Power Powell Rankings Week 10: That Look You Give A Stranger Entering A Porta Potty
I apologize (only slightly) for last week's PPRs. Faithful readers would understand that to really understand my psyche you need to accept that, from an early age, James Bond has been my go-to-fantasy. As men we have our lofty ambitions of "if only this or that", although living in the real world this isn't at all realistic. Our day to day existence is fulfilling or whatever, but men have an evolved imagination. All the hours I've spent watching Bond movies, playing Bond video games and listening to the under appreciated James Bonding Podcast has made the idea of being an emotionless sociopath for Queen and Country a dream job. I kid of course (only slightly) but the fact remains, as men we crave fantasy. This is usually where I can segway into the crux of my rankings, but it's not happening! NO, but not yet, not yet.
After seeing SPECTRE (I'd rank it after Quantum of Solace in my rankings I posted last week) it brought something to the forefront of TFLOEG for me. After the gun barrel sequence (which preceded the picture for the first time in the Daniel Craig era, I understand that may seem ridiculously petty for some, but for me my eyes lit up with the realization that the Bond Begins trilogy is done and it's time for the normal Bond mission formula) there is some dialogue that says "The dead are alive..." and this is something that TFLOEG has to come to terms with as well.
I wouldn't be shocked if members of TFLOEG don't remember the first poll of 2015 entitled "Song Of The Summer?" I would be dismayed if members of TFLOEG thought they were going to get away, without insult, the meagre five votes in the poll. Dawson voted for Carly Rae, Travis and I voted for Selena Gomez and Andrew/someone voted for Demi Lovato. The glaring dichotomy is that seven jerks voted for nobody. Now a sixty percent voter turnout for some countries is great, but this is TFLOEG give me a break. Step ya game up, bra!
If pop princesses aren't your thing I get it. Have you ever met that jerk that when you're making small talk you ask what music they like and they say "Everything, I have an eclectic taste." I used to think they were the worst when I towed the party line of genres of sound. Metalhead's hate fake popstar crap, Punks hate everything to oblivion, and folk music fans hate the fact that inside they are still trying to fully develop a personality (that's not a bad thing, only slightly). Call it getting old, call it growing up but I've learned that all music can be good. I'm attracted to strongly put together tones that companies pre package by nature, but more to the point I'm smitten if I feel honesty behind the artist and their music.As someone that is not musically inclined I won't even try to expand on that point too much. All I know is that when I hear certain lyrics or tones, that raw emotion can become like heroin in my blood stream.
Anyways, the reason I bring up the poll (whose total votes were less then the attendance record of this morning's McDonalds meet up) is that one of the owners (Travis or the guy at the bottom of the standings) commented in the BBM group "Why was 'Can't Feel My Face' not included?" My most intimate of living partners (Andrew) would tell you this question is fundamentally flawed. It's not a bad question, quite the opposite really. The reason this track was not included in the poll is just as I replied in the chat group "because it would have won hands down."
The Weeknd is a soulful singer from the T-dot. He's been a force in the music business for I'd reckon just under a decade and he's blown up this year. I will never claim that age old hipster death knell " I listened to...", but I remember the exact moment in my life when I felt his voice permeate my heart. It was November 15, 2011 and I was listening to the new Drake album "Take Care". Track four started up and instantly my gut instinct reacted.
Drake's known for bringing together soulful R&B and rap, but The XO to his OVO stood out GLARINGLY. In this song the superior crooner was the not the sophomore album title artist, it was the relatively unknown. As someone who naturally cheers for the underdog it hit the sweet spot. I remember when the first single of his Trilogy album dropped. October 28, 2012 I was at a one of Sara's friend's birthday parties and they had left the TV on MUCH with the sound levels on an appropriate level. Once I saw the trademark hair featured, I instantly shot up out of my bored stupor because this was important; the underdog had become the big dog.
Sara describes this song as something someone would slit their wrists to. As someone who is drawn to music that accurately portrays the emotion behind wanting to slit one's wrists I was hooked. The wherewithals that had caused the XO not to sign to OVO's label aside, one of the most rich triple mixtapes of my lifetime had been dropped.
Since then he dropped the popular debut Kiss Land, but rather than being smug based on past history when he shot into the stratosphere at the beginning of the summer with "The Hills" (in my opinion his superior single this year) I was excited that the masses could feel honest emotion behind music in a sea of half baked ideas.
"I only love it when you touch me, not feel me, when f-- up that's the real me", it's a siren song for a generation that I'm a decade too old to be a part of. Anyhow, this brings me to the case in point: Seaver's Song Of The Summer.
