Welcome to the Off-Season...

As I think back to a famous quote by Jay-Z and Too $hort, "It was all good just a week ago” I can’t help but think about how it’s that time again.

Every year after the championship game is played and a new team is crowned victorious, all the teams get right back down to business by drafting, releasing, trading and renewing players contracts, in a sense, herding them around like cattle.

In the off-season you tend to see it all, including players you would never think would leave a team, well...be gone. What's interesting is fans always talk about team loyalty, but do those same teams have fan/player loyalty? I don't think so. In reality, a professional sport is a business to owners, and entertainment for everyone else.

To go deeper about off-season woes, the speculation about what the San Diego Chargers would do with their star running back Ladainian Tomlinson has been floating around for months.

That dreaded day for Charger fans has come. As of yesterday, the Chargers released LT in order to pave way for their upcoming future. Looking on the bright side, the good thing about releasing him before March is that it allows LT to get an early start on finding a new team.

It also enables the Chargers to avoid having to pay him bonuses and other fees LT would be due to receive should he still be a member of the team come next month. I am sad to see LT go, but I also understand the business of football.

Looking at it from a business standpoint, LT's performance has decreased every year since 2006, and the payout plus bonuses would be enormous for a 30 year old running back, should they have decided to keep him. I definitely understand the sticky situation at hand.

Although he has been a hero and gracious leader in the community on and off the field, like I keep reiterating, pro sports is a business to owners and entertainment for everyone else.

What will definitely be interesting to see is how things play out. I have foreseen two possible outcomes for this new found situation.

One is the Indianapolis Colts were the last team to release their star running back Edgerin James in 2007. The Colts ended up winning the Superbowl that very next year, so that could very well happen to the Chargers.

The second is LT can go to a team that can use him accurately and then he can finally win a championship with that team...wow.

Wouldn't that be something? Either way, I do want to wish LT the best of success as well as to tell football fans all around the world, "Hey loyal team fans, hold your head up high, there is always next season."

*sidenote, I do have to ask, what about those people that migrate often or never really watched professional sports until they saw a certain player live?

People always crack on me for not actually having a Team (besides the Yankees, I don't care who plays for the Yanks...die hard for life) but even then, my loyalty was never to a specific team (cough besides Yankees), my loyalty was to a player that made me enjoy, scratch that.. LOVE the game.

Growing up, if it wasn't for Kevin Garnett in high school or Michael Jordan in the pros, I wouldn't have watched basketball.

If it wasn't for Randy Moss, I definitely wouldn't have watched football at all as an adult.

If it wasn't for...well, wanting to be a broadcaster and move to New York, I wouldn't have watched baseball or become a Yankees fan at all!! Yankees baseball is the epitome of the NYC lifestyle!

When I look back to 1998 and then look forward to two thousand beyond, I realize for me, 1998 was the year I really started watching SPORTS! What a great year...ha...

I also realize I am getting older which means so are my favorite players, whom will eventually retire and then what? I guess I need to start going to more pro games, huh?

IHOP...National Pancake Day...

Usually when I hear about these so called, gimmicky, free day offerings from restaurants and business establishments, I automatically think its some secret ploy to lure you in the door and then... BAM, next thing you know you've spent 4o dollars.

Wait a minute, how is it free if I ended up spending money? HA, I guess the saying "Nothing in life is free" is true.

When this false hope/set up for failure happens, I tell those places, SSD! I used to work for a marketing company so believe me, I know the tricks.

However, I am happy to say today is a little different. IHOP is offering a free stack of pancakes which usually takes place on Fat Tuesday (think about the week of Mardi Gras). After investigating online and seeing the advertisement, I have to admit the IHOP commercial actually tells you upfront to give a donation if you're gonna come in for the free stack of pancakes.

I can't hate that because as usual, I was gonna ended up spending money getting eggs, sausage and the works, at least now I can just give the pancake portion to the charity.

Anyway, enjoy your free pancakes and give to the charity.

Check out http://www.ihoppancakeday.com/ for more details.

The Heart of A Champion...

After years of being entertained throughout some of the worlds major events, I have noticed or at least it seems as if Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant, Batman, The Joker, the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, San Diego Chargers, Denver Broncos, Democrats, Republicans, LA Lakers and Boston Celtics all have something in common.

They hate each other!

Ha, well maybe not personally, but the competitive edge between these brothers is a rivalry second only to that of two siblings fighting for mom's love and undeniable attention.

To break it down, I don't think they really hate each other, or it would be Kane and Abel all over again. But I do feel they need each other to survive.

I guess the sibling rivalry analogy goes for these teams being that the "Mother" is a world championship and these teams or "band of brothers" want to get the love.

In order to accomplish this great feat, having heart, determination, drive, endurance, perseverance and patience are all qualities that THIS champion must possess in order to be crowned this illustrious winner of the "love".

After last night, the on going rivalry between the Celtics and Lakers only proves that rivalries never die as long as the heart of the champion keeps pumping.

Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant have been crowned champions within the last 3 years, and by this June we will see which champion would rather not live in the past by adding a new crown to the cabinet one more time.

As we saw last season when Kevin Garnett was injured, the Celtics ended up not making it back to the big game to defend the crown. And now Kobe Bryant has had to take a seat due to injury as we saw last night was the determining factor to the Laker's loss.

I do have throw out an SSD flag by pointing out that Lakers fans and Celtics fans alike can honestly say without the star player, its almost impossible to win and both people need to be healthy.

Either way, these stars get paid millions of dollars for a reason, so obviously it makes a difference to the team if the players are injured or not on the court for any specific reason.

Hopefully by June, both brothers can be healthy to respectfully battle for supremacy with no excuses.

To be perfectly honest, only time will tell which brothers heart will pump harder, stronger and faster racing to reach mother's love one more time.

Carry Out...

Ahhh yes, I love this time around when new music videos are released! As most people do now-a-days, albums tend to leak so you get a chance to hear the album before hand and pick out your favorite songs all while hoping that the artist will release "yo song" as the next single and video.

Well that time has come for Timbaland on Shock Value 2.

The song Carry Out featuring Justin Timberlake was my instant favorite during my private "pre-listen" party. To me, the song is a smoothed out good ole cut that just takes me back to those dance Jam parties back in the day.

This song is also my I'm Focused song of the day, as I have an early morning call time for a photosession with one of my clients moving to New York for the summer. Can we say FIST PUMP!!! I'm Excited.

Anyway...

People always make a funk about videos, and I personally take them as enhancements, you don't need them but its nice to have. I like the song either way, and I'm glad that Timbaland chose to release Carry Out as a "single" for those that may not have picked up his album. This way the fans will still get a chance to enjoy the music.

Okay without further delay, here is the video for Timbaland and Justin Timberlake's latest musical effort...

Timbaland - Carry Out Featuring Justin Timberlake

*shout to thisis50.com for following me on twitter and giving me a heads up!

Recap...

So I have been away from pointing out Dream Sellers and catching false hope for a while, and I know A lot of events have happened since my last entry. I do apologize for the absence. So I will try to recap while also catching up.

For starters, the New Orleans Saints won the 2010 Superbowl after Indianapolis Colts Quarterback Peyton Manning threw the game blowing interception to lose 31-17. Congrats to the Saints for a great game.

Fashion guru Alexander McQueen passed away the morning of New York Fashion Week 2010's Opening Day. It was a terrible loss to the fashion industry for sure. I want to say, Rest in peace and my condolences go to his family.

Chris Brown released the second R&B Gangsta Grillz mixtape. The only other R&B, DJ Drama Gangsta Grillz mixtape was R. Kelly's Demo Tape, so C. Breezy better come with the heat on that endeavour. Let me know your thoughts on his mixtape 'In My Zone".

Beyonce is still the Queen by becoming the top selling female of the decade with the most gold and platinum plaques. Usher shocked the world when he wore capris to his performance at the NBA 2010 All-Star Game.

Haiti's devastating earthquake brought out an on pour of world support as well as a remake of We Are The World featuring some of today's hottest artists.

A man flew a small airplane into the IRS building because he was tired of paying taxes and Tiger Woods finally came out of seclusion since November 2009, to issue his first public apology for his infidelities.

Every story I have mentioned has some sort of hype in it and I usually would give commentary, but for once, I will leave that up to you. As you can see, many transactions have taken place in the last two weeks.

*sidenote* I have also started my graphic poetry/literary writing again which I will preview here from time to time so definitely be on the look out for that.

I have also added a few treats to the site, so make sure you check out our added affiliates and some new links.

Thanks for keeping up with Stop Selling Dreams and as always challenge yourself to erase the hype by uncovering the truth.

Grammy's...

There is so much to say about this years 52nd Annual Grammy awards. Overall, I was very pleased with the show.

Beyonce made history by being the first female artist ever to take home 6 Grammy's in one night. She was so emotionally charged and overwhelmed that she broke her usual code of personal silence by thanking her "Husband" and telling him she loved him. I think even Jay-Z was surprised by her unorthodox move.

Drake became the first artist ever to perform at the show and win a Grammy before actually releasing an album. Taylor Swift made history by being the youngest artist to win a Grammy for album of the year and Mr. Big... ahem, Ego, Kanye West made history by actually not showing up to an award show even though he was nominated.

I am #teamkanye all the way and actually to tell you the truth his absence was definitely felt. He was nominated in a slew of categories and actually won a Grammy for "Run This Town" where he was featured with Jay-Z & Rihanna.

He also was supposed to be apart of Drake's performance of Forever since he was featured on the track with Lil Wayne and Eminem. But his actions at the MTV music awards were unsanctioned and rude so I guess he needed to take a break and maybe the Grammy awards exec board panel made him sit down somewhere as well.

