The Power of No Expectations - by James A. Baumann

The Power of No Expectations

This evening, the Ohio State Buckeyes men’s basketball team will take the Value City Arena floor for the last time this season. It will be the last home game for seniors Jae’Sean Tate and Kam Williams as well as Keita Bates-Diop if he decides to test the NBA waters (subliminal message “please stay”). It will be the last home game of coach Chris Holtmann’s first year. And it will be the last home game of a season that, to be honest, about 90 percent of the city of Columbus had totally written off.

The story has been oft repeated: past disappointments; new coach hired late; committed players released to go to other schools; would-be returners taking off (and being let go); and questions about who would even fill out the roster. Projections had the Buckeyes as low as 11 or 12 in the Big Ten. When people said, “Do you think this team can make the tournament?” they were talking about the NIT.

From a personal point of view, the uncertainty manifested itself with repeated questions if I was going to re-up on my season tickets. For the last dozen years or so, attending games with friends and family has been a highlight of the battleship gray days of Columbus. I’m not saying I have to roll loose change to make the purchase, but it’s not an unsubstantial one either. I admit I gave pause, but in the end I decided to take the plunge. When asked why I would say, only half-jokingly, that I hoped the fan defections would allow me to get better seats and that “when everyone starts jumping on the bandwagon, I want to say I was there at the beginning.”

Well, the bandwagon pulled up a lot sooner than anyone (except perhaps announcer Dan Dakitch ) expected. Sure, there were a couple of tough losses early in the season, but those were quickly forgotten as this team now sits in the top four of the league and most likely will be the higher-seeded team in their first NCAA tournament team. There was the incredible comeback against Michigan and two dramatic upsets over Michigan State and Purdue. The Schott saw its first sell-out in years and, maybe more importantly, the student section has been filled and loud.

Here’s the thing, for me all the wins have been gravy. Yeah, the Ws are great, but this also is a fun team that is filled with interesting stories. They play hard and work as a team. There are the Wesson brothers, local kids playing together and following in the footsteps of their Buckeye father. There’s Musa Jallow, who may be the best athlete on the team despite the fact he should be planning for his high school prom. Andrew Dakich has been welcomed into the fold despite his school-up-north history. The scrappy, undersized Tate has put up incredible numbers while also becoming probably the team’s most beloved fan-favorite since Aaron Craft. And, of course, there is the emergence of Bates-Diop (“please stay”) as one of the country’s best players and also one of its best human beings. As he comes back from the serious leg injury that led to his red shirt last season, there have been as many feel good stories about him (like this and this)  as there have been ways announcers have pronounced his name. (I swear I heard one call him “Beta Dates-Kiop.”)

The city’s collective blood-pressure would be much healthier if more fans looked for the stories behind the scoreboard. I remember falling into the trap somewhat during the 2006-’07 season as Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr., and company made it to the national championship game. There were a number of great moments that season: a game winner against Wisconsin  and a last-second block against Tennessee. But with all the winning came a mixture of complacency and raised expectations. If the team won, well, that’s what they were supposed to do. If they lost, it was a gut punch. There literally was nowhere for the mood to go but down.

That is why this season has benefitted from the power of no expectations. The ups-and-downs are the nature of a college basketball season as teams juggle lineups, navigate injuries, evaluate strategies, deal with matchups, and set themselves up for post-season play. This flies in the face of the football fans for that handful of teams whose season is ruined with just one loss. To that end, I actually wonder how much the seemingly most fanatic OSU followers really appreciate or enjoy watching the sport – regardless of what it is – being played.

I’ll be in my seat tonight, sending off the seniors and rooting for another win. I’ll also be sure to take a second and appreciate what may not prove to be the most successful season I’ve seen, but certainly has been among the most memorable. I encourage other fans to do the same and be ready to come back next year and see how the next chapter of this story plays out (please come back Keita). But if they do, I hope they are behind me in line for tickets. After all, I was there this year.

Mel Kiper's Big Board: Ranking All the KISS Unmasked Songs

Mel's Kiper's Big Board: Ranking the KISS Unmasked Songs

The Unmasked draft is set. On Sunday February 18 in Cobo Hall in Detroit, six teams will be drafting songs from the KISS non-makeup era. Lick It Up to Revenge. Ping pong balls were pulled last week and the draft order is:  1) Matt Walters 2) Scott Carr 3) Mike Lovins 4) Jeremy Porter 5) Colin Gawel 6) David Martin.  Click here to learn more about the teams and the draft process .

To get you primed for the event we asked ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. to give us his expert opinion on how he sees the draft working out. Remember, his Big Board is NOT a mock draft and does not reflect what team needs must be addressed specifically. It's an overall assessment of how he values each song. Once again, this is NOT the actual draft, just an expert's best guess. The real draft results will be posted Thursday February 22nd at Pencilstorm. 

