Thursday, March 08, 2007

Leo, John Amaechi, and Maui Fever The Movie

Wow, it's been awhile since I've posted anything (29 days to be exact), and it seems like a lot of people are unhappy about it. So here it goes, my thoughts on this Wednesday.

Leonardo DiCaprio has come a long way since Growing Pains and Titanic, and I must say, I have been enjoying his movies as of late. Leo did two movies in 2006, Blood Diamond and The Departed, which were both very good movies. I also liked Catch Me If You Can and even Gangs of New York was alright. However, it is still weird to think about Leo without thinking back to our 8th grade video year book and Fred Smith calling him Leonardo DiCRAPio. Good stuff. Also, glad to see that Leo hasn't done a film with Matthew McConadouche (Amistad, The Wedding Planner) yet, and let's hope he doesn't. In a show of respect to my good friend Kevin, I am keeping the McConaughey reference alive. Along the same lines, check out this video of Matt Damon impersonating McConaughey...




I came across a story about new college basketball jerseys that apparently showcase players' upper bodies. That's just great...if your John Amaechi (more on him later). Only 4 schools have been chosen by Nike to wear them: The University of Florida, Ohio State University, University of Arizona and Syracuse University. All 4 schools will be wearing them this week in their conference tourneys. Read the story here.

In light of John Amaechi's new book, whatever it is called, I have come to the conclusion that the best way to make money in this world is to keep something from a large group of people, and then write a book about it. Worked for both Jose Canseco (steroids) and Johnny Amaechi (sexual preference).

I don't like Lleyton Hewitt. He plays tennis, he's from Australia, and he still owes me $75.

I was flipping through channels tonight and saw a commercial that Maui Fever is no longer being aired after the Real World. Instead, MTV has replaced it with Road Rules, as if people watch that. Sad day for all. But the good news is that instead of four more 30 minute episodes, they have done us all a favor and made it into a 2 hour season finale that MTV is advertising as "The Maui Fever Movie." The movie can be seen this Saturday at 1pm. Needless to say, please don't call me between the hours of 1-3 on Saturday...thank you.

Just realized that I still have a "Packer Bad Call Brick" in my room. If you are unfamiliar with what this is, it is nothing more than a foam rectangle made to look like a brick with the Packers logo on it. The point of the brick is to obviously throw it at the TV when the Ref makes a bad call, which is better than throwing a heavier item at the TV. Whoever invented it is a genius, and I'm willing to bet that most of you had one at some point growing up. I remember actually throwing this foam brick at my brothers more than at the TV, but the point of it is well taken.

And finally, I don't know if it's just me but I have been noticing that a lot of middle aged men wear hoodless sweatshirts around on the weekends. Go to your local grocery store on a Saturday afternoon, and I bet that 3 out of 5 men aged 35-55 will be sporting a hoodless sweatshirt, most of which will be of the Badger, Packer, or if you are in Stoughton, Stoughton Viking variety. Better yet, just look at what your Dad is wearing this weekend. After seeing this, you must promise yourself that you will never partake in this activity and will only wear hoodies for the remainder of your life.

Thank you and have a great day.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Music Update

Just wanted everyone to know that our studio album "Alive Again" is now available for purchase on iTunes and CD Baby. Also, we are having a CD Release Party on Friday, March 2nd at 9pm @ Cafe Montmarte in Madison. If you don't know where Cafe Montmarte, click here for directions. So if you want to wait for a CD and come out to our release party, that would be sweet. Or if you already purchased a CD, come out to the release anyways!

And for all those who are wondering what our upcoming schedule looks like, here you go:

Feb. 7th - Dry Bean w/TLCB (Mad) @ 8pm
Feb. 9th - Rev. Jim's (Sto) @ 11pm
Feb. 10th - Battle of the Bands (Sto)
Feb. 15th - The Rave w/G.Love (Mil) @ 6pm
Feb. 17th - The BBC (Mil) @ 10pm
Mar. 2nd - Cafe Montmartre (Mad) @ 9pm
Mar. 3rd - The Broux House (Sto) @ 8pm
Mar. 23rd - Stones Throw (EC) @ 9:30pm
Mar. 31st - IQ's (GB) @ 10pm

You can also access our show dates at www.sharpandharkins.com or on MySpace at www.myspace.com/harksharp.

