A few years ago I wrote this post, breaking down how the Republican Party had gone from a seemingly insurmountable advantage to trailing Democrats everywhere. It's hard to believe it's been three years since I wrote that post, but we've learned a few things since that point. We've seen more and more rapid turnover in Washington, a natural product of an environment that is so negative and divisive. The great mystery of the US congress has always been clearly articulated in approval ratings. If you ask the general American citizen if they approve of the job congress is doing, they will say "no" (well, at least 80% of them). If, however, you ask them if they approve of the job their representative is doing, they typically say yes. Recently, this has shifted a bit more, and we are seeing larger swaths of incumbents losing primaries, and being forced out of office.
I could go on forever about the advantages of term limits in Congress, as well as the need to have fresh blood, but the problem with the current environment is that what we are seeing, time and again in these elections, is not the American people voting to stop the gridlock. On the contrary, every time they vote out at Dick Lugar (a good man who was, admittedly, a relic who probably needed to retire gracefully anyway) the voters are replacing one person with a more extreme version of that person. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for, and in this case the American people are paying for extremist blowhards, and will get more intense gridlock as a result.
And that takes me back to my original point, about my post on the GOP three years ago. In it, I said this regarding the strategy of George W Bush's "brain," Karl Rove:
"Rove's political strategies, detailed well in many places, basically
came down to one thing: polarize the electorate. For team Bush this
meant using as many red herrings as possible. Rove believed that if they
made the election about the right issues they could mobilize the
Religious Right, boosting the number of guaranteed Republican voters. To
that end, Rove used any issue the Right would fall in behind, most
successfully gay marriage and abortion. The 2004 election showed the
success of this strategy, as eleven states passed amendments codifying
marriage as being between a man and a woman. The conservative turn out in these states helped Bush out, particularly in Ohio, a state thought to be 2004's version of Florida."
Does any of this sound familiar? It should: in this primary season we've already seen Roe V Wade continue to come under fire, courtesy of Rick Santorum, and now we see the gay marriage topic rear its' head yet again. Couple this with Mitt Romney's recent push to convince the American people that he is actually running against Jimmy Carter, and you'll see what the strategy is: set up a straw man, knock it down, and hope the American people buy it. McCain failed to effectively run a polarizing campaign, and in the minds of many GOP big shots this was his fatal error. The Democrats are by no means innocent in this, but the GOP does have a history of taking issues on, making them the issue, then not doing anything with them after winning office. Bush won re-election in 2004 vowing to overturn Roe V Wade and to pass a Gay Marriage Amendment to the Constitution. Setting aside whether these issues are truly worth being the issue the government is focusing on (you know, along side world peace, global warming, and infrastructural investments), I'm sure you've noticed that Roe V Wade is still in place, and a Gay Marriage Amendment isn't.
The GOP is the best at polarizing the base, getting the religious right to turn out in droves to vote against the godless liberals, and then not following through with their promises. At the present time it appears that Mitt Romney is going to try to run a campaign closer to those that Rove oversaw and further from the campaign McCain ran. That makes sense from a win at all costs standpoint, but it will serve to only further polarize Washington, which continues to dig this country into a hole we can only hope to get out of. Until the electorate decides they won't reward politicians for polarizing issues they have no intention, or logical way, to deal with, this isn't going to get any better. It really is our fault: we complain about the gridlock and say that nobody in Washington knows how to lead, but then we reward the candidate that takes the more extreme positions. At the end of the day both Romney and Obama will scramble back to the middle in an attempt sway moderate voters. Whichever candidate can appease the base most without alienating the middle of the country will be President a year from now. Think about that, and tell me that this is a logical way to govern a country.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
2032 - The End of the NFL
If it wasn't 12:30am, and if I hadn't just finished yet another marathon 16 hour work day, I might get more creative with this post. I might write it in the future tense, as if I was writing a letter back in time from the year 2032. I might write it in the first person, commenting on things historically, and I might make it even entertaining. But it is 12:30am, I did finish yet another marathon 16 hour work day, and so I'm not going to do those things.
