The Shield: Issue #33 Out!

Welcome to the thirty-third issue of the Shield!

Not a lot of people know this, but the Morales went to a Corpse Flower League school. It’s a very highly educated multi-dimensional creature. It knows words . . . words you wouldn’t believe. It has the best of words, the worst of words . . .

And a lot of them are in this issue!

Enjoy!

In this issue:

Film

• Long-Winded Critique: The Last Airbender (Part 3) (Kidane Malik ’19)

Food

• MoralEats: Dalia’s Mediterranean Restaurant (Mr. Morales)

History

• Evolution of Anti-Tank Systems (Parker Grobe ’18)

Music

• The E Street Band Comes to Town (Ben Bogdan ’17)
• Shield Mixtape – Issue #33 (Will Scheuerman ’17)

Poetry

• “Jabberwocky,” Explained (Lewis Nazarian ’19)

Sports

• NBA All-Star Break (Tim Geen ’19)
• Retrospective: My Hockey Career (Dimitri Kokkinis ’16)
• Best Confrontations in Sports: Peyton Manning Edition (Ben Meisenzahl ’16)

Video Games

• Dokapon Kingdom/Dokapon Journey (Adam Daughton ’19)
• Left 4 Dead 2: Why It’s the Greatest (Will Harvey ’18)
• Left 4 Dead 2: Best Mods (Noah Redder ’18)
• Keeping Up With the KarSmashians #6 (Carl Mruzek ’16)

From the Publisher

We’re always looking for new writers – sports, technology, video games, news, what have you, we’d be glad to have you on board! Just drop us a line. Any and all questions about becoming part of the staff, submitting an article, or the Shield in general, can be directed to the strange creature that lives in Room 252 and answers to “the Morales.”

Until next time, this is the Shield.

MoralEats: Dalia’s Mediterranean Restaurant

Dalia’s Mediterranean Restaurant
1220 Fairport Rd
Rochester, NY 14450

Dalia’s opened just last September, but it flew under my radar (and the Morales’ extradimensional sensory organs) for a while, probably because it’s tucked away in a little plaza between Abbott’s and Island Valley Golf Course.

That was a real mistake, because this place can compete with whatever your neighborhood Mediterranean joint is. Let’s discuss the meal the Morales forced me to buy suggested I get for the two of us, starting with the appetizers.

 

The falafel you see above is an excellent introduction to Dalia’s style. It’s unassumingly and refreshingly honest; the seasoning is strong on herbs but otherwise subtle; and it’s usually accompanied by a bomb dressing. Here, the tahini makes a perfect complement to meaty chickpea mash, fried until it’s got just enough crunch to be worth eating. It even has that tiny hint of bitterness that reminds you chickpeas aren’t candy.

Now, the Morales eats around the total GDP of Burkina Faso in spanakopita each year. That’s currently about $11.58 billion, an amount of spanakopita that, apparently, also covers the surface area of Burkina Faso if laid out in a single sheet. If the spanakopita’s like Dalia’s, this is not a habit the Morales is going to break.

Again, it’s a basic spanakopita: you put spinach, garlic, and some seasoning in phyllo and you bake it until it’s approximately the color of John Boehner. But Dalia’s does this simple dish really well: the spinach isn’t soggy or leafy, but baked into a proper, meaty, filling pie.

But this is all a prelude to the real meal. Full disclosure: I have a history of getting upstaged at Greek places. I’ll be that guy who decides to test a place out by getting some of their fried calamari or their mousaka, and the person next to me will always order something simpler that ends up making me look like a clown.

Not this time. Not at Dalia’s. I knew exactly what my dish-of-proof would be.

That is a big honking chicken plate, chock-full of lettuce, kalamata olives, feta, sautéed mushrooms, pita, Greek dressing (which, as far as I could tell, was basically a really good mix of olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice and herbs) and tomatoes, which are very good for you when used to develop the kind of discernment that ends in you throwing them down your garbage disposal.

Sorry – there’s no plot twist to be had, unless the fact that this is probably the best part of a Dalia’s meal is a surprise to you. The salad ingredients (including the devil fruit) are always fresh and complement the simple dressing with a variety of tastes, from the salty and slightly briney feta to the earthy mushrooms.

