Tag: writer

The Uneven Five of the American League Central

By Mark Martinez

     It amazes me that we have a cluster of American League Central Division teams below .500. With the American League East being so competitive, and the complete opposite, I guess some division has to be that way. 

     Looking back at last year’s standings, the Cleveland Guardians won the A.L. Central while the Chicago White Sox finished 2nd, with an 81 and 81 record. The Minnesota Twins seem to be the team, this year, that will win the division outright.

        In 1995, Major League Baseball expanded to three divisions in each league. In the last 28 seasons, believe it or not, the Cleveland Guardians have had the most division wins with eleven. If you follow baseball, you know the Cleveland Guardians were the laughing stock for a long period of time. From 1995 to 2001, they won the division 6 times. The Guardians put some great players on the map. There was Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, Grady Sizemore, and C.C. Sabathia, just to name a few. Before researching this topic, I honestly didn’t expect to see such dominance from one franchise. 

     The Minnesota Twins rank 2nd, in the same time frame, with 8 division wins. The Twins are a smaller market team. In all the years the Twins have won the A.L. Central, only one time, in 2019, did the payroll exceed over 100 million dollars. In fact, the Minnesota Twins payroll, in 2002, was just 40 million dollars. 

     What I noticed about this division is the cluster. A franchise gets hot, for a few years, steady. The pattern seems to be if you win one year, you will probably win the year after, as well. The shocking part of this division, besides the under .500 factor, is how much the Kansas City Royals do not actually win. From 1995, until the present day, the Kansas City Royals have only won the A.L. Central one time. The only year the Royals actually won the division was in 2015, going on to also win the World Series that year. When you think of the Royals, you think of a small market team automatically. The Minnesota Twins are basically in the same position of being a small market franchise.

     Although 4 out of the 5 teams will finish under .500, you have to guess that eventually the tide will turn, and 4 out of the 5 will be above .500. Playoff contention for 80% of one division makes every game critical. 

Baby Bombers’ Era is DONE

By Miguel Mike Medina

The Baby Bomber era is doomed. It’s over. It’s finished. The Yankees have lost nine in a row. No Division lead, no wild card lead. This team isn’t going anywhere this season. This is the worst second-half performance from the Yankees since 1995. Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls we’re still alive. Although they made the playoffs as a wild-card team that year, this current roster was supposed to perform way better than this. 


The Yankees’ best years to try to win it all during the baby bomber era were from 2017 through 2019. Jose Altuve’s ALCS home run did some psychological damage to that team. They couldn’t recover from that loss. It’s time for the Yankees to rebuild. Yes! You heard me correctly. The YANKEES NEED TO REBUILD! BABY BOMBERS ARE DEAD! The group of Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge, Miguel Andujar, Gleyber Torres, and Luis Severino has been a bust. 

Look at the Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays, Atlanta Braves, Texas Rangers, and Cincinnati Reds. The Yankees don’t have a chance against those teams. Those teams have a good farm system and know how to develop their young talent. The Yankees have to make some decisions soon. 

Saturday Night Collision Can Be Considered the A Show For AEW

By Jim Biringer

All Elite Wrestling has a new show on Saturday night called Collision. Ever since the show hit the airways back on June 17th, it has given off a vibe of being the A Show for All Elite Wrestling. Not to mention it is giving fans vibes of what the old AEW was like when Dynamite first launched back in September 2019. 

The company has been around longer than that. January 2019 is when All Elite Wrestling was launched. The foundation started at All-In that fall as Cody Rhodes, Matt and Nick Jackson (Young Bucks), Kenny Omega, Hangman Adam Page, and Marty Scurll gave the fans an alternative product to WWE. You can go back even further than that when Omega and Chris Jericho at Wrestle Kingdom earlier that year set the tone for what was to come for AEW. 
Now fast forward to now with AEW Collision. Dynamite feels like its own show and Collision feels like its own show even though they are under the same company. This was similar to what WWE was like with the original brand split in 2002 coming off the purchase of WCW. Smackdown had its own roster giving high quality matches. And RAW had its own roster giving fans different matches and more storylines. 

Collision and Dynamite has that feel now too. Think about it. Collision has been more wrestling over the past several weeks and less storylines. While Dynamite is giving fans the storylines with a dose of wrestling mixed in. But each show is pushing the other show to be better and we have seen it. 

As much as AEW does not mention a roster split, Collision has the wrestlers they feature the most and Dynamite has its roster it features the most. Again that had to happen with the return of CM Punk. And Punk is proud to lead the charge on Saturday calling it his show. We know the history of The Elite and Punk. There is a reason they are not on the same show right now. Maybe one day they will bury the hatchet and do what is best for business and give the fans that feud, but right now it is now happening. 