What I am going to do is this: I will make a bold proclamation that I know, for a fact, a ton of people won't agree with. I'm going to say something that would make a lot of people sad, and will take joy away from millions upon millions. Because what I'm going to tell you is this: there will be no NFL within many of our lifetimes. And by the year 2032 it will all be very real.
It seems impossible to believe at this point, in a world where the NFL is by far the most powerful sports league in the world. The worst NFL teams are valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. The TV deals the NFL pulls down are measured in the billions. And it captivates all of the United States in a complete way that Major League Baseball, "America's Pastime," never accomplished. The NFL pervades everything; even casual fans are permeated with NFL 365 days a year. Free Agency, the Draft, the Pre Season, Fantasy Football, pick pools, video games ... all of that, and we aren't even talking about the actual games being played. The NFL is King.
Of course, once upon a time, so was cotton. Kingdoms come crashing down in capitalist economies. Ford and GM seemed impenetrable for decades, then seemed as good as dead. The NFL seems unfathomably strong right now, but if you look at it right now you can easily see the crack in the foundation.
Dave Duerson, only 50 years old at the time he took his life, shot himself in the chest. This is not a common way to suicide, but Duerson did so with a purpose: he wanted his brain studied. Duerson was smart; he went to Notre Dame and was a good businessman. But his mind went away far too early, and Duerson knew there was a connection. So even as he couldn't take it anymore, because he was no longer himself, he had the wherewithal to attempt to make it something bigger than himself. Duerson was the first time that I started thinking this, and started struggling with the issues at hand.
The problem is that no matter how many times we've seen professional football players, college football players, and, yes, even high school football players take their own lives or die before their times, the compelling part of the sport is the big hits. I've been outspoken in my opposition to the suspension lengths the NFL put on the New Orleans Saints for the "bounty-gate" saga. My issue is pretty simple: this stuff happens in every locker room, has always happened in every locker room, and the NFL has always thrived on it. As Peter King pointed out, the NFL condemned the Saints, then ran a documentary on its own network about the most fearsome hitters in league history. If that wasn't bad enough, one of the interviews had the individual being profiled talking about bounties being put on him.
My problem with the NFL's penalties is that the NFL, and especially the holier-than-thou commissioner, Mr. Goodell, are taking way too narrow a view. If they really cared about anything other than their liability in current and future lawsuits they would have done something much earlier. But make no mistake, it is the mounting pressure from the more than 1,200 NFL veterans suing the NFL at the present time that is leading to this sudden bout of consciousness on behalf of the Commissioners office.
And it is those lawsuits that will, eventually, lead to the end of the NFL as we know it. It might exist in some distorted form, but by 2032 the landscape will look vastly different. This will happen for a number of reasons. First, the various high schools around the nation will begin to eliminate their football teams as the liability of the lawsuits (which can and will be brought on the schools for injuries stemming to high school games and practices) begins to outweigh the profits for the schools. This will happen rather rapidly, and I wouldn't be surprised if it begins to happen in the next five years. As news of these lawsuits begin to hit closer to home, the compounding effect will be parents refusing to let their children play football. From the pee-wee level up through high school the "talent pool" will dry up.
Colleges will follow suit. Division III schools and Division II schools, garnering less profit from the sport than the major conferences as it is, will be the first to go. Again, liability will lead the way. Eventually you'll still have a few major Division I conferences left; the talent pool won't allow for anything else, and only the Notre Dames and Alabama's of the world will be able to draw enough profit to make it worthwhile. But as the news continues to come in, even the talent pools of those schools won't be able to continue to sustain the team.