And then there’s the chicken, which blows the whole game wide open. It’s a beaut: it shreds like Carlos Santana, it’s just charred enough to impart smokiness to the flesh, and when you bite into the white meat on the inside, what you get is, again, subtly seasoned, carefully done food. It makes the salad work.

Some people save a stomach for dessert. The Morales saves three. (Only one of them handles chocolate well, and it uses all three for cheesecake. Go figure.) Which is why no meal at Dalia’s is complete without this.

Now, I’ll take a wild guess that you’ve seen baklava before, and probably even had some, because, well, you’re almost certainly from Rochester. (This isn’t some listicle about senior pranks, after all.) If you’ve been reading, you probably know what I’m about to say.

Yes, the baklava is basically exactly what you’d expect. Yes, it’s very well done. And, maybe best of all, at Dalia’s it comes in two kinds – pistachio, which the Morales insists on and wolfs down without giving me a bite, and walnut, which I guess, by default, is my favorite. (In case you’re wondering, Stomach #2 is for walnuts and pistachios, so it has to pick one.)

I think I’ve made my point. You’d never think to stop at this place – if you’re driving by, it’s awfully hard to see the sign – but it absolutely deserves your business. Stop by. Get yourself some chicken. Enjoy. Stop by again. Get yourself some more chicken. Enjoy again.

And if you see me in there . . . well, you’re probably not getting spanakopita that day.

 

Best Confrontations in Sports: Peyton Manning Edition

So that’s two successful articles in a series. What’s next? Well, curious reader, I’ll be taking the route Universal went with for the Despicable Me franchise and create a heavily annoying and underwhelming spin-off, which is sure to be a bust at the box office. I hereby dedicate this article to none other than Peyton Manning. Here’s a little short and sweet article that, hopefully, packs a real punch.

VS. A RECEDING HAIRLINE

If there’s one thing that comes to mind when one hears “Peyton Manning”, it’s the forehead. Seriously, that thing just sticks out. I don’t know what his eyebrows did to his hair because whatever it is, they do not want to be anywhere near each other, opening up that shiny face-dome America has become accustomed to. That thing is shinier than Mr. Clean, Blue Cross Arena, and Chip Skylark all combined. Also, if we are actually going to consider this a battle, it’s already over. That forehead is just conquering more and more territory with nothing standing between it and the ultimate goal: the back of Peyton’s head. I’m also relatively confident that his helmet could fit on top of all four of the heads at Mount Rushmore. That thing has some serious baggage to its name.

VS. JEFF FOXWORTHY

What if I told you to imagine what comes to mind when you hear the name Peyton Manning, but you can’t use the forehead? Well, of course you’d picture some form of the word “Omaha!” being yelled emphatically. This makes sense, but what the hell is Jeff Foxworthy’s name doing in this section’s heading? Well, if you haven’t made the connection yet, he was the host of Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, the show where adults shamed themselves in front of an audience. And clearly, Foxworthy would have the upper hand on Manning, who would have to either cheat or incorrectly answer the section titled, “Fifth Grade Geography.” Time and time again, we see Peyton use this during a pre-snap ritual. But you know what? If I was his opponent, I’d be licking my chops when I heard this because this guy doesn’t know anything about U.S. geography. How about another city in Nebraska? Like Lincoln? Or even jump to a different state entirely. Let’s expand our horizons and try cities like Sacramento, Scranton, or even Eugene.

VS. EMBARRASSING ADS

How about the third thing that comes to mind when you think of Peyton Manning? You’d be lying if you didn’t think of some form of Papa John‘s and the Nationwide jingle. I think I’ve even seen him in a Buick, which is about as believable as LeBron driving a Kia. Here’s the thing: all these ads are trying more and more to go over the top and make themselves the next funny thing in the world. So now I have to watch Joe Montana make idle chat with Papa John and Peyton Manning, while next observing Peyton losing a game of ping-pong to a child and getting scared at the movie theater by himself in a Nationwide commercial. Seriously, am I supposed to expect that Manning will go by himself to some antique theater to watch Paranormal Activity 10 while I can go watch Taken 3 at Eastview in recliners? Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned the worst ad. Of course, DirecTV roped Eli into this one, but Cooper was left out for some reason. The guy is very mild-mannered and what hair he has is groomed accordingly, so he makes the perfect guy for some commercials that move him out of his comfort zone. In short, I liked Peyton much more before he became a commercial sellout.