But back to Collision. Saturday Night AEW Collision does not feel as rushed as Dynamite does on Wednesday night. They let things settle a little more than Dynamite does. You could see Dynamite doing that early on, but now they just wanted to cram as much in as possible within the two hour time block. AEW Collision has only a handful of matches each week. But again the company is producing high quality television each Wednesday and Saturday night.


While AEW does not want to admit it, and MJF said it Saturday it is not Collision vs Dynamite, there is a little bit of that competitive drive between the two shows. Over the past several weeks, Collision and Dynamite have each put on great matches, but it has been Collision leading the way with Punk, Ricky Starks, FTR, Jay White, Juice Robinson, Andrade El Idolo, and the House of Black. 

Think about the matches FTR has had over the past couple of weeks. Two matches with White and Robinson. One of which went 58 minutes in a best two out of three falls match. Oh yeah the champions defended their tag team titles against the red hot act of MJF and Adam Cole this past Saturday. Another instant classic. 
Robinson and White have been excellent as well. CM Punk hand picked these guys to work with before Collision started. These guys wrestle every week. And Bullet Club Gold is gaining momentum.


And of course the rivalry between Punk and Joe culminated on a Saturday night on Collision. Punk and Starks have a nice rivalry going through the Owen Hart Tournament and now beyond. Starks will get a AEW World Title match this Saturday as Punk claimed he is still the real champion, more on that in another story. But giving the show a major belt says something about the quality of the talent before the titles are merged again.


Let’s not forget about Andrade and the rivalry he had with the House of Black over his mask. What a tremendous ladder match. Like the Old AEW, Collision is giving banger matches each week. Now it will be interesting to see if they continue that. At times Dynamite slowed down with that, but recently, Tony Khan has been pulling out all the stops as each show is bringing out the best in the other.


The ratings are getting better each week too. Now let’s see what happens when college football comes around and when there is a WWE PPV. But Tony Khan and Warner Bros Discovery took a chance on another two hour wrestling show and it is paying off.


Collision is giving the fans of what the old AEW was like and showing why it can be considered the A show now. 

AI and Music-Making: Allies or Adversaries?

By Jennifer Paccione

AI is here, people…and here to stay. Whether we like it or not, have tried ChatGPT or not, the buzz is flying about AI and its benefits—and its threats—to creativity—in fields across the board, including the music industry. Here are some pros and cons to this new and powerful tool on the block that is making its way into everything we see…and hear.


Pros:
Enhanced Creativity: AI algorithms have the ability to generate new and unique musical compositions by analyzing vast amounts of existing music. This can help musicians and producers discover fresh melodies, harmonies, and rhythms that they may not have thought of on their own, leading to increased creativity and innovation.


Music Production and Efficiency: AI can automate various aspects of music production, such as mixing, mastering, and sound engineering. This can save time and effort for artists and producers, allowing them to focus more on the creative process. AI-powered tools can also enhance the quality and consistency of music production, leading to a more polished final product.


Improved Music Analysis: AI algorithms can analyze large datasets of music to extract patterns and insights. This can be beneficial for musicians, musicologists, researchers, and industry professionals, as it can provide valuable information about trends, genres, and audience preferences. Such insights can help musicians and record labels make informed decisions regarding their creative direction and marketing strategies.


Cons:
Loss of Authenticity and Originality: While AI-generated music can be impressive, there is a concern that it may lack the emotional depth and authenticity associated with human creativity. Critics argue that AI compositions may lack the personal experiences, cultural context, and genuine emotions that artists bring to their work, leading to a loss of originality and uniqueness in the music industry. Impact on Employment: The integration of AI in music production and composition processes can potentially lead to job displacement for musicians, sound engineers, and other industry professionals. As AI tools become more sophisticated, there is a risk that human involvement in certain aspects of music creation could diminish, potentially affecting livelihoods and career opportunities.


Bias and Lack of Diversity: AI algorithms are trained on existing datasets, which can introduce biases and perpetuate existing inequalities in the music industry. If the training data predominantly represents certain genres, cultures, or demographics, AI-generated music may be skewed towards those characteristics, further marginalizing underrepresented artists and genres. Ensuring diversity and fairness in AI-generated music remains a challenge.


Ethical Concerns: The use of AI in music raises ethical questions, particularly regarding copyright and intellectual property. Determining ownership and rights over AI-generated compositions can be complex, as they are often based on existing works. Additionally, there are concerns about the potential misuse of AI for creating deepfake music or imitating the styles of famous artists without their consent.


As a musician and composer myself, I feel that as AI will have powers of speed, pattern- finding, and algorithm recipe cooking, I have to say that it will be nowhere close in replacing the dynamic ebbs and flows of the human touch. Whether it be the striking of keys, bowing or plucking of strings, pounding snares, toms, and bass drums, or even the breaths of singers between vocal phrases, I think we enjoy hearing the sounds of humans on their instruments, however subtle and unobtrusive they may be. Not to mention when I write/compose, I am drawing on my own unique experiences, past and present emotions, current life situations, perspectives, opinions, loves, hates, indifferences, dreams, passions, regrets……none of which AI possesses or can pretend to possess and translate into music as eloquently…and fiercely…as us humans.


