Aaliyah vs. Beyonce: Who was better?

In the realm of music today, Beyonce Knowles represents the African American “it girl.” Many have wondered had Aaliyah Haughton not have been involved in a plane crash that led to her untimely death, would Knowles still be the paradigm for the culture and in fact who is better out of the two. After further investigating the two artist, the answer is that it would be Haughton.
One must remember that Knowles was around when Haughton was the representative in music as the African American “it girl.” She was the lead singer of Destiny’s Child at the time. During this duration Haughton three no.1 songs in the United States including “Are You That Somebody,” “Try Again,” and “I miss you.” Knowles, then apart of the talented group Destiny Child held six with the group. But does this make Knowles better than Haughton? Nope! Knowles had two other talented singers in Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland along with ghost writing by Missy Elliot. In addition, if Haughton and Knowles were to switch places during this era that would put Knowles up against Haughton, Williams, and Haughton and since Haughton had a softer voice than Knowles it is very possible that instead of sis no.1 hits, this trio could have at least nine during the tenure. Still not convinced? Than consider that a high number of fans have thought that Knowles was not the best singer in her group. If Haughton was in the group, would we ever debate if Williams or Rowland was better than her?
Moreover Haughton was slightly more marketable than Knowles. Don’t crucify me just yet. In American I think we can all agree that in endorsements with the exception of Oprah Winfrey and Queen Latifah slimmer has always been the trend. Haughton was slimmer and in better condition than Knowles and that is why Haughton had more movies lined up before her death than Knowles ahs been in. If we take a trip back down memory lane we should remember that the woman known as “Baby girl” had parts lined up in both Matrix sequels and Honey. Think about how much more the powerful Matrix film would have earned if she did not die and how many more people would have went to the theatres to see Honey if Haughton was alive.
Lastly, the icing on the cake is that Haughton was far more international than people think and way more popular globally than Knowles. For example, Haughton has received several awards from countries as the highest selling female artist including the country of Israel.

T Mac vs. D Wade

Whos is better out of tracy McGrady and Dwyane Wade? That was the text message war that i had with two of my closet friends just a day ago. The player is Tracy McGrady. Sure, naysayers will say that Wade has the ring and McGrady does not, however McGrady has had to play against tougher playoff teams and did not have the benefits of having an angry Shaq hungry for a championship. Although their statistics are similar, T-Mac has done it more and has been an All Star almost twice the rate as Wade. If we want to get into scoring, McGrady has won two scoring titles in his career and has averaged 32.1 points in one season before. Wade's highest is 27 almost 28 a game. So we know McGrady is a better scorer. When we talk about jump shots, we know McGrady is better. For example Wade shoots a deplorable 28% from three point land and McGrady is 34 % for his career, which means he has more range.In addition McGrady strength allows him to go to the post and score as well. Wade on the other hand has never went into the post during his NBA Career. Something else that should be noted is that McGrady average a rebound more than Wade despite playing less minutes. My favorite stat is that McGrady played in 20 more games than Wade last year, yet turned the ball over less. Wade had 216 to McGrady's 213. The story is similar this season as well. McGrady has played in more games than Wade and Wade has twice as many turnover as McGrady right now. Defensively they both are nothing special. So the edge goes to T-Mac the man who is carrying his team currently to a 19 game win streak and the man responsible for his team just being halg a game out off the No.1 seed in the Western Conference which includes the Lakers and Spurs.

Dwayne Wade is the next Penny hardaway

With the latest Dwayne Wade injury I am convinced now more than ever that Wade is heading into the direction of being the next Penny Hardaway. Sure, he has not been hurt for several seasons, however it is getting close. This is the second straight season Wade has ended his regular season campaign with a serious injury and the second straight season South Beach Florida fans are pondering if their star player is fragile. For example Wade has only played in 51 games out of the entire 82 game season each of the last two years and in three of his five seasons in the league he has played in less than 62 games a season. The statistics are extremely simlar to Penny Hardaway. After Penny's first three seasons he broke down as well and that appears to be the route for Wade. What might supise you is that Wade has missed more games than Hardaway did in his initial four seasons in the N.B.A. Do I think Wade will sink to an eight point per a game performer? No !! But I believe that just like after Penny's fifth season, that Wade's best days will be gone. Wade known as the Flash has been anything but quick this season. In fact, in his last game he played in he looked as if he was running in quick sand. Raptors guard Anthony Parker looked two steps faster than Wade and had his way with Wade forcing him to commit five turnovers.

Also guys if we take a trip down memory lane, you will remember that during Penny's tenure with the Orlando Magic he had Shaquille O'Neal. The Magic made it to the NBA Finals, and suddenly, Hardaway became a big-time star with his “Lil’ Penny” commercials. Well, Deja Vu came all over again! Shaq came to the Heat and Wade's career skyrocketed. While many have stated that Wade carried Shaq to the promise land, let's not get too crazy here! It was Shaq's dominance in the middle that got the Heat over the hump against the favored Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals and if you don't believe me look at Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace comments about what was the difference in that series. Without the Big Aristotle's dominating presence in the middle, Wade would have never had the success he had. He capitalized, and with it came t mobile sidekick commercials. Some people may say how could I compare the two because Wade has a ring, but lets remember Wade went against a soft Maverick team and had a veteran Shaq, whereas Penny faced a defending champion Houston Rockets team with Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon not too mention Michael Jordan the year after that. Do you think Wade would have beat the Rockets? Wade is good enough to average 20 points the rest of his career, however like Hardaway Wade has a fragile body and his explosiveness is absent. Once Shaq left Hardaway and he was asked to carry a team by himself we saw his body break down and we are seeing the same thing now with Wade without Shaq.

Before I end, something else should be established. As observers of the game we believe that Tracy McGrady is injury prone, however it should be noted that if T mac's season ended today Wade would have still missed more games than McGrady over the past two seasons.