 

The Shield Mixtape – Issue #33

What’s up, Shield mixtape listeners? Andrew is taking leave for the next two mixes, so I’ve been given the honor of putting together the next two editions. In this edition, we see some of my returning favorites, as well as some new faces. Enjoy!

R&B/SOUL – “Link Up” by NxWorries

The opener here comes from LA duo NxWorries, the collaborative project of producer Knxwledge and singer Anderson Paak. The two both had gigantic years in 2015, as Knxwledge contributed a beat to Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly and Paak received a slew of features on Dr. Dre’s Compton, catapulting him into the spotlight. On their forthcoming album, expect the same kind of bassy and lo-fi vibe that appears on “Link Up.”

POP – “Sweet Design” by Sia

This track is one of the standout from Sia’s new album, made up entirely of songs she wrote for others but took back for herself. An interesting concept as well as an interesting vibe, at the crossroads of Latin, Pop, Electronic, and Hip-Hop.

ELECTRONIC “Mudafossil” by Ash Koosha

Shield favorite Ash Koosha is back with more of his mind-bending sample manipulation. This single comes from his new album dropping April Fool’s Day, which will be a sure listen by your correspondent.

HIP-HOP – “Vice City” by Jay Rock feat. Black Hippy

“Vice City” is easily one of my favorite hip-hop tracks from 2015.  The ethereal but intense beat, along with the wacky flow makes this song pop. In addition, Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, and ScHoolboy Q all deliver blistering verses based on caricatures of their downfalls, easily the highlight of the cut. The song feels like an old posse track from the 90s with a modern sound, something we don’t see often in modern hip-hop.

THROWBACK – “Just Like a Baby” by Sly & The Family Stone

I’ve been digging into a lot of more old-school soul and funk lately, and “Just Like a Baby” is one of my favorite tracks I’ve dug out from the vault. The warm vibes are just what the doctor ordered.

ROCK – “Trouble” by Cage the Elephant

Cage the Elephant has been a band vaguely on my radar for the past few months, but this is the first time I’ve really checked them out. This song is exactly what I was hoping for with its more upbeat vibe.

INDIE – “Don’t Want to Be Your Girl” by Wet

As I’ve said multiple times, I’m really not an Indie guy, but I can’t help liking Wet’s new album,  Don’t You. This track really stands out in particular, with the sublime ghostly bass and spaced out vibes.

FOLK/AMERICANA – “Permanent” by Kenneth Pattengale & Joey Ryan

Again, the Milk Carton Kids make an appearance, this time from their first album, attributed under a different name. While the previous Milk Carton Kids inclusion featured more impressive technical instrumentation, this song and album relies on more powerful songwriting and concepts, a refreshing change of pace.

DISCOVERY – “Auntie’s Lock/Infinitum” by Flying Lotus

The closing track comes off of one of my favorite albums, Flying Lotus’ Los Angeles. While most of the tracks sound like a future instrumental spin on boom-bap, this track has a quieter, more meditative vibe. It is a great way to close out both the album and the mixtape. Thanks for listening!

Retrospective: My Hockey Career

2016 is a year of change in my life. For one, I will be graduating high school and then moving onto college. For another, I will be without something that I have had in my life since fourth grade. This past Saturday marked my last league game for Monroe County Youth Hockey. I’ve reminisced the past week leading up to my final game, and I’ve realized how much hockey has positively impacted my life.

Hockey was always around me when I was growing up. I received a Mighty Ducks jersey as a birthday present at a young age, my dad was and still is a Montreal Canadiens fan, and my cousins both played for Aquinas. I would often go to the Aquinas games, and I loved watching the game, but I was terrified to play because of the physical nature of the game. I just stuck to street hockey at home and watching the Sabres on TV. In third grade, I was invited to an open skate birthday party at RIT. I had never skated before, but once I laced up the skates and stepped on the ice, I was a natural. It was then that I decided to give hockey a chance.

I began the beginner program at Scottsville Ice Arena when I was ten, which is considered old to begin playing hockey. The next year, I began playing on an actual team. Ironically, the age level that I began at was the first year that players were allowed to body check, which is exactly what I was terrified of earlier. I vividly remember crying the first practice when I could not tie my own skates, and then embarrassing myself on the ice by not knowing some basic rules.

