Bret Patton

Alrodis Chapman - Cincinnati Reds Even though MLB scouts have clocked his fast ball as high as 105 MPH, Chapman usually stays in the mid to high 90’s.  Chapman is a left-handed pitcher and batter who throws a plus slider and an average changeup. On January 10, 2010, Chapman agreed to a long-term contract with the Cincinnati Reds.  He is signed to a six-year contract worth $30.25 million and the bonus totals $16.25 million.  It will be paid annually over eleven years, with an additional bonus if eligible for salary arbitration in 2012 or 2013. Chapman made his major league debut on August 31, 2010 against the Brewers in the 8 th inning.  He threw pitches up to 103 MPH and retired the side. The 22 year old Cuban seems to be a promising addition to the Cincinnati Reds.  Let’s hope the scouts were wrong who said Chapman has control issues and lack of a solid third pitch.

Matt Leinart - Arizona Cardinals With two rookie quarterbacks, Derek Anderson, and Matt Leinart you would think that the Arizona Cardinals would find an exceptional starting quarterback.  Especially since Leinart has been in the NFL for 4 seasons and mentored by future Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. Matt Leinart has played 29 games in the NFL since 2006 and has 14 TD and 20 INT.  After playing 12 games his first season, Leinart was benched to playing 17 spread out among 3 seasons. Derek Anderson has played in 39 games with 46 TD and 45 INT.  While his stats are slightly better, Anderson also has started more games than Leinart has. Although previous records shouldn’t matter – It should come down to who is doing the better job currently.  In the preseason 2010, Anderson ’s passer rating is an average of 84 while Leinart’s is 93.  While Leinart’s is a good percentage higher you would assume he would be the guy for the job, but Arizona doesn’t think so....

Craig Owens Former Chiodos Music can be classified among so many genres.  Rock has so many categories it can be broken down too.  For instance, punk rock generally consists of  hardcore, emo, screamo, post-punk, experimental rock, metalcore and so many more.  I want to focus on one in particular - Post-Hardcore music has emerged since the 90's. Post-hardcore is typically characterized by its precise rhythms and loud guitar-based instrumentation accompanied by a combination of clean vocals and screams.  Although all these categories mentioned above can be categorized the same, I like the name of post-hardcore better. I don't want to focus on the entire band though.  I have been listening to music for years and have seen hundreds of new bands emerge, break-up, and grow successful.  Each member of a band is important, but I want to focus on screamers.  Bands generally can replace instruments, but changing a screamer changes the entire percept...

Travis Barker - Blink 182 & +44 Defining the best drummers is typically hard to do since there are thousands of bands in the music industry.  Out of the 20th century there are all kinds of music icons to live up too.  For instance, Metallica's Lars Ulrich and Slayer's Dave Lombardo both have been rocking the stage since 1981. Everybody chooses their favorite drummers and critics will usually include most drummers from the list below in no particular order. Neil Peart (Rush) John Bonham* (Led Zeppelin) Keith Moon* (The Who) Dave Lombardo (Slayer) Danny Carey (Tool) Ringo Starr (The Beatles) Stewart Copeland (The Police) Tommy Aldridge (Ozzy Osbourne) Bill Ward (Black Sabbath) Steve Smith (Journey) Mitch Mitchell (Jimi Hendrix) Mike Shrieve (Santana) Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden) Carter Beauford (Dave Matthews) ) Roger Taylor (Queen) Matt Cameron (Soundgarden) Phil Collins (Genesis) Vinnie Paul (Pantera) Topper Headon (The Clash) Lars Ulrich (Me...

