My Mancrush....

...TAYLOR MAYS. Why do I have a man crush on this guy??? Well, let me put this in terms that most Charger fans should understand. Here's a simple equation.

Vincent Jackson's body + Faster than a speeding Sproles (clocked under 4.3 forty at times) + Merriman's strength = Taylor Mays at the safety position.

I really don't have to say much, other than this guy is a freak. Really the only knock on him is that he's still kind of raw. Some say Eric Berry (Tenn) is the better safety prospect and I wouldn't disagree. So, Mays still has to fine-tune his technique (good coaching could fix that), but his upside is through the roof. He made a mature decision not to forego his last season to enter the NFL draft, but will be eligible next year of course. I'm excited to watch him this season for SC and excited to follow him into the NFL. There's almost no chance the Chargers will get him in next year's draft and I'm hoping that the Raiders, Chiefs and Broncos don't do THAT bad this season, so they won't have the luxury of having a top 5-top 7 pick, which is my guess of where Mays would go. But yea, remember the name Taylor Mays, I just overhyped him, but whatever he's worth the hype (pls don't bust and make me look stupid, haha).

ps: I heart TM. Here's a short clip of him

1 MEELION DOLLARS

1 million dollar question....what is the most popular sport in America????

A. Baseball
B. Pro Football
C. Basketball
D. College Football

If you said D you're correct!!!! You win absolutely nothing!!!!

Yeah, not much of a hook, but whatever, I'm not writing for an award. The main purpose of this entry is to plead all you pro football fans to watch college football. The majority of games start this Saturday so if you're not doing anything flip the channel to a college football game. Chances are you'll enjoy it. Here's reasons why you should watch:

1. more games = more upsets = more excitement = more down-to-wire-games = more...you get the point.

2. rivalries. If you think NFL rivalries are exciting you should see college football rivalries. Some teams have been going at it for 100+ years. Probably the most notable rivalry is Ohio State vs. Michigan. This particular rivalry this year is pretty cool, b/c we should be seeing Tate Forcier, who played for Scripps Ranch last year. Plus, Chris Brown look alike and freakishly talented Terrelle Pryor. Which leads to my final point...

3. players. Yea, college football lacks the stars like Brady, Peyton, LT, etc. But it's filled with stars in their own respect. It's cool b/c you can follow these players from their amateur career to their blooming NFL career. It's like watching your son grow up in front of your eyes....well if your son was 6 foot 200 something pounds and can run a 4.3 forty. But you get the point. Some players from the top of my head that I've followed since their high school/college days are Adrian Peterson, DeSean Jackson, Steve Slaton, Mike Vick, Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Johnson, Maurice Jones-Drew, Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, Knowshon Moreno, McFadden etc. It's crazy watching them transition from high school star, to college phenom, to NFL legend (not everyone of course, but this formula would most closely apply to Adrian Peterson). That being said. here's a few of my favorite players to look out for this year and in the near future when they enter the NFL.

RB - Jahvid Best - As a USC fan, it's natural that I hate Berkeley. But Jahvid could possibly be the best RB in the nation. He kinda reminds me of a young LT, who's not as physical, but has blazing speed, elite cutting ability and superb vision (which are the makings of a great RB). He's someone you watch every handoff just so you won't miss the highlight of the year.

QB - Matt Barkley - The #1 rated QB coming out of high school last year and he's starting for the USC Trojans. Now, this is the first a true freshmen has started for Pete Carroll at SC, so this guy must be special, let's hope he doesn't bust out

WR - Dez Bryant (OSU) - overlooked b/c of some guy named Michael Crabtree, many think he's the best WR coming into the 2009 season. Some even say he's better than Crabtree last year. I could be wrong, but I think Dez had a higher yards per catch average and a higher catch per game average. I'm saying it right now DEZ BRYANT IS THE NEXT LARRY FITZGERALD...put it on the board

Safety - Eric Berry (TENN) - This guy will lead the way of the new generation of elite safeties coming into the NFL. Sort of like when Shaun Taylor (RIP), Ed Reed and Polamalu brokeout into the scene awhile ago, this guy will soon do the same in the NFL. This guy is a natural ballhawk and can score on any pick.