When I began playing, I played forward, but I was not much of a scorer. My first career goal came in a tournament when I was screening the opposing goalie. I had my back turned to my teammate with the puck, and when he took the shot, the puck deflected off of my butt and into the net. What a first goal. Despite the humor surrounding it, the puck I scored with is still on display in my room. I later scored by actually shooting the puck in a later tournament.

While some of the following years did not seem as significant, there is one memory that stands out from the others. While playing at Canandaigua, I was skating with my head down and got absolutely lit up by a defender. I’m pretty sure I had a mild concussion, although I didn’t want to admit it. That was the last time I ever played with my head down. This lesson can be applied to life as well. Many unexpected things will happen in life, so you should always be aware of what’s potentially coming your way. It took me years to finally make that connection.

The past two seasons have been the most memorable. Last season, I began playing defense. I was completely against the change at first, but it ended up working out, as last season was my highest season by statistics. Our team dominated the entire league and ended up winning the championship. This year, I had the honor of being an assistant captain. We had our ups and downs, but the team made it to the finals once again. We lost 4-1, but we still felt like we had won because of how we had played and connected as a team. It sucked to step off the ice one last time coming off of a loss, but I knew that I left everything on the ice, so there was nothing to be ashamed of. The team has one tournament remaining. The last league game was significant, but I know that stepping off the ice on the final day of the tournament will hit me harder than I expect.

Reflecting on my years playing hockey at Scottsville has been more about the bonds I have made and lessons I have learned and less about the game itself. I have played with the core group of players since my first season, and I’ve grown close with them. It has even been easy to become close friends with newer players in recent years, which is a testament to how our team is like a family. The past few seasons have been some of the most memorable not because of our success on the ice, but because of the bonds we have made with each other.

Because of hockey, I learned to take a hit, to keep my head up, see what is in front of me, and to respect others. Despite not realizing it for some time, these are all life lessons. I will definitely miss the days of playing youth hockey, but I will always cherish the memories I have made and remember the lessons that I have learned. Deciding to play hockey is one of the best decisions I have made in my life, and I sure am glad I was invited to that skating party in third grade.

Evolution of Anti-Tank Systems

The never-ending battle between round and armor has only escalated since September 15, 1916, when around forty British Mark I tanks charged across no-man’s-land at a lightning two miles per hour. However slow, nothing in the hands of the infantry could be used to stop them. German rounds merely bounced off the sides of the tanks, or “Landships,” causing mass hysteria throughout the German lines.

Since that day, tanks and armored vehicles have been used in almost every major conflict. And since that day, engineers have been finding new ways for infantry to stop them. The first anti-tank or anti-armor system easily used in direct fire by infantry against an armored vehicle was the German Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr or Mauser 1918 Tank Rifle. This was a bolt action rifle that chambered a 13.2 mm round, the first in a long line of anti-tank systems.

All of the first major anti-tank systems were rifles with larger and larger rounds to penetrate armor. Other than the T-Gewehr, the Boys anti-tank rifle and Lahti L-39 are the most famous and successful. The Boys anti-tank rifle was introduced in 1937, made by the British, and used by Britain and sixteen other nations. It chambered a .55 caliber round. It was used to take out light-skinned vehicles, bunkers, and was even used in Korea by the United States Marine Corps as a sniper rifle after they attached optic sights on the rifles. What the Boys brought was a more reliable anti-tank system; although phased out fast due to the quickening of thickness of armor on vehicles, it was an important leap forward. The second notable anti-tank rifle was the Lahti L-39. This was a Finnish, semi-automatic rifle that chambered a 20mm shell. This rifle was used by the Finnish army at the start of World War II against the Soviet Army; it had a decent penetration rate against most vehicles but was useless against newer vehicles such as the T-34 or the KV-1. After newer tanks came out, it, too, was used as a sniper rifle. The technique used by the Finns was to dress a mannequin as a Finnish officer; after a Soviet sniper shot it, giving away his position, the Finns fired back and the 20mm shell obliterated the sniper. This rifle gave an even better anti-tank penetration rate and a faster firing weapon.

