Thursday, September 29, 2011

Weekly Heisman Rankings


Well folks here we are again, week 2 of my Heisman rankings. The college football season has already shown us many legitimate contenders for the highest individual prize in all of collegiate athletics. The top three remains the same although there may be some flip flopping amongst the top 3.

3.Kellen Moore: QB- Boise State
Season Stats: 83-of-105 passing for 995 yards, 12 TDs and two INTs.
The consistent signal caller didn’t wow the Chocolate Puma this week, but he didn’t have to. With a 279 yard and 4 touchdown game last week he certainly is positioning himself to be in the thick of things come Heisman time.


2.Robert Griffin III: QB- Baylor
Season Stats: 70-of-82 passing for 962 yards and 13 TDs; 24 rushes for 167 yards and one TD; one reception for 15 yards.
This guy has more touchdown passes than incomplete passes. Think about that. Add in his ability to run the ball as well and you have just the kind of exciting player the Puma loves to see.

1.Marcus Lattimore: HB-South Carolina
Season Stats: 107 rushes for 611 yards and eight TDs; 12 receptions for 139 yards and one TD.
Got off to a rough start on the ground so what does Mr. Lattimore do? Add the receiving game to his repertoire finishing with 73 yards on 3 receptions to go with the 77 yards he picked up on the ground. Mr. Lattimore is a bad, bad man ladies and gentlemen.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

My Take on Tyler Perry Movies

Many of the people who know me know that I am not what one would call a big fan of the work of Tyler Perry. Notice what I said there, I am not a fan of the WORK of Tyler Perry. Lately there has been a discussion amongst African Americans who love the works of Perry and those like myself who hate the works of Perry. That discussion always boils down to “well he gives black people jobs in Hollywood.” This is true, he does hire African American actors and he should be applauded for doing so. But that doesn’t mean I have to actually like the movies. The bigger question should be why others aren’t doing the same thing, but that’s another rant for another day.

Now while I am not a fan of the works, I do respect the man. It’s a story that’s hard not to respect. A man who had gotten as low as homelessness stuck to his dream to become one of the highest paid men in all of entertainment. But all that said the same recycled story lines and him dressing up as a woman does not a good movie make in my opinion. Here are his movies in a nutshell; successful African American woman is in a relationship with a dark skinned African American man who on the surface appears to be the perfect gentleman. Behind closed doors however he is either abusive or just a flat out asshole, enter the light skinned African American handyman/pool cleaner who just got out of prison. Madea shows up, slaps someone, insert church scene, woman comes to senses and leaves the asshole for the handyman. Boom. I just saved you hours of watching 8-10 of his movies.
You don't like my movies huh?

Then we he attempts to make a movie not based around the premise of a gun toting grandmother in “For Colored Girls” he made, in once again my opinion, an egregious error when he decided to direct the film himself. A movie that is about the experiences of African American women should be directed by an actual woman and not someone who just dresses as a woman. That would add much depth to the movie as someone like Kasi Lemmons, Neema Barnette, or Debbi Allen could use personal experience to make it a richer film. Now I didn’t see the movie so I can’t say it wasn’t a rewarding success but it would have been nice to see a woman at the helm of this film.

I guess the point of all this is can we agree that yes he should be respected for his work, but if your argument for why I should like this guy’s work is “well he hires black people,” my opinion shall remain unchanged as I am sure the above rant will not change your opinion. I only ask one question, when “Madea's Big Happy Trip to the Podiatrist” comes out make sure you don’t invite me.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Heisman Rankings

The college football season is still very young but it’s never too early to come up with a list for the most prestigious award in all the land, the Heisman trophy. There has been no shortage of players putting up gaudy stats so far but these three are setting the pace in this race.

3. Robert Griffin III: QB – Baylor
Season Stats: 41-of-49 passing for 624 yards and eight TDs; 18 rushes for 116 yards; one reception for 15 yards.
Uh, only 8 incomplete passes over two games? Are you f’in serious?

2. Kellen Moore: QB- Boise State
Season Stats: 60-of-76 passing for 716 yards, eight TDs and two INTs; two rushes for two yards.
The epitome of consistency, the senior signal caller has complete control of the Boise machine and has them primed for a run at the national title.