Still need tickets to The Rave show with G.Love? Visit www.therave.com.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Chinese Food, Crocodile Dundee, and "this is our country"

Random thoughts at 1:01 pm on Thursday, February 1, 2007

I've come to realize that the only reason why I would like to become a lawyer would be so I could pull all nighters with my fellow lawyers and eat take-out chinese food straight out of the container with chop sticks like they do in the movies. Speaking of chinese food, I have been searching for a fortune that had the number 21 on it, which happens to be my birthday and lucky number, for 22 years now, and no longer need to search for it. I got it a couple of weeks ago from the one and only Grand China here in town, and was obviously very happy. It read, "You have a keen sense of humor and love a good time" for all those who were wondering. I like to think so as well. Also, I learned that Li-Mao means Polite...good stuff.

I watched the movie Supersize Me for the first time on Monday night, and the movie both disgusted and amazed me. Obviously eating McDonalds for an entire month is unhealthy, but the dude actually almost died. Nonetheless, I am not going to eat McDonalds in the near future. Oh, and Ronald McDonald scares me.

I am a big fan of pretty much any lemon-lime flavored soda, but Twist Up, which is a knock-off of Sprite/7-Up/Sierra Mist not only doesn't taste good, it doesn't make sense to me. The can says Twist Up on it, but the second "T" in twist is upside down for some reason. So if you are reading it, it says, Twis with an upside down T. What the hell? In other beverage news, I had a Dasani Bottled Water the other day, and didn't like it. I was thinking about how much I would rather have an Ice Mountain or tap water instead of it. But my favorite water of all, hose water on a hot summer day.

Bagels and cream cheese is my favorite late night snack, pizza is my favorite drunk food, and gatorade is my favorite hungover food. Things to think about for the question game, which I happened to play recently for only the second time in my life. If you know what I'm talking about, I like you. If not, move onto AJ Ratliff.

I don't like AJ Ratliff or that cast he has on. Look at him. I have to say something about the Badgers losing, but I'll make it short. I'm not that upset that we lost, I'm upset with the fact that sportswriters and the press have been waiting for this to happen, and now that it has, they are going to rip us apart and talk about how overrated we are. News flash...we are still 21-2, and have beaten 2 top 10 teams. I hate Doug Gottlieb. Go steal some credit cards.

Shaving without shaving cream is not smart.

Is it just me or have the commercials for the new show "Dirt" on FX been rediculously over-played? The commercial time for "Dirt" rivals that of the Robot Dodge Ram commercial and the "this is our country" commerical. I have yet to watch the show, but I'm pretty sure it sucks. And Courtney Cox isn't even that hot.

If Crocodile Dundee were real, and The Crocodile Hunter Steven Irwin were still with us, I could see them being really good friends.

Although very intoxicated last Saturday night, I was very upset about having to wait in line to get into the bar Monday's. It's not even a good bar, and we only went there to meet up with people. The hell of it is, we got in, saw our friends, they wanted to leave, and promptly left. Didn't even get a drink there.

Been thinking about new band names lately. Any suggestions? How about Sharp Harkins and the Barricade? Or we could spell it Barrakade (for Justin Barrak). Let me know what you think or if you have anything else...and Kevin...Sharkins is not an option.

That's all I got. It is now 1:33 pm.

Friday, January 26, 2007

Rony Seikaly's Hot Wife

If you are anything like me, you often find yourself wondering how athletes such as Rony Seikaly and any toothless hockey player end up with hot women at the end of the day. Have you seen Rony Seikaly? Have you seen his wife? Also, why is it that soccer players somehow get the hottest of all? I chalk that one up to being European, and apparently chicks dig European soccer players, weird. Anyways, without rambling on about how lucky some people are, I'll just show you instead. For your viewing pleasure, the top 5 hottest wives in sports...

1. Cheryl Tweedy - Married to soccer player Ashley Cole
First off, his name is Ashley, which immediately makes me draw a connection with the one and only former O-Town member Ashley Parker Angel...not good. In my research, I found out that Cheryl is a member of the English girl group Girls Aloud. Must say, great name. I also found out that in January of 2003, Mrs. Cole was involved in an altercation with a nightclub toilet attendant in a Guildford nightclub. Couple of things here, I wish I could've seen that fight, where was Ashley during it, and where is Guildford? Enough text...enjoy the picture.