The next leap forward was handheld rocket launchers. The first was the American M1 Bazooka. This was a recoilless rocket anti-tank weapon. Initial rockets fired from the weapon held a round-headed tip (the M6). It was unreliable and did not penetrate much. Next came an improvised round, the shaped-charge, which is key to the proper destruction of armor. This is a rocket with a warhead in the shape of two cones back to back. it is effective because, when the rocket hits armor, the front cone collapses, folding in and hitting the back cone, which then causes the metal to melt due to the extreme heat and be angled back at the armor in a thin jet of liquid metal, able to penetrate over 60mm of armor. This shaped charge technology was taken and used in the German Panzerfaust and the Soviet RPG. The Panzerfaust, or “Tank Fist,” was a German invention designed to be used, then thrown away; the rocket was able to penetrate nearly all Allied armor and was simple to use.

The next leap was the RPG or rocket propelled grenade, a system designed by the Soviets. It took the Panzerfaust and made it more accurate, and with a bigger rocket. These designs have lead us to the modern systems we now such as the M2CG, RPG 7, FGM-148, and many others.

As rifles and rockets got better, so did mines, as well as grenades used to take out armored vehicles. Today the most effective weapons against armor are artillery, air strikes, and other tanks. But as infantry still face tanks, anti-tank systems will keep advancing with them.

Dokapon Kingdom and Dokapon Journey Pt. 1

Dokapon Kingdom and Dokapon Journey are, for good reason, advertised as friendship-destroying RPGs. Those who argue that Mario Party causes more damage to friendships are downright wrong. Dokapon is all about backstabbing, treason, murder, and picking on the helpless. Sounds fun, right?

The first thing I should outline is that Dokapon Kingdom and Dokapon Journey are similar enough that they may be simply considered “Dokapon.” However, the differences between the two games are so numerous that I need to do two parts. The focus of this article is Kingdom, as I have been playing it for several years more than Journey.

The main goal of Dokapon is to save the land of Dokapon from monsters terrorizing its towns. However, the true motives of the so-called “heroes” is to selfishly gain ownership of as many towns as possible to become rich and gain favor with the king, so that you may marry his daughter, becoming the next ruler of Dokapon Kingdom. To do this, you will bribe, gamble, murder, pillage, and betray, as long as it gives you an advantage. It sounds complicated, but the only complicated part of the game is remembering items enemies drop. (Which I totally don’t have memorized.)

The game begins in an unnamed forest, where players race each other to be the first to reach the castle, where they will receive extra points to add to their stats according to how quickly they reach the castle relative to other players. Being first to the castle can give you an early advantage, as you have more time to make it to the weapon store before everyone else, as well as superior stats. But the bloodshed begins before you reach the castle. As large amounts of cash, swords, shields, and good magic spells can be found in treasure chests in the forest, it is common for players to kill one another in the forest to steal equipment and money.

PvPs this early in the game are surprisingly intense. To summarize the combat system,  the player whose turn it currently is chooses from one of two cards. One says “first” and one says “last.” The players then select commands. Attackers can choose from “attack,” “strike,” “magic,” (if they have any) or a battle skill. Defenders can choose from “defend,” “counter,” “magic,” or “Give Up.” Defend reduces damage taken from attacks and strikes. Strikes do more damage than attacks and are calculated with both the attacker’s speed and attack, but if a strike is countered, the attacker will suffer quite a bit. Magic is only weakened by other magic. Notably, there is an offensive battle magic that breaks the target’s equipment, called “Rust,” and a defensive battle magic that reflects all effects and damage onto the attacker, called “Bounce.” In addition, players’ stats are displayed on screen to help players decide. Giving up results in a penalty lesser than death, but if you’re a wanted criminal, you can’t give up.

On the subject of giving up, don’t. If you have been in last place (in terms of net worth) for three whole weeks (21 turns) a purple bat appears over your head. By completing a certain task, the last place player can become Darkling. The Darkling is a terrifying being that spins multiple spinners at once. If it lands on your town, the town is taken by a monster. In Journey, the Darkling has quintuple the stats of the player who became Darkling. It is more complicated in Kingdom. You can’t give up against it. You can only accept your death. It is possible, however, to kill the Darkling with proper item usage.

