Sellout NFL Athletes!

     So, I'm watcing TV the other day, and I see a very interesting commercial. So interesting that I asked myself, don't these football players get paid enough? Then I realized, that these ball players are doing all types of different things to get paid. It kind of upset me. First of all, you (football players) get paid WAAAAAAAAAAAAY more than any "normal" person. This disgusts me. Instead of teachers, policemen (them not so much) and firefighters getting paid what they deserve, the NFL players make this money to entertain. I mean, they are going to get hurt, but still it's a bit much. Then they have this "I'm a celeberty" attitute which means, they think they can do what they want. One person who kind of makes me sick in particular is Joe Flacco. Ok, the official pizza sponser for the NFL is Papa Johns, and The Ravens play in M&T Bank Stadium. ... So why is Joe Flaco doing commercials for First Mariner Bank, and Pizza Hut? Come on guy, your the starting quarter back for the Ravens and you gotta undermine the sponsers for a few more quid? Tisk tisk tisk, terrible. Your terrrble. This makes me feel like he has no honor whatsoever or he's a prostitute who can just be bought. Another Raven who makes big bucks off the field is Ray Lewis. He opened up a club on Boston St. in Canton. I think its closed now, not sure. I went one time and they were trying to charge twenty dollars to get in. I talked them down, but it still wasn't all that. They only charge that much because it has his name on it. Something else Lewis is getting paid for is Old Spice commercials, and Under Armour advertisements (check out the "Welcome to Baltimore" ad on 95). I can understand old Ray, he may be retiring soon, I beleive. Ray Lewis even did a physics demonstration where he tackles a reinforced door, and compares his force to a police battering ram. ... That was pretty cool though. Eli Manning is another player who makes a little extra money on the side. He's dressed like a fairy in the Directv commercials, yells "IT IS ON!" and throws pixie dust at the TV to give a Directv NFL package to the customer. This works for him, because it makes him affable in my opinion. Every athlete does a Gatorade commercial, which I think is fine (especially if Gatorade helped them on the field and gain their status). Which brings me to Robert Griffin the Third. By the way, can I just say that I can't stand hearing his full government issue every time the game or any Redskins talk is going on? Just call him Griffin. You don't go around saying Joe Flacco the First all the freakin time, do you? Anyway, this guy is a rookie. WHY ARE YOU MAKING SUBWAY COMMERCIALS YOU GREEDY BASTARD? Are you that passionate about Subway? Are you another Jared case? Were you massively obese and Subway helped you get fit? Or are you taking advantage of the stardom and taking any publicity you can? He's an excellent quarterback, he's going to continue to be fought over and make lots of money. (sigh) This guy. This freakin guy over here. And lastly I come to Eastern Motors, where your job is your credit. Thats not true either, my friend had a job, and couldn't get a car there. Anyway, this car dealership is owned by either a bunch of Ravens or Redskins, or a few of each.... I see no problem with that. What do you guys think?

Video killed the Video Star!

      I remember growing up in the 90's, MTV aired numerous music videos and had a couple of actual TV shows. I think VH1 aired only music videos and The (Juke) Box aired nothing but music videos. The Box allowed viewers to request a music video for ninety nine cents (if I remember correctly). This was an outlet, besides radio, for artists to show case they're new songs. Music videos were a big deal back then. I even remember, sitting down with my family one night and waiting for Michael Jackson's Black or White video to premiere on Fox. Music videos allowed fans to see another artistic side from the artists. One of my favorite videos of all time is Aha's Take on Me. It gives a visual story to add to the song. These day's music videos really can't compare to the one's back in the day. Almost every rap video I see is just the rapper rapping, and a bunch of half naked girls dancing. This adds nothing to the song. With the decline of artistry in music videos, I ask myself how are artists marketing themselves? How are they surviving? With the rise of pirate sites and programs, the artists need SOMETHING tangible. If I were an artist I would have the most talked about tour with the hottest artists opening for me. Besides that, I'm sure artists are making money from I Tunes single song downloads as well. I remember back then, you would buy a CD and you only liked two or three songs from the album, so this is the perfect solution for that. A lot of artists these days are making clothes, fragrances, MOVIES! Beyonce' and Nelly are killing it in the clothes industry. Ice Cube, born from NWA (you know what that stands for, lol) is the family man in his movies. Brittney Spears has her own perfume. Another thing too, does YouTube hurt the artists? Yes and no. Yes, because someone will upload a video, that they either made themselves, or the official video for the song, and at the bottom there would be an option to buy the song from I Tunes. On the other hand, I see people download the video and extract an MP 3 from it. Then there are some artists who create a video log on YouTube, and this is great for their fans. Another question that begs to be asked is can YouTube help you as an upcoming artist? It worked for Justin Bieber! It also worked for Lana Del Rey. She is the only artist ever to perform on Saturday Night Live, who didn't have a number one hit on the radio. Unfortunately, her performance was said to be a flop! But YouTube still got her on there, and it made me check out her music. Let's take another look at an artist that wouldn't have made it this far had it not been for YouTube. Psy.... Gangnam Style! From this silly little video, Psy has gained world fame. According to an article in The Independent, record executives believe that the next Lady Gaga will come from YouTube. Read for yourself here. What do you think?