Random Thoughts for June 25

The Real Joey Crack is reppin' for Jersey
Joe Budden is lobbying very hard to replace Nas as my new favorite MC. Obviously I’m not saying Budden is as talented as Esco or anywhere close to matching the legacy that Nas has built. But as far as the music currently being released, the man also known as Jerz is coming very close to topping my list of active MC’s. I got off the late train and finally listened to his Mood Muzik 2 mixtape and was cautiously impressed. That came after listening to the Clinton Sparks remix of “Whatever It Takes” where he just dumbs out for six minutes about his stress, child's mother and life in general. But the latest thing to get Joey on my radar was his bootleg remix of Gnarls Barkley’s hit “Crazy” that I downloaded. Every time I hear him, I get the urge to call timeout, but it’ll cost the game (listen to the track and you’ll get it). Of course, Joe Budden becoming rated the Top MC in my book is a conditional title that will not be fully applied until I hear Nas release Hip-Hop Is Dead… The N Word.

Sorry Mr. O’Reilly, but I’m with France on this one
Forget this whole Cristal/Jay-Z debate. The real racism concerning France is occuring in soccer. Spanish head coach Luis Aragones called French striker Thierry Henry a “black shit” last year and now the two teams are set to face each other in the second round of the World Cup. I didn’t really need another reason to hate the Spanish side, but Aragones gave me one. So it goes without saying that I’m cheering for France when they meet on Tuesday. How funny is it that I labeled France as G-Unit and Spain as Jadakiss in my If Soccer Teams Were Rappers post? Hopefully life will imitate art and los ninas de Espana will get shut down.

New York, New York, the big city of nightmares
It’s a good thing that Busta Rhymes is happy to be on his New York shit, because times are rough if you’re a fan of New York sports. Michael Strahan is being accused by his wife of saying “Yes Homo” with the doctor from Celebrity Fit Club, the Jets still don’t have a real quarterback, the Knicks just fired one bad coach in favor of another and the Damn Yanks are in second place. Yeah, I know the last one is supposed to be a good thing, but I don’t really care about baseball anymore and when I did, the Yankees were a team I never really liked. At least the Mets are leading the division, but it’s way too early for any of that to matter.

But going back to the Knicks debacle, can you imagine how difficult it is to be a Knicks fan living in Miami? Some of the fairweather supporters disgust me. I know people who can't even name anyone of the Heat roster besides D-Wade and Shaq, but they call themselves fans. And the next day, everybody’s wearing Caron Butler, Glen Rice, Steve Smith or jerseys from other players no longer on the team.

I just want the pain to stop. Isiah, please admit that you're inept and walk away. Leave now so we can get a new leader who isn’t so Layden-esque.