Take it away Mel Kiper Jr!!

1 - Unholy / Revenge:  The clear number one, the best Gene song by a country mile

2 - I've Had Enough / Animalize:  Probably the best written, hardest-rocking Paul song of the non-makeup era   This song can make all the throws.

3 - Heart of Chrome / Revenge:  My favorite Vinnie co-write and my favorite song on Revenge .

4 - Fits Like A Glove / Lick It Up:   Such a great Gene song, even if it was overplayed live

5 - Tears Are Falling / Asylum:   Maybe the best pure Paul song of the 80's

6 - Domino / Revenge:  Even if it was ripped off of a Black & Blue song, it still rips

7 - Lick It Up /  Lick It Up:   Great, even after a million times   This song ran a 4.3 at the Kiss combine.

8- Heaven's On Fire /  Animalize:   Same as LIU  

9 - Not For The Innocent /  Lick It Up:  An excellent LIU chestnut

10 - Thrills In the Night / Animalize:  Such an astute piece of writing for a great album of Paul material

11 - Get All You Can Take / Animalize:   Love this song, even with the over the top "fucking"

12 - Thou Shalt Not / Revenge:  A return to form for the demon, a heavyweight in topic and music

13 - A Million To One /  Lick It Up:  One of the greatest Paul power-ballads ever.

14 - Every Time I Look At You / Revenge:  Such a delicate song - no doubt heavily influenced by Ezrin

15 - King of the Mountain / Asylum:  Such a great opener - is there a better Carr drum track?

16 - Hell or High Water / Crazy Nights:  Underrated CN nugget from the Demon. Might be Kulick's best co-write.

17 - Turn On The Night / Crazy Nights:  Who doesn't love a little Diane Warren cheese?

18 - I'll Fight Hell To Hold You / Crazy Nights:  A great song in the vein of the other hardest Paul tracks from the 80's

19 - God Gave Rock and Roll To You / Revenge:  Just a great song and a great cover choice.

20 - Who Wants To Be Lonely / Asylum:  Might be the best melodic song on Asylum

21 - Reason to Live / Crazy Nights:   The song that saved Crazy Nights. Great chorus.

22 - Forever / Hot In the Shade:  Not my favorite, but hard not to rate it up there.

23 - Crazy Crazy Nights / Crazy Nights:  Just a great anthem.  Makes big plays in big games.

24 - Gimme More / Lick It Up   Another LIU classic.

25 - Young And Wasted /  Lick It Up:   Fond memories of Carr singing this one live.

26 - Under The Gun / Animalize:  Rounding out Paul's big 5 from Animalize

27 - Exciter / Lick It Up:   Not the greatest opener, but still a great song.

28 - And On The 8th Day / Lick It Up:  Might be the best closing track of all the 80's albums.

29 - Take It Off  / Revenge:  It's cheesy, but it slams.

30 - Good Girl Gone Bad / Crazy Nights:  I've always thought this Gene song was underrated (and his CN material holds up better than Paul's)

31 - Hide Your Heart / Hot In the Shade:  A well-written song with a great chorus. Of the times, but it still works. 

32 - Betrayed / Hot In the Shade: I've always thought this was an OVERRATED song by KISS fans simply because HITS was a bad album

33 - Paralyzed / Revenge:  I like this tune, but it doesn't rate that high because I like so many others better.

34 - Dance All Over Your Face / Lick It Up:  I've liked this song better than I probably should. It's just a typical Gene sleazefest.

35 -  Just Wanna / Revenge:  I don't really dig this song, but it really worked live and is well- written despite the Summertime Blues-isms

36 -  All Hell's Breaking Loose / Lick It Up:  I've never liked this song. The Paul rap thing doesn't work for me. 

37 - Thief In The Night / Crazy Nights:  This song isn't bad, but it just doesn't really have enough for me.

38 - Tough Love / Revenge:  An interesting song that needed a better chorus. Sounds too much like a worse version of Heart of Chrome

39 - Little Caesar / Hot In the Shade:  I think this isn't bad, but I've never thought it was that great. I think because it's Eric's vocal debut it's overrated

40 - Rise To It / Hot In the Shade:  Maybe the most overrated song ever. It's so funny how retro rock briefly became this terribly white blues in 88-89. It's good, but…..

41 - Cadillac Dreams / Hot In the Shade:  I LOVE this song, but many hate it. It's not great but I love Gene's solo because he took these kind of chances, so…...

