FACE OFF: "How Deep Is Your Love"

Welcome to FACE OFF, where you are the judge, jury and executioner. 

This week we pair two songs with the exact same titles: "How Deep Is Your Love" by the Bee Gees and "How Deep Is Your Love" by The Rapture. Listen below and vote to the right. You have a week to determine a winner. Go!

"How Deep Is Your Love" — The Bee Gees

"How Deep Is Your Love" — The Rapture

RESULTS: THE BEE GEES: 4, THE RAPTURE: 2

LIST-SERVE: Top Summer Albums

Summer is officially here! And along with swimming, tanning and skin cancer comes the first installment of LIST-SERVE, the newest segment here at Isaac Bruce Springsteen. Basically, it's just an excuse for me to give you lists year-round rather than just at the end of the calendar. Excited? You better be.

Top BBQ Album: Sublime by Sublime - You'd be hard-pressed to find a summer-album list without this classic on it. So I'll just start with it and save you the suspense. The ideal mix of Jamaican reggae with U.S. alternative rock, Sublime is really all you need when the burgers are on the grill and you're in the pool. And if it's a family barbecue with people who'd frown upon lyrics like "Don't fuck around with my dog," feel free to throw on some John Cougar.

Top Luau Album: E Ala E by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole - Better known as IZ and even better known as that fat Hawaiian dude who did that cover of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow," Israel Kamakawiwo'ole is pretty much the master of Hawaiian ukelele jams. I don't know if this is actually his best album, but this is the one my parents got when they went to Hawaii for their 10-year anniversary, and it serves as a perfect, chilled-out backdrop for any luau, be it in Maui or Missouri.

Top Night-Driving Album: Frengers by Mew - I don't really know what it is about this album, but it just sounds freaking epic while driving around at night. It's like the acoustics were purposely designed to sound better with the windows down. If you've ever got some time to burn after sundown before you head out partying, just throw this on and drive around for a while. You won't regret it.

Top Late-Night Driving Album: Nostalgia, Ultra by Frank Ocean - I don't know about you, but whenever it's really really late and I'm driving, I always feel like turning on some smooth R&B. Frank's surely got that smoothness, but he's also got the catchy and fun factors that make this even more of a summertime classic. Plus, with a last name like Ocean, he kind of gets the benefit of the doubt here. (Honorable Mention: House of Balloons by The Weeknd.)

The night the Big Man left the building

          Clarence Clemons (1942-2011)

"Shouldn't we get going?"

The concert was supposed to start soon. We were eating dinner at some downtown restaurant. I had long finished my burger, and the adults had cleared everything but their drinks, which did very little to halt the conversation. I honestly have idea who most of them were, but I assume they were with Adrienne. Adrienne was my mom's friend from her early working days.

If anyone knew anything about Springsteen concerts, it was Adrienne. As a self-professed Boss lover, she had been to more Bruce concerts than she could count. She housed a larger-than-life Springsteen vinyl in her Atlanta home.  She used to live near Clarence and would frequently say hello at their supermarket. She even applied once to work as Mr. Clemons' assistant.

We were fine, Adrienne said. Bruce always starts late.

I couldn't believe how right she was. We finally left what felt like a half hour later and still had time to get to our seats with time to spare. My dad snuck out and got tour shirts for me and my mom. My mom's read, "Tramps like us, baby we were born to run." I don't think she's ever had the balls to wear it in public. Mine was a bluish gray tour shirt that, we quickly noticed, forgot to mention the St. Louis stop on the back. Oh well. The concert was about to start.

Buzzer Beaters [6/13/11]

last-second thoughts on recent sports ongoings

(just throwing 'em up there)

• Okay, never mind. Fuck LeBron. Well I go and defend your ass, and what do you do, LeBron? You go and post horrendous numbers in the fourth quarter of every game of the NBA Finals (okay, so he put up 7 points in the fourth quarter of Game Six; whatever). I can deal with you ditching Cleveland, I can deal with you being an arrogant asshole, and I can deal with you mocking Dirk. But what I cannot deal with is you ruining my blog post. 

  

  Yo, Dwyane. I think I really hurt Brandon's feelings.

  I defended you, Bron Bron. And this is how you repay me? That, said, is it possible this could be a positive for LeBron's image in the long run? By losing in such pathetic fashion, he got what he "deserved" for the Decision. The haters got what they wanted, and they can now celebrate (which they obviously are). Maybe next year we'll see a humbled LeBron, who essentially served his time and punishment by losing this year, and everyone will forgive and forget. Eh, I doubt it. A) I can't really see LeBron ever being humble (not that this is necessarily a reason to hate his guts; pro athletes are not typically a humble breed), and B) I can't really see people not hating him. It's just too much fun.
• And another thing about the NBA Finals: Why does Dwyane Wade get so little criticism? He scored less points than LeBron in Game Six. He's the one who seemingly initiated the mocking of Dirk Nowitzki (which, I must say, was all rather overblown). Yet, he doesn't get any of the heat (sorry). The way I see it, from now on, this needs to be LeBron's team. Sure, Bron Bron sucked it up this series, but if Dwyane Wade is really one of the best players in the league, he should have been able to take over and get the Heat those close wins, especially when he has Chris Bosh and LeBron James — who, even at his worst, is a tool that should be easy to utilize — on his team. So, I think James needs to take lead. He needs to function as the Big One if the Big Three are to succeed. Sure, he can pass to Bosh if he's open in a clutch situation, and he totally should, but he needs to be in command. This whole divided leadership thing seems like it's too confusing and too chemistry-dissolving for these guys. I don't know if a team can operate when the supposed best player in the league is the second-most important player on the team (Also, LeBron needs to learn how to post up if he's going to truly be the best player in the league.). That said, I don't know if the Heat (including Wade himself) are willing to take Wade out of the driver's seat. 

