shows he's not a fluke and might actually be a decent NBA player. In a nationally televised Friday night game against the Lakers he scores 38, outscoring Kobe and causing countrywide LINSANITY. The next week a photo from this game would serve as the first of back to back Sports Illustrated covers featuring Lin, a rare feat for anyone. It's only going to get worse....






• February 14th, 2012- Valentine's day is officially renamed VaLINtine's day. Despite getting torched by Jose Calderon for most of the game, he redeems himself with the Knicks last 6 points including a three pointer to win it with less than a second left on the clock. Mayor Bloomberg proclaims Park Avenue will now be known as Lin Avenue. Lepers flock by the hundreds to Landry Field's couch hoping to be healed. The sun shines for 3 straight days as scientists speculate Linsanity has caused a shift in the earth's axis.






• February 17th, 2012- The end of Linsanity appears to be near as the Knicks crap the bed against the putrid Hornets. The 2012 Hornets suck to begin with in the wake of the Chris Paul trade, but on this night, the Hornets are missing half of their players and feature such greats of the game as Gustavo Ayon and Revis Vasquez. Compounding the Knicks loss is the unfortunate choice of words by an ESPN headline writer. The next night, SNL opens the show with a Linsanity themed sketch. Saturation point has almost been reached.





• February 19th, 2012- The Knicks beat the champion Mavericks (who are still considered a good team at that point). The game is highlighted by a three by Lin over Nowitzki, and a steal and dunk that literally sends the crowd into hysterics. If you could imagine 100 New Year's eves combined with watching 20 world cup championships in the winning country and 20,000 simultaneous orgasms. It would be about half as excited as the Garden crowd is after Lin's dunk. My favorite part is the three grown men hugging on the verge of tears at the 12 second mark but this video does a nice job of summing up Linsanity. After the dunk, you see some dude jumping up and down on celebrity row (where people usually sit quietly all game), Spike Lee wearing a Harvard jersey, a few seconds of delirious fans hugging in the stands like Oprah just gave them a car, and then video from a restaurant in Chinatown of proud Asians who hadn't watched an NBA game since Yao retired. It wouldn't be all laughs from here though.
  
  
  
  
  
• February 20th, 2012- The following day sees the return of Carmelo Anthony from the injury he suffered on an alley-oop pass during the second game of Linsanity. To say people in New York are worried about his co-existing with Lin is an understatement. And, of course, everyone's worst fears are realized as the Knicks get blown out at home by the revenge-minded Nets. Deron Williams dominates Lin all game. Linsanity is dying...

• February 23rd, 2012- Lin is a non factor in a nationally televised game against the Heat in Miami days before the all star break. He appears afraid to even dribble the ball never mind be the swaggering hero that he was for the previous weeks. Lin has been exposed, or so it seems. Countdown to Linsanity's death....





• March 31st, 2012- After a couple weeks of bullshitting that his injury wasn't all that serious, the Knicks announce Lin will have surgery on his knee, conveniently timed after the deadline to renew season tickets. Sneaky, sneaky. Lin still holds out hope he'll return for the playoffs.





• July 15th, 2012- Despite weeks of hearing nothing but how the Knicks will resign Lin no matter what the Rockets offer, it's reported by numerous media outlets that the Knicks will not be matching Houston's offer. This seems all the more likely when it's announced that the Knicks have made a trade for former Knick Raymond Felton. Linsanity is on life support.

And that leads us to today. The Knicks will make a decision tonight on Lin, and either way it will make some people upset. Those three weeks in February have been mythologized since, (there's already been a book that must have been written in about 2 hours) but as hyped as Lin's Knicks career was, some of it was deserved. It all played out like a corny sports movie; frustrated by his greedy, overpaid stars, a beleagured coach grasping at straws puts in the last guy on the bench. An Asian ivy leaguer who was cut from his previous team on Christmas Eve and he plays really, really well for a couple weeks, leading the team to a win streak and becoming a world wide phenomenon. Except those movies always end with the team either winning it all, or learning a valuable lesson in defeat. They don't usually make sequels to these movies because nobody wants to see where the underdog goes once they're on top or what happens to the phenomenon when their time runs out. Usually, the second chapter isn't nearly as exciting. And in some cases, it's almost sad to watch.