2. Carmella Decesare - Married to football player Jeff Garcia
That's right...Jeff Garcia. Needless to say, Carmella is a model, and she was named Playboy Playmate of the Year in 2004...good stuff. But I dug up some dirt on her as well, and this one is funny. In September of 2004, she pled not guilty to assault in a Cleveland, Ohio court after a catfight in a bar on between herself and Kristen Hine, the then girlfriend of quarterback Jeff Garcia. This for Jeff Garcia...come on. To finish the story, she was acquitted of the assault charge but found guilty of violating a restraining order. Look at her picture, Jeff Garcia...really?



3. Victoria Beckham - Married to soccer player David Beckham
What's with the soccer player thing? I know the guy just signed a 250 million dollar contract to come to the United States to play soccer, but, actually that's exactly why he has her. We all know Victoria as "Posh Spice" from the Spice Girls, and we all know she's really hot, is there anything else that needs to be explained? I think not. Onto the pic.



4. Lisa Dergan - Married to baseball player Scott Podsednik
My brother used to work for the Brewers when Podsednik was a member of the team, and he said that Scotty Po was quite the jerk. But who cares...he has a hot wife. Lisa Dergan is FOX sports net reporter, which makes her even hotter. In addition, she has done modeling in Japan, and later developed an affinity for the Japanese culture that inspired her to continue her education with Japanese language classes at UCLA. Oh yeah, and she posed in Playboy in 1998. Pictures to follow.



5. Elsa Benitez - Married to former basketball player and Greek God Rony Seikaly
Hailing from Greece, via Syracuse University, comes Rony Seikaly. I remember Rony as being the guy who always played with greasy hair, and that will never change. Once I found out he was married to Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Elsa Benitez, I literally fell to the floor. Elsa may not actually be the 5th hottest sports wife (although she's still really hot), but could I really leave Rony Seikaly off of this list...I think not.



Honorable Mention:
Elin Nordegren - Married to Tiger Woods
Candace Cameron (Full House) - Married to hockey player Valeri Bure (once again a girls name)
Anna Benson ("I'll sleep with the whole team if you cheat on me Kris") - Married to baseball player Kris Benson

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

"That's what happens when you come to LaCrosse"

It's been awhile...figured I get back on here and do my thing. This post has no real point behind it, just gonna wing it. What this means is that everything to follow is either currently on my mind or is bothering me for some reason. That said, onto the randomness:

Thumbs up to GBC (Grab Bag Challenge) coming in at #8 in the Top 10 Stoughton Sponsored Drinking Events as seen on Jim's blog and voted on by friends. However, when is GBC VI happening? Have we forgot about this great drinking event? Thumbs down to the 3rd/4th of July being rated ahead of GBC. Go to Jim's Blog for the complete list of The Top Stoughton Sponsored Drinking Events.

Thumbs up to Colt Brennan for entering the NFL Draft. This was the best decision of your life, well ahead of any decision you made while you were at Colorado. Thumbs down to everyone who says it was a mistake for him declare. They obviously don't know the real Colt Brennan. Giving him one more year in college gives him another year to mess it all up, trust me.

Thumbs up to 49ers coach Mike Nolan and Jags coach Jack Del Rio, or as I like to call him, "Jack of the River," for sporting suits on the sidelines this year. Thumbs down to the the NFL for only allowing them to wear Reebox made suits. If a man wants to wear a suit, let him choose the suit. It's science.

Thumbs up to the white pants Erin Andrews was wearing for the Wisky/Ohio St. game last week...and to Erin Andrews in general. Spank bank...lock. I would marry this lady on the spot if I had the chance. And another thumbs up to the kid in the picture and the placement of his hand, nice work my friend, too bad you live in Iowa. Thumbs down to Erin Andrews attending the University of Florida, but wear those white pants again, and I'm over it. Wait, I'm already over it. But please wear the white pants again. I can't believe this is the first post in which I have mentioned Erin Andrews...sad.

Thumbs up to the color magenta. Although it was color of the month in December, I'm bringing it back for January. It is worthy of a two month stint. Thumbs down to not seeing magenta at the Sweater Party. We were all waiting on that sweater.

Thumbs up to the city of LaCrosse. Everytime I go back, it's like I never left. The drinking environment goes unmatched in the state of Wisconsin. Thumbs down to Terry getting sucker-punched in LaCrosse, to the guy that did it, and to the cop that said and I quote "That's what happens when you come to LaCrosse." Really...that's what happens there? Two words...WOW.

Thumbs up to the word crapshoot. I really like saying, "that was a real crapshoot." Actually I've never said that before, but I want to. Thumbs down to the words crap and shoot alone. But put them together and it's good stuff. The inintricacies of the english language.