The rules will also change, due to liability, to the point where the game isn't even recognizable. Already we see a sport where the quarterback can barely be touched. In ten years you'll have no kickoffs period, no punt returns, no hitting of the quarterback without wrapping him up entirely first (therefore giving him a chance to completely prepare), no down linemen, no pre-snap defensive movement, and no blitzing. All the things which makes the game compelling will go away, and the magnitude of the lawsuits will eventually lead to a zero-sum situation where there is no longer any way to insure a player, nor to gain a profit from the game.
In the end, even the Alabama's of the world will stop recruiting, because there will be no interest. Eventually the NFL will have the reach of the Arena Football League now; a secondary option at 1am if you have a 200 channel sports package. And in its final incarnation the NFL will become what boxing has become: a last ditch effort only for the poor or foreign players willing to do it. Boxing used to get the top athletes; now, LeBron James plays basketball. The NFL will fade the way boxing has, and by 2052 my kids kids will have no clear understanding of what the NFL once was, the same way my generation has no idea what boxing meant and how big Ali was.
Of course, all of this comes to mind today with the news that Junior Seau, only 43 and two years removed from playing in the NFL, took his own life via a gunshot wound to the chest. Seau apparently didn't leave a note, and the answers his family and friends are craving will never be known. They never are in situations like this. But Seau's death will be infinitely more visible that Duerson's, and the next will be more visible than Seau's. The ball is rolling, and as it goes downhill it will pick up more momentum with each instance. My heart is saddened, and my head is spinning. But I have seen the future, and the future doesn't bode well for the NFL. It's hard to believe that even ten years ago, when we talked about the drawbacks of playing football for a career people pointed to Joe Montana and the struggles he has moving around from place to place. If only we knew that losing the ability to walk was the easy part. Losing the ability to think and to function mentally at such a young age... that's not only a tragedy, but it will also be the end of the NFL.
What I am going to do is this: I will make a bold proclamation that I know, for a fact, a ton of people won't agree with. I'm going to say something that would make a lot of people sad, and will take joy away from millions upon millions. Because what I'm going to tell you is this: there will be no NFL within many of our lifetimes. And by the year 2032 it will all be very real.
It seems impossible to believe at this point, in a world where the NFL is by far the most powerful sports league in the world. The worst NFL teams are valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. The TV deals the NFL pulls down are measured in the billions. And it captivates all of the United States in a complete way that Major League Baseball, "America's Pastime," never accomplished. The NFL pervades everything; even casual fans are permeated with NFL 365 days a year. Free Agency, the Draft, the Pre Season, Fantasy Football, pick pools, video games ... all of that, and we aren't even talking about the actual games being played. The NFL is King.
Of course, once upon a time, so was cotton. Kingdoms come crashing down in capitalist economies. Ford and GM seemed impenetrable for decades, then seemed as good as dead. The NFL seems unfathomably strong right now, but if you look at it right now you can easily see the crack in the foundation.
Dave Duerson, only 50 years old at the time he took his life, shot himself in the chest. This is not a common way to suicide, but Duerson did so with a purpose: he wanted his brain studied. Duerson was smart; he went to Notre Dame and was a good businessman. But his mind went away far too early, and Duerson knew there was a connection. So even as he couldn't take it anymore, because he was no longer himself, he had the wherewithal to attempt to make it something bigger than himself. Duerson was the first time that I started thinking this, and started struggling with the issues at hand.
The problem is that no matter how many times we've seen professional football players, college football players, and, yes, even high school football players take their own lives or die before their times, the compelling part of the sport is the big hits. I've been outspoken in my opposition to the suspension lengths the NFL put on the New Orleans Saints for the "bounty-gate" saga. My issue is pretty simple: this stuff happens in every locker room, has always happened in every locker room, and the NFL has always thrived on it. As Peter King pointed out, the NFL condemned the Saints, then ran a documentary on its own network about the most fearsome hitters in league history. If that wasn't bad enough, one of the interviews had the individual being profiled talking about bounties being put on him.
