War Eagle!

Congrats to the Auburn Tigers, the 2010-2011 NCAA Football champions. Auburn defeated Oregon 22-19.Earlier in the fourth quarter Auburn made a defensive stand at the goal line, and Oregon came away with no points. The Ducks would tie it up on a touchdown and two point conversion. However, Auburn would drive down the field and kick a short game winning field goal.

Auburn won the SEC, they went undefeated, they beat a very good Oregon team and deserve to be national champions. TCU had a great season and were the odd team out. Horned Frogs fans might think their team got screwed and they are right. The BCS isn't perfect and i is the system college football has in place. Texas Christian beat a very good Wisconsin team in the Rose Bowl. The Horned Frogs can be extremely proud of their football season.

Things I didn't like, besides the season ending with two undefeated teams would start with the season lasting until January 10th. Fans waiting and waiting for the Championship game. The game could have been played a little earlier, but that is my East Coast bias coming out and the reason I am very tired today.

Well, I did stay up to do my final college football ranking of the season you can read it here.

Pat Moran Died

Record producer/engineer Pat Moran has died. I am familiar with his work being  a big Led Zeppelin fan, thus being a big fan of Robert Plant. Pat produced Robert Plant's solo albums right after Led Zeppelin broke up. The albums "Pictures at Eleven" and "Principal of Moments." He also produced an album for John Miles. John Miles sang on a couple of tracks on Jimmy Page's "Outrider" album.

He also worked with Iggy Pop, Edie Brickell, Tom Cochrane, and Big Country to name to few. In the world of classic rock Pat Moran had quite the resume as a producer. The music world lost a talented producer. However, reports say he was suffering from a disease so at least he is no longer suffering.

Sources: Gibson.com

New Year Bigger News!

My first two interviews were great. My first one with Jay A. Turner was incredible. He might be a local session player who fortunate enough to tour Europe on a regular bases. However, he was a pro when it came to the interview. He sent everything I needed and was great on the correspondence. Chocolate Thunder was warm and genuine. She was the first face to face interview.

Yngwie Malmsteen well he was my first big name interview. He was a lot of fun. Now it is a new year. How do I follow up a year with those three interviews. Well I have an agreement in place for another interview. The specifics of who in the band I am going to interview remains to be ironed out. However, I am very excited. Yes, they are big names.

The New Year is just getting started but it is so promising. Of course it will have twists and turns. Some good and some bad. However, it is exciting to start it out on a very positive note. As the song goes "the future's so bright I have to wear shades."

Rich Rodriguez Fired

Hindsight is 20/20 but Rich Rodriguez should have stayed at West Virginia. The Mountaineers and Rich would have been better off. Rich is still the most hated sports figure in West Virginia and is now unemployed. WVU fans were upset oh how Rich left. Now Rodriguez is upset at leaving Michigan. I believe they call that Karma

His first season ended 3-9 and his next season ended 5-7. This season Michigan went 7-6. Yes his team did improve each season. However, the Michigan fans and athletic department had hoped for bigger improvements. Michigan was blown out in the Gator Bowl by Mississippi State 52-14. That loss did not help Rich Rodriguez. Rich did not help himself by not beating arch rivals. The Wolverines were win less against Ohio State and Michigan State. If you don't have a great record a coach needs to beat his rivals.

Rodriguez also had some problems with the NCAA or the NCAA had some issues with Rich while he was at Michigan. Heat from the NCAA doesn't make schools happy.

The good news for Rich is there will always be college coaching openings.Rich was a successful coach at West Virginia. Rodriguez should have a future in college football. However, that future does not include West Virginia or Michigan.

Gerry Rafferty Passed Away

I confirmed the news at the New York Times. You can read the article here. Gerry Rafferty was a great song writer with Stealer's Wheel and solo. My favorite song by him is "Right Down the Line" which a friend posted on facebook. It is a beautiful song. One I don't listen to a lot but when I do it is one that grabs me. "Stuck in the Middle With You" is a fun song from his Stealer's Wheel days. "Baker Street" appears to be a song he is famed for or was the most successful.

He died at the age of 63 apparently from kidney and liver problems. Sorry the world lost a musician, an artist. I am thankful we can listen to the songs he left behind. So, 2011 starts with another musician gone. May he rest in peace, away from his depression and demons.

Facebook Fan Page

My facebook fan page is up. It can be found here. If you have facebook feel free to like and keep up to date with some of my latest articles. I have been linking mostly to my Yahoo articles. However, if I publish anything interesting. I will post a link.

2010 was an interesting year for my writing. Hopefully 2011 will be even better. Thanks for your support and I wish you all the best in 2011. Also I hope to blog a little more in 2011 since 2010 was a down year for my blog.

Two points

My fantasy football team made it to the championship match up. My team lost by 2 points so I will have to settle with second place. However, I did have a great season going 15-2. The last week of the season is a tricky one. Teams start to rest their starters for the playoffs, teams out of the playoff hunt  sometimes have key players have season ending surgeries. The team I lost two was the second seed team in the playoffs. I had beaten them during the regular season. I lost to a worthy opponent. Well, I guess I need to spend a little more time looking at my Fantasy Basketball and Hockey teams.