PTU Classics: The Greatest Rapper Of All Time Died on March 9th?

Today is March 9th, a day that will live in infamy for most rap fans as it marks the anniversary of the untimely death of the one and only Notorious B.I.G. I couldn't tell you the date of Tupac's death, or even Martin Luther King Jr.'s or JFK's to be honest. But thanks to Canibus, we'll always remember that the "greatest rapper of all time died on March 9th". Was he really the greatest though? Let's turn back the clock to a year ago today and look at one of our most controversial posts.

What I'm going to say may hurt people, it might be seen as bordering on blasphemy (particularly coming from a Brooklyn guy).Let me preface what I'm about to say by first letting it be known that I love Biggie. I grew up listening to him, he was a ridiculously talented and charismatic dude, I love that he represented Brooklyn at all times, and he definitely cemented his place in music history as one of the greatest rappers of all time. But I wouldn't say he is THE greatest of all time.

Before you all x out PTU and go straight to ESPN.com or leave comments saying how I'm an idiot who knows nothing about rap, consider what it takes to be called the greatest at anything. Let's compare it to a sports career (as I do so often with music). A hall of fame career (never mind being called the greatest of all time) would require at least 9 or 10 years of sustained greatness coupled with dominance at your position in each season. This is probably my biggest issue with labeling the black Frank White as the greatest. His career only lasted 4 years (really) with only 2 albums. Great, classic albums but still, only 2. While my father would tell anyone who will listen that Drazen Petrovic could shoot better than 95% of the NBA today, no one else would say he is the greatest shooter of all time. There's just not enough of a career there to support that claim. Same for Big.

If we look at Biggie from a technical standpoint, the claim of greatest of all time is also suspect. Lyrically and flow wise he could go toe to toe with any rapper, but off the top of my head I could think of at least 3 rappers who were or are probably more skilled lyricists (Nas, Kool G Rap, Eminem, I could name more).

So why do most rap fans and critics immediately place Biggie at the top? For starters, there's always the risk of over rating the dead. James Dean was a great actor, but his talent is really overshadowed by his lifestyle and untimely death. Same goes for 2pac, River Phoenix and Heath Ledger. Maybe you could throw Jimi Hendrix in that conversation too. When you lose someone before they really reached their potential, people want to believe that their best work was yet to come. Who knows what would have happened had Biggie lived to 40? There was a huge backlash against the versace and jewelry flossing rappers in the late 90s and Biggie might have caught some of that had he lived to see it.

The real reason that we'll always love Big Poppa, and have crowned him king might be that he represents a time in most rap listeners' lives. The mid 90s when hip hop was in its prime (the golden age in my opinion) and it seemed like it would only get better. Biggie was this (as he said himself) fat, black and ugly dude who still got chicks and could rap circles around the competition. Then he was shot over who knows what by who knows. It doesn't seem fair. It doesn't matter that he only had 2 albums or he wasn't technically the best rapper. He did his thing for a couple years and then he was gone at the age that most of us were just moving out of our parents houses. It's not fair so we call him the greatest. And I guess if he means that much to people then he is their greatest and that's really all that counts. RIP B.I.G.

The Death of Linsanity

Remember around this time last year when bad boy actor Charlie Sheen took over the world for about a month? His every ridiculous comment or self destructive move was blogged and tweeted about? We couldn't get enough, there was even a catchphrase and a comedy tour. Seems like a million years ago right? Eventually, the Sheen mania died down when we all realized he wasn't really going to die live on television, he went back to being a B level actor, and sobered up. Once the Sheen roast happened on Comedy Central, we all got back to caring about other stuff. I thought about this during the Knicks game the other day when they showed one of those Direct TV commercials where the narrator talks about the increasingly bizarre turns your life will take if you don't subscribe to Direct TV, this one ends with a guy reenacting scenes from Platoon with Charlie Sheen ("Don't reenact scenes from Platoon with Charlie Sheen. Get Direct TV"). Something that would have seemed dangerously insane and hilarious a year ago but now seemed like a reference as dated as the movie Platoon itself. And we're probably going to look back at that 3 week Linsanity stretch the same way a year from now. Whereas Sportscenter dedicated it's entire program to Lin before the Knicks 7th straight win against Sacramento exactly 3 weeks ago, now the Knicks Mavs highlights were relegated to the 15 minute mark after Peyton Manning news, the Big East tournament, the Saints bounty scandal and a Heat blowout over the Nets. The back page of the Daily News this morning was a Jets player saying they need to sign Manning. The Knicks game didn't even appear in the sports pages until after Manning, Mets and Yankees spring training recaps and even last night's St. John's loss of all things. To quote Prop Joe, Linsanity is officially a cadaverous motherfucker. How'd it die as fast as it came to life? Besides being the natural progression of wild phenomenons in the Twitter age, there are a few reasons.