I have more but I have to cut this one short. I'll be back with the rest later this week, and maybe more things will creep into my mind. I love Erin Andrews.

Monday, January 08, 2007

Ohio St. vs. Florida

National Championship game is tonight, and for some reason, it just doesn't seem like a normal championship game to me. I find myself asking...Why is Florida in the game? Why is it on January 8th this year? And why is it on FOX? Hopefully others have noticed, but FOX is absolutely horrible when it comes to college football. The picture is really dark, and the sound is muffled. Sure they do a better job with NFL games, and it's kinda cool to see Barry Alvarez in the booth, but that's about it. Oh and one more thing before I get to the final pick...good luck to Jim, Kevin, and Koontz in Vegas. Hope you're betting skills have improved within the week.


Standings: (as of January 8, 2007)
Me: 39-36-1
Kevin: 35-38-3
Koontz: 23-26
Jim: 35-40-1
Mike: 0-5



Line: Ohio St. (-7)

My pick: Ohio St.
Kevin's pick: Ohio St.
Jim's pick: Ohio St.
Koontz' pick:

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Stocco's Bid Farwell

It was perhaps the worst week to be a fan of Wisconsin quarterbacks. Brett Favre may have very well played his last game in a Packers jersey, and John Stocco's elgibility has sadly run up. While Brett has and will continue to garner all the attention, and deservedly so, Stocco will sit back, be overlooked for his accomplishments, and fade into his all but certain back-up quarterback role when he enters the NFL.

Stocco capped off a stellar four year career at the University of Wisconsin with a win over 12th ranked Arkansas in the Capital One Bowl on Monday, and although it wasn't his best performance, he once again pulled it out and was named MVP of the game. I will be the first to admit that there are many quarterbacks who are more talented than Stocco, but there are few quarterbacks who know how to win and have won like Stocco.


Stocco's Sophomore Year...leading us to victory over Ohio St.


In his three years as a starter, Stocco has compiled a 29-7 record, good for second place in all-time wins at Wisconsin behind Brooks Bollinger who had 30. And had he not gotten hurt and missed games against Buffalo and Iowa (which ended his impressive streak of 35 consecutive starts), Stocco would've finished with 31 wins and the record. He has also led the Badgers to three straight bowl appearances, the Outback Bowl in 2004, and the Capital One Bowl in both 2005 and 2006. Stocco led Wisconsin to three consecutive nine-win seasons, and the Badgers are one of only five teams to achieve that feat in the past three years (along with Auburn, Boise State, USC and Texas). Furthermore, Stocco set single-season school records in 2005 with 2,920 passing yards, 21 touchdown passes, 197 completions, 414 plays and 2,888 total yards. Stocco nearly set the all time passing yardage record as well, finishing his career with 7,227 passing yards in just 36 games as a starter. Number one in that category is Darrell Bevell who finished his career with 7,686 yards in 43 games as a starter. It's pretty obvious that Stocco would've shattered that record and many others if he had 7 more games under his belt.


Stocco's Junior Year...the quarterback sneak that won it against Michigan


But the worst part of it all is how Stocco has been received by the media, and more importantly, Badger fans. I know a lot of people that have season tickets to Badger football that still seem to think Stocco sucks. If you knew football at all or were a true Badger fan, you know Stocco doesn't suck. The wins don't lie, and to back up the wins, the numbers and records don't either. But there still remains a common theme with Stocco among fans: when we lose, everyone is quick to point out that Stocco is to blame, but when we win, it's always something other than Stocco that won it for us. And it's been like that for his entire career. When the Badgers won 9 in a row to start off the 2004 season, the defense got the credit. But when they lost their last three games to end the season, most of the blame fell on Stocco. Most people don't understand that the defense gave up 103 points in those final 3 games (34.3 points per game). And then in 2005, all the credit went to the trio of senior receivers and Brian Calhoun. None of it went to Stocco. I wonder what it will be this year? He lost all those receivers, he lost Calhoun, he even had knee surgery before the season began, but it couldn't have been him that led us to a 12-1 season, the most in Wisconsin history. Could it? Hell no...it had to have been rookie coach Bret Beilema. Not Beilema's fault though, just the story of Stocco's career.