My problem with the NFL's penalties is that the NFL, and especially the holier-than-thou commissioner, Mr. Goodell, are taking way too narrow a view. If they really cared about anything other than their liability in current and future lawsuits they would have done something much earlier. But make no mistake, it is the mounting pressure from the more than 1,200 NFL veterans suing the NFL at the present time that is leading to this sudden bout of consciousness on behalf of the Commissioners office.
And it is those lawsuits that will, eventually, lead to the end of the NFL as we know it. It might exist in some distorted form, but by 2032 the landscape will look vastly different. This will happen for a number of reasons. First, the various high schools around the nation will begin to eliminate their football teams as the liability of the lawsuits (which can and will be brought on the schools for injuries stemming to high school games and practices) begins to outweigh the profits for the schools. This will happen rather rapidly, and I wouldn't be surprised if it begins to happen in the next five years. As news of these lawsuits begin to hit closer to home, the compounding effect will be parents refusing to let their children play football. From the pee-wee level up through high school the "talent pool" will dry up.
Colleges will follow suit. Division III schools and Division II schools, garnering less profit from the sport than the major conferences as it is, will be the first to go. Again, liability will lead the way. Eventually you'll still have a few major Division I conferences left; the talent pool won't allow for anything else, and only the Notre Dames and Alabama's of the world will be able to draw enough profit to make it worthwhile. But as the news continues to come in, even the talent pools of those schools won't be able to continue to sustain the team.
The rules will also change, due to liability, to the point where the game isn't even recognizable. Already we see a sport where the quarterback can barely be touched. In ten years you'll have no kickoffs period, no punt returns, no hitting of the quarterback without wrapping him up entirely first (therefore giving him a chance to completely prepare), no down linemen, no pre-snap defensive movement, and no blitzing. All the things which makes the game compelling will go away, and the magnitude of the lawsuits will eventually lead to a zero-sum situation where there is no longer any way to insure a player, nor to gain a profit from the game.
In the end, even the Alabama's of the world will stop recruiting, because there will be no interest. Eventually the NFL will have the reach of the Arena Football League now; a secondary option at 1am if you have a 200 channel sports package. And in its final incarnation the NFL will become what boxing has become: a last ditch effort only for the poor or foreign players willing to do it. Boxing used to get the top athletes; now, LeBron James plays basketball. The NFL will fade the way boxing has, and by 2052 my kids kids will have no clear understanding of what the NFL once was, the same way my generation has no idea what boxing meant and how big Ali was.
Of course, all of this comes to mind today with the news that Junior Seau, only 43 and two years removed from playing in the NFL, took his own life via a gunshot wound to the chest. Seau apparently didn't leave a note, and the answers his family and friends are craving will never be known. They never are in situations like this. But Seau's death will be infinitely more visible that Duerson's, and the next will be more visible than Seau's. The ball is rolling, and as it goes downhill it will pick up more momentum with each instance. My heart is saddened, and my head is spinning. But I have seen the future, and the future doesn't bode well for the NFL. It's hard to believe that even ten years ago, when we talked about the drawbacks of playing football for a career people pointed to Joe Montana and the struggles he has moving around from place to place. If only we knew that losing the ability to walk was the easy part. Losing the ability to think and to function mentally at such a young age... that's not only a tragedy, but it will also be the end of the NFL.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Why Am I Even A Sports Fan?
Move aside Steve Bartman, Rex Grossman, Lovie Smith and Alphonso Soriano ... you've got company coming your way. In the great question of why I even follow sports, due to the inexplicable frustration my teams pass along to me, we have another great "really!?!?!?!?" moment. Today, up 12 points with barely over a minute left, Tom Thibodeau inexplicably left Derrick Rose on the court. He came down untouched, and crumpled to the ground. Torn ACL. Of course it is. Why the hell wouldn't it be? The Bulls seemed poised for a title run, coming together at just the right time with the Heat waning at just the right time. Instead, we have to try to make a run without our super star. It never ceases to amaze me that things like this never happen to LeBron... only to my guys. Thibodeau is already explaining away is rationale, but the only thing he should say is "I just accidentally screwed our entire season over. I thought it was good to keep Rose in until the end of the game. I screwed up." Anything less than that shows a strong desire to cover his own ass, and demonstrates a lack of fortitude. So, if you're counting, since MJ hit his shot in Utah, my teams have experienced:
- Bartman
- Alex f'in Gonzalez
- Dusty f'in Baker
- Kerry Wood's arm
- Mark Prior's arm
- The Red Sox breaking the curse... twice
- The White Sox winning the world series
- The Cardinals winning the world series ... twice
- The disintegration of Carlos Zambrano
- Swept by the D'Backs (2007)
- Swept by the Dodgers (2008 - best record in baseball)
- The Soriano contract albatross.