First of all, the surprise factor has totally worn off. It's like meeting a new girl. In the beginning it's exciting and new, you can't get enough, but usually within a month you start looking at new prospects. The Asian kid from Harvard dominating games was shocking, but now he's just another guy in shorts. Secondly, the rest of the league has caught on to Lin's tricks. While in the first couple weeks, he was nearly unstoppable driving to the hoop, finishing at the basket with ease, recently when he makes a move towards the basket, teams either block his shot, knock the ball away from behind (as Mr. D pointed out, Lin has patented the lose the ball in the lane and then look at the ref for a foul move) or force him dead in his tracks where he's forced to pivot and shoot fadeaways or try a standstill layup (not a great shot in basketball). During Linsanity, every big shot he took seemed to go in, including the 3's over Dirk, vs. the Lakers, and the game winner against the Raptors that were probably his signature shots of the run, now he can't buy a basket in the clutch. It's gotten so bad that there's been talk of Baron Davis actually finishing games. Can you imagine Baron's name even being in the same sentence as Lin's two weeks ago unless it was "I can't believe we actually thought Baron Davis was going to be our savior before Jeremy Lin"? The third factor in Linsanity's untimely demise were factors beyond anyone's control, well, besides the NBA schedulemakers that is. The combination of the Knicks' brutal lineup of opponents over these past couple weeks and the long lay-off of the all star break has cooled Linsanity considerably. That feel good 7 game winning streak came against some of the worst teams in the league, a 500 Minnesota team, and the Lakers and Jazz who are two of the worst teams in the league on the road. Now they're playing the big boys and it's been ugly. Opposing point guards are obviously fed up with the hype and are putting up their best numbers of the season (in Jason Kidd's and Deron William's case) or Wilt Chamberlain numbers (in Rondo's case) If the Knicks had somehow won the game in Miami before the AS break, then the mania would have only grown for a week. Instead, Lin laid an egg and Linsanity was left to die a slow death. Subpar to awful games over the past week to mostly good competition have only been the nails in the coffin. And yes, all our worst fears about Carmelo and Amare meshing their talents with Lin seem to have come true. Lin's numbers were expected to drop with the return of the Knick's original stars as his attempts went down. But nobody expected his assists to also go down.

This isn't to say that Jeremy Lin's career or even his marketability are dead. He's hit the expected bumps in the road that any first or second year player would hit, never mind a guy who was undrafted and hadn't played practically at all his first season and a half in the league. And he'll still sell t-shirts, jerseys and whatever sneaker Nike is reportedly releasing, particularly to Asians, of which there are a lot of in the world if you didn't know. But the ridiculous hype and chaos that surrounded every little thing Lin did is over, and for that I guess we should be thankful. Now, he's not a symbol of the American dream, or a Hollywood story come to life or whatever, he's just a decent point guard on a mediocre, underachieving basketball team. And if the Knicks don't learn how to beat good teams on the road and develop some team chemistry soon, Linsanity will be looked back on as nothing more than a cruel tease that momentarily brightened another dark season at the Garden. RIP Linsanity.