1.Marcus Lattimore: HB- South Carolina
Season Stats: 87 rushes for 534 yards and seven TDs; nine receptions for 66 yards
Lattimore has been running beast mode so far especially in his last game in which he rushed for 246 yards and three TDs in his last game. If he stays healthy he should be the winner come Heisman time barring an Andrew Luck love fest with voters. No disrespect to Luck.

Monday, September 19, 2011

J. Cole

Uh this J. Cole is nice. I am anxious to hear his debut album "Cole World." His mixtapes have been amazing, and I have no reason to believe this won't continue.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

NFL Super Post

Well the new NFL season is upon us and I believe I shall do a power ranking. But first I have just a few bullet points I want to rant about.

•Tim Tebow… ugh. His supporters make it seem as though he is being bashed because he is a Christian. Allow me to put it on record, I think he’s an awful quarterback due to his mediocre arm strength, horrible pocket presence, and lack of accuracy.

•Lance Briggs, really bro? This isn’t like Matt Forte wanting a better deal, this is flat out greed and making yourself a distraction to the team.

•I don’t know what Roy Williams has on Mike Martz but there has to be a reason this drop machine was handed the top receiver label without earning it.

•If reports out of Indianapolis are true it saddens me that Peyton Manning aka the league’s best pitchman won’t be starting the season opener. Doesn’t seem like football season without the frantic pre-snap movements from # 18.

•Cam Newton will be alright. Will he break rookie passing records? No. But I predict he’ll be a poor man’s Vince Young and the Panthers will be in the 5-6 win range.
Alright now what you all begrudgingly came for, the rankings as brought to you by the Chocolate Puma.

32. Cincinnati: A rookie quarterback, a rookie number one receiver, and arguably the worst owner in all of football leads to a very long season in the Queen City.
31. Cleveland: Not a horrible team, just young and inexperienced. A lack of depth hurts this team but some building blocks for the future in Joe Thomas, Joe Haden and Colt McCoy.
30. Carolina: Rookie quarterbacks on a team in transition never fare too well. Jeremy Shockey and Greg Olsen will provide a good security blanket for Newton but his struggles will be plenty this season.
29. Washington: No running game, a choice of Grossman/Beck as your starter leads to a season where Mike Shanahan better be as smart as he thinks he is or it will be a disaster of epic proportions in DC.
28. San Francisco: Pro: John Harbaugh is your head coach and could be the innovative mind the west coast has been craving for years. Con: Alex Smith is your starting quarterback.
27. Denver: Team should be improved defensively with the additions of Von Miller and Broderick Bunkley and the return of Elvis Dumervil.
26. Seattle: Tavarris Jackson as the starting quarterback here almost singlehandedly negates the signing of Sidney Rice and Zach Miller.
25. Buffalo: Losing Lee Evans hurts, but Stevie Johnson will thrive this season with Ryan Fitzpatrick. Losing Paul Posluszny hurts that defense immensely.
24. Miami: Whoa boy, Chad Henne is your starter. Breathe it in. The only reason that they are ranked this high is because of my irrational belief that they can recreate a 7-9 mark since they have such a good offensive line.
23. Arizona: Not sold on Kevin Kolb but this guy is streets ahead of the guys they had play quarterback last year. Also throwing to Larry Fitzgerald is not a bad thing. Also Patrick Peterson is going to possibly be the most dynamic player in his draft class.

22. Tennessee: Kenny Britt is healthy, Chris Johnson is happy. However they either have uber vet Matt Hasselbeck starting or a player in his NFL infancy in Jake Locker. Also a new coach leads to a season in transition.
21. Oakland: Darren McFadden, Louis Murphy and Jacoby Ford are all solid players. Jason Campbell is a solid quarterback and he finally is running the same offense two years in a row.
20. Jacksonville: David Garrard is a boring but efficient quarterback although this year I expect to see major regression and Blaine Gabbert will eventually start a game this season. Maurice Jones Drew for all his chirping regarding the toughness of other players is an effective player when he himself stays on the field.
19. Vikings: I will probably be cursed by the NFC North gods for this one but Donovan McNabb is all but done. He will not be terrible but clearly his best days are behind him. All Day is going to be all-world again but the receivers not named Percy Harvin leave much to be desired.