Terrelle Pryor Determining the most likely recipient for the Heisman Trophy prior to the season is typically simple.  Identify the players with the biggest threat: based on statistics and their teams chances for success. Mark Ingram Most critics would say the previous winner has an edge over the rest going into the next season.  Since, Mark Ingram is the third consecutive sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy, he becomes the third consecutive player  to challenge Archie Griffin.  Tim Tebow and Sam Bradford couldn't cash-in on a second Heisman Trophy, which leave Ohio State's Archie Griffin the only two-time winner ever. Trent Richardson, Ingram's teammate,  may keep his numbers down. With this factor and the other contenders, I don't like Ingram's chances of repeating for a second Heisman.  The 5 players listed below have a great chance of being the Heisman Winner. Terrelle Pryor, QB,  has improved enough to lead Ohio State into going unbe...

The Sony Nextep Computer, (designed my Hiromi Kiriki) is developed to be worn as a bracelet.  Since the young generations have a high demand for internet connectivity, a device with such capabilities is likely to hit the markets in the near future. This specific design is constructed out of a flexible OLED touchscreen, including features like a holographic projector, pull-out keyboard panels and not to forget: Social networking compatibility. Source Used:  http://www.yankodesign.com/2010/05/25/in-2020-we-can-wear-sony-computers-on-our-wrist/

Lead actors and actresses on a TV series can expect a big payday.  While the economy is in a recession , the average for a new series was between $ 75,000 and $ 125,000 per episode; besides, $200,000 where the heights have reached in the past. Ever since DVR and online viewing came into play, ratings have dwindled significantly; therefore, this resulted broadcasting networks in cost-cutting.  Although, the wages aren't as high as they have been in the past,  if a show is on the rise from ratings-then the wages are expected to increase. For instance, "The Big Bang Theory" cast - Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, and Kaley Cuoco - all make equal to or under $60,000 per episode.  According to Nielsen rankings among viewers 18 to 49 the show has risen to the top.  One network executive exclaims, "I think they'll give an extra year to their studio, Warner Bros., in exchange for each of them getting $150,000 to $200,000 an episode.  They'll get bumps from there ...

Ever since Eminem returned from his 4 year vacation and announced to fans he would be releasing two albums within a one year period fans have been privileged with two completely different sides of shady. Relapse was released on May 19, 2009 and had plenty of controversy and critical acclaim. Although it didn’t have as much success as his previous albums, Relapse has sold over 5 million copies worldwide. The album peaked at No. 1 in over 12 countries including the U.S. “We Made You”, “3 a.m.”, and “Beautiful” were all singles that had success off of Relapse. Originally, Eminem planned to release Relapse 2 around December 2009, but decided to approach and compile a completely different album. Awaiting the delay, Eminem released Relapse: Refill. On April 13, 2010 Eminem tweeted, "There is no Relapse 2". By tweeting, "RECOVERY", with a link to his website Eminem confirmed he was only changing the name of the new album. Eminem said, "I had originally pla...

After making several costly errors in the NFC championship game Saturday night in the Super Dome at New Orleans, Brett Favre fell short of going to compete in his 3rd super bowl. Favre made back to back Super bowls in 1997 and 1998. Winning in 1997 against the New England Patriots and losing in 1998 to the Denver Broncos. The NFC Championship game was the most entertaining and best post season game of the season, even though their were some costly mistakes. Favre, who threw 2 interceptions in the game, threw one within the last 20 seconds of regulation losing all hope for the Vikings long attempt at a game winning field goal. Instead the Vikings and Saints went into over time and the Saints pulled off the defeat. Although, Favre through several interceptions in the last game of the season for the Minnesota Vikings, he still played a great performance game throwing a touchdown pass and over 300 yards. The Minnesota Vikings had 5 turnovers as a team and 2 fumbles within the red zo...

