I met up with the producer of Dre Vader about a yr or so ago and glad I kept in touch.  Been keeping up with these guys lately and have to swing some love for their newest single, Aint Shit Funny. G4R will be following this group closely over the next 12 months on our G4R Music Facebook page and hope to bring their sound to our fans. Playing some of that GWAP music! Don't get it? You will... keep following us.
-James

Whoa... I'm not one for jokes about personal issues and not really an American Idol fan but do follow winners on occasion.  As a musician I know the rigorous routine of keeping a tight schedule.. All good, I'm not slamming her as I love my plus size women.  I've seen her on a TV interview or 2 and hopefully will have her featured here in time. She pulls this song off nicely!

You think guys in the good ole USA are the only Madden Gods on the planet? I think not...our brothers from another mother have graced our pages for a few yrs now. Caribbean Gamer-Zone from Jamaica is nearly the equivalent of G4R and periodically we give them a shout out. Imagine G4R in the islands if you will and you'll get the concept. Wow who knew island guys ball like this lol.

Vid is a few years old but we still keep in touch,  I believe for this tourney they flew in guys from England, Africa and other countries to compete. We featured them about 3yrs ago and don't know if any of original members are still onboard. All good we'll do our part to track down the champs to see if they wanna lace up the cleats again and take a stab at G4R and our affiliate leagues for M16. Yeah these guys took trash talking to the next level by following loser around with a mic! Check the Vid!
- James

The Hulkster has been vilified for dropping the N... word. Meh not our party but we give everyone a chance to voice their side of an expose story. Still amazes me how blacks drop the 'N' word every other sentence but get pissed when another nationality does it, Yes I get it,.. its a double standard but enough already. We cry for equality but still can't regulate our own community.

I was pissed at the Hulkster initially but not so much now. No I'm not selling out but do understand the frustration with neighboring nationalities not understanding the code of the Black man. We can stroll up in any bizz establishment and drop the N word like nobody's bizz but get ready to fight when someone else does it.

Blah, blah, blah save the speech talk. I'm a little older and have been through much of what you guys will never go through.  At the end of the day its all about personal progress made. Are you a better person when you retire for the night? Oh here's Hulkster's side of  the story.  Hulk Hogan responds
-James (G4R)

Its a new age we live in people and my best advice is keep your damn mouth shut. Social suicide is rampant nowadays and most likely anything you say is being recorded. With that being said R.I.P. Hulk Hogan. Dude went off on 'The Rock' of all people on a recorded show and called him an uppity, half breed Nigg#r.  Before he could take his next breath WWE dropped him from their site/ pages and  pretty much have no recollection of him now. Our pals at the Washington Post have the deets.

Ok.. lets take a deep breath and rewind. 10-15 yrs ago this statement would have never made headlines. In this age of modern technology where everyone has a camera phone nothing is off limits. Hell I've even been a victim of it in the heat of the moment. I was arguing with a certain person/ topic and instantly branded a racist smdh, I was angry at the person not their cause and instantly I was on the receiving end of a lynch mob lol. All good I think my history speaks for itself. I don't have a hateful bone in my body,

Regarding Hulk Hogan and the plethora of radio/ media personalities across the nation we have to monitor every word we say, Is Hulk a racist? I dunno and really don't care. My younger brother was a huge fan but not me. Honestly if that's how he feels I'm ok with it. He has money out the wazoo and will be fine. Know this... the higher the success ladder you climb the tighter the scrutiny.  Audio was provided to us but we don't feel the need to play it.
-James

You want to know who's going deep in playoffs or who will win the next Super Bowl? Well look no further the masterminds of Harvard have constructed an algorithm to  alleviate all of this madness. Why not just put the house up for mortgage now and bet the farm? Just kidding please don't do that but I do find this story fascinating. It's another case of luck vs science technology and albeit entertaining it does hold water to a certain degree.

I won't steal the thunder of author Kurt Bullard but I will sum it up pretty quick. Basically he takes a few top positions from each team: QB, RB, 2 WR, TE, Top 2 OL, the Top-4 “Front Seven” defensive players, and the Top-2 players from the secondary, throws in a bunch of egghead equations a rocket scientist would have problems deciphering and comes up with each teams probability of winning it all. Whew that was a mouthful. 

Top 5 teams?  1) Seattle 2) Green Bay 3) Miami 4) Kansas City 5) New England.
Bottom 5? 32) Oakland 31) Tennessee 30) Tampa Bay 29) Jax 28) Baltimore (really B'more ranked this low?)