18. Kansas City: Matt Cassel will likely miss the season opener and big play tight end Tony Moeaki is done for the season. The defense led by Derrick Johnson and Tamba Hali however are young, aggressive and will definitely be a bright spot.
17. St. Louis: Sam Bradford had an amazing rookie season and will excel with Josh McDaniels calling the plays; the real question is whether or not Steven Jackson stays healthy.
16. Dallas: Tony Romo is healthy, but in my opinion the real question is whether or not Felix Jones can stay healthy. Dynamic when on the field but in the past few years that has been a rare sight.
15. Chicago: It pains me to put my Bears this low but let’s be real. The offensive line has a ceiling of average this season; the receiving corp wasn’t upgraded unless you are on the Roy Williams kool-aid. The defense will definitely hold up its end of the bargain but the returners of the Bears will feel the pain of the new kickoff rule.

14. New York Giants: The secondary was hit hard with injuries but the line will provide pressure and that could force teams into bad throws and turnovers. Eli Manning is not elite, but he’s not bad. A motivated Brandon Jacobs is scary and this could be the year Mario Manningham breaks through.
13. Detroit: That’s right I am on the bandwagon that this is the year the Lions make the jump. Matt Stafford (if healthy, seriously this should be this guy’s middle name) can easily have 20-25 td passes this season. Calvin Johnson, Brandon Pettigrew, Jahvid Best are all going to be very effective or in Johnson’s case be downright disgusting.
12. Buccaneers: Josh Freeman is one of the best young quarterbacks out there, in group right below Joe Flacco etc, Lagarette Blount will continue to run hard and my high school classmate Quincy Black will make a big jump from 61 tackles with Barrett Ruud no longer on the team.
11. Indianapolis: This position is based on Peyton Manning missing a few games but coming back later. That said this is clearly the year for the inevitable downfall of this consistent franchise.
10. Houston: With that said, why not put the Texans in front of the Colts? Matt Schaub is healthy and Gary Kubiak’s zone blocking scheme will keep the running game afloat until the return of Arian Foster.
9. New York Jets: The defense is amazing; Revis and Cromartie might be the second best db duo in the league behind those fellas in Philly. The offense is the real question. I don’t buy Plax coming in and being as good as Braylon Edwards was last year.
8. San Diego: Phillip Rivers is an elite quarterback and with his number one target back for a full season expect 4,500 yards passing from this kid. If Ryan Matthews can give them a running game the AFC West is theirs for the taking.

7. Falcons: This team is so consistently highly ranked I am sure they will be overrated given that their biggest acquisition is arguably a rookie receiver in Julio Jones. Ray Edwards however will certainly help that defense and cause more turnovers.
6. New Orleans: The defense is average at best but this team hangs its hat on its offense. The running game is what worries me about this team.
5. Baltimore: Defense? Check. Run game? Check. If they get more consistent play from Joe Flacco it is not out the realm of possibility of Ray Lewis and the boys could be holding the Lombardi trophy at the end of the season.
4. New England: The additions of Ochocinco and Albert Haynesworth while controversial doesn’t hurt this team and I expect these two to have bounce back seasons under the Svengali of the NFL Bill Belichek. Tom Brady will do what Tom Brady does and drive me crazy as I am forced to begrudgingly respect his game.
3. Philadelphia: The defense has become the thing to see in Philly. With the signing of Nnamdi Asoughma and Asante Samuel already locking down half the field, if teams can’t run on them it’s game over.
2. Pittsburgh: Troy Polamalu is probably the only defensive player in the league who could legit win the MVP. Harrison, Farrior and the rest of the defense also do the damn thing. With Roethlisberger, Mendenhall and the gang the offense is nothing to play around with.
1. Green Bay: This one saddens me the most. As a diehard Bears fan nothing would make me happier than putting them at 32 and claiming they would go 0-16. That would be a lie. Aaron Rodgers has ascended to the elite of quarterbacks in the NFL. Their defense led by Clay Matthews and Charles Woodson will definitely give teams fits this year. Also I have to put them at 1 as they are the defending champions. Ugh, I think I need to go shower.