Other than Kanye being M.I.A., the night was full of action and didn't disappoint. Jamie Foxx had a party on stage during his performance of Blame it. Pink made sure she kept the crowds mouth watering for more by being drenched in water and swinging from a tight rope wearing a tight cat suit. And Lady Gaga brought out Elton John as they sang a duet while both playing the piano.

And of course at the end of the night you knew the question was bound to come up. Would Kanye's outburst from the MTV Music awards help Taylor Swift and would it hinder Beyonce in winning album of the year...

I really don't know, but I will say this, only a few Urban, (meaning rap, reggae or R&B) albums have ever won Grammy of the year. Thriller and Speakerboxx/The Love Below are the two I can think of off the top of my head. I was kind of upset about how some of the media wrap up shows down played the rap category as Jay-Z, Eminem and Drake all did pretty well winning in the category.

Numbers wise, the country music genre sells the most albums, so that should tell you how hard it is to beat out any country singer with or without Kanye's outbursts.

Drop The World...

Have you ever had a day when you woke up already inspired and motivated to accomplish your goals? And then things (positive AND negative) just kept happening to push you to work even harder to accomplish this goal.

If I may, I think I can do a run through of the occurrences going through your head...

First,

these situations keep happening, literally pushing you to the point where your ambitious mind leads you to have animosity towards everything.

Then,

you are put in a mind set were you are no longer motivated but angry, bitter and agitated if you don't finish what you started.

Now,

its no longer considered inspiration or motivation, its annoyance and spite that has been directed at everything including yourself.

Am I Right?

An example would be by you saying "You know what, forget that!!! This is some BS! I am ready to prove to the world that I am EXACTLY what I said I would be! And when I do prove it, I will rub it in your face all while screaming at the top of my lungs I told you so."

First of all, if you have ever had that feeling, I feel your pain because that is how I feel today. If you have never had that feeling then just be patient you will eventually.

The interesting thing is that, you should really never feel that you have to prove anything to anybody but yourself. It is okay to be inspired, just don't let your inspiration turn into a disastrous attempt at spite of someones negative ill will towards you.

My I'm focused song comes from 2 MC's that have had that fair share of "What? No, You Can't Do That..." Last night Lil Wayne performed at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards and for the opening act, he performed "Drop The World" featuring Eminem.

"The top gets higher, the more that I climb The spot gets smaller, and I get bigger Tryin to get in where I fit in, no room for a n*** But, soon for a n**** it be on muthha'**** Cause, all this bull**** done made me strong muthha'*****! So I Pick the world up and I'ma DROP it on yo' f***** head!" - Lil Wayne

These are words of inspiration to say the least, and to be honest, that's exactly how I feel right now, I'm just motivated to do whatever I set my mind to and then after I have done so successfully, I just want to drop the "accomplishment" on the haters, doubters and nay-sayers heads.

But I have to remember, the reason I became an artist was to be remembered for my positive body of work and thoughts, not by the bitterness left over as a result of backlash and nonsense.

To dig deeper in my emotional midst, exactly two years ago today, February 1st 2008, my grandmother passed away and I think that sourness towards dealing with death is intertwined into my motivation.

Either way, I will remember to remain positively focused as a way to remember her legacy while steadily building my own.

With that said, take this song and use it positively by building your legacy and deciding to not let anyone dictate how you live in your world.

Lil Wayne, Drake & Enimem's Uncensored Grammy Performance

Lil Wayne - Drop The World feat Eminem

Chargers Running Wild In Probowl...

Sunday's Probowl was definitely a good show between the best of the best in the NFL. As usual each year, A number of players didn't play for numerous reasons.

Obviously, Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints probowlers that were going to the Superbowl didn't play in order to keep from injuring themselves a week before the big game.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre and San Diego Charger Kicker Nate Kaeding didn't play because of injuries sustained before hand. Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers didn't play either because he and his wife just had their 5th child on Saturday.

Some other players didn't play for personal reasons. But I will say I was personally happy to see some of the stand out players on the AFC side that did play were Charger players. It was also pretty cool to see Charger head coach Norv Turner as head coach of the AFC.

Vincent Jackson, Antonio Gates and Kassim Osgood were definitely representing in Miami for the Pro Bowl, stating their claim that they definitely belonged there.

What people may not understand is playing in a probowl can become the defining moment in a player's career. It can build confidence for that player to go on and build an illustrious career by showing fans, coaches, peers and owners that they are indeed great "talents" and need to be taken seriously.

Vincent Jackson caught a 48 Yard touchdown, Kassim Osgood caught an 18 Yard Reception and Antonio Gates did as only he could, be the best tight end in the NFL, catching 3 receptions for 29 yards.

To be real, this is the probowl, so to catch anything and gain yardage should be considered an honor, seeing as you are on the field with 10 other "League's Best players" from all over the team's individual conference.

Hopefully, the Bolts can take alot from this Probowl AFC victory and build confidence and maybe even finally get over the superbowl hump.

Great job fellas!