Friday Jukebox 1.30.15

With news of Suge Knight's arrest yet again, this time for a hit and run, let us reflect on what he became pre-Tupac's death, as Knight worked with him at Death Row. "Keep Your Head Up" from 1993. You gotta keep your head up.

#BellLetsTalk 2015: Combating Mental Illness Across Canada.

That's US $0.04. Should've had a Deal or No Deal US model alumnus with a briefcase unveiling the CDN$0.05. Would be great.

Deal...or no deal?

Ernie Banks aka 'Mr. Cub', 83, Former Major Leaguer

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Friday Jukebox 1.23.15

How about some new wave stuff? Vince Clarke's project Yaz(oo) started when he was with Depeche Mode, then after this project, formed Erasure with Andy Bell (one of many singers to publicly 'come out the closet'). "Don't Go" from the Upstairs at Eric's 1982 album.

Russian Tennis Player Dies of Cardiac Arrest

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Was ranked 1086th in the world in singles.

Tony Verna, 81, Inventor of the Instant Replay for Television

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Better Ingredients, Better Pizza, Best Papa John's Delivery Driver Period.

Link.

Give him a free pizza!

NFL Conference Championship Weekend 2014-15

The 12th Man (sorry Seahawks, that's A&M's property!) is back for another year as the Seahawks are this close to returning to the Super Bowl as CenturyLink Field will once again be host of the National Conference championship on Sunday.

By the way, I posted the singles matches of interest at the Aussie Open, so if tennis is not your thing, try the American Conference championship.

Conference championship
AMERICAN
(1) Patriots v (4) Colts 6:30pm CBS

NATIONAL
(1) Seahawks v (2) Packers Noon Fox

Times local to home team, of course.

Australian Open Tennis 2015: First Grand Slam of the Season

It's that time of year, forget the NFL playoffs, the first grand slam of the year in tennis is here!

The big story heading into the Australian Open on the first day Monday, is the most recent grand slam champion on the men's side, Marin Cilic. Cilic, who finally won his first grand slam at the U.S. Open in September, withdrew due to injury.

Both singles champions from last year, Na Li and Stan Wawrinka, will be in the tournament. Wawrinka won his first grand slam there last year.

With that in mind...the first round singles matches of interest:

MEN
(1) Novak Djokovic v Aljaz Bedene
(2) Roger Federer v Yen Hsun Lu
(3) Rafa Nadal v Mikhail Youzhny
(4) Stan Wawrinka v Marsel Ilhan
(5) Kei Nishikori v Nicolas Almagro
(6) Andy Murray v Yuki Bhambri
(7) Tomas Berdych v Alejandro Falla
(8) Milos Raonic v Illya Marchenko
(9) David Ferrer v Thomaz Bellucci
(10) Grigor Dimitrov v Dustin Brown
(11) Ernests Gulbis v Thanasi Kokkinakis
(12) Feliciano Lopez v Denis Kudla
(13) Roberto Bautista Agut v Dominic Thiem
(14) Kevin Anderson v Diego Schwartzman
(15) Tommy Robredo v Edouard Roger Vasselin
(16) Fabio Fognini v Alejandro Gonzalez
(17) Gael Monfils v Lucas Pouille
(18) Gilles Simon v Robin Haase
(19) John Isner v Jimmy Wang
(20) David Goffin v Michael Russell
(21) Alex Dolgopolov v Paolo Lorenzi
(22) Philipp Kohlschreiber v Paul Henri Mathieu
(23) Ivo Karlovic v Ruben Bemelmans
(24) Richard Gasquet v Carlos Berlocq
(25) Julien Benneteau v Ben Becker
(26) Leonardo Mayer v John Millman
(28) Lukas Rosol v Kenny de Schepper
(29) Jeremy Chardy v Borna Coric
(30) Santiago Giraldo v Jan Hernych
(31) Fernando Verdasco v James Ward
(32) Martin Klizan v Tatsuma Ito
Lleyton Hewitt v Ze Zhang
Marcos Baghdatis v Lukas Lacko
Juan Martin del Potro v Jerzy Janowicz
Sam Querrey v Vasek Pospisil
Bernard Tomic v Tobias Kamke
Donald Young v Tim Puetz
Sergiy Stakhovsky v Dusan Lajovic
Steve Johnson v Kyle Edmund
Go Soeda v Elias Ymer
Nick Kyrgios v Federico Delbonis
Juan Monaco v Simone Bolelli
Andrey Kuznetsov v Albert Ramos Vinolas
Gilles Muller v Pablo Carreno Busta
Adrian Mannarino v Blaz Rola
Dennis Istomin v Andreas Seppi
Jurgen Melzer v Victor Estrella Burgos
Ivan Dodig v Joao Sousa
Marcel Granollers v Stephane Robert