Anyway the article has a percentage breakdown of odds each team will win once in playoffs. For that my friend you have to view the article in its entirety.
-James

View article

Reboot can be an ugly word in Hollywood. In laymen terms it means what you were doing either didn't work or is outdated. Tinsel Town is fickle and if something doesn't work they are quick to move on to something else.  Trilogies seem to be the magic formula for blockbuster hits and history has the stats to back it up. Look at the Spiderman trilogy dating back to the early '00's featuring Tobey McGuire, Batman featuring Christian Bale, Ironman starring Robert Downey Jr and the X-Men series. All were successful.

The flip side to this is knowing when to bow out gracefully like a poker player who's luck has run out. Producers can go too far and water down a series if not reeled in. Some notable examples are Friday the 13th, Rocky, the original Batman movies dating back to the '80's starring Michael Keaton and Superman starring Christopher Reeves. I enjoyed the first movie or two in all of these but quickly lost interest afterwards. The plots grew weaker and actors more comical in their roles.

Finally we have the sensible directors who know when to pull the plug after a bad showing or two. Case in point the current Spiderman starring Andrew Garfield (really hope they kill this series) and Fantastic Four which aired years back starring Chris Evans and the lovely Jessica Alba. Hey quick trivia.... did you know Chis Evans is the first actor to portray 2 different Superheroes with simultaneous movies out? He's the Human Torch in the original Fantastic Four movies and Captain America in said title and The Avengers. Apparently Hollywood frowns on actors having multiple roles regarding this genre, they believe it confuses the public.

I've been a comic book geek since I was old enough to read and know the background of nearly every hero and curious to see how they pull this new Fantastic Four off? The original story line was Johnny Storm (Human Torch) and Sue Richards were brother and sister but in this movie Johnny is portrayed by a black male. Intriguing indeed and I'll be first in line when this movie premiers. Flame on!
-James

G4R has been following a female writer for last 6mos and really enjoy her posts and stances on important items in the communities across the country. Is she an anchor person? No, but neither is anyone else here at G4R.  Granted some of the articles aren't politically correct but we wouldn't have it any other way. In fact we prefer unexperienced talent to capture the raw opinion lacking from today's social media not to mention someone we can grow with.

Anyone can watch the boring 5 o'clock news but how often do you hear it with how the reporter really feels? We're unbiased, politically incorrect and more times than not obtrusive. We don't cross the line with unchecked facts but rather give our opinions on trending items already in the media. 

We've been looking for another person to contribute to our Facebook page and she may be the ticket. No names will be given until everything is finalized. Still have to run it by existing members. If all goes well we will create an 'Urban Talk' segment which will feature these topics where anyone can chime in.
-James (Team G4R)

We've been harping on a collective arrangement between a few leagues, G4R Madden, True32 Madden and Fantasy Madden 281 for a cpl of months. Come M16 all 3 lgs will be run by same commish staff under one umbrella. Each lg has been run independently for a cpl of yrs and withstood the test of time. How we all met is a story best saved for a later day but needless to say this next step was inevitable. If you are a member of one or more of these lgs then you have a concept of what's coming. If not join up asap or hit a current commish in your lg for more deets.


Each lg will keep their current name but we're looking at creating a moniker where ppl looking to join a credible lg can simply type it in and names of all lgs associated with it will appear.  It's a work in progress and many bugs still need to be worked out. It's a step in the right direction in the Madden evolution and we hope to have a workable format shortly after M16 drops. Oh the title of this blog?... 'Madden Combine' is group I created on a whim  and open for consideration along with any others for a moniker. There's a few out there already i.e. Madden Society, Madden Connected Community, etc. and most has served us well in finding a new lg to join.
-James (Team G4R)

One of G4R's members was treated to a Rolling Stones concert the other night. Needless to say it was his first time experiencing these icons of Rock and he had a good time. The Stones are ageless and have been rocking out for over half a century. Whatever your music preference you have to give it up to any group that can pack a house when and wherever they play for this long. Beatles, Elvis, Michael Jackson?... they all had luxurious and lasting careers but none comparable to the longevity of The Rolling Stones.


Anyway our man Marquise Franklin aka 'Skeet' had the good fortune of attending one of their latest concerts and graced us with this short clip of one of their blockbuster songs, enjoy! Click the image above or link here to view! Fyi... been trying to show this short clip for 2 days now and still having issues, let me know if unable to view it.
-James

Don't let the name fool ya she has talent behind that southern moniker. Imagine a female Kid Rock if you will and you'll be in the ball park of what this bayou raised rocker is about. G4R has been in contact with her off and on for nearly a year and  think we're close to a blog interview soon. I've listened to a few of her songs and must say I'm impressed. The one I can't stop listening to is Mudhole Zone. I have no idea what its about but I know a good beat when I hear one lol.