- Jerry Krause running MJ, Pippen and Phil Jackson out of town
- Jerry Krause inexplicably being allowed to continue to run the team
- Eddy Curry
- The Pistons winning the NBA title
- Miami beating the Bulls
- Derrick Rose's torn ACL
- Bobby Knight getting fired
- Blowing the National Title game against an inferior Maryland team
- Living through Mike Davis
- Blowing a national title caliber season in 2008 (only my senior year in Bloomington) due to...
- Living through Kelvin Sampson
- Living through the penalties assessed on IU for Kelvin Sampson...
- the severity of which enabled Purdue to briefly become the best Indiana basketball team ...
- ... for the first time since basketball was invented...
- John Calapari and John Calhoun winning national titles
- Wandstadt ... Jauron... and Lovie... the three stooges of NFL coaches
- Lovie refusing to double team Steve Smith ... and subsequently blowing a playoff game (2006)
- Lovie refusing to run the ball, putting the game in Grossman's prepubescent hands...
- leading to the Bears losing the Super Bowl ...
- to the F'IN COLTS!!!
- Having to live in a world where Peyton Manning accidentally became a "winner"...
- ... thanks to Lovie
- The Giants, with Eli, winning the Super Bowl ... twice
- Urlacher's broken wrist
- Cutler getting knocked out of the NFC title game we should have won...
- The Packers winning the Super Bowl...
-... and Aaron Rodgers "discount double check"
- The Bears being on pace to challenge for another NFC title...
-... but Lovie didn't fix the o-line after watching him get knocked out the year before
-... and he got knocked out again
- ... so we missed the playoffs entirely...
- ... wasting one of the last great Urlacher seasons
I feel like I could go on forever and ever ... But just know that Rose continues to remind me how insanely lucky I was to grow up watching Michael win every NBA title ... just because he could. I can't believe we're already to the point of resigning ourselves to Miami making the NBA finals, but here we are. I wasn't even able to make my playoff picks before this happened. I would have picked the Bulls and the Spurs (boring, I know)... but now it has to be Miami and the Spurs. I hope someone manages to drop the Heat. Adding them to the list above may be more than I can take.
- Bartman
- Alex f'in Gonzalez
- Dusty f'in Baker
- Kerry Wood's arm
- Mark Prior's arm
- The Red Sox breaking the curse... twice
- The White Sox winning the world series
- The Cardinals winning the world series ... twice
- The disintegration of Carlos Zambrano
- Swept by the D'Backs (2007)
- Swept by the Dodgers (2008 - best record in baseball)
- The Soriano contract albatross.
- Jerry Krause running MJ, Pippen and Phil Jackson out of town
- Jerry Krause inexplicably being allowed to continue to run the team
- Eddy Curry
- The Pistons winning the NBA title
- Miami beating the Bulls
- Derrick Rose's torn ACL
- Bobby Knight getting fired
- Blowing the National Title game against an inferior Maryland team
- Living through Mike Davis
- Blowing a national title caliber season in 2008 (only my senior year in Bloomington) due to...
- Living through Kelvin Sampson
- Living through the penalties assessed on IU for Kelvin Sampson...
- the severity of which enabled Purdue to briefly become the best Indiana basketball team ...