Reactions To Whitney Houston's Death

Whitney Houston was found dead Saturday, and while details are still sketchy, you know what the first thought that everyone had was: Cocaine is a helluva drug. Or crack, or xanax or whatever else it is that Houston was putting in her body over the past 15 years. It doesn't really matter what it was that eventually killed her, it's safe to say the cause of her death was as natural as the face of that other iconic singer who died a few years ago. And the reaction to Whitney's death was similar to that of Michael Jackson's, albeit to a much lesser extent. Facebook and Twitter exploded with the usual range of ridiculous reactions. Everything from tasteless jokes to unbelievable hysterical sobbing farewells to judgmental scoldings. And almost all of these types of reactions are misguided. In the social network era, there seems to be a competition to outdo each other with either the funniest, most outrageous comment or the most serious, overly tragic 3 sentence eulogy or the finger wagging, holier than thou lecture. Why do we have to say anything about a celebrity's death though? If I came up to you Saturday morning and brought up Whitney Houston, chances are you would either have no reaction at all or make a joke about how cracked out her and Bobby were and how stupid their "hell to the no" reality show was a few years ago. You most likely would not have started talking about how she changed your life. She was a huge star 20 years ago, and has basically been a sad reminder of the powers of addiction for a decade. It's unnecessary to say "she deserved it" anymore than any person who's addicted to something deserves it. Because she was famous doesn't mean we should make them out to be a saint nor should we take this time to lecture everyone about drug use. It's always sad when someone dies, but Whitney Houston being found dead might be the least shocking death since ODB. Every death of an innocent person is a tragedy regardless of fame, but let's not pretend like we didn't see it coming. Let's just let her rest in peace now and not exaggerate our love of a once mega star who we all laughed at for the better part of a decade.

RIP Steve Jobs; Now Stop Crying

First of all, let me just say RIP Steve Jobs. He was a truly visionary thinker and possible genius who made all of our lives more enjoyable through his technological advancements and he died way too young. My heart goes out to his family. That being said, can we maybe cool it a bit with the overly dramatic, weepy reactions? The man has been gone for a few hours and already the Internet and TV is crowded with people tearfully recounting the first time they got ipods and making comparisons to the day that JFK or Martin Luther King Jr. was shot. These folks are even admitting this is like losing a religious figure. Where were you when you first heard that Steve Jobs died? Did you somehow go on with your miserable life, even now having the knowledge that nothing will ever be the same? Did you crawl up into a ball and await the coming apocalypse that this tragedy will bring? Jobs did great things, but creating a really cool mp3 player and cell phone is not the same thing as working for the rights of an entire race of people or being the first American president to be assassinated in a century.

Jobs' status as the leader of a technological revolution seems to have some people confused into thinking that he was an actual leader of something, when he was really just a guy who was very good at what he did. What he did was create user friendly, really cool technology for the masses. Let's not over react here though. He never cured a disease or (as far as I know) worked against social injustices. He made it so we could play Angry Birds wherever we wanted and listen to the new Jay-z album wherever we please without carrying around those clunky CD cases. It wasn't like we were oppressed before though. He made our lives more comfortable, but not in the face of evil forces who were against him or us (except maybe PC users) nor did he change anyone's life in a spiritual way . He made most of our lives a little more enjoyable. For that we owe him big time, but let's please save the teary memorials.

RIP Hideki Irabu

One-time Yankee pitcher Hideki Irabu was found dead today in his home in California. Details are still sketchy, but suicide is suspected.

A bunch of us from PTU were just talking about him at Snootfest the other day and this comes as a bit of a shock. Unfortunately, he'll probably be best remembered for being called a "fat toad" by George Steinbrenner, and truth be told, that was the exact context in which we were discussing him on Saturday. Irabu got a ring that season though, and was apparently as big a star in Japan as that other Hideki who played for the Yankees before and since his short stint as a Major Leaguer. In any case, it's sad to see anyone go before their time.

RIP Hideki.

RIP RXP: They Don't Wanna Rock

New York radio station 101.9 (RXP) announced this week that they will be changing formats beginning next week, switching from it's current format of "alternative" rock music to 24 hours of news aimed at 40 year old women (?). With that, there are (once again) no modern rock stations in New York, the biggest market in the country. What are we left with?

• Z-100 and KTU- the dominant radio stations in New York, that basically play whatever 14 year old girls listen to.
• Hot 97 and Power 105- that mostly plays southern rap that talks about cocaine.
• Q104- that plays the same Pink Floyd and Creedence Clearwater songs on a loop for the past 40 years.
• Lite FM-the soundtrack at any dentist's office.
• Mega and La Calle- Spanish stations that are usually played in bodegas.
• QXR- The classical music station that is played at certain Asian tailors and dry cleaners.
• Conservative talk radio- the majority of AM stations are further to the right than Joseph McCarthy.
• ESPN and WFAN- Sports radio that your dad listens to in the car.
• Kiss FM- Station that older black folk listen to who don't like cocaine (at least don't like people rapping about selling it).