We don’t always realize it, but those “human” nuances are what makes the audible mix so tantalizing, especially when music is heard live under an optimal sound- mixing/acoustic environment. The human connection is at the core of hearing live music, with the symbiotic relationship between audience and musician(s). Even the human energy between musicians live on stage has very powerful, unexplainable effects on the energy and emotions of the audience. Knowing from first-hand experience, musicians feed off of each other’s energy and even flow together somehow that helps the creative process and live experience unfold exponentially. Many times composing for my band I would get “composer’s block” so I would present my musical ideas on my keyboard with my fellow bandmates. Many jam sessions would find us all in different directions, then somehow magically merging together, like meandering rivers finding one ocean. We would bounce verbal and musical ideas off each other, whether talking or playing through these ideas. Once we locked on to something that we all agreed was working, we would ride that flow, swimming in each other’s rhythm and voice to create some amazing work. That’s also part of the fun of composing and performing with other musicians. I don’t know if AI would ever be able to get inside my head like my bassist or drummer can. And for me, there’s nothing in the world that compares to the electricity that runs through my veins and the power it brings me when I’m up there on stage playing music with my fellow kindred spirits and feeling that energy from an audience.


All that being said, I am certainly curious and eager to learn more how AI can better assist in future work and possibly save some time for me, as I learn how it can be my “musical assistant” rather than “co-composer.” I believe that we should understand that AI in music-making needs to serve us, the creators, as a tool rather than to be relied upon as a replacement in music-making.


Here are just a few examples of websites and platforms that currently utilize AI in music:
Jukedeck (www.jukedeck.com): Jukedeck is an AI-powered platform that allows users to generate original music tracks in different genres and styles. Users can customize parameters such as tempo, mood, and duration to create music tailored to their needs.


Amper Music (www.ampermusic.com): Amper Music is an AI-driven platform that enables users to create custom music tracks for various purposes, including film, video games, and commercials. It provides a library of pre-composed music elements that users can arrange and customize.


AIVA (www.aiva.ai): AIVA (Artificial Intelligence Virtual Artist) is an AI composer that creates original compositions in different styles and genres. AIVA has been used for film soundtracks, advertising, and other media projects. Melodrive (www.melodrive.com): Melodrive is an AI-driven music generation platform that creates adaptive and interactive music for video games. It uses AI algorithms to generate music in real-time, responding to the game’s events and creating a dynamic and immersive experience.


Magenta by Google (magenta.tensorflow.org): Magenta is an open-source project by Google that explores the intersection of AI and music. It provides tools and resources for music generation, composition, and creativity using machine learning techniques.


I encourage you to give some (or all) of these a try, but take heed:
Always remember who created who.
Rock on, humans, and let’s keep making some great, boundary-pushing music.

Saturday Hockey News with Miguel

By Miguel Mike Medina

Vince Dunn signed a four-year, $29.4 million contract with the Seattle Kraken. The defenseman had NHL career highs in goals, assists, points, plus-minus and power-play points.

Nashville Predators signed veterans Ryan O’Reilly and Luke Schenn. The Predators are trying to make a playoff push for next seasons

Professional Wrestling is in a Good State

By Jim Biringer

When people look at the landscape of professional wrestling in 2023, they will see it in a good place. There are many healthy companies from WWE and AEW to Impact Wrestling, New Japan, AAA, ROH, and GCW. Despite all the hate on the Internet and the tribalism between WWE fans and AEW fans, the wrestling business is actually thriving. 

Now nothing will beat the mid to late 1990s Monday Night Wars between WCW and WWE, but in this day and age, it reminds many people of the old territory wrestling days. Except it is on a bigger scale. Remember during the territory days, only the major champions traveled to the old territories. For the most part, they worked in their region.


Vince McMahon Sr and the WWF ruled the Northeast. Jim Crockett and the NWA ruled the Carolinas and down into Georgia. There were promotions up and down the midwest from Minnesota and the AWA to WCCW in Texas. Even Florida and Memphis had good promotions. 
Once Vince McMahon Jr took the WWF national with Hulk Hogan a lot of things changed. The territories went away and WCW was on the rise behind Eric Bischoff. It really picked up with the nWo and the Monday Night Wars. And nothing will beat that time. Ask anyone who grew up during that time period, Mondays were the most watched television and the numbers showed it. 
Once WCW was bought by WWE, there was not much competition and fans were looking for another outlet. TNA was good for a while from 2004-2010. However, they could not compete with WWE in terms of a national stage. They tried and failed, but their brand is back to doing what it did during that time period. 