There's too many players to name here and players that I don't even know that will have crazy seasons this year. But I'll save the best or last and dedicate a whole entry to my man crush....TAYLOR MAYS (entry above)

District 9: A hate it or love it type film

I'm not going to do an extensive review on District 9, b/c it's one of those movies you have to see. BUT BE WARNED, if you're not into science-fiction type movies or stories you probably won't like it, actually you might hate it. Even if a sci-fi movie is well directed, acting was good and story was interesting (District 9 was all of these things), the audience member won't like it unless he/she buys into the characters, in this case, the aliens. If you can't make an (small) emotional connection (I'm not saying you have to cry, haha) with the characters or storyline then you can't enjoy it (which is true about almost any movie). It was funny, b/c when I was watching it, I was on the edge of my seat and I see this dude in front of me sleeping, I was like "are we watching the same movie??" But I understand people are different and have different opinions esp. when it comes to movies, but not liking the movie or the genre doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad movie, it just means it's be a bad movie for you. As for me, the movie was sick and probably top 4 this summer, up there with UP!, Star Trek and Hurt Locker (I'm probably missing a few, plus a few need to come out still, plus I haven't seen 500 days of summer yet). Basically, if you like sci-fi and aliens watch District 9 for sure, if you don't, you should probably stay away from the mothership.

Getting Stopped for Going to Santana's

Something interesting actually happened to me for once. So, it gave me a reason to dust off the cobwebs of my blog and write this short story.

On a nighttime Santana's run, which was kinda a fatty idea considering I ate at Barona Buffet just a few hours ago, we head towards Scripps Poway. I'm one to stay alert, especially when driving at night, you never know what monsters may jump out at your car. Anyways, I'm being observant, alert, whatever, and I notice that a cop be creepin' on a come up and tail me as I cruise onto the onramp of 15 North (to Mercy). He's still on my bumper as I ascend up the hill to Santana's. Now I was getting even more suspicious of him getting suspicious of me. Then sure enough his lights turn on and his flood light floods my sight. Always wonder why they use those flood lights, as if we don't know they're behind us already when their blue and red lights are reflecting off our mirrors. I'm sure there's a good reason, but I still think it's stupid w/o even hearing it. So, I turn off my Hip Hop music, b/c you know only criminals listen to that stuff, don't want to give the cop anymore evidence against me. I place my hands on the wheel and roll my sleeves down b/c I didn't want him to see my GUNS....(get it!? *cricket cricket*, sorry had to add a corny joke somewhere). So, here's the climax I've been slowly "building up", are you ready for it?...He approaches my window, takes one quick glance at me and exclaims!!...."oh nevermind you're not the one I'm looking for".....you're probably saying "that's it!? that's why you wrote this stupid story??" Well, it's okay, b/c I had the same reaction, except mine was sort of..."okaaay". The kinda ironic/funny part comes in as his explanation. He says he stopped me b/c he thought I was a white guy who was described driving my civic and was drunk (it's Indep Day weekend just in case you forgot). And I thought to myself, "hmmm, a colored guy gets stopped, but released b/c it's suppose to be a white guy". First, that's like racial profiling, but not, more like civic profiling I guess. Second, even though it was nighttime, I have no tint on my window and the cop was driving next to me as he was creepin' on me, so the biggest question of the night is...out of all the people I know, HOW COULD I BE MISTAKEN FOR A WHITE GUY???

Ah, yes, my life is so uneventful that this is the most interesting thing that happens to me. Eh, I don't mind, as long as I'm happy WHITE, sorry my mistake I meant as long as I'm happy RIGHT?

Alexand's (not so) BOLD Predictions

Haven't written an entry for awhile, so I decided to write a short post on my (not so) BOLD predictions for the upcoming series of the Lakers vs. the Nuggets. First off let me just start out by saying this series should be one of the most exciting series EVER...okay maybe not EVER, but maybe out of all the 2009 playoffs. I guess that's pretty BOLD, considering the bulls boston series, lakers rockets series and the magic boston series. This series should top all of those in terms of excitement (my first (not so) BOLD prediction). Anyways, here are my others...