Hailing from the south her Facebook page has a few confederate flags posted on it. Cmon lets be real with a name like Redneck Barbi would you expect anything else?  All good, before you start forming a lynch mob let me say its part of her image and not what social media portrays. In fact a majority of her producers/ production crew is black so call off the hounds lol. It's entertainment ppl.

The most anticipated movie of the year, Batman vs Superman Dawn of Justice is coming and we're ecstatic! Who doesn't love these 2 icons of ultimate justice? Details are still a little sketchy but if you're like the rest of us comic fanatics you don't care.... release the movie already! As kids most of us idolized these heroes and more times than not wrapped a towel around our necks and ran around the room pretending to be one of them. 

At 8yrs old my biggest debate in life with my younger sibling and friends was 'Who was the baddest?' Who knew it would take several decades to finally get a definitive answer. I could go on and on about the pros and cons each has but rather save my breath and wait for the movie. Tick tock tick tock... lets go already!
-James

The name Bryan Cranston won't ring a bell to the average joe but his acting career may.  He's Walter White in Breaking Bad, the dad Hal on Malcom in the middle and Dr. Tim Whatley in the Seinfeld series, ring a bell now? Anyway he was at San Diego Comic Con (it's a geek thang ya wouldn't understand) recently and answered a fan's question. The response is going viral lol.
-James

There's been more action going on outside the ring than the actual May 2nd Mayweather/ Pacquiao fight itself.  First was the Manny Pacquiao shoulder injury he sustained before the fight. Talks of lawsuits were being tossed around for failure to disclose it and I'm not sure if anything ever came from them. This latest escapade involves Mayweather reneging on the $200k sanction fee which led the Puerto Rico based organization to strip him of the belt.

I'll sum it up in a nutshell.... Floyd went for the big money payday, possibly the last one of this size he will ever see again in his career. He goes in, boxes in his signature droll style, gets the win and calls it a day. Many boxing aficionados don't consider the WBO a serious belt so him losing it is no biggie. Not to mention the $200k he saves. He silenced his critics by beating the person many thought was the only one who could stop him... end of story. Oh in case you're a WBO follower the belt was given to Timothy Bradley who defeated Jessie Vargas back on June 27. Don't ask me who he is I have no idea.
- James Hollins

(AFP Photo/John Gurzinski)

Nooo... TV Land cancelled the Dukes of Hazzard in response to the Confederate Flag backlash. Seriously I have my own opinions re the Flag. Some are ok and others not so ok but I really liked this show. As a child the flag represented the Dukes of Hazzard's car General Lee outrunning a corrupt police dept and Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane to save the day. Our family gathered around the TV every Fri night to watch it. As I got older I started seeing images of the flag associated with racism and hate crimes but also of southern pride to some people. I'm a little older and wiser and realize the influence this symbol has on a nation.

I've been pouring over hundreds of posts regarding the network pulling this show and its almost unanimous everyone is upset, blacks and whites.  As a black middle aged male I wanted to dig a little deeper into some of the posts other blacks were making regarding the show's cancellation.  The overall consensus was they enjoyed the show and many had Dukes of Hazzard T-shirts and toys.  Hell a few of them use to go outside and play as the Duke Boys trying to save the day.  As kids you don't normally see race or color only friends having a good time. Show was tastefully done and enjoyed by all races complete with kick ass chase scenes and the introduction of 'Daisy Duke's shorts' song which launched Catherine Bach into cult stardom and into many young men fantasies haha.

Prejudice is either taught, learned or handed down through generations!

Racism will continue to exist in all forms and images. If you're a religious person the same can be said about the devil existing in all shapes and forms too. Opinions are formed by education or lack of in some cases. I'm not a proponent or opponent of this flag and strongly believe if something is causing a riff in your ranks you deal with it to keep the ship moving forward and keep harmony to the majority. Not everyone will be pleased with final outcome but like any corporation, sports team or other major entity the goal is to keep moving forward for the greater benefit. Right or wrong it looks like the removal of the flag from many established places and companies. As of this writing  Nascar is the next collateral damage of the fallout.

Its a new era and change is inevitable. Hell nearly a century ago blacks and women couldn't vote, segregation was the norm, marijuana was illegal and gays/ lesbians were ostracized. Like it or not traditions, be it bad or good, change. Last I heard its still a free country and where you stand on this issue is clearly your choice. Its a slippery slope and when you start stripping liberties from one group, others are sure to follow. You don't have to like the flag or other symbols you feel biased toward but as long as they don't infringe on your rights, love em or hate em, you have to allow it. Once Big Brother gets involved and start making laws that cater to opinions  we move toward a New World Order (I'll save that topic for another day). A wise man once said... "People get the government they deserve". 
-James