What's missing from that vast, sad musical landscape? Rock n roll, of course (or at least modern rock, unless your idea of "modern" is whenever Slippery When Wet was released). Since Howard Stern decided he didn't want to have his naughty words bleeped out, thereby taking down KROCK with him, there's been a rocking void in our city. KROCK wasn't all that great but at least you could turn it on at some point and maybe hear a Nirvana song or the occasional Tool song that you don't mind that much, but RXP was more like a cool ipod. It's without a doubt the only station around here that played Arcade Fire and Pixies records on a regular basis, as well as being a legitimate station for underground and unsigned bands to get some shine. They recently played my cousin's very good up and coming band (shameless plug) Last Stand for Lucy's singles, and I'm pretty sure that won't happen on Elvis Durant's show any time soon. Besides the more hip stuff that you could find on one of those college radio indie shows, though, RXP also wasn't afraid to have unhip bands on their playlists. I attended a Weezer show in December sponsored by the station and hosted by bald music geek Matt Pinfield, and that's the type of band that you won't see at Jingle Ball but are also past their hipness expiration date for those other cool stations. On any given hour, you could hear Pearl Jam followed by The Cars, and then some Gogol Bordello right after that. I guess anyone could get that on Pandora or through their I pod jack, but there's something about turning on a radio in your car or at home that's unlike just listening to your own self-tailored digital playlist. Unfortunately, the kids don't want to rock anymore, so New York is robbed of rock radio yet again. Turn up that Michael Savage.

RIP RXP

RIP Armen "The Hammer" Gilliam

Any New York area basketball fan who had the Sportschannel in the mid 90's remembers The Hammer. Nicknamed the Hammer during his days at UNLV because of his tough inside presence, and his name sounding like Arm & hammer baking soda, Gilliam passed away today of a heart attack at 47 years old. Playing alongside the likes of flashy but difficult to deal with players such as Derrick Coleman, Kenny Anderson and Chris Morris, Gilliam stood out with his boring yet effective low post game. I spent many an evening of my youth cursing out the Hammer and his slow half hook shot that Charles Oakley and Anthony Mason seemed powerless to defend. Although the Nets didn't win much when he was around, they always seemed to have their big brothers across the Hudson's number in those days, dominating the regular season match-ups and getting a game off the Knicks' Finals team in '94. And a big part of their limited success was the Hammer quietly doing his thing in the paint. He went on to play for a few more teams including Charlotte and Milwaukee, but I'll always remember Bill Raferty yelling "The Hammer throws it down!" to a half empty Meadowlands arena, the perfectly unflashy stalwart for a mediocre NBA team in New Jersey. Never getting any accolades, but always a pain in the ass for whoever had to guard him. RIP Hammer.

RIP Randy "Macho Man" Savage

The world lost another wrestler today, and most of us here at PTU (and almost any male ages 25-40) lost a Saturday afternoon childhood hero. When any pro wrestler dies, the first thought that comes to mind is always "had to be the steroids". Unfortunately, this is the sad truth about guys who pump their bodies full of substances and hit each other with chairs and tables for a living. It's a shame that a guy like this had to go out in a Jeep Wrangler headed for a tree, rather than during a flying elbow drop to the head of Ric Flair.

I, for one, am going to snap into a Slim Jim for lunch today in Randy's honor. OHHHH YEEEEEAHHHH.