42 - Any Way You Slice It / Asylum:  It's not as awful as it could be. The end is atrocious, though. Any time a song ends like that it's gets deducted major points

43 - Trial By Fire / Asylum:  Pretty good song for its placement, but not a winner

44 - I'm Alive / Asylum:  Not a bad song, but a milquetoast Paul thrasher. Essentially Under the Gun II      Talent pool is deep at this position, no need to reach. 

45 - Love's a Deadly Weapon / Asylum:  Not a terrible song either, but kind of forgettable

46 - Uh! All Night! / Asylum    I hate this song because the chorus sucks to me. I get it, but I'm not onboard.

47 - Secretly Cruel / Asylum:  The Double Virgo cover makes me like it more than I would without that reference point…...

48 - King of Hearts / Hot In the Shade:  Average HITS song but that's not saying much

49 - Prisoner of Love / Hot In the Shade:  Another average HITS song - some days I love it, some days…...

50 - Silver Spoon / Hot In the Shade:  Apparently this is the part of the list where average HITS songs go to die. I like the message better than the execution.

51 -  When Your Walls Come Down / Crazy Nights:  There's nothing that says we're getting close to the bottom like Crazy Nights filler

52 - The Street Giveth / Hot In the Shade:  This is a great idea for a song, if not the best song. I tend to like it more than not because I like Bowie

53 - Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell / Hot In the Shade:  Firmly in the not bad category, but not good either.

54 -  Spit / Revenge:  The Spinal Tapisms just don’t' work for me at all

55 - You Love Me To Hate You / Hot In the Shade:  Too whiny

56 - Lonely Is the Hunter / Animalize:  You know what else is lonely? The bottom of the rankings   Really hurt itself with a terrible performance at the East/West Shrine game.

57 - You Make Me Rock Hard / Smashes Thrashes & Hits:  I can't do the Smashes Thrashes and Hits tunes

58 - Let's Put the X in Sex / Smashes Thrashes & Hits:  see above

59 - While the City Sleeps / Animalize:  I try to make this song good because I want it to work. It really doesn't

60 - Love's A Slap in the Face / Hot In the Shade:  Just kind of there

61 - Carr Jam '81 / Revenge:  Not really a song

62 - Radar For Love / Asylum:  Paul gets embarrassing

63 - Murder in High Heels / Animalize:  Gene really took a shit on Animalize, didn't he?

64 - Burn Bitch Burn / Animalize:  A song I truly struggle not to skip - Off field problems raise a red flag. 

65 - Boomerang / Hot In the Shade:  Laughing out loud at this song moved it up a few spots from the bottom

66 - My Way / Crazy Nights:  Paul the Eunuch

67 - Read My Body / Hot In the Shade:  So I dub thee Unforgivable

68 - No, No, No / Crazy Nights:  No, No, No is right.

69 - Bang Bang You / Crazy Nights:  The Unforgivable II

Mel Kiper Jr. may or may not actually be Matt Walters. If you read this to the very end, you deserve and have earned the truth. 

Trade Deadline Recap: The Cavalier Restoration - by Ben Galli

Last Thursday’s NBA Trade Deadline may go down as one of the best days in Cavs history.  With just a few fell swoops, Cleveland traded 6 malcontent players (the active roster is 12) for 4 players that should put Cleveland back atop the East.  Rumors have dated back to the summer, but it was a pleasant shock to see them make trades that got the team what it needed.

Kudos are deserved by young GM Koby Altman (no relation to Kobe Bryant) who really endeared himself to The Land with a couple of deals benefiting the Cavs both by addition and subtraction.  As detailed in last week’s trade deadline preview, the Cavs and Isaiah Thomas were not really seeing eye to eye (pun intended).

With how poorly Thomas was playing, the Kyrie trade was being re-scrutinized.  Although many had warned at the time, it's now more widely accepted that the Cavs’ return haul in the Kyrie trade was less than desired.  Thursday didn’t solve the long-term ramifications of losing Kyrie Irving but it did set the Cavs up as well as could be expected for an uncertain future.

Sometime around 12 pm Eastern time, the news of the day hit.  The Cavs had traded Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye, and their 1st round draft pick (not Brooklyn’s) to the L.A. Lakers for Jordan Clarkson (6th Man of the Year candidate) and Larry Nance Jr. (son of the former Cavs all-star).  

Then seemingly within minutes, the Cavs admirably executed a successful “Hold my beer” moment by making another roster shaking trade.  This one involved 3 teams and ended with the Cavs jettisoning Derrick Rose, Iman Shumpert, and Jae Crowder in favor of George Hill and Rodney Hood.  

