Katy Perry covers Jay-Z & Kanye West’s "Ni**as In Paris"

I am very hard to surprise, but when I was searching for today’s addition to ‘Cover Song Month‘, I found something disturbing/intriguing…Katy Perry covering a song from “Watch The Throne”.

I guess the most surprising thing wasn’t the fact that her cover of Jay-Z & Kanye West was decent, but the fact that she would even attempt the track.

The video of her live performance is after the jump…

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Why Was Jared Sullinger Medically Red Flagged?

The 2012 NBA Draft is only a couple weeks away and teams are having prospects come in for personal workouts. Teams want to see the player workout in person, but they also do a lot of medical tests by their team doctor. If a negative results comes from the workout or physical exam, a player could drop a lot in the draft. It is something that usually sticks until they have a breakout game in the NBA.

Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger has been going through a rotating door of NBA Lottery teams. He has visited New Orleans Hornets, Golden State Warriors, and Portland Trail Blazers with upcoming visits to Toronto Raptors, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Detroit Pistons.

ESPN is reporting that numerous team doctors have found something in Sullinger’s physical examination. What is alleged problem? Could this be the reason for Sullinger’s poor play against Kansas in the NCAA Tournament.
Sources are telling ESPN that multiple team doctor have reported that Sullinger’s back could shorten his NBA career. Some team doctors have even advised their team to not draft him in the first round (First round draft picks have guaranteed contracts unlike Second round picks).

The specific injury appears to be a set of bulging discs in Sullinger’s back. His agent, David Falk, didn’t comment on ESPN’s article. His father Satch Sullinger told ESPN that the bulging area was due to his hamstring and quads being so tight. He says that it pulled on his hip flexor, but his son has been taking care of it with yoga and deep tissue massage.

DeJuan Blair had a lot of negative buzz going into the 2009 NBA Draft because of his lack of ACLs in both knees. He wasn’t picked until the beginning of the second round because every team was scared to give him a guaranteed contract. Blair went on to have a good rookie season with the San Antonio Spurs and has been a solid player in the NBA.

I have been a fan of Sullinger’s since I saw him play his freshman year. He had some explosion going to the hoop and I was expecting big things from him. My opinion started to become less favorable towards the end of his freshman year and throughout his entire sophomore season at Ohio State. He was playing below the rim and did not seem to have a vertical jump of more than 12 inches. The explosion wasn’t there and I suspected a nagging injury to be the problem. He had less than stellar reviews from his predraft agility tests. I hope this is an issue that can be resolved and we see the player who was lights out during the first half of his freshman year.

In my NBA mock draft, I have Sullinger drafted #12 by the Milwaukee Bucks. Milwaukee has yet to have him in for a workout and with this news, he could free fall out of the first round. I don’t believe that will happen, but he may drop out of the Lottery. If a team is serious about drafting him, they will make sure to get a second opinion and even a third.

I believe that Sullinger’s “ceiling” is a more offensively gifted Anthony Mason. If his becomes and issue and he has weight issues in the NBA, his basement is Sean May.

I’m hoping the Phoenix Suns draft him and their training staff can work another miracle.

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Regina Spektor covers Radiohead’s "No Surprises"

It’s probably not very manly to like Regina Spektor, but I’ve been a fan since she collaborated with Ben Folds on a track. Her new album is called “What We Saw From The Cheap Seats” and it’s a good one.

Here’s a video of her cover of Radiohead’s “No Surprises” that she performed on Triple J.

The ‘Cover Song Month‘ video of the day is after the jump…

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Bad Rabbits covers The Smashing Pumpkins’ "1979"

I have been aware of Bad Rabbits since I researched bands that would be appearing at SXSW Festival this year. I was very impressed with their track “Neverland” and knew that I would like more of their music. I ran across their cover of The Smashing Pumpkins’ “1979” while I was finding songs to feature during ‘Cover Song Month’.

The Pumpkins’ “Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness” double-album was in my CD player for most of my middle school and high school years. I would credit that album along with Live’s “Throwing Copper” and Weezer’s “Blue Album” as inspiring me to start a music journalism career at an early age.

I think you’ll enjoy Bad Rabbits’ cover of “1979”…the video of their live recording is after the jump..