WOMEN
(1) Serena Williams v Alison van Uytvanck
(2) Maria Sharapova v Petra Martic
(3) Simona Halep v Karin Knapp
(4) Petra Kvitova v Richel Hogenkamp
(5) Ana Ivanovic v Lucie Hradecka
(6) Aga Radwanska v Kurumi Nara
(7) Eugenie Bouchard v Anna Lena Friedsam
(8) Caroline Wozniacki v Taylor Townsend
(9) Angelique Kerber v Irina Camelia Begu
(10) Ekaterina Makarova v An Sophie Mestach
(11) Dominka Cibulkova v Kirsten Flipkens
(12) Flavia Pennetta v Camila Giorgi
(13) Andrea Petkovic v Madison Brengle
(14) Sara Errani v Grace Min
(15) Jelena Jankovic v Timea Bacsinsky
(16) Lucie Safarova v Yaroslava Shvedova
(17) Carla Suarez Navarro v Carina Witthoeft
(18) Venus Williams v Maria Torro Flor
(19) Alize Cornet v Shuai Zhang
(20) Sam Stosur v Monica Niculescu
(21) Shuai Peng v Tatjana Maria
(22) Karolina Pliskova v Evgeniya Rodina
(23) Anastasiya Pavlyuchenkova v Yanina Wickmayer
(24) Garbine Muguruza v Marina Erakovic
(25) Barbora Zahlavova Strycova v Timea Babos
(26) Elina Svitolina v Jana Cepelova
(27) Svetlana Kuznetsova v Caroline Garcia
(28) Sabine Lisicki v Kristina Mladenovic
(29) Casey Dellacqua v Yvonne Meusberger
(30) Varvara Lepchenko v Vitalia Diatchenko
(31) Zarina Diyas v Ula Radwanska
(32) Belinda Bencic v Julia Goerges
Francesca Schiavone v Coco Vandeweghe
Vera Zvonareva v Ons Jabeur
Kimiko Date Krumm v Anna Tatishvili
Sloane Stephens v Victoria Azarenka
Tsvetana Pironkova v Heather Watson
Daniela Hantuchova v Saisai Zheng
Sorana Cirstea v Alexandra Panova
Bethanie Mattek Sands v Ying Ying Duan
Madison Keys v Lesia Tsurenko
Kaia Kanepi v Irina Falconi
Bojana Jovanovski v Roberta Vinci
Jie Zheng v Kai Chen Chang
Monica Puig v Arina Rodionova
Nicole Gibbs v Olivia Rogowska
Romina Oprandi v Denis Allertova
Mirjana Lucic Baroni v Tereza Smitkova
Mona Barthel v Donna Vekic
Alison Riske v Oceane Dodin
Elena Vesnina v Katerina Siniakova
Kiki Bertens v Daria Gavrilova
Silvia Soler Espinosa v Annika Beck
Christina McHale v Stephanie Foretz

Of course, it starts Monday morning Melbourne time, while in the States it will start Sunday night while most are watching some AFC Championship game. ESPN and Tennis Channel are once again the US broadcasters, but go on Ausopen.com for live scores, plus AO radio!

MMA World Series of Fighting: First 2015 Show on Saturday!

MMA World Series of Fighting is back for their first event of 2015 on Saturday!

In Las Vegas, the main card will be headlined by Jake Shields as he takes on Brian Foster. The main card is on NBCSN Saturday night, whose nearest competitor is the Wilder-Stiverne WBC heavyweight title fight on SHOWTIME. Enjoy.

Friday Jukebox 1.16.15

I forgot Kool & the Gang had a trumpeter! Kool & the Gang's trumpeter passed away earlier this week at the age of 62. The sound of the trumpet has been very instrumental into this band's great sound, as depicted here in 1981's "Get Down on It."

BELLATOR MMA 132: Patricky Freire v Straus For the Featherweight Championship!

BELLATOR MMA is back with their first card of 2015!

The headliner of course, is the featherweight championship fight, featuring two exciting veteran MMA talents. Patricky 'Pitbull' Freire defends that belt against Daniel Straus.

Also Georgi Karakhanyan will make his return to BELLATOR MMA against Bubba Jenkins. Karakhanyan was recently seen action at MMA World Series of Fighting. Marius Zaromskis will also be in action.

CARD

Featherweight championship fight

(145 lb/65.25 kg)

Patricky Freire (c) v Daniel Straus

LIVE on SPIKE Friday night, which will be the first of about four cards competing with ESPN's Friday Night Fights, who are bringing back their 'Boxcino' tournament! 

(2000th Post) NEW Charlie Hebdo Cover...BANNED in Turkey!

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This is also my 2000th post. Still, I'm mixed on this subject after the massacre.

Roy Tarpley, 50, Former NBA Player

Link.

JP Parise, 73, Former NHL Player

Link.

Also played in the 'Summit Series' against the Soviets in 1972. Quite a great hockey family.

A Magazine's Cartoon Triggers Militants; Gunmen Shoot; Gunmen Later Killed

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One cartoon, and this reaction. What is going on in this world?

NFL 2014-15 Conference Semifinal Weekend

Conference semifinal weekend is here.

The Cowboys finally got their first playoff win in eons. It is a big week in the Metroplex because of the CFP final on Monday night. However the Boys will be on the frozen tundra at Lambeau Field on Sunday. Ice Bowl redux?

With that in mind...

Conference semifinals (times local to home team)
AMERICAN
(1) Patriots v (6) Ravens Saturday 1/10 4:30pm NBC
(2) Broncos v (4) Colts Sunday 1/11 1:30pm CBS

NATIONAL
(1) Seahawks v (4) Panthers Saturday 1/10 5pm Fox
(2) Packers v (3) Cowboys Sunday 1/11 noon Fox

Oh well...

Friday Jukebox 1.9.15

'Little' Jimmy Dickens, the Opry legend, passed away last Friday at the age of 94. One of his biggest songs was this 1954 gem called "Out Behind the Barn." 

"Cooler Than the Other Side of the Pillow." "Booyah!" Stuart Scott, 49

Link.

Some reactions from this, including those of Rich Eisen and Hannah Storm:

Fuck cancer.

Mario Cuomo, 82, Former New York Governor

Link.

NFL Wild Card Weekend: The Road to Glendale Begins

In case you heard the news, Lions defensive end Ndaumakong Suh (pictured) will play after an 'accidental' stomp on the Packers' Aaron Rodgers in the season finale on Sunday. Suspension overturned, but will play in Arlington on Sunday. The biggest headliner of NFL Wild Card weekend 2014. That and ESPN getting the first wild card game on Saturday from Charlotte.

With that in mind...

AMERICAN
Wild Card
(3) Steelers v (6) Ravens Saturday (NBC)
(4) Colts v (5) Bengals Sunday (CBS)

NATIONAL
Wild Card
(3) Cowboys v (6) Lions Sunday (Fox)
(4) Panthers v (5) Cardinals Saturday (ESPN, Fox 46 Charlotte and 'CW6' Phoenix)

So there you have it. Four teams will await the result and play next weekend in the conference semifinals.

Friday Jukebox 1.2.15

Udo Juergens, the west German singer passed away on the 21st of December at the age of 80. Juergens is best known for winning the eleventh edition of the EUROVISION Song Contest (1966) with the song "Merci, Cherie."