Today’s actresses are changing Hollywood and making it into a more diverse and successful business for Hispanic’s whether they are from Mexico, Cuba, Argentina, or even Spain. Hispanic actresses haven’t always been as successful in Hollywood as they are today, but they have been around in film for years. Some of the most famous Hispanic descent actresses that come to mind are Michelle Rodriguez, American Ferrera, Eva Mendes, or even Jennifer Lopez. Even though these actresses do qualify to be in the best of all time, none of them compare to Rita Moreno. Rita Moreno is from Puerto Rico and is the first and only Hispanic who has won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony. Her most successful film is West Side Story, for which she won best supporting actress at the Academy Awards. At 78 years old, Rita is still strong at acting and will always be in the top Hispanic actresses of all time. Carmen Maura is a Spain born actress best known for her roles with her Spanish film director Pe...

After watching the Microsoft press conference on February 15, 2010, Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer introduced the new Windows Phone 7 series. Before Steve Ballmer gave his exclusive hands on opinion of the new Microsoft phone, Joe Belfiore, VP in charge of the program management and design, gave the audience the first look at Windows Phone 7 series. Joe Belfiore, who has been at Microsoft for 20 years, presented the phone focusing on user experience and design. Belfiore explained how most smart phones today are more like a PC than actual phones. Windows Phone 7 Series is a different kind of phone. As Belfiore stated, when Microsoft was in process of building the new phone, they wanted to know “How can we build a phone that focuses on the end user and the things that mattered the most to them - The individual and those custom things about you that make the phone reflect your unique personality and needs?” “We like to think what we are doing is building a...

Why Brett Favre Will play for the Vikings in the 2010 season? After making several costly errors in the NFC championship game Saturday night in the Super Dome at New Orleans, Brett Favre fell short of going to compete in his 3rd super bowl. Favre made back to back Super bowls in 1997 and 1998. Winning in 1997 against the New England Patriots and losing in 1998 to the Denver Broncos. The NFC Championship game was the most entertaining and best post season game of the season, even though their were some costly mistakes. Favre, who threw 2 interceptions in the game, threw one within the last 20 seconds of regulation losing all hope for the Vikings long attempt at a game winning field goal. Instead the Vikings and Saints went into over time and the Saints pulled off the defeat. Although, Favre through several interceptions in the last game of the season for the Minnesota Vikings, he still played a great performance game throwing a touchdown pass and over 300 yards. The Minnesota Viki...

The NFL Voted Wrong! Favre’s completion percentage this past season was 68.4 percent which was only .4 percent of Peyton Manning’s 68.8 percent. Brett Favre’s passer rating was 7.3 percent higher than Manning’s 99.9 percent and Drew Brees was the only quarterback with a higher passer rating than Brett Favre this year with a passer rating of 109.6. Brett Favre threw for over 4200 yards while Drew Brees through for over 4300 and Peyton Manning threw for exactly 4500 yards. Although Peyton Manning won the MVP this year, Brett Favre and Drew Brees both were more successful candidates to win MVP. They had less interceptions (Favre – 7, Brees – 11, Manning – 16), better passer ratings (Favre – 107.0, Brees – 109.6, Manning – 99.9), and equal too or more touchdowns (Favre – 33, Brees – 34, Manning – 33). Peyton Manning had worse numbers this year than he did in 2005 and in 2006, which in those two years he lost the MVP award to Shaun Alexander and LaDanian Tomlinson. This year Peyton Mann...

After 5 straight weeks at the top of the box office, critics and fans are wondering if Avatar can break the all time box office record. Avatar has been grossing more profit in the last 5 weeks than any other competitor set out to compete. At the end of the Martin Luther King weekend, Avatar grossed an estimated $54 million beating The Book of Eli, which grossed $38 million, bringing Avatar’s total box office to over $500 million. World Wide audiences loved the thrills of Avatar too. France remains Avatar’s biggest market of all with $115.3 billion. China’s market this past weekend grossed $17.9 million and is already the China’s highest grossing movie ever with $75.6 million. Italy made $15.2 million while Avatar is South Korea’s highest grosser over all with $70.7 million. The 500 million dollars Avatar has grossed makes it the fastest motion picture to cross the mark, which took only 32 days. The closest competitor was the Dark Knight in 2008, with 45 days, which broke Titanic’s...