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NCAA Allows Unlimited Texting to Basketball Recruits

As of today, Division I men’s basketball coaches are able to send unlimited texts and make unlimited calls to recruits who have finished their sophomore year in high school.

Kelvin Sampson was so ahead of his time. He got in trouble by making too many phone calls to recruits when he was the coach at Oklahoma and then was caught doing the same thing as the coach of the Indiana Hoosiers. That act basically cost him his job, his career in the college ranks, and put the Indiana basketball program on probation.

I explain the old rules the coaches had to obey and how the new changes will affect the way NCAA men’s basketball coaches use social media. Will more followers mean more blue-chip recruits?

Under current NCAA rules, coaches can call a recruit just once a month from June 15 after his sophomore year to July 31 after his junior year. The recruit is permitted to call coaches as often as he wants. Coaches can make two phone calls a week to a recruit starting Aug. 1 after his junior year. Text messages are strictly prohibited. A coach cannot publicly message a recruit on Twitter or any other social media platform.

Those rules are no longer valid. All contact via phone, text, or tweet will be unlimited. I wonder how many of ESPN’s Top 100 will block certain coaches’ numbers?

The NCAA Division I Board of Directors adopted the rule that was recommended by its leadership council. They believe that it will help make a closer bond between the player and coach. Transfers will be reduced and the student athlete will receive the most out of their basketball career.

The Board of Directors has its heart and mind in the right place with this rule. If they want to help secure a bond between the coach and a player, why will they still make a player sit out a year if the coach that recruited him takes another job? If the NCAA wants to keep saying that a player signs with a school and not a coach, this rule goes against that notion. They need to tweak the transfer system if they want to avoid speaking out of both sides of their mouth.

Can you imagine if this rule was implemented while Bob Knight was still recruiting? His Twitter account would be the most followed of all NCAA coaches. He would go on post-game tirades and throw virtual chairs at referees with RTs from upset fans. Oh, what a great time that would have been.

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Weekly Crush: 10 Videos of Kate Upton + Photo Gallery

It’s Father’s Day weekend and it seems appropriate to give our dad readers a treat. After you open your gifts (probably ties and golf balls), relax and watch some Kate Upton videos.

The Sports Illustrated cover model has appeared in movies “Tower Heist” and “The Three Stooges” and even made a small cameo in an episode of “Saturday Night Live” last season. I assume that she will soon host an episode herself.

Upton is the current ‘it’ girl in modeling. She has been connected to New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez and Detroit Tigers Justin Verlander, and she will probably be connected to a few more before she settles down.

Here are 10 of the best YouTube videos of Kate Upton… Continue reading →

Julia Stone covers The National’s "Bloodbuzz Ohio"

Julia Stone + The National…this a no-brainer inclusion in our ‘Cover Song Month‘.

It turns out that The National’s keyboardist produced this track on her new album “By The Horns” I’m not familiar with Julia Stone’s solo work, but I’m a fan of her work with her brother Angus.

The National’s past few albums have been amazing and seem to be getting better with each release. I have yet to see them live, but have caught a few concerts streaming online. I am looking forward to their next album.

Here is the video for Julia Stone’s cover of The National’s “Bloodbuzz Ohio”…after the jump.

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Jerry Sloan Pulls Out of the Running for Bobcats Coaching Job

Hall of Fame coach Jerry Sloan told SI.com he pulled out the running for the Charlotte Bobcats head coaching job. He was believed to be one of the finalists to replace Paul Silas after he was let go in late April.

There are other coaching jobs that would be more attractive to Sloan. The Portland Trail Blazers and Orlando Magic are both looking for coaches this off-season. Could he be the lead coaching candidate for either of the teams or does he just not want the headache of trying to coach a team with the least amount of talent in the league? I would assume that it is a little of both.

Charlotte has a few other coaching candidates. If they would have been able to hire Sloan, it would have been a mandate that the front office is doing everything they can to turn the franchise around. Since Sloan is out of the question, which two young coaches does Michael Jordan have his eye on?