1. Ron Artest will be in attendence still trying to plead his case with Kobe that "I can guard you" and "Kobe, do you know who I am?? I'm RON ARTEST"
   
2. In order to match Denver's physical play, Pau Gasol's fatter, uh I mean, bigger brother (Marc) secretly sneaks into the game playing as Pau
   
3. Kobe will average 33 points per game
4. Kenyon Martin will be suspended for fighting...Mark Cuban
   
5. every game will have a total of 200+ points scored
6. Chris "Birdman" Andersen will be shot down (not literally of course, that'd be mean)
7. Carmelo's point total will only be matched by the amount of Twitter updates (aka Tweets) he has during the series
   
8. Allen Iverson is healthy and ready to play...wait, wrong team
9. series will go to Game 7, Lakers win (Lakers taking 1 in Denver, Nuggets taking 1 in LA)
10. the Celtics suck (not really a prediction I know)

So, there you go, be sure to watch all "seven" games to see if any of these predictions come true. I hope at least get one right, as you can see by my high standards, I take these predictions seriously.

How to Know Which Way to Enter the Drive-Thru

This entry was inspired by my latest visit to KFC (Mercy Rd.) to try their new grilled chicken. El Pollo Loco is better btw, but that's not the point here. The point is to talk about a serious problem which is...going in the drive-thru the right way. This story is kind of a "you had to be there" type moments to get the full effect of the hilarity it ensued in KFC. So, even tho it probably won't seem that funny in words, I'll tell u anyways.

We were eating at the table next to the window closest to the 15 freeway off ramp. So, we were at the back end (or exit) of the drive thru. I see this car enter thru the exit and it kept driving around the curve of the drive thru until it was out of sight. At this point we were laughing a little b/c it was pretty bizarre, but nothing too funny. Couple of seconds later (it probably drove down the whole drive-thru before realizing it was going the wrong way), I see the car w/ it's reverse light on backing up down the long straight stretch of drive thru. Remember the curve above, this is where everyone that was in KFC (10 ppl give or take) started cracking up. The person didn't know how to back up correctly so, it's back wheel rode up on the curb and the person seemed to panic even more and it looked like he was trying to bust a "U"-ey in the drive thru. Two things made it funnier. One was that we were trying to hold/hide our laugh so that the driver wouldn't feel like more of an idiot if he saw us bursting into laughter. Two was that how stupid do u have to be to go the wrong way thru a drive thru. So, if that ever happens to u, here are several ways to avoid driving the wrong way thru a drive-thru.

1. If the building is on your right side, you're probably driving the wrong way
2. If the word "exit" is painted in bold letters, you're probably driving the wrong way
3. If you pass the lit up menu on the road (if you've been to KFC Mercy then you know how easy it is to see their menu), but it still doesn't occur to u that you're going in the wrong direction, you're probably drunk or had the biggest brain fart ever.

I apologize if I offended anyone with the post. I'm sure there are tricky drive-thru's out there, but if you've been to the Mercy Road KFC you should know that this drive-thru isn't one of them. Funny stories like this make my day.

Draft Survey

This was a poll on ESPN. I just provided my answer IMO.

1) Did the Lions make the right move in taking Matthew Stafford with the No. 1 pick?
-I think so. They have a lot of work to do on offense and defense, but I think QB is always the best choice when it comes down to rebuilding and 0-16 team.

2) Did the Jets give up too much (Picks Nos. 17 and 52, Kenyon Coleman, Brett Ratliff, Abram Elam) in exchange for Mark Sanchez?
-Yea and no. I wouldn't have draft Mark at #5, but if the Jets really loved him that much they did the right thing to snatch him before someone else did.

3) Which first-round quarterback will have the most success?
-Stafford. Mark maybe with more experience. Freeman is a risky pick.

4) Which team with multiple first-round picks made out the best?
-Packers w/ Raji and Clay. Raji is a clogger and Clay is so versatile

5) Which Super Bowl team made the best pick?
-I like beanie w/ the Cards

6) Which is the crazier first-round Raiders pick?
-the choice in this poll were...2009: DHB or 2000: Sebastian. I LOL'd when I read this. My answer is Sebastian, b/c he attempts 80-yard field goals, LOL (remember last year)

7) Which top-five pick is most likely to be a bust?
-Even tho I LOVE USC, Mark Sanchez. Even though he's been a top-rated QB coming out of Mission Viejo HS, I just think he needs a lot more experience and work before he can be effective. But he has loads of natural ability which is always a good thing.

8) Which was the biggest reach in the first round?
-DHB for sure!! B/c he was taken over Crabtree and Maclin.

9) Which was the best first-round pick?
-Crabtree at #10, top 5 player value at #10 is a discount for sure

10) Which player were you most surprised to see go undrafted in the first round?
-Rey, b/c I thought the Chargers were going to draft him, lol.