In a comparatively under-the-radar move, the Cavs finished the day by dealing Dwyane Wade back to the Miami Heat for a conditional 2nd round pick.  That was a nice gesture to send Wade back to the city he rules to possibly finish out his career.  Banana Boat Bros 4 Lyfe.

Here's a peek at the new look Cavs:

George Hill is a 6’3 31 year old above average veteran guard who’s actually 3rd in the NBA in 3 point shooting percentage this year. He was a 1st round pick of the Spurs, traded to Indiana for Kawhi Leonard, and made 2 Eastern Conference Finals with the Pacers.  He’s better than Isaiah Thomas on defense.

Rodney Hood is a 6’8 wingman who played at Duke and is averaging a career best 16.9 ppg.  Injuries have marred his development but he has been long seen as a nice player with some serious upside.  I guess the comedy potential of Derrick Rose in Utah was too much for the Jazz to pass up.  He’s better than Isaiah Thomas on defense.

Jordan Clarkson is 6’5 and averaging the 2nd most points off the bench in the NBA behind just Lou Williams.  He was only the 5th player in the last 35 years to be drafted in the 2nd round and make the All Rookie 1st Team in 2015.  He’s an excellent scorer and smooth to watch.  He’s better than Isaiah Thomas on defense.

Larry Nance Jr. is the most unheralded member of the group acquired on Thursday but he may already be the most loved.  The 6’9 Akron native’s father is Larry Nance, a key member of the Cavs late 80’s to early 90’s glory years.  Nance Jr. is a high energy catalyst who flies around on defense, competes, and dunks magnificently like his pops.  He can improve on offense but he’s better than Isaiah Thomas on defense.

The Cavs got harder, better, faster, stronger.  A team chemistry that was threatening to burn down their season was demolished and replaced with a new hope.  But there are long term consequences as well.  The Cavs got younger and more talented in the long run (Hood, Clarkson, and Nance Jr. are 25).  But most importantly it showed a certain kid from Akron that maybe, just maybe Cavs management could secure him a true title contender.  Both of those are not bad things.

Update:  The Cavs are on cloud 9 after pretty much dominating the Boston Celtics Sunday afternoon in the first game the new Cavs played (and ruining Paul Pierce Day).  They combined for 49 points (8 of 15 on threes!) but perhaps most importantly, LeBron sat out the 4th quarter and looked like this for much of the 2nd half.  It's only one game and the Celtics had been struggling but if the team culture and chemistry can change this quickly and this drastically, the East yet again stands little chance against the King and his LeBronniers.  

Ben Galli covers the NBA for Pencilstom. Follow on twitter @bengalli33

How WWE Fixed the Royal Rumble - by Big Vin Vader

How WWE Fixed the Royal Rumble   by @Bigvinvader

The crowd in Philly was right: Holy Shit.  I don't think anyone expected the Royal Rumble to be nearly as good as it was.  Saturday's NXT TakeOver was one of the company's best PPVs in years and looked to totally eclipse the main roster's PPV.  And while nothing at the Rumble was as mind-blowingly great as Aleister Black vs. Adam Cole or Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade Almas for the NXT championship, we still got the single best men's Rumble match I've ever seen, and a hell of a first-ever women's match.  Those two seemed like surefire duds just because the past two years have been such colossal train wrecks.  There was no precedent for the women's match, so it should have been fine on paper, but I wasn't optimistic that WWE would make it anything truly special or respectful.  Wrong.  Not only was the in-ring action itself incredible, but the booking decisions for each match were nearly perfect, delivering exactly the sorts of spots and outcomes that the entire audience wanted to see.  The whole show bodes very well for the company's 2018, and even the nature of the surprise entrants shows that things are going to play out well this year.

I was legitimately surprised when the men's Rumble came in the middle of the show.  It's always the main event, the focus of the entire PPV itself, so it seemed odd to put it in any other spot.  Then again, it was tricky to structure a show featuring two separate one-hour matches, so it wasn't the worst choice.  It was also nice to realize the women would be headlining the show, no longer being cast as the "bathroom break" match in the sub-main event spot.  If anyone was stupid enough to just tune out during the women's Rumble, they missed a great match with a fantastic conclusion and several more legitimate surprises.  I've never been quite so excited about the result of a Royal Rumble, let alone two in the same night, so that's what I want to focus on here.  The rest of the card is harder to discuss, since I'd initially been looking forward to it more than the Rumble matches.  That wasn't necessarily because of their potential quality, since nobody really needed to see Kane in a Triple Threat title match in 2018.  I just expected WWE to totally botch the dual Rumbles and planned to find solace in the other matches on the show.  None of that was necessary, however, and as it stands now, I don't have too much to say about the undercard.  Lesnar, Styles, and the Usos retained, while The Bar won the RAW tag titles from Rollins and Jordan.  Nothing was terrible, but there was also nothing especially memorable or remarkable about the rest of the show either.