Charlotte’s open head coaching job will most likely be filled by someone without head coaching experience. The two lead candidates are Brian Shaw, who was an assistant under Phil Jackson with the Los Angeles Lakers and most recently the associate coach of the Indiana Pacers, and Quin Snyder, former University of Missouri Tigers coach and most recently an assistant with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Shaw missed out on the vacant Los Angeles Lakers coaching job last offseason when he was leapfrogged by Mike Brown. He licked his wounds and took an assistant job with Indiana last offseason. Indiana was one of the most improved teams in the NBA, further helping Shaw’s coaching stock. He is also a candidate for the vacant coaching jobs in Portland and Orlando. He is rumored to prefer either of those jobs over Charlotte. His #1 destination would be Portland, even though he has ties to the Orlando area since he once played for the Magic.

The biggest surprise is the emergence of Quin Snyder as a coaching candidate. He has only been an assistant with the Lakers for one season, but Kobe Bryant has been outspoken about Snyder’s coaching ability. Jordan is been rumored to be impressed that he has impressed Bryant so fast. Snyder has experience coaching at the NCAA level (Mizzou), NBA D-League (Austin Toros), and two seasons as an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers and Lakers.

Shaw could be viewing the Charlotte job as a dead-end. If he doesn’t get either the Portland or Orlando job, he has a lot going for him in Indiana. The Pacers will be good again next season and his name will be at the top of the list for coaching vacancies next offseason.

My educated guess is that Charlotte hires Snyder to be its next coach. He is young and energetic, which will keep the young talent from getting discouraged through the long rebuilding process the team will endure. It is the perfect job for a guy to cut his teeth coaching at the NBA level.

It is unknown if Charlotte plans to hire a new coach before the NBA Draft later this month. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Andre Drummond, and Thomas Robinson are the three favorites to be picked at #2 if the Bobcats keep the pick. Although, Charlotte doesn’t see the value of picking either Kidd-Gilchrist, Drummond, or Robinson with the second pick. They could move the pick for a player and a mid-round first round pick and/or a 2012 first round pick.

Whomever is hired as Charlotte’s next coach will be given a minimum of three years to improve the team. The organization realizes they have dug a pretty deep hole for themselves. There are no fast and easy fixes for the team, so expect the same from them in 2012-13.

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Ingrid Michaelson covers Gotye’s "Somebody That I Used to Know"

“Somebody That I Used to Know” was the ‘it’ song to cover for a few months. If it wasn’t for Carley Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” to come along, it would still be covered incessantly. I have heard a lot of bad attempts, but then I watched/listened to Ingrid Michaelson’s version in which she plays all of the instruments and sings all of the vocals.

I wasn’t a big fan of Michaelson’s until a girl opened my ears to her music. She’s a talented songwriter and performs honest songs. I would even recommend picking up her latest album “Human Again“. This is a huge endorsement since I haven’t had too many female singer/songwriters that have impressed me.

Here is the 14th video I have posted during our ‘Cover Song Month”

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Gerald Wallace Declines Player Option, Becomes Free Agent

According to Legion Sports, Gerald Wallace will tell the Brooklyn Nets that he will decline his $9.5 million player option and will become an unrestricted free agent.

In what could be the worst trade this decade, the Nets traded Shawne Williams, Mehmet Okur, and a 2012 top-3 protected 1st round draft pick to the Portland Trail Blazers for Wallace. The Nets’ draft pick ended up being #6, so it will be sent to Portland to complete the deal. The Nets gave up all of that for roughly 20 games of Wallace.

Now that the Charlotte Bobcats all-time leading scorer is a free agent, will Wallace go back there and become an icon or sign with a contender? I name a few teams that currently need his services and have the cap space to offer him a contract.

Wallace has a weird NBA contract. His contract ends 15 days before the NBA Draft, so theoretically the Nets could use that information and draft to fill the need. Unfortunately, Portland owns their first round pick and the Golden State Warriors own their 2nd round pick (#35 overall). They do own the Miami Heat’s 2nd round pick (#57 overall) and Draft Express currently has the Nets using that pick on Mike Scott, a 6’8 power forward from Virginia.

Even though Wallace is a free agent earlier than the rest of the class, he will still be under the same rules. He cannot start negotiating with a team until July 1st and will not be able to officially sign until July 11th.