A more detailed explanation of the two games is coming in Part 2, as well as a possible Let’s Play.

Left 4 Dead 2: Best Mods

It’s been a while, I know, but I have returned to share my excessive knowledge of video games and present to you an article blazoning the all-time best mods for the legendary game, Left 4 Dead 2. This is one of my absolute favorite games, combining zombie killing and, well, more zombie killing. And the occasional sarcastic comment from Coach, the long-winded personal story from Ellis, the constant cursing from Rochelle, and the lack of unique or intriguing things to say from Nick sure don’t hurt. Anyway, what really makes this game great is its mods. The game eventually gets boring or repetitive after playing it for ten or eleven hours, but the mods really help to revive it. From Teletubby zombies, to Shrek, to Darth Maul, the Left 4 Dead 2 Steam Workshop is full of a lot of fun mods that make the game fun, even on the fifteenth time through. Here’s a few mods to pique your interest:

LEFT 4 TELETUBBIES 2

This is literally the greatest mod of all time. You know all of those scary, screeching, moaning zombies that you used to blow to bits? Well, now they’re all Teletubbies. Instead of all of those regular, scary, spooky zombie noises that everyone’s used to hearing, now you can have nightmares of the undead screaming “binky winky” as they run full-sprint after you. If you’re not into Teletubbies, the runner up for this category was the Left 4 Stormtroopers 2 mod, where all common infected turn into, you guessed it, Stormtroopers.

THE ULTIMATE JOHNNY BRAVO TANK

This mod is just pure fun. The big, bad and almost unkillable tank is transformed into Johnny Bravo, and he’s mad. In between smashing the ground and throwing cars at you, you can hear Johnny Bravo yell things like, “don’t make me assert my authority as an adult,” “ohhh baby,” “you’re gonna make me sick,” “well, you can just suck lemons,” “eat marinara, dirtball,” “gimme a dollar,” “outta my way, kid, you obviously don’t know anything,” and more. I think that’s all the explanation this mod needs.

NICOLAS CAGE FLASHLIGHT

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just take some time to admire this masterpiece.

If you’re not satisfied with these simple but amazing mods, there are thousands of other great mods out there too that are just waiting to be explored. Otherwise, if, for some strange reason, you don’t own this game, I highly suggest buying it. For only $20, you can experience Nick Cage’s face as a flashlight while you shoot Teletubbies and are ridiculed by Johnny Bravo. If that’s not enough for you, then go read Will Harvey’s article in this issue where he discusses the core qualities of the game that make it so good. Thanks for reading!

The E Street Band Comes to Town

13,000 fans packed the Blue Cross Arena on Saturday night to hear Bruce Springsteen rock Rochester for the first time since 2012.  The show, which had been sold out since 40 minutes after tickets went on sale December 11^th, included all the songs from Springsteen’s 1980 album, The River; a couple special requests, and of course a few legendary classics.  The full set list counted an incredible 34 songs.  All told, the Boss (age 66) performed uninterrupted for three full hours.

I’m not one to say that you have to see Bruce live to be a fan, but an E Street Band concert does truly give you a greater appreciation for his music.  At 66 years old, Springsteen performs just as passionately in 2016 as he did in 1976 (so I’m told), when he played his first show in Rochester.  Known for his famously long performances, Bruce is equally enthusiastic as he jumped around the stage with his guitar like a mad man for every upbeat song he played.  Bruce crowd-surfed, danced with a loyal fan, acknowledged a young kid with a “My 1^st Show” sign, and played back-to-back requests, “I Wanna Be With You”, and “I’m Goin Down”, making a fan’s night.  However, my personal favorite moment was when Bruce let the crowd sing the whole first verse of, “Hungry Heart”.  I, like many other fans I’m sure, will never hear that song the same way again.  This is the effect that seeing Bruce and the band live has.  It makes you love songs that you once liked, and love your favorites even more.