Obviously, fans tuned in to NJPW and ROH when Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks worked those promotions with the Bullet Club. Cody Rhodes going on the independent scene helped too. But the inception of AEW has been a game changer for the business. 


AEW has really given new life to the business of professional wrestling. President and CEO Tony Khan has allowed his wrestlers to work other promotions. The company started because of the Wrestle Kingdom match between Omega and Chris Jericho. From there things took off. The company is doing well and is going to have its biggest gate ever with All-In at Wembley Stadium. 


The addition of two hours of Collision on Saturday nights has really helped showcase the other wrestlers in the company. AEW was being innovative during the pandemic and now they are finding their groove again. Because of AEW, WWE raised its level with the Bloodline Storyline. Not to mention Triple H taking over and the rise of NXT during that time period before AEW came about really helped the business. 

More people were watching NXT when Triple H ran it than WWE. It just felt that an old-school show and he is bringing that to the main roster. WWE still has work to do cultivating new stars for the future but they are doing well. And that is a good thing. 


Just because you like one does not mean you have to hate the other. There are other wrestling companies out there for everyone. If you just like one fine. If you like them all that’s cool too. While the numbers may never reach the level of the attitude era and the Monday Night Wars, fans have more to choose from than they did back then.


There is so much more to choose from and that is what makes it so good. Just take this past Saturday night, there were great matches on Impact Slammiversary PPV, AEW Collision, and AAA TripleMania. It was a loaded Saturday night. You did not have that back in the 1990s and 2000s. 


One thing is for sure professional wrestling is in good shape regardless of the fans. The fans are the reason there is so much hate It is not the promotions. Like what you like and don’t compare other companies to each other. The companies sure don’t. 


People are talking about professional wrestling because of what is going on because there is so much of it. Again just enjoy it and have fun. Like what you like and let others like what they like. There is so much to choose from and support.


Now is truly the Golden Age of Professional Wrestling. 

LSU Must Vacate Wins

By Miguel Mike Medina

The NCAA Independent Accountability Resolution Panel has dropped the hammer on LSU Football. LSU will have to vacate all the wins they accumulated from 2012 through 2015. 

Photo Credit to: Crescent City Sports Staff


As a person who has been watching sports for 24 years, It never made sense to me that you are making teams vacate their wins and championships. I don’t think you gain anything from it because the games were already played. The only person I see this affecting is LSU head coach Les Miles. The current LSU football players shouldn’t suffer for something that happened a decade ago. I’m saying this just in case if NCAA wants to take things into deeper measures.

Photo Credit to: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution


With that being said, coach Les Miles will probably not make it to the College Football Hall of Fame and won’t be eligible. In those four years, the Tigers will have to erase 37 wins including two bowl games. Mike’s’ head coaching winning record will drop from 145 wins to wins. 

Kevin Costner, A24’s ‘Priscilla’ Teaser

By Miguel Mike Medina

Kevin Costner’s marriage story continues to get messy. Christine, Costner’s estranged wife, is not happy. She’s not happy with the way things were handled about their kids finding out about their split. Christine is taking deeper measures by requesting $248k a month in child support. First, Kevin Costner leaves the hit show ‘Yellowstone’ and now he’s dealing with this nightmare. Are marriages worth any more? Why does it have to come down to money, especially from Rich public figures? 

Money is not everything. It’s important but it doesn’t bring you happiness. Things are getting out of hand in this Costner family. We hope they can come to an understanding at some point because there are kids involved. 

A24 just released the first teaser for Sofia Coppola’s ‘Priscilla’ film.

https://youtu.be/gxbZyvCJc6U

It is based on Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir ‘Elvis and Me.” The movie is set to be released on October 2023. This is Sofia’s first directed and written project since her 2020 comedy-drama film, On the Rocks, which is on Apple TV+. 

Miguel’s Top Christian Music to Listen in 2023

By Miguel Mike Medina

Christian music brings a lot of joy and heals the soul. What would life be without Christian and Worship music? I’m so glad that I began listening to Christian music since last Summer, when I became more of a spiritual person.

In this video that’s on “The MMM Journal,” I mention several Christian songs to listen for 2023. Hit the link to see the FULL video:

Subway Series Recap

By Miguel Mike Medina

The two-game Subway Series is over. Yankees won the first game. The Mets won the second game. This Subway Series felt like a playoff atmosphere. Aaron Judge and Pete Alonso were not in the lineup due to them being in the injury list.

I collaborated with a passionate Mets fan twice this week to talk about the Subway Series. His name is Anthony Rivera. He’s the creator and host of ‘Subway to Shea’ Podcast.

Listen and watch the Subway Series recap video with special guest Anthony Rivera on our YouTube channel. The video premieres at 7pm.