Stocco's Senior Year...Capital One Bowl win in last game


All in all, you will never find a quarterback who was more scrutinized for winning over 80 percent of his games in the history of organized football. Bret Beilema put it best: "There has probably never been a quarterback that's won, with as much success, as John Stocco and taken as much verbal abuse from fans, sports writers and everybody in between." Wisconsin fans seem to think they are the best fans in the nation, well the way Stocco was treated the past four years makes me think otherwise. The fans never appreciated Stocco and never will. All you have to do is visit the ESPN message board and you're sure to see numerous posts about how he's terrible. Hell, Tyler Donovan has received more praise for winning 2 games than Stocco has for winning 29, now that's terrible. Sure Stocco hasn't always looked pretty, and there's been times where we've all wondered what they hell he was thinking, but the bottom line is that he won games. Stocco won't be remembered for his 29 wins or his handful of records, he probably won't be remembered at all. He's that type of a guy. Give it 5 years, and he will almost certainly be completely forgotten by the fair-weather Badger season ticket holders. Sad story. So here's to Stocco, here's to many Aflac Trivia questions based on you, and for the last time...Stocco for Heisman.

Week 3: Who's Koontz?

Bowl Week 2 has come and gone, and it's safe to say we will never have a repeat of what happened in Week 1. We went 25-21 this past week, which actually isn't too shabby. That ups the overall bowl record to 45-30...good stuff. Because I have another post coming up right after this one, I'm gonna keep this short. Standings and Week 3 picks follow:

Standings (as of January 1, 2007)
Me: 34-32
Jim: 32-34
Koontz: 23-26
Kevin: 31-33-2
Mike: 0-5

Week 3 Picks...

My Picks:
1. Auburn (-3) vs. Nebraska
I dont like either team, but I think Auburn is the better team.

2. Tennessee (-4) vs. Penn St.
Paterno is still coaching from the box...he got jacked up.

3. Wisconsin (+1.5) vs. Arkansas
12-1...not bad.

4. West Virginia (-7) vs. Georgia Tech
Offense wins Gator Bowl's, West Virginia has offense.

5. Michigan (-1.5) vs. USC
Should be a good game, but I'm going Big Ten here.

6. Oklahoma (-8.5) vs. Boise St.
Adrian Peterson is back, Oklahoma is too physical.

7. Louisville (-9) vs. Wake Forest
Wake Forest may be the worst team to ever make the BCS.

8. LSU (-8.5) vs. Notre Dame
Notre Dame doesn't win bowl games.

9. Western Michigan (+7) vs. Cincy
Don't know why I picked this one.

10. Southern Miss (-6) vs. Ohio
Rode both teams this year, I was torn.


Kevin's Picks:
1. Auburn (-3) vs. Nebraksa

2. Tennessee (-4) vs. Penn State
Can you say L.O.C

3. Wisconsin (+1.5) vs. Arkansas
McFag gets shut down. Badgers win.

4. G. Tech (+7) vs. WV
I really like WV and they may win but not by 11.

5. Michigan (-1.5) vs. USC
Michigan wins by 2 TDs

6. Oklahoma (-8.5) vs. Boise
Boise wanted a BCS. Boise got a BCS. Boise is going to lose a BCS.

7. Louisville (-9) vs. Wake Forest
Wake is not that good.

8. LSU (-8.5) vs. Notre Dame
Notre Dame loses and Brady Quinn Cries. Seriously LSU is very good, Ohio State vs LSU would be really cool.

9. Cincy (-7) vs. W. Michigan

10. Ohio (+6) vs. Southern Miss


Jim's Picks:
1. Auburn (-3) vs. Nebraska
Because Nebraska is a dumb state

2. Tennesse (-4) vs. Penn State
Because Penn State was not good this year

3. Wisconsin (+1.5) vs. Arkansas
Because they are really great

4. West Virginia (-7) vs. Georgia Tech
Because the ACC sucks

5. Michigan (-1.5) vs. USC
Because they are really good

6. Oklahoma (-8.5) vs. Boise State
Because they are playing Boise

7. Louisville (-9) vs. Wake Forest
Because the ACC sucks part II

8. LSU (-8.5) vs. Notre Dame
Because Notre Dame hasn't won a bowl game since I was ten years old

9. Cincinnati (-7) vs. Western Michigan
Because it is in Toronto

10. Ohio (+6) vs. Southern Miss
Because I say

Koontz forgot to pick this week, but hopefully he'll pick the National Championship game which culminates the college football season and our weekly picks. Boy was it great.