As expected, the night’s set list did not disappoint.  The Boss entered to cheers of “Bruuuuuuuce” and opened with “Meet Me In The City”, a new song released on The Ties That Bind: The River Collection in 2016.  This song was my favorite of the night as the energy inside Blue Cross was electric.  As announced, Bruce played all 20 songs from The River, which is a good mix of upbeat, dance-worthy songs like “The Ties That Bind” and “Cadillac Ranch” and slow, emotional ones like “Independence Day” and “I Wanna Marry You”.  During the show, Bruce explained his inspirations for The River, calling it his “coming of age record”, which was very moving and cool to hear for long-time fans.  After The River, 4 songs from Born To Run and 3 from Born In The U.S.A. were played, in addition to fan favorites: “The Rising” and “Badlands”.  Bruce closed with a memorable 5 song encore including some of  his all-time greats: “Born To Run”, “Dancing In The Dark”, “Rosalita” and an emotional rendition of “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” that honored the late E Street Band Members Clarence Clemons and Danny Federici on the big screens in Blue Cross.  The Boss closed with his cover of “Shout” as he has with all of his “The River Tour” shows.  Overall, the song choice was very fulfilling, leaving almost nothing to be desired… (sigh) except maybe “Jungleland”.  Oh well, who am I to complain after Bruce Springsteen belts out 34 songs in my hometown?

A core element of any Springsteen concert is of course the E Street Band.  Almost as beloved as Bruce himself, E Street is part of what makes The Boss so special to see live.  The band was alive as ever on Saturday night in the ROC, after bunking locally at the Strathallan hotel.  Faithful band members Steven Van Zandt, Max Weinberg, Roy Bittan, and Nils Lofgren were all present in addition to the relatively new (since 2008) keyboardist Charles Giordano, who told The Shield in an exclusive interview (true story), that he was able to learn all of Springsteen’s hundreds of songs by writing the music to each one out by hand.  Soozie Tyrell* was joined on stage by Jake Clemons, the band’s sax player since his uncle’s death, who celebrated his 36^th birthday on the day of the show.

There is truly a certain magic in a Bruce Springsteen show.  In Rochester, fans from all walks of life came together to sing and dance their hearts out and witness the “heart-stopping, pants-dropping, house-rocking, earth-quaking, booty-shaking, love-making, LEGENDARY E Street Band”.  Bruce had the crowd on their feet the whole night, and exceeded expectations as he always does.  The atmosphere of unity and excitement on February 27^th in the Blue Cross Arena is something I will not soon forget, and something that, in my opinion, goes unparalleled in the music world.  Nobody knows how much longer Bruce and the band will tour, but if this was their last time in Rochester, it was one hell of a run.  Thanks Bruce!

 

*Correction:  This article originally said the Bruce Springsteen’s wife, Patti Scialfa, was on stage when in fact, I had confused her with Soozie Tyrell

NBA All-Star Break 2016

Well, the NBA All-Star Break has shown up in another country – specifically, it got to Drake’s hometown of Toronto, and it is only fitting that he is one of the coaches for the All-Star celebrity game. On the other side of the border was four-time MVP Kevin Hart. Hart’s USA team had started strong in the first half, but Team Canada was on top. As a way to compensate for the losses his team was suffering, Kevin Hart came out of retirement and became a player for his own team, but his efforts were not enough; USA fell to Canada, 74-64.

In the three-point challenge, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, two teammates, squared off against each other. Both are prolific shooters in the NBA. Stephen Curry was on pace to shatter his record of most three-pointers made in a single season. However, Klay Thompson got the better of Steph Curry and pulled away with a win. In the dunk contest, reigning champion Zach LaVine went up against Aaron Gordon. LaVine posted five 50’s in the competition. Although Gordon posted a strong showing, LaVine pulled ahead and came out victorious for the second straight year.

The real show was the during the NBA All-Star game. No defense got played; the West romped the East 196-173, the highest-scoring game on the history of All-Star games. Russell Westbrook repeated his success as the game MVP, but it was Kobe Bryant’s farewell tour. He was selected in his last All-Star game and played like any legend should have. He was matched up against LeBron James and James dared him to come and score on him. But Drake, of course, had to be in the way to ruin an amazing picture. The West came out on top to give Kobe a goodbye he will never forget.

In the week after the break, Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors faced off against the Oklahoma City Thunder. In the fourth quarter, Steph Curry tied and then passed his record for most three-pointers made in a single season. He also became better than his own video-game version, with his range anywhere from next to the basket to 3/4 down the court. The Warriors came out with a win and became the quickest team to reach 56 wins, passing the ’95-’96 Chicago Bulls.