When I saw this video I realized that Michael Jackson is overrated and generational. There's a new king of pop and his name is XO. Perish the thought that I'd toss out the King of Pop out with a casual disregard, all I'm saying is that the monarchy is weak and there's blood in the water.
Just a few short weeks ago Dawson's team seemed destined to be the first ever owner to win a second championship. Enter Bell's season ending injury two weeks ago, Luck's month stealing injury last week and top it off with trading Clarke his depth at those position groups and Dawson's team is not exactly the force that it once was. I'm not killing his dual championship hopes, but it's become much harder to do so now.
"The Dead Are Alive..."
There's blood in the water in TFLOEG as well and which team will be able to ascend to the title at the end of the season now that the playing field has been equaled? I have a new prediction, but I'd rather not jinx their team by stating it here.
LET IT BEGIN!!!
After seeing SPECTRE (I'd rank it after Quantum of Solace in my rankings I posted last week) it brought something to the forefront of TFLOEG for me. After the gun barrel sequence (which preceded the picture for the first time in the Daniel Craig era, I understand that may seem ridiculously petty for some, but for me my eyes lit up with the realization that the Bond Begins trilogy is done and it's time for the normal Bond mission formula) there is some dialogue that says "The dead are alive..." and this is something that TFLOEG has to come to terms with as well.
I wouldn't be shocked if members of TFLOEG don't remember the first poll of 2015 entitled "Song Of The Summer?" I would be dismayed if members of TFLOEG thought they were going to get away, without insult, the meagre five votes in the poll. Dawson voted for Carly Rae, Travis and I voted for Selena Gomez and Andrew/someone voted for Demi Lovato. The glaring dichotomy is that seven jerks voted for nobody. Now a sixty percent voter turnout for some countries is great, but this is TFLOEG give me a break. Step ya game up, bra!
If pop princesses aren't your thing I get it. Have you ever met that jerk that when you're making small talk you ask what music they like and they say "Everything, I have an eclectic taste." I used to think they were the worst when I towed the party line of genres of sound. Metalhead's hate fake popstar crap, Punks hate everything to oblivion, and folk music fans hate the fact that inside they are still trying to fully develop a personality (that's not a bad thing, only slightly). Call it getting old, call it growing up but I've learned that all music can be good. I'm attracted to strongly put together tones that companies pre package by nature, but more to the point I'm smitten if I feel honesty behind the artist and their music.As someone that is not musically inclined I won't even try to expand on that point too much. All I know is that when I hear certain lyrics or tones, that raw emotion can become like heroin in my blood stream.
Anyways, the reason I bring up the poll (whose total votes were less then the attendance record of this morning's McDonalds meet up) is that one of the owners (Travis or the guy at the bottom of the standings) commented in the BBM group "Why was 'Can't Feel My Face' not included?" My most intimate of living partners (Andrew) would tell you this question is fundamentally flawed. It's not a bad question, quite the opposite really. The reason this track was not included in the poll is just as I replied in the chat group "because it would have won hands down."
The Weeknd is a soulful singer from the T-dot. He's been a force in the music business for I'd reckon just under a decade and he's blown up this year. I will never claim that age old hipster death knell " I listened to...", but I remember the exact moment in my life when I felt his voice permeate my heart. It was November 15, 2011 and I was listening to the new Drake album "Take Care". Track four started up and instantly my gut instinct reacted.
Drake's known for bringing together soulful R&B and rap, but The XO to his OVO stood out GLARINGLY. In this song the superior crooner was the not the sophomore album title artist, it was the relatively unknown. As someone who naturally cheers for the underdog it hit the sweet spot. I remember when the first single of his Trilogy album dropped. October 28, 2012 I was at a one of Sara's friend's birthday parties and they had left the TV on MUCH with the sound levels on an appropriate level. Once I saw the trademark hair featured, I instantly shot up out of my bored stupor because this was important; the underdog had become the big dog.
Sara describes this song as something someone would slit their wrists to. As someone who is drawn to music that accurately portrays the emotion behind wanting to slit one's wrists I was hooked. The wherewithals that had caused the XO not to sign to OVO's label aside, one of the most rich triple mixtapes of my lifetime had been dropped.
Since then he dropped the popular debut Kiss Land, but rather than being smug based on past history when he shot into the stratosphere at the beginning of the summer with "The Hills" (in my opinion his superior single this year) I was excited that the masses could feel honest emotion behind music in a sea of half baked ideas.
"I only love it when you touch me, not feel me, when f-- up that's the real me", it's a siren song for a generation that I'm a decade too old to be a part of. Anyhow, this brings me to the case in point: Seaver's Song Of The Summer.