RIP Macho Man

RIP Bill Gallo

He may have appeared to be 150 years old and his sensibilities were maybe even older than that, but I can't remember a day growing up that I didn't see one of his cartoons in the morning paper or a Sunday without his article about talking boxing or Yankees in some barber shop that probably existed in the 50's. The cartoons were not actually funny and they usually stated the obvious, but they still had an old fashioned charm to them, and were kind of comforting in a mostly cynical sports world. While smart alecks like us here at PTU spend most of our days thinking of new ways to hate on the athletes we watch, or rant about the things that piss us off, Gallo would just draw another harmless cartoon like this:



That's not particularly funny or insightful. It just says that LeBron will probably be hiding next time he returns to Cleveland because the fans will be mad at him. That's it. But that's the era that Gallo was from; not a post-modern, extra sarcastic internet journalist who would probably place LeBron in a larger context, or purposely exaggerate the evilness of a young athlete (even if he did unintentionally make Bron look like Bin Laden) who left for another basketball team, just tellin' it like it is: LeBron left the Cavs, and now the fans in Cleveland will be mad at him. He also had a bunch of old timey characters who spoke like they were straight out of Our Gang: Basement Bertha, General Von Steingrabber (which Steinbrenner supposedly hated and then grew to love), lil Yuchie and maybe his favorite, two kids talking sports on a stoop or in a candy store. He also had a lot of out dated ideas in his cartoons like the fed up housewife in the apron who's husband is glued to the tv watching sports or even the idea that two kids would sit on a stoop or in a candy store and talk about anything as opposed to being on facebook or twitter or texting each other. He probably never heard of Twitter and that's cool. Unlike gas-bags like Lupica who force their sappy nostalgia for the good old days, this really was what Gallo was about. An old-school New York sports guy who wasn't anything like most of us, but that's exactly why he'll be missed.

RIP Bill Gallo.

RIP Sidney Lumet

One of my favorite directors, Sidney Lumet, died yesterday. Although he was actually born in Philadelphia, Lumet made some of the most classic New York films throughout his more than 50 year career. From Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon to Before the Devil Knows Your Dead, he was able to capture a certain New York sensibility as well as just make really, really good movies.

RIP Sidney Lumet

This Date in History: RIP Kurt Cobain

Even though the actual anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death was Tuesday, April 8th was the day he was found in his home with the shot gun pointed at his chin, so today is really the anniversary of everyone finding out about his death. That was a huge deal, so in essence today is the anniversary of the day Kurt Cobain died.

As I said in my post about Biggie that everyone found so crazy, people tend to sentimentalize famous people's deaths, especially when they die as young as Kurt and Biggie did, and there's the risk of over rating the dead. But in Cobain's case, all the praise and tributes are deserved. He really was crazily influential on music and it sucks that he was so messed up and went the way he did, when he was just starting to really become super famous. The fame was ironic, since so many people found his style of music and attitude refreshing at the time, but he supposedly hated Smells Like Teen Spirit, and the attention that song and album brought on Nirvana. The tortured drug addict artist is a favorite iconic American image (and was something that he bought into), but it is a damn shame that Kurt went out that way.

RIP Kurt Cobain

Breaking News: Elizabeth Taylor Not Dead Already, Dies

In what is sure to be a shock to millions of movie-loving fans around the world; Elizabeth Taylor was still alive yesterday.

That's right, file this under strange but true, but Taylor was not dead yet contrary to popular belief. Devoted fans of the beloved actress were quoted as saying "Really? You don't say".

RIP Elizabeth Taylor.

Top 5 Nate Dogg Choruses

As I wrote here earlier, before Akon and T-Pain were all over every record on the radio and before rappers cut out the middle man and just sang their own hooks a la 50cent or Drake, the go to guy for a funky chorus was Nate Dogg, who sadly passed away last night at 41. Specializing in choruses about gangster things (he was a huge part of the G funk movement), Nate blessed scores of huge (and not so huge) records through out his career. Let's take a look at my top 5:


5. My Name-Xzibit feat. Eminem and Nate Dogg

This all but forgotten Xzibit song (actually a Jermaine Dupri diss record) is a good example of late era Nate, when he might have lost a little off his fastball, resulting in the doubled up vocals that were used on most of his choruses in his later years. I actually like the sound of it though, almost sounds like a gangsta robot. Also gotta love "hurt you so long you'll be addicted to pain".


4. Till I Collapse-Eminem feat. Nate Dogg

This one is probably best known for being in a Call of Duty commercial now, but at the time, this was a highlight of Marshall's lackluster third album, in no small part because of the "We Will Rock You" drums and Nate's inspirational chorus (I like the double duty he pulls on the background vocals during his hook). This song is also a staple of ESPN highlight packages and sports arenas everywhere.