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It's always hard to run down the Rumble itself and touch on even half of the important moments in the match, but I'm gonna do my best.  Rusev came out first to a huge pop; the crowd has already turned him face.  He is so incredibly over that he needs better opportunities.  Finn Balor was out second, and he got about the same reaction, which is hardly surprising since only Vince McMahon believes that he isn't over with the fans.  Then again, somebody in the company must have faith in him, as he was this year's Iron Man, nearly making it coast-to-coast, lasting fifty-five minutes in total.  It was a pretty great showing, and it should have done wonders for Balor's stock in the pre-WrestleMania season.  At least until he lost clean to John Cena (who had eliminated him from the Rumble) on RAW the very next night.  I guess it's better than another loss to Kane.  There were several big surprises throughout the match, and each one was great.  First was Andrade Almas coming in at #7, which was especially surprising so soon after he retained the NXT championship the night before.  Almas put in a good showing and lasted nearly half an hour, so there's little doubt that he'll connect with the audience once he's called up to the main roster.  The in-ring portion of the Rumble was a few notches above what we've grown used to in the last few years, so the whole thing was already exceeding expectations.  Things picked up even more at the mid-point, with Shinsuke Nakamura, crowd favorite alongside Balor, coming in at #14 to a huge reaction. 

Both brands were represented by great talent, with all three members of the New Day entering, as well as other favorites like Cesaro, the finally-Broken Matt Hardy, and Seth Rollins all making appearances.  Shane Helms returning as The Hurricane was another legitimate surprise, though he only lasted forty-five seconds.  Shortly after that, Adam Cole made a surprise appearance at #23, which is especially impressive after the brutality of his Extreme Rules match from Saturday’s NXT TakeOver.  Just like Almas, Cole got a great reaction from the crowd, and will definitely find his place on the main roster once they make the decision to call him up (which should be sooner rather than later).  By this point, Jinder Mahal was the least received entrant into the match, and his presence here makes sense as the crowd needs someone to react against with little overall stakes.  So by the time the final five or so entrants were due, everything had been great, and things stayed consistent.  Entrant #27 was the biggest surprise of all, with Rey Mysterio coming out of nowhere to return to WWE, and last a good ten minutes.  Granted, his presence means nothing at the moment since he's still a free agent and has committed to nothing as of yet.  Still, that was the sort of surprise that the company always strives for yet fails to deliver.  Roman Reigns was in next and got the expected split reaction, while racking up several eliminations.  Dolph Ziggler was out at #30, which should have been a huge deal.  Ever since he forfeited the US title on SmackDown late last year, there was quiet buzz that he was the dark horse to win the match, reclaiming his tarnished legacy in the most spectacular fashion.  Instead, he eliminated Goldust, lasted for two minutes, and was thrown out by Balor.  At that point he shouldn't even have been booked in the first place.

The final stretch of the match was some of the best action on the PPV.  Mysterio hit both Reigns and Cena with a 619 at the same time, which was probably the best thing he could have done to rile up the Philly crowd.  Right after that, Balor got rid of him, leaving himself, Reigns, Cena, and Nakamura as the final four.  That was brilliant booking, especially in a hardcore town like Philly, with the two company golden boys pitted against the clear fan favorites and two of the company's best wrestlers.  At that point, it really seemed like anything could happen, especially given the number of times better, more deserving wrestlers have been sacrificed to Cena and Reigns.  Cena eliminated Balor, but Shinsuke went after him fast and got him out of there.  There was some legitimate tension as the final two went back-and-forth, and they really teased this one out.  I can't recall ever feeling that sort of anxiety during the conclusion of a Rumble match; usually it's more of a sunken sense of foregone inevitability.  So imagine the genuine elation I felt when Shinsuke Nakamura, who has been misused and horribly booked since debuting on the main roster, took out Roman Reigns to win the Royal Rumble.  Obviously, the Fargo Center went nuts for that one.  Renee Young came out to interview Nakamura and asked which champion he wanted to face.  The answer was somewhat predictable, but no less exciting: AJ Styles.  I'll take it as a given that AJ will retain the WWE Championship until Mania, but that's hardly the sort of spoiler to get upset at. 

