Deadspin

Deadspin


The top of the family tree for many of todays most popular sports blogs, Deadspin was a pioneer in sports-blogging. It's difficult commentator auditions, its top notch editors (first Will Leitch, currently AJ Daulerio, along with Rich Chandler), and the breadth of its subject matter really gives you a great read. As a caveat, I comment regularly, participate in DUAN! (TBD in a seperate review, and briefly here), and have the site bookmarked.

My favorite thing about Deadspin is that it covers all sports events, from gossip, embarassing news, to actual events! DUAN!, my favorite part of the evening, involves a group of insomniacs talking about everything all night, from music/politics/sports; both fantasy and real. Also, there is quite a lot of bonding among people up on DUAN, and I feel like I know some of them better than people in the outside world.

The biggest drawback to Deadspin is a sexist tone that does make it through to some of the articles. Although I don't think AJ, Rich, Dash, or Pete do it intentioanlly, sometimes the humour does seem to come at the expense of woman. See this or this , and "Waxing Off" gets bashed pretty regularly, sometimes deservedly, but sometimes not. Also, BDD's Thursday Dick Joke Jamboree's aren't the most gender-equal colums (despite that I read it every week). Also, to be fair, I'm sure not all of my comments are entirely PC.

When Will left, I was a bit worried. However, after what I thought was a shakey start, AJ has turned out solid, funny, and gave a new, different, but still funny tone the writing. He also didn't drop a banhammer on me when I posted a rediculous picture of him. Further Deadspin mentions on this blog probably will be along the lines of "Week In Review" when it warrents it. As it is, we all see the 5 YWMLs coming, correct.

Lil Wayne

Weezy F. Baby, The Young Carter, whatever the heck he is calling himself this week. Now, I'm a New York, East Coast Hip Hop fan (circa Jadakiss, Old, Power of the Dollar esque 50 cent), but Lil Wayne has tons of shit on my computer. His rhymes can be some of the most creative, interesting, and fun to listen to lyrics that I ever here. His verse in the "One Blood" remix kills, and even his poppy singles have a really nice, smooth, raspy feel to them. He speaks in a guttery tone, but its really accessably, especially for radio, mass-consumption rap. Duffle Bag Boy blew me away the first time I heard it. I'm actually looking forward to his rumoured Rock album, soley because Weezy could absolutely destroy a well produced guitar riff. My biggest deal with Wayne is his consistancy. When you pair him with another good rapper, he has a tendancy to get lazy and not really grab the beat. Checking out his flow on Hello Brooklyn 2.0, Jay overpowers him, despite being a beat that doesn't really play to Hov's strengths. Wayne's creativity is what puts him over most rappers.






3 Stacks out of 5 - Bring the consistency up Wayne, I'm rooting for ya.

Kissing Suzy Kolber

Kissing Suzy Kolber
KSK, the winner of Best Sports Blog in 2006,2007, and 2008 in the Weblog Awards, is one of the most trafficked sports blogs on the internet. Led by BigDaddyDrew AKA Drew Magary (author of Men With Balls), KSK offer a satiracal reflection on the NFL, and apparantly in the case of UnsilentMajority, a surefire way to lose money on the games. Also, they do get credit for one of my favorite nicknames in the NFL "Purple Jesus" Originally these guys met as Deadspin commentators, and the blog does reflect the snarky tone on the website. One of my favorite recurring features, Fantasy Football and Sex Advice Mailbag, really showcases their wit. Other times, though, the site kinda goes for the lowbrow cheap pop. It's like when a wrestling face talks up the home city when he has nothing else left to say. KSK sometimes feels juvenile - BDD is a fucking talented man, but I can only deal with laughing about elementary school jokes for so long. It's odd, I feel like I should like it, but I never check the sight more than once a week, while Deadspin/MYFO/ and recently The Rookies get checked at least once a day. Funny, but not quite as high as people rate it.








3 Helmets out of 5

NHL On The Fly

First, disclaimer: I'm a huge hockey fan. I can stay up watching west coast games all night (which I often do). However, if you enjoy hockey, sports, or good clip shows, this is a must watch. As a fan, and as my buddy Skating Tomato pointed out, its hella fun watching the other teams announcing pairings. You get a feel for the issues, and catch the best moments of every game. The analysis is usually first rate, especially when Neil Smith (architect of the Rangers 94 cup run) is in the studio. Definitely a must watch.

Friday the 13th

The New Friday the 13th flick came as quite a pleasant surprise to me. After reading reviews,I expected the movie to be borderline completely unwatchable. After the viewing, the movie held up to traditional Friday the 13th viewings. People died, big time. The storyline was as per usual preposterous, but the writer did attempt to add a humanizing plot, which failed miserably because the acting was atrocious. However, the introduction was really really sweet, and actually set up the plot. It doesn't holda candle to the Part VII (which will be the subject of an Epic post at some point) but anytime I leave the theatre not feeling like I wasted 12 bucks the movie succeeded. Good for slasher fans, and for the males out there - there is some other benefits to this flick.

I got my....

Greetings, blogosphere members. Short introductory paragraph here, my name is FirstDerivative, I used to be part of Newsday's review crew, and I miss reviewing pop-culture. So now I'm going to do it and NOT get paid for it. There will be no rhyme or reason to the updates, and the topics will be any aspect of pop culture I feel like. Ideas are always welcomed, and products will be graded on a 1-5 scale; 1 being the lowest.

It's been a long time since my peeps have seen me.

FD