3. Ain't No Fun-Snoop Doggy Dogg feat. The Dogg Pound

Maybe the greatest sung intro to any rap song ever. "Just lay back and open your mouth".


2. The Next Episode-Dr.Dre feat. Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg

In the discussion for the most famous last words to any rap song (which unfortunately was edited for the video and radio versions), but still might be the most tweeted and Facebook statused Nate lyric today: "Smoke weed every day".


1. Regulate- Warren G feat. Nate Dogg

Nate's shining moment, "16 in the clip and one in the hole, Nate Dogg is about to make some bodies turn cold". Smooth. RIP.

RIP Nate Dogg

Before Akon or T-Pain, Nate Dogg was the best at singing gangsta choruses on a rap song. He will be missed.

The Greatest Rapper of All Time Died on March 9th?

What I'm going to say may hurt people, it might be seen as bordering on blasphemy (particularly coming from a Brooklyn guy).Let me preface what I'm about to say by first letting it be known that I love Biggie. I grew up listening to him, he was a ridiculously talented and charismatic dude, I love that he represented Brooklyn at all times, and he definitely cemented his place in music history as one of the greatest rappers of all time. But I wouldn't say he is THE greatest of all time.

Before you all x out PTU and go straight to ESPN.com or leave comments saying how I'm an idiot who knows nothing about rap, consider what it takes to be called the greatest at anything. Let's compare it to a sports career (as I do so often with music). A hall of fame career (never mind being called the greatest of all time) would require at least 9 or 10 years of sustained greatness coupled with dominance at your position in each season. This is probably my biggest issue with labeling the black Frank White as the greatest. His career only lasted 4 years (really) with only 2 albums. Great, classic albums but still, only 2. While my father would tell anyone who will listen that Drazen Petrovic could shoot better than 95% of the NBA today, no one else would say he is the greatest shooter of all time. There's just not enough of a career there to support that claim. Same for Big.

If we look at Biggie from a technical standpoint, the claim of greatest of all time is also suspect. Lyrically and flow wise he could go toe to toe with any rapper, but off the top of my head I could think of at least 3 rappers who were or are probably more skilled lyricists (Nas, Kool G Rap, Eminem, I could name more).

So why do most rap fans and critics immediately place Biggie at the top? For starters, there's always the risk of over rating the dead. James Dean was a great actor, but his talent is really overshadowed by his lifestyle and untimely death. Same goes for 2pac, River Phoenix and Heath Ledger. Maybe you could throw Jimi Hendrix in that conversation too. When you lose someone before they really reached their potential, people want to believe that their best work was yet to come. Who knows what would have happened had Biggie lived to 40? There was a huge backlash against the versace and jewelry flossing rappers in the late 90s and Biggie might have caught some of that had he lived to see it.

The real reason that we'll always love Big Poppa, and have crowned him king might be that he represents a time in most rap listeners' lives. The mid 90s when hip hop was in its prime (the golden age in my opinion) and it seemed like it would only get better. Biggie was this (as he said himself) fat, black and ugly dude who still got chicks and could rap circles around the competition. Then he was shot over who knows what by who knows. It doesn't seem fair. It doesn't matter that he only had 2 albums or he wasn't technically the best rapper. He did his thing for a couple years and then he was gone at the age that most of us were just moving out of our parents houses. It's not fair so we call him the greatest. And I guess if he means that much to people then he is their greatest and that's really all that counts. RIP B.I.G.

R.I.P. Duke Snider

Duke Snider, one of the best players on the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers World Series Championship team, died this morning. Even though his greatness in center field was overshadowed by Mays and Mantle at the time, Snider was elected to the hall of fame and helped bring Brooklyn it's only professional sports championship of any kind. PTU salutes ya, Duke.

RIP Escalade

Yesterday Mark Jackson's brother Troy "Escalade" Jackson passed away in his sleep. Although he weighed close to 500 pounds (hence the nickname) he still made a career out of playing basketball, first for Louisville and then as part of the And1 mixtape tour. I would catch the And1 show on ESPN every once in a while and he seemed like a genuinely good dude who was really good at behind the back passes and could actually move a little even at his size. RIP ESCALADE.