D's Notebook

Day: January 11, 2019

NFL Predictions

January 11, 2019 /

I should probably lock in some kind of prediction for tomorrow’s game between the Colts and Chiefs.

I’ve watched zero minutes of the Chiefs this year, so I only know what I’ve read about them. But that’s been plenty. They spent much of the season being the most talked about and exciting team in the NFL. For all the nervousness among some Chiefs fans about their playoff history against the Colts, KC is a 5.5 point favorite for a reason.

I haven’t watched a ton more of the Colts, to be honest. Their Sunday night finale in Nashville was the only game I’ve watched more than half of all year. Still, I’ve watched enough to have a good feel for the team.

Fittingly, I doubt I’ll watch much of tomorrow’s game. C has an all-day volleyball tournament. KU plays Baylor at roughly the same time as the football game. And we’re supposed to get our biggest snow storm in several years during the day. I’m hoping it hits early enough for the roads to be so bad volleyball gets cancelled. I’m really not looking forward to dragging C out of bed at 6:30 so we can be on the court by 7:30.

I think the Colts will make a game of it, especially if the weather is bad. Andrew Luck is playing the best football of his career. The offensive line has, out of nowhere, become one of the best in the game. The running game has been punishing in the last two months. And the defense has been a true revelation, stuffing the run, playing well-enough against the pass, and forcing turnovers. For a team that was terrible last year the Colts are very, very solid.

But making the jump from Wild Card winner to conference finalist feels like one step too far. Especially having to do it in Arrowhead. Unless the Colts can force multiple turnovers, or the weather is so bad that it turns into an old-school game where every play is a handoff, I just can’t see them getting it done.

The Chiefs will put to rest 24 years of playoff misery against the Colts.

Kansas City 38
Indianapolis 27

In other games:
Rams over Cowboys. I think this will be closer than anyone would have expected six weeks ago.
Chargers over Patriots. I think Philip Rivers is a first-class douche. I have a hard time finding myself pulling for him. But I just don’t think this year’s Patriots are as good as their record is.
Saints over Eagles. Surely Nick Foles magic isn’t enough to take out the Saints in New Orleans?

Friday Playlist

January 11, 2019 /

“Seventeen” – Sharon Van Etten. Still no new albums worth getting excited about. But next week is the first big push of new disks, including Sharon Van Etten’s newest. Of the early singles she’s released from it, this is my favorite. I love it’s rough edges and long, slow build.

“Sunday Driver” – The Raconteurs. The Raconteurs are back! Two lead singles from an untitled new album with no release date hit last week. This one sounds exactly like what you want a Raconteurs song to sound like. 

“Crazy Now” – Ryan Adams. DRA has been teasing us for awhile. He dropped the excellent single “Baby I Love You” last Valentine’s Day and hinted for the rest of 2018 that he had a new album ready to go. So it brought of mix of both excitement and disappointment when he leaked this week that he will release three albums in 2019, although the first will not hit until April. The first single has got some airplay but has not seen an official, digital release yet. In it’s place, here is one of the better tracks from his 2017 Prisoner B-Sides collection.

“Easin’ In” – Edwin Starr. Another classic find from Tom Breihan’s The Number Ones series. Yesterday Breihan highlighted Starr’s most famous song, 1970’s “War.” But in the comments he also shared this amazing Starr track. I knew it from it being sampled many times over the years. Most notably to me was on Ice-T’s “High Rollers.” This is a jam.

A little something different for the video section this week: two different artists’ takes on the same song.

“Police on My Back” was recorded and released by the British band The Equals in 1968. The Equals were touted as one of the first multi-racial bands to reach the British charts. Their primary writer and vocalist was Eddy Grant, who children of the 80s know for “Electric Avenue,” “Romancing the Stone,” etc. This was a minor hit for them – their biggest and best song was the most excellent “Baby Come Back” – and largely faded from history. Until The Clash put on their 1980 triple LP *Sandinista.” Like so many songs that The Clash covered over the years, it was a perfect cover: respectful to the original but completely updated for the times and their sound.

Enjoy The Equals rather goofy video, from the German music show Beat-Club, and then The Clash performing it live in Japan. 

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