Jake Fine - Inside the Mind of Fine

Top 10 of the Week- Love Songs

February 12th, 2010 Posted in Top 10 Of The Week | No Comments »

Yeah, yeah I am well aware of the fact it has been way too long since the last update to the blog.  Although recent developments have thrown a significant amount of free time in my hands, and it looks like that might not be changing anytime soon.  So to celebrate I would like to introduce the start of a new weekly countdown segment, and as the initial one I thought I’d go with theme of this weekend’s holiday.  Now let me say first that I never have been a big fan of Valentine’s Day.  If you really wanted to tell someone you love them shouldn’t you just do it instead of having a day where the card companies force you into it?  Before I come off sounding like a cynic, it’s true we all experience love on some degree.  So in honor of cupid’s biggest day of the year I present my list for best love songs.

 

10. Boys II Men “I’ll Make Love To You”

We all remember this one, a perfect exploration of the emotions behind physical love.  Yeah, they’re talking about having crazy sex and if you need that broken down for you, then I don’t think I’m the one to help you.

 

9. Lenny Kravitz “Again”

This Grammy nominated song had a chorus that it almost seemed to make a cheesy pick-up line attempt of the “Hey baby where have you been all my life.”  Although as Lenny sings this while carrying a simple guitar beat it comes off as sincere and really makes you think of that one who got away.

 

8. Goo Goo Dolls “Iris”

This hit song form the popular film, City of Angels took a perfect perspective at the forbidden love.  I know who you are, I can’t be with you, just don’t forget me.\

 

7. Death Cab For Cutie “I Will Follow You Into The Dark”

Sweet sounding song that examines the rough patches that love lead to, and in most cases can prevail.  The perfect way of saying I will be here for you no matter what comes our way.

 

6. Coldplay “Sparks”

This wasn’t a big time hit for Chris Martin and company but was featured in the comedy Wedding Crashers.  Does a superb job of describing the feelings of love at first sight, making you see fireworks all around.

 

5. Van Morrison “Brown Eyed Girl”

Morrison’s popular retrospect tells the story of that first young love that we all can relate to.

 

4. Dave Matthews Band “Crush”

I love how this song captures that instant when falling for someone and you reach that state of deliriousness, not knowing if you’re right side up or upside down.

 

3. Oasis “Wonderwall”

Commonly referred to as one the best pop songs of all time, if you actually pay close attention to the lyrics it really goes into the detail of the devotion one fells for their beloved.

 

2. Snow Patrol “Chasing Cars”

I was a bit surprised at how high I had this on my list but there is not a lot that goes into how I could just sit here with you and do nothing but sit around and still have the best time ever.

 

1. The Beatles “Something”

Not a lot of debate behind this one.  The best job discussing that instant of falling in love and realizing that you don’t want to live without that person.

 

Now it is pretty clear that some of this week’s selections were not conventional by any regard, but I would be interested in hearing feedback or arguments for any other tune that was left off my list.  As always, have a great weekend and keep your mind on the fine side.

Hype Down! Super Bowl Great Not Best (By Lars $)

February 11th, 2009 Posted in Football Fix | No Comments »

In this day in age of Facebook chat, I-passes, and illegally downloading new movies to your home computer it easy to call the most recent Super Bowl the greatest of all-time. However, after closer consideration the epic battle between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals, while great, should not be considered the best Super Bowl ever. As thrilling as the last 8 minutes of the fourth quarter were, the first three and a half quarters were rather poorly played, and outside of James Harrison’s 100 yard interception return for a touchdown the game lack excitement. Not to mention that the officials were very involved in the game. I’m not saying that all of their calls were bad, but some were flat out terrible, and there were a lot of penalties called in general. Add the fact that the Cardinals final play was not reviewed on the field by the referee is unacceptable. Granted it was reviewed in the booth, but it his not his job to make that
close of a call at the biggest moment of the biggest game of the season. Besides that the fourth quarter was great, but there have been arguably better and more exciting fourth quarters than the one we saw this weekend.
Super Bowl XXXVIII between Carolina and New England featured 37 fourth quarter points, including touchdown plays of 33 and 85 yards by Carolina, three scores in the last 2 minutes and 51 seconds, and a last second game winning field goal by Adam Vinatieri. I would say an ending just as compelling as Super Bowl XLIII’s. However, great games are not based off of one quarter alone, but as the phrase “great game” would suggest, it is based off the whole game.
This leads me to argue that last year’s Super Bowl between the undefeated Patriots and surprising Giants is the greatest of all time. The Patriots were a Super Bowl victory away from becoming the greatest NFL team ever, this coming from a Dolphins fan. Taking into consideration the parity that we see around the league on a weekly the basis it would be astounding for a team to go 19-0, and the Patriots were that close. The Giants came into the game coming off possibly the greatest post season run in history, beating Tampa Bay on the road, then beating two 13-3 teams (Dallas and Green Bay) on the road in extreme conditions. Despite their success in getting to the Super Bowl not many people gave them the chance against the mighty Pats, but they delivered. Both teams defenses play terrifically, and both offenses answered the call in the fourth quarter when needed. The Giants last drive to win the game was a thing of beauty, and the best drive in Super
Bowl history. It is game that you will be telling your grandchildren you watched, this past Super Bowl, however, will most likely not be.
Back to analyzing the game. During the first quarter of the game my brother and I disagreed about how the Cardinals were running the offense. Pittsburgh’s defense was set up to minimize Larry Fitzgerald and take away the deep passes. So, Kurt Warner and his offense relied on short dump off passes to the running backs and a commitment to the running game. I was of the mind that this strategy was fine if they moved the ball and scored. My brother on the other hand thought that they were playing into the Steelers hands, and that Arizona needed it to be a shootout to win. In the end my brother seemed to be right, but I think Arizona’s problem was that they stuck with this strategy too long. Once it got late into the third quarter and they were trailing by 13 and the running game wasn’t working at all, they needed to switch gears. In the fourth quarter they finally did, which resulted in great performances by Warner and Fitzgerald, but it was too
late. As I am writing this I am hearing that the rumors are true that Todd Haley will become the next head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, but his performance in the biggest game of his career has to be questioned. Just think about how hot of a commodity Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo became after last year dominating performance in the Super Bowl. In my opinion Todd Haley performance was closer to that of then Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips in Super Bowl XXIV. Going into that game Phillips was a top head coaching candidate throughout the league, but after the Broncos suffered a 55-10 drubbing at the hands of the 49ers it would be another four years before he finally became a head coach. Obviously, Scott Pioli has accomplished enough in this league to be trusted with this head coaching decision, so Chiefs fans don’t worry too much.

