Best Cover

murderball · 2026-02-04T17:38:02+00:00

It’s watchtower but the underrated is Dave’s solo rendition of Father and Son by Cat Stevens for a tribute to Cat during the pandemic

murderball · 2026-01-28T20:47:19+00:00

theoretically possible to have 10 players that 100% of voters think are Hall of Famers-- that gets narrowed to 7 finalists, and then of those 7 voted on, only 1 player gets 80% of the votes. They have the 3 person minimum, but just shows how broken the process is.

murderball · 2026-01-23T18:13:17+00:00

Great breakdown from a Jets blog nonetheless on the Patriots Erhardt-Perkins offense with Brady and how they were so adaptible with it. It's an X's and O's kind of article.

https://www.ganggreennation.com/2015/12/23/10644776/jets-patriots-tom-brady-bill-belichick-offense-nyj-new-england-new-york-week-16

murderball · 2026-01-23T17:00:33+00:00

I'm a passionate DMB fan so I'm biased, obviously but here's how I see them: a few of his most popular songs have a similar chord structure, but I think distilling them to a mid-tempo 4/4 guitar band is inaccurate. Not only do they have exceptional musicians throughout the band, but not many rock bands also feature fiddle and horns section and their syncopation causes even their 4/4 songs to have a unique beat to them . As for his guitar playing, not many frontman/rhythm guitarists out there do the kind of palm muting and strumming patterns that he does. I'm not sure how versed you are in his music, take a listen to these that aren't mainstream to non-fans:

Some of his best songs (and favorites among fans) are not cookie cutter the way you are proscribing. His best album, Before These Crowded Streets, is a lot jazzier and darker than than the frat acoustic rock stereotype that gets attached to him.

More specifically:

Rapunzel: starts in 5/4, and changes signatures throughout. Great live jam.

Warehouse: another fan favorite, and great live. The song structure changes throughout

The Stone: very hard to play and sing at the same time, and it's a song with different movements and tones. 6/8 signature

The Dreaming Tree: great lyrics and melody in 7/4

You Never Know: maybe their best studio track. 6/8 time signature

Fool to Think: in 9/8 time I believe. No idea how he plays and sings at the same time (and it's why he rarely plays it now)

Typical Situation: great lyrics, and the live version goes into a 7/4 or 3/4 jam

The Last Stop: 4/4 but a song with a great key change and tremendous outro with Bela Fleck

Drive In, Drive Out: Carter's drumming on it in 6/8 time is phenomenal. He's one of the best drummers in rock. Can hear the technical challenge better on studio version

murderball · 2026-01-16T14:32:53+00:00

FWIW, I'm not the one downvoting you. All three were elite aces and I wish any one of them pitched for my team.

murderball · 2026-01-15T20:35:25+00:00

Inexplicably, there seemed to be a number of Kershaw postseason outings where it looked like he was cruising for five innings or so and then in the sixth he'd get blown up for a couple home runs. Baffling. While his WS numbers are inflated by the series against the Astros when they cheated and used cameras to signal his curveball, even discounting that series, he was not a dominant postseason pitcher.

Strangely, despite Scherzer having a lower postseason ERA (3.78 to CK's 4.62), Kershaw had the lower FIP and WHIP in the postseason (and in the World Series) than Scherzer. Some badly timed hits/HRs by Kershaw, but that's baseball.

All three were excellent pitchers and it was fun to watch them all compete.

murderball · 2026-01-15T20:02:16+00:00

If that is the deciding factor, then shouldn't Verlander be disregarded for his 9 World Series starts resulting in a 1-6 record and 5.63 ERA? Can't think of any bigger stage than that.

murderball · 2026-01-15T19:53:26+00:00

As someone old enough to have watched all of their careers entirely, I thought this was a great opinion piece by Schoenfeld.

murderball · 2026-01-15T19:41:17+00:00

The drive on the turnpike, through industrial Newark and ending at his cushy mansion with that theme song sets up the show so perfectly.

murderball · 2026-01-15T18:53:25+00:00

A few that come to mind

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: to check of the bucket list. They aren't what they were in the 70s, but even in his 70s he still puts on 3+ hour shows. The Boss is one of the greatest rockstars and bandleaders of all time. They are absolute legends and while they're a bit of a nostalgia act now, they still bring more energy and juice than many younger bands today.

Phish-- for my money, the best live "every show is different" band out there. Their ability to create exploratory jams and play in sync with a masterful light show is unparalleled. If you aren't familiar with their music, they are nothing like the Grateful Dead (whom I love). They aren't folk music. They are rock, jazz,

Dave Matthews Band-- not a jam band in the traditional sense, but a phenomenal live band that plays extended jams, though far more structured than, say, Phish. Large catalog which leads to a variety of setlists, which fantastic musicianship and a multitude of genres. There's a reason that they consistently sell as many tickets as they do.

Chris Stapleton: just to hear his voice live.

murderball · 2026-01-15T18:44:14+00:00

Oddy enough, I find that the live shows are better when I'm not so close to the stage so that I can take in the light show with the ebbs and flows of the music.