All said, this was the Royal Rumble that I've enjoyed the most in recent memory, as well as the one that seemed most engineered to satisfy the company's fan base.  Apart from possibly Finn Balor, nobody but Shinsuke should have even stood a chance at winning the match, and even then, Nakamura vs. Styles is the dream match fans have been waiting to see.  WWE were smart and waited for the right time, to give the match a good build and the biggest possible stage to be seen on.  Everything about this is shaping up to be a classic, which is hardly a surprise given AJ and Shinuke's past match in New Japan living up to that very title.  On the other side of things, the Rumble itself was about as good as it gets given the nature of the match.  None of the competitors were wastes of time, and the fan favorites, save Dolph Ziggler, were booked incredibly well.  Best of all, in this particular Rumble at least, there was no McMahon/Helmsley ego stroking to be seen at all.  As expected, Daniel Bryan did not make an appearance.

Big Vin Vader covers WWE for Pencilstorm. Follow@Bigvinvader

Unmasked - The First KISS Non-Makeup Fantasy Draft

Regular readers of Pencilstorm know when it comes to covering the band KISS, we do not shy away from controversy. (Click here for 12 stories) But when Scott Carr and myself started discussing ways to evaluate the KISS non-makeup years, we knew we had to do better than a standard ranking by one guy.  Remember that Cheap Trick list that one guy did? It was fun, like, 5 years ago, but times change. People deserve more in 2018. Hell, just the other day, some guy drove an electric car into space with most of its expensive booster rockets returning to Earth without crashing. That's some mind-blowing Jetsons stuff. Or as the Scientologists say, "Progress.". 

So with fantasy baseball season coming up fast we thought, what if six guys had a fantasy draft pulling songs from the KISS records Lick It Up through Revenge, plus the two unreleased songs from Smashes, Trashes and Hits? Now, that would be interesting. Something never attempted before by mankind. How would random folks value this period in the band's history? Or shall I say......KISSTORY!!!

Hold on KISS Kruisers, I can hear you bitching....yes, we left off Carnival of Souls because everybody knows that's not a real record. The two people who have listened to that record can do a draft and we will be happy to publish the results on Pencilstorm. 

Anyway, in pursuit of the truth, we set out to find a diverse group of owners. And when I say diverse, I mean it in the RUSH rock n roll definition: a bunch of white guys who don't spend five nights a week together in the same bar.  Let's face it, white guys are pretty much the only demographic that sat through all of Hot in the Shade. After a lengthy vetting process conducted by a search committee, the following players were invited to join the league:

Matt Walters - I was christened a KISS fan at 3 in 1977 while living on Long Island by my then-16-year-old badass babysitter Donna Knappie. I would never be the same. After Peter and then Ace left, I lost interest, and I never really listened to the albums in the '80's until way later. The non-makeup era definitely has some of my least favorite albums, although I've grown to appreciate many of the songs on those albums over the years. I've seen KISS six times, including the Kiss Kruise III first night, considered one of the greatest and most surprising set-lists in KISStory. My KISS war-room is now in Oak Park IL, just outside of Chicago, complete with an acoustic guitar, KISS Alive Forever, and my trusty Ace solo album poster.

Scott Carr -  You may know me from numerous music-related stories that have been featured on Pencil Storm, many of them about Kiss. I also play guitar in Radio Tramps, a very active cover band from Columbus, OH. When I'm not doing gigs with my band you can usually find me at Lost Weekend Records, an indie record store in Columbus. 

My Kisstory dates all the way back to my youth when I first saw Kiss in concert during the Destroyer tour in July of 1976. From that day forward I have been a fan. The good, the bad and the ugly.....I've been there for it all. I saw Kiss a total of five times during the original make-up years and then numerous times during the non-makeup and reunion/farewell years. I've met all four original members of Kiss at different times over the years and have also met Eric Carr, Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer. I am hoping to meet the elusive Vinnie Vincent in June at a Kiss Expo in Nashville. 42 years om, I still love talking about and defending The Hottest Band In The World....KISS!

David Martin has seen Kiss perform live nine times and once asked Ace Frehley to autograph an empty McDonald's sack. He lives in Kansas City.

Colin Gawel - decided to give up a promising career in business for a nomadic life of rock n roll after being exposed to KISS Alive at the young age of 6. He thinks Paul Stanley's solo record is better than Ace's, saw every tour of the non-makeup era and is known to hijack random facebook threads and steer them into KISS conversations. He founded Pencilstorm for precisely this purpose. 

Mike Lovins - plays in the band Bava Choco. Spends his spare time taking pictures of people wearing Vinnie Vincent t-shirts.  Once spotted carrying a copy of Hot in the Shade around mid-town Manhattan for no apparent reason.