Random Thoughts:
- The NFC won the coin toss for the twelfth straight year this year. I’m not even going to try and think of the odds of that, but thats plain crazy. Despite winning the toss the NFC is 3-9 in those games. I guess the coin toss doesn’t mean that much after all.
- The teaming wearing their white jerseys have now five straight Super Bowls, which is good news for the NFC for they are scheduled to be the road team in next years Super Bowl. Unless the AFC team choses to wear white like the Steelers did for Super Bowl XL.
- I am a big fan of Bruce Springsteen’s music, but I must say that the highlight of the halftime performance was his crotch first slide into the camera. I’m still trying to decide which I liked more Janet Jackson’s nipple or The Boss’s package.
- Next season and the subsequent Super Bowl will be the final one of the decade, and the AFC wins the Super Bowl it will produce and interesting breakdown of champions throughout the decades. Starting in the 1970s, which was the first decade to have ten Super Bowls every decade has had a conference go 8-2 in the big game. The 70s the AFC went 8-2, in the 80s and 90s the NFC went 8-2 in each, and now so far in the 00s the AFC has gone 7-2 with a chance to complete the symmetry. In case you were wondering the first four Super Bowls were played in the 60s and were split 2-2 between the NFL(NFC) and AFL(AFC).
- In case you didn’t notice, Illinois State swept Southern Illinois in basketball this season
- Absurdly early prediction for Super Bowl XLIV: Giants vs. Chargers. Both teams get their best defensive players back, the Giants move on past Plaixco-gate, and San Diego just has too much talent not too reach the Super Bowl eventually.
 

Warming Up To The Ice

January 17th, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Allow me to begin today with one of the biggest clichés possible by quoting one of the most inspirational folk singers of all time, Bob Dylan who once said, “The times they are a-changin’,” and after last night it seems our ole’ pal Bobby is summing up the winter Chicago sports scene in a nut shell.  This weekend I got the chance to do what many others have done so already over the past few months- take in a Blackhawks game.  It is not often I feel obligated to talk about a game which ended in a one point deficit in favor of the road team, but it was hard not to take in the whole experience that was thrown at me for that three hour period.  I was anxious to arrive early in hopes of receiving my Patrick Sharp bobblehead to add to my collection.  Although much to my surprise, despite arriving about forty minutes prior to the puck being dropped, not only was I denied my bobblehead, but I was shocked to see that over 22,000 fans were already in their seats in anticipation.  Meaning one thing is clear- hockey is back in Chicago.

 

In no way do I pretend to be an expert on the sport or the NHL mainly because like so many others, my interest took a significant hit following the league’s lockout of 2004-05 season, it also didn’t help that our Chicago franchise had gone nearly a decade without even sniffing the postseason.  But like in so many other circumstances winning fixes a lot, yet it’s so much deeper than that.  Usually when attending games the crowd is predominantly males in the fortes brining their kids, but last night it was clear a majority of the seats were occupied by those in their twenties and thirties, a demographic that has been hard for the franchise to appeal to for some time.  Fueled by a youthful roster lead by Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Patrick Sharp, the Blackhawks have once again become relevant as their high tempo style of play has made the squad interesting and entertaining.

 

Although one of the biggest surprises is that my experience at last nights game was so far ahead of when I went to a Bulls game several weeks ago it wasn’t even funny.  Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks this because recently members inside the Bulls’ front office have stated that the team has lost a fair amount of season ticket holders because they simply would rather have a season package for Chicago’s greatest show on ice.  Even with all the hype surrounding Bulls top pick Derek Rose, many are making the switch.  This is a theme that might not change anytime soon with the two teams clearly heading in different directions, the ticket in Chicago this time of the season still brings you to the United Center, but for a much cooler game.  Until next time, keep your mind on the Fine side.