When I saw this video I realized that Michael Jackson is overrated and generational. There's a new king of pop and his name is XO. Perish the thought that I'd toss out the King of Pop out with a casual disregard, all I'm saying is that the monarchy is weak and there's blood in the water.
Just a few short weeks ago Dawson's team seemed destined to be the first ever owner to win a second championship. Enter Bell's season ending injury two weeks ago, Luck's month stealing injury last week and top it off with trading Clarke his depth at those position groups and Dawson's team is not exactly the force that it once was. I'm not killing his dual championship hopes, but it's become much harder to do so now.
"The Dead Are Alive..."
There's blood in the water in TFLOEG as well and which team will be able to ascend to the title at the end of the season now that the playing field has been equaled? I have a new prediction, but I'd rather not jinx their team by stating it here.
LET IT BEGIN!!!
1. Oh That's Nasty (Last week 1)- Dawson remains at the top of the list because although injuries and inopportune trades haven't gone his way recently, it could have been far worse. He can still plug in the starting RB of the Packers, which I can assume will be in complete PO mode against the hapless lions this week. His wide receiver corp is spicy, but the real question is what is going to happen once Romo comes back? If today's Dez outburst is any indication, I think the Cowboys may also go into FTW mode and run up some scores. Dry your eyes mate, it's not as bad as it seems.
2. NFL OWNER (Last week 2)- Shayne's team has four straight wins and, as mentioned above, he has the best QB in football about to unleash the fires of hell on Jim Caldwell's Zombie horde. It's going to come down to the Sunday night primetime tilt to see if he can put up his fifth straight over Andrew's team.
3. Scraps (Last week 4)- Mike started 0-3 guys. Now he's 6-3. He's tearing us apart with his waiver wire calculations. Not a week goes by when I think I'm going to pull a fast one and pick up a breakout player the week before it happens only to see him already taken by Scraps; usually a week prior to me. This guy is moving out of dark horse territory and straight into a contender.
4. NINERS (Last week 3)- While playing Stan last week I was amazed by his WR depth. His team rivals Keith's as the best corp in the league in my opinion. A lot of Stan's losses come because of Peyton Manning's woes in Denver, if Thomas can get more consistent production there it'll be the best thing for Stan's title hopes.
5. The Fear Boners (Last week 5)- My team is going through the first of two bye weeks for my major players. It couldn't come at a worse time as I have the two expansion teams during this time.
6. The Darkwing Ducks (Last week 8)- While I usually like to be the villain of the league, the Emperor's Deathstar just blew up Alderaan last week. In the high scoring affair, Clarke's team came up on top over Aaron and it was quite the coming out party. Once Romo get's back into the fold in Big D, Clarke's team (barring injury) will be one of the strongest if he can make it into the playoffs. Not too bad for a TFLOEG rookie!
7. My Ball Zack Ertz (Last week 7)- Aaron put up a brave fight, but it wasn't his week. The emergence of Deangelo Williams will help to replace the hole Foster left and if Hasselbeck can through some balls T.Y.'s way then Clappy will be very happy.
8. The Papa John's Pizza Pirates (Last week 9)- Keith is undefeated while ordering Papa John's on Monday's. It isn't a coincidence, but I won't dwell too much on it as his posts on the subject are more the adequate. It's not fair really that Big Ben is hurt again, but if that final catch by Antonio in last week's game is any indication all Landry Jones has to do is is throw dump offs for sixty yard gains by Brown.
9. You can run but you can't Hyde (Last week 6)- Steve is still high in the standings and has addressed all his injuries to remain competitive, he's only this low in the ranks because most teams are 4-5 or 5-4. If you listen to the fantasy pundits, the team with the players you want going into the playoffs is the Jaguars. As Steve has two starters from this team playing the hapless Saint's defence in week 16, all Steve has to do is just get to the dance.
10. Honey Badger Don't Care (Last week 10)- Andrew went through some bye week hell last week, but I think this is the week he turns it around. When Seattle is in primetime magic happens. Look for a 100yd game from Lynch and dual TDs to Jimmy!
11. Layeth The Smacketh Down (Last week 11)- Curt's team narrowly missed out on pulling the upset on Shayne only due to a pick six from the Eagle's secondary on Sunday night. He has to be excited with the production he is getting from Newton and Bernard, but Lafell may be his golden goose in sealing a ticket to one of the final playoff spots!
12. No Punt Intended (Last week 12)- Travis has a hell of a RB corp lined up for next year and that shows a progression in his team. If he can couple it with a fantastic draft, he'll be immediately in the mix and a league full of 7-6 teams will make it to the playoffs.
There you have it folks. The king may not be dead, but there's usurpers circling the throne and it's setting up to be an exciting end to the season!
-The Commish
Excellent post. Very interesting narrative.
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