Jeremy Porter - KISS was the first band I discovered on my own, not through perusing my parents' record collection.  Alive! was the first record I bought with my own money. Ace Frehley was the first rock star I ever wanted to be. My interest waned as the original four lineup dissipated and I discovered punk rock, but some 25 years later I found myself sucked into the Kiss "Unplugged" episode and I saw that there was greatness in the post-makeup era too, albeit a bit more diluted than on those classic albums. Fast forward another 23 years and I'm locked in my home office, picking songs in this fantasy draft, and remembering that time I spotted Bruce Kulick literally across the terminal at LAX and rushed over to introduce myself.  "Who?" my wife asked innocently, trying to keep up.  My drafting war room is in Detroit where I will be researching with my band: Jeremy Porter and The Tucos.  

Up next: The draft lottery will be held Saturday February 10th at Cobo Hall in Detroit to determine the order of the draft. Stay tuned KISS nerds. - Colin Gawel

Pencilstorm Exclusive: Cavs Team Meeting Transcript and Trade Deadline Preview - by Ben Galli

Pencilstorm Exclusive!  We’ve received a transcript of the latest Cavs team meeting.  No, not the infamous one from a couple weeks ago.  Nope, this is from a very recent meeting that someone from LeBron’s production team hasn’t even leaked yet.

Scene: The Cavs practice facility.  Several players listlessly stand around.  Although this mirrors his defensive drills, Ty Lue is nowhere to be seen.  Neither is any member of the Cavs management.  Save for one.  He stands up in the center of the room and calls the meeting to order.

LeBron James:  Men, the great and ancient Roman king dude in Gladiator, Marcus Aurelius, once said:  Do not ask what LeBron will do next offseason, ask what you can do to help LeBron win this season.  For all men must perish but it is the days that they live that determine if they will be remem-

Random 5th Grader:  [interrupts]  Yo, yo, wait, is Kevin Love really injured?  Man, I’ve faked injuries before when it looked like my team was gonna get swept and this feels just like that.

[The 5th Grader is revealed to be none other than Isaiah Thomas.]

Everyone else in room:  [eyes roll simultaneously]

Kevin Love:  I feel like I should say something to defend myself or LeBron will be mad at me again.  But I’ve been thinking a lot about how I can contribute and make this team better.  You know what? Maybe trading me is the best move right now.  Here, [unfolds a piece of paper], here’s a list of teams I wrote out. I’m a West Coast guy with ties to Portland and L.A. so I prefer that, but any big city wouldn’t be bad.  I can’t play for a bunch of weeks anyway, why not trade me for someone that can help now? [crosses his fingers behind his back]

Derrick Rose:  I love taking weeks off.  Where’s this West Coast?  Sounds Spanish. Do they like Adidas?

Isaiah Thomas:  Rose, you dummy.  You can’t come to a new team and then just say whatever you want out of turn as if you’ve earned the right to do that.

JR Smith:  Even I have more self-awareness than this.

Iman Shumpert:  [practicing 25 foot fadeaways] I don’t.  

LeBron:  [Simply stares ahead with no expression.  A single tear runs down his face.]

Isaiah:  Man, people on this team literally crying and they say I’m the one that doesn’t care just because I’m calling out y’alls lack of effort and selfishness.  Why is everyone blaming me and saying I’m self-centered when I’m just pointing out how everyone else is probably making me look bad. I can’t do everything, I’m only 5 foot 9.  

Channing Frye, Kyle Korver:  [make eye contact with LeBron] Can we?

[LeBron nods back.  Korver and Frye take Thomas by the ears and gently place him in Tristan Thompson’s bejewelled, fur-lined purse.  The purse is then carried to Dan Gilbert’s office and placed next to his Trade Suggestion Box]

[The meeting ends now.]

It’s obvious to most people that the Cavs are not playing well.  Their defense is especially offensive and they’re getting embarrassed by good teams.  The trade deadline is a few days away (Thursday, February 8th at 3pm EST) and all eyes will be on the Cavs.  There’s growing favorability for the once laughed-at opinion that the Cavs would not make it out of the Eastern Conference.  Here’s a few thoughts on the rumored moves Cleveland could and should make.

Isaiah Thomas - I was not aware of the character issues that are now evident in the Cavs newest star. Last year it seemed Boston loved him, he was much celebrated, and no matter how you look at it, nearly 30 points per game from a 5’9" guy is pretty impressive.  But there have been signs:

Thomas has worn out his welcome at every stop in his relatively short 8 year career.  It’s evident that even with impressive stats, the teams he’s been on didn’t see him as part of their future.  He’s been traded from Sacramento, Phoenix, and Boston.  It didn’t look like Boston’s Danny Ainge had any intention on giving Thomas the kind of money he was seeking and after a hip injury, those chances were lessened considerably.  

Boston’s luck has turned around something fierce since 2001 and Ainge got a gift that would set his team up for championship contention for the next decade when he was able to center Thomas in a package that netted him arguably the East’s best point guard in the Cav’s Kyrie Irving.