- ... for the first time since basketball was invented...
- John Calapari and John Calhoun winning national titles
- Wandstadt ... Jauron... and Lovie... the three stooges of NFL coaches
- Lovie refusing to double team Steve Smith ... and subsequently blowing a playoff game (2006)
- Lovie refusing to run the ball, putting the game in Grossman's prepubescent hands...
- leading to the Bears losing the Super Bowl ...
- to the F'IN COLTS!!!
- Having to live in a world where Peyton Manning accidentally became a "winner"...
- ... thanks to Lovie
- The Giants, with Eli, winning the Super Bowl ... twice
- Urlacher's broken wrist
- Cutler getting knocked out of the NFC title game we should have won...
- The Packers winning the Super Bowl...
-... and Aaron Rodgers "discount double check"
- The Bears being on pace to challenge for another NFC title...
-... but Lovie didn't fix the o-line after watching him get knocked out the year before
-... and he got knocked out again
- ... so we missed the playoffs entirely...
- ... wasting one of the last great Urlacher seasons
I feel like I could go on forever and ever ... But just know that Rose continues to remind me how insanely lucky I was to grow up watching Michael win every NBA title ... just because he could. I can't believe we're already to the point of resigning ourselves to Miami making the NBA finals, but here we are. I wasn't even able to make my playoff picks before this happened. I would have picked the Bulls and the Spurs (boring, I know)... but now it has to be Miami and the Spurs. I hope someone manages to drop the Heat. Adding them to the list above may be more than I can take.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
"Who's The Bad Guy" or "Reason #245 Why Colts Fans Suck"
And so, the worst kept story in the NFL has come to fruition: the Colts have parted ways with the franchise, Peyton Manning. As I wrote here (much to the shock of most who know me), I found myself unexpectedly missing Manning after neck injuries kept him out. I also wondered how he could ever consider coming back when he A) made more money doing nothing last year than I will make in my life, and B) was dealing with a neck injury, not a knee injury, shoulder injury, or something else. Still, as Manning progressed and the Colts fell into their worst season since, well Manning came to the franchise as the number one pick. Suddenly, the Colts had the number one pick. Conundrum, right?
Well, not so much if you are a raging insane person who is so self absorbed that you don't know when you have a good thing. Yes, I'm looking at you Jim Irsay. The same Jim Irsay who caused the city of L.A. to say "thanks for the offer of bringing your team to us, but we'd rather not have to deal with you." Jim Irsay pulled a Jerry Krause. Instead of keeping the core of a winner together, he went nuclear on it. Fire the GM who took your team from decade plus long laughingstock to playoff lock every year. Then can the coaching staff. Then blow up all the team. Finally, cut the franchise player who made it all possible, even though he still wants to play.
And so Jim Irsay has no upset his fan base, polarizing them in favor of Manning. Right? Well, wrong. In fact, 98% of Colts fans seem totally fine to kick Manning to the curb, ignore all he did for the franchise, and move on to the next best thing. Of course, of that 98% over half of these "fans" stopped following football all together last year as their team didn't win. Colts fans have happily joined Jim Irsay in kicking Manning to the curb, and Manning has handled it with class.
I'm most troubled by this because I know that any true fans that would really be okay with kicking their franchise player to the curb. The Celtics wouldn't have done it with Bird, and the Bulls fans certainly wouldn't have done it with Michael. The gambit the Colts are playing is that Luck will be to Manning what Steve Young was to Joe Montana, but what happens if Luck is one of the 50% of QB prospects who don't make it? What if he is more Tim Couch or David Carr, rather than Peyton Manning? What if five years from now the team is drafting there next Manning all over again? And what happens if Peyton goes out and wins again? It's not likely ... history indicates that Manning will probably have a few more years being an above average QB, leading his team to the playoffs, and then will fade ... but wouldn't it have been better for his legacy and the Colts fans if it happened with them? In the end Irsay is the nutcase we thought he was, and the Colts fans are