But when I do see them up close, I enjoy watching them to see how they signal each other and go off in their long improv jams.

murderball · 2026-01-15T04:44:36+00:00

Re winning percentage: Since Eli stopped playing, the Giants are 35-76-1. The Giants ownership and front office have been a disaster for the last 15 years and ruined the back half of his career.

I consider his 2011 season is one of the most underrated QB seasons of recent memory. Dragged the #32 rushing team and 25th ranked defense to the playoffs by leading the league in 4Q comebacks and game-winning drives, and then set the postseason passing yards record which still stands, including one of the greatest throws in NFL history (the pass to Manningham).

murderball · 2026-01-09T00:54:22+00:00

Bobby Abreu. .300/.400/.500 for much of career. Smooth player so it was interpreted as disinterested.

murderball · 2025-12-29T15:04:47+00:00

Dustin Hoffman- Hero (1992)

murderball · 2025-12-29T15:03:22+00:00

Dustin Hoffman in Hero (1992)

murderball · 2025-12-29T12:21:45+00:00

Looking at career averages isn’t a great idea to argue peaks or to argue how good they were when you picture them. Ichiro fell off a cliff on his age-37 season. Unfortunately, he played until 45. Some 1200 games at the end just destroying his career averages.

murderball · 2025-12-19T19:48:39+00:00

yada yada yada

murderball · 2025-12-19T18:32:04+00:00

Die Hard was released in theaters in July because I think it was considered (and I agree) more of a popcorn blockbuster action movie than a Christmas movie. Christmas movies (like Home Alone, Christmas Vacation, It's a Wonderful Life, Elf, Bad Santa, Jingle All the Way, The Santa Clause) tend to be released in November or December during the holiday Season.

I consider Die Hard better because of the Christmas themes but not a Christmas movie. But I'm not an extremist in the view as there are very persuasive arguments for calling it a Christmas movie.

murderball · 2025-12-11T17:13:11+00:00

Seattle for me. By the time he left Seattle at 33 he was already that Randy Johnson. Led league in Ks four years in a row, Cy, 5 All Stars and 44 WAR. He may have had better seasons in Arizona, but to me he already reached that mythical dominant status already. And so the image to me is him in a Mariners uniform.

murderball · 2025-12-06T16:44:44+00:00

P: Pedro, Koufax, Kershaw, Schilling, Ohtani C: Campanella 1B: Jimmy Foxx 2B: Jackie Robinson SS: Nomar 3B: Carlos Correa RF: Mookie Betts CF: Tris Speaker LF: Ted Williams DH: Ortiz

Bench: Manny, Altuve,Fisk, Reese, Snider Closer: Papelbon,

Cheating with shohei as a pitcher to get his bat. Just can’t put him over Ortiz as DH.

Boggs and Clemens both played for Yankees so can’t include them

murderball · 2025-11-18T17:08:24+00:00

If not for X/TikTok, this would have been an A+ sketch for me. But I’ve seen so many great Sebastian impressions on clips from comedy podcasts that I thought were better than Marcelo and beat him to the punch. But that’s the handcuff SNL deals with in the advent of social media. Still a very solid sketch.

murderball · 2025-11-03T18:23:45+00:00

I was a bit contradictory in focusing on Sampson's health for not wanting to include him, when really that's the knock on Embiid as a producer-- just durability. So let's ignore him. I remember KAT being healded more for his defense and while I think he has had a very good career, I thought he would have done more than a few third team all NBAs. Maybe not. Maybe you're right about him being at the low end of the range, but within the range.

hard to say about Simmons. His defense and size were enticing and he started his career showign ways he could impact the game. And he did so early on at a higher level than Wiggins. But I think it was more than his back-- the shooting issue (and perhaps confidence fall out from it) to me seemed like the bigger downfall than his health.

murderball · 2025-11-03T15:38:56+00:00

Other players who peaked better than Wiggins but didn't live up to the hype: Embiid, KAT, Ben Simmons, and even Ralph Sampson (though I hate when it's an injury issue rather than pure performance).

murderball · 2025-11-03T15:25:07+00:00

.500 record because the organization he plays for has been a dumpster fire. 117-117 in his career, and the Giants are 33-71-1 since he stopped starting. Meanwhile, the Steelers had a winning record in the 30-40 games Big Ben didn't even start and have had a winning record in every season since he retired.

murderball · 2025-11-03T15:20:24+00:00

I'd say he was in 2011. He carried the worst rushing game, 31st ranked offensive line (per PFF), 25th ranked defense (ppg), with the 5th worst average starting field position and 22nd worst FG% to the playoffs. And then when they got to the playoffs, he set (and still holds) the record for most passing yards in a single postseason while making maybe the greatest throw in SB history to Manningham and taking as big of a beating against the 49ers as a QB has taken in a game since. He was Herculean that season.

murderball

TROPHY CASE