But even more so than that, Thomas’ recent comments to the media were eye-opening.  Full of pointing fingers and deflecting blame, both behind the scenes and in public, Thomas displayed the type of character that is anathema to any winning organization.  Winners look within. (Source: Pat Riley).  Accountability, responsibility, and effort cannot be compromised and Thomas has exemplified the opposite.

Of course any story about the Cavs centers around LeBron. It’s pretty much LeBron and everything else.  Dan Gilbert’s situation (which he put himself in) is this:  He’s messed up the LeBron extension at least for now.  It seems more and more likely every day that LeBron is LeGone and he couldn’t keep Kyrie either.  He might see Isaiah’s stats and think he might be a marketable star that maybe Cleveland should invest in but that’s not gonna sit well with the Cleveland faithful that have very much turned on him.  

Thomas doesn’t seem fully recovered from the hip injury that kept him out until recently, and now, even if Gilbert wanted to trade him, teams (at least smart ones) are not going to want to give up much for such a questionable player.  Especially one that will be a free agent this summer.  

So much for that Kyrie trade being somewhat fair.  Danny Ainge embarrassed the Cavs with that one.  I think the Cavs should hope a playoff-contending team wants to give up a lesser piece maybe with a draft pick(s) in exchange for Thomas, who can still be a great scorer off the bench.

However, I don’t think the Cavs trade him unless they get a bigger name and will just hope he can work his issues out.  Jordan Clarkson, the Lakers 6th man, has been rumored to have the Cav’s interest and although he’s a weak defensive player, he’d probably be a much welcome respite to Cavs fans.  Think a better Ramon Sessions with decent upside.

DeAndre Jordan - There have been heavy rumors that the Cavs and Clippers are interested in a trade.  The Clippers probably want the Cavs’ Nets pick which creates their next conundrum.  If LeBron isn’t staying, shouldn’t they keep that likely lottery pick in a very deep draft?  And on the other hand, if trading that pick might increase the chance LeBron stays, should they waste it on the likes of DeAndre Jordan?  

Jordan would be a big upgrade to whatever the Cavs are trying to do at center but how much could he really fix their defense?  And it’s not like he’s a major force on the offensive end outside of alley oops and dunks.  He might be a poor man’s Dwight Howard on that end.  

Dealing for Jordan is kind of like making a move just to say you did something.  Who knows how positive an impact he’ll have.  The Cavs shouldn’t trade that Brooklyn pick unless they get at least a young, star player.

Kevin Love - Love was apparently almost traded before the season started.  Pretty sure Kevin Love didn’t really care either way.  I would be more surprised to see Kevin Love sign an extension with the Cavs than I would be to see the Browns win the Super Bowl next year. (Okay, maybe win 4 games.)  But with Love being out a month and a half, what kind of team would want to trade for him?  

Surely not a team that’s currently playoff contending and needs a push over the edge.  I do see teams that maybe want a star for next year being interested in bringing in Love.  I also see Love having interest in Portland where he grew up and went to high school, and Los Angeles where he was born and went to college.  

But down in Orlando, it looks like the Magic are somewhat intent on trading Aaron Gordon (who’s having a career year) ahead of his restricted free agency coming up.  That would not be a bad move for the Cavs future but I see the Cavs sticking with Love at least until this postseason ends.  

I do see a potential trade coming up after the season ends that might make sense for both sides.  That's Kevin Love going to Portland in exchange for Northeast Ohio product, C.J. McCollum.  Blazers throw in that expensive Evan Turner contract and Cleveland now has a couple guys that might want to stay in town.

One player that just became available and that I think the Cavs should pick up, is Tony “Grit and Grind” Allen who just got traded to the Bulls in the Nikola Mrotic deal.  That guy knows grit, grind, and defense.  Cavs need that in spades and Allen can light a fire.

The Cavs also need another ball-handling point guard which makes it hard for them to trade Isaiah Thomas without getting one in return.  But Ricky Rubio is apparently not fitting in Utah and he’s a pretty good defender and incredible passer that would be better than Thomas in Cleveland.

So the Cavs would love to get rid of Thomas but have to save face because of the Kyrie deal which means they need to get something big in return. It also seems like they want to get rid of the J.R. Smith and Tristan Thompson contracts but may need to throw in the Brooklyn pick to do so.  Not an enviable position when you have unrealistic hopes of keeping the greatest star your franchise has ever known.

My prediction:  The Cavs keep the Brooklyn pick but make at least one trade that will not go over very well with the fans.  But if they get something for Thomas, especially if they somehow send him to Orlando for Gordon, they can save some face.