Which teams are in need of Wallace and could afford to pay him?

The first team that comes to mind is the Charlotte Bobcats. Unfortunately, they have three ridiculous contracts on the books for 2012-13: Corey Maggette $10.9 million, Tyrus Thomas $8 million, and DeSagana Diop $7.4 million. Diop and Maggette’s contracts will come off the books after next season, but the Bobcats will still owe Thomas $18+ million. Maggette could be a trade piece mid-season, since he is still productive, but Diop and Thomas are unmovable. Charlotte could afford to give Wallace a deal, even with a couple bad contracts on the books.

My fingers are crossed that the Bobcats sign Wallace this offseason. It has been a rough season for my friend Ben Swanson. He is SBNation’s Charlotte Bobcats blogger at Rufus On Fire. It could heal the pain he has endured by being a Bobcats fan the last few years.

Depending on their selections in the NBA Draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers could be in the market for Wallace. A lot of mock drafts have them selecting either PF/C Andre Drummond (UConn) or PF Thomas Robinson (Kansas) with the #4 overall pick. If Bradley Beal falls to them, Wallace could be in play for Cleveland. He would be a nice complement to both Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson.

The Dallas Mavericks could end up poaching both of the marquee free agents from the Brooklyn Nets. All of the rumors point to Deron Williams declining his player option and signing with Dallas. In order to sign Wallace, Dallas would need to use their amnesty clause on Brendan Haywood. He is due to make $27+ million over the next three seasons.

The final team that I believe could go after Wallace would be the Boston Celtics. If Danny Ainge decides to go in a different direction and opts to not re-sign Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, the money would be there for a few marquee signings. It is a long shot because of their need for a center and that Wallace does a lot of things that Brandon Bass could be doing for the Boston next season. Ainge is unpredictable and he could try to reconstruct the next ‘Big Three.’

The Brooklyn Nets find themselves in a bad situation. They are due to open their new arena in Brooklyn without a notable player to appear on billboards. Deron Williams is expected to decline his player option and will leave the Nets with MarShon Brooks as the face of their franchise. I would have said Brook Lopez, but the Nets have been throwing him out there as bait for both Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum over the last two seasons. I’m not sure if the fans actually see him as a player or just a trade commodity.

In the end, the NBA Draft will dictate where Gerald Wallace will end up. If a team misses out on a SF/PF scoring option, Wallace will end up on their wishlist.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Must Watch: NBA TV’s ‘Dream Team’ Documentary

There wasn’t a definitive documentary about the most important basketball team ever created. HBO was rumored to be working on a documentary about ‘The Dream Team’, but nothing materialized.

ESPN’s ’30 for 30′ documentary series raised the bar for sports documentaries. Bill Simmons once said in a podcast that he wanted to make a ‘Dream Team’ documentary, but the rights to the video from the 1992 Olympics were too expensive.

NBA TV stepped up to the plate and is debuting their documentary The Dream Team tonight at 9pm EST. I have viewed parts of the movie which is certain to be an instant classic. It contains never-before-seen video of a scrimmage that you will never believe the outcome. I list a few of the intriguing moments you will see tonight and post a video of the movie trailer. Continue reading →

Reel Big Fish covers Aha’s "Take On Me"

Ska music was an early musical influence in my life. I played the trombone for eight years and had aspirations of starting a ska band at one time. Back at the beginning of my music journalism career, I had the opportunity to interview Reel Big Fish. I didn’t have an issue of being starstruck when meeting a band up to that point, but because “Turn the Radio Off” was one of my first CDs I ever purchased, it happened.

I booked an interview with the band at a Warped Tour stop and it was over 100 degrees in Chicago that day. They wanted to go inside their tour bus to do the interview. It was one of the first times I went on a band’s tour bus, but certainly not the last (I’m sure I will write a future post about some of my concert adventures with bands).

Aha’s “Take On Me” was one of the first music videos I remember watching on MTV. They are one of the first one-hit wonders people think of when hearing that term. When I heard Reel Big Fish cover the song for the first time, I saw Heaven. The cover has been released for over 15 years and I’m sure you have heard it before, but I had to post this song during ‘Cover Song Month‘.

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