A Gaye old time

I'm sitting in my bed, doing everything and anything except what I actually should be doing: going to bed. I'm scrolling through my iTunes. I decide to start listening to Marvin Gaye. My previous explorations of the catalogue of the esteemed Gaye have been limited to "What's Going On," "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)," "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Let's Get It On." In other words, perfect songs. Even the Christmas song "Purple Snowflakes," the only other Gaye song I can remember hearing, is really, really good. I've been reluctant to listen to any more music by Gaye. Although I've heard nothing but good, nay fantastic, things about him, I feel like no other songs can live up to those four errorless numbers. I start listening to What's Going On (the album). I'm not devoting a fair amount of attention to the music. I'm too busy thinking about friends and the seemingly unavoidable changes, both good and bad, that will arise next year. The music is mere backtracking; I pay no attention. The only opinion I have formed is that it does not live up to the Gaye I've heard before. Then again, how could it — especially with the haphazard way I'm digesting the new material? Suddenly, a chord strikes. Now, I hate to say that something is "too good for words" or to say "I don't know how to describe it..." because I feel that as an aspiring writer, I should be able to put almost anything into words. Regardless, a chord was struck, and I cannot describe what I felt. There was a striking sense of uncertainty, yet at the same time, bliss. Somehow, for the four beats that chord was held, I felt that everything was all right; friends will go, and friendships will change, but it's somehow all just another step in the ever-evolving beauty of what's going on.

Sit on your ass and watch Bron Bron

I was watching the first game of the NBA Finals last night with my dad. The third quarter was ending, and the Heat had the ball with a small lead and a quickly evaporating clock. As the buzzer rang, LeBron James chucked up an off-kilter three, resulting in a violent, almost angry swish.

"How did I know he was going to make that?" I asked my dad after we both chuckled at James' ridiculous swag level. 

Simply put, LeBron James is an absolute joy to watch, especially in his current playoff mode. He makes shots that just should not be made. (Sure, so does Dirk, but LeBron looks way less silly doing it.) He's a force to be reckoned with when rebounding, passing or defending, not to mention at the back end of an alley-oop. He's clearly claimed the status as best player in the league (you don't hear that Kobe/LeBron debate anymore), and he only seems to be getting better.

So why do we all hate this guy?

Three reasons:

1) The Decision - I've already made my stance on this issue known: The Decision (note the capital "D") was an absolute debacle and the obvious origin of the Bron Bron hatred. However, the actual decision to go to Miami was far from reprehensible. Nonetheless, the whole thing came off horribly.

2) He's good - Haters gon' hate. And when the hatee continues to succeed, haters gon' hate even more.

3) He knows he's good - The Decision was kind of LeBron saying, "I'm great. I know it. I know you know it. And now you know that I know you know it." It was kind of like Quentin Tarantino calling Inglourious Basterds his "masterpiece" through Brad Pitt's character or Kanye West putting the word "beautiful" in the title of his beautiful album. They're all right: LeBron's a stud and Inglourious Basterds and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy were both dope. That doesn't mean we had to be told so.

These are the reasons America now hates LeBron, but are they justifications? Is being a dick— in really only one major instance, mind you — a reason to hate a otherwise clean guy? He hasn't had a rape charge like Kobe. He hasn't even had the gambling issues like Michael (Hell, MJ's even a little bit of a dick. Just look at that Hitler 'stache.). Not to mention the STDs of Magic, but we won't go there. Is an overbearing example of narcissism really enough to condemn this guy?

Did we not want Lebron to be the next Jordan? If not, why did we place all the hype in the world on his shoulders when he was in high school? Sure, he hasn't won a ring yet, but he took a crappy franchise to the Finals, he's put up the individual numbers, and he looks like he'll be able to grab himself a handful of rings in Miami if all goes well. And all has gone well so far in South Beach. As many struggles as the team faced in the first year of the Big Three, they've done all that mattered: make the playoffs and win in the playoffs. LeBron (and co.) has done what was expected.

But apparently that's not enough. LeBron still appears to have a Palin-esque approval rating, getting booed like a mofo at every road game. I say, let's give the guy a break. He deserved some flack for the whole beginning-of-year ordeal, but he's more than gotten past that now.

Being a St. Louis resident, my go-to NBA squad is the Bulls, partly because I worshipped MJ as a little kid and partly because I love the city of Chicago but hate every other team that plays there (Cubs are Cardinals' rivals, Bears are Packers' rivals, Blackhawks are Blues' rivals, White Sox... have Ozzie Guillen?). So I actually was rooting pretty hard against the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, considering I once again had a stake in the NBA playoffs. Yet, watching the Finals I find it hard to hate on LeBron too much: He's just too fun to watch. I say we embrace Bron Bron. Why deny ourselves the pleasure of enjoying one of sports' greatest current treasures? I'm sure the nation will eventually come around. I can't think of a player who was universally considered "the best" and almost universally hated for an extended period of time (save Barry Bonds). But in the meantime, here's some other people in the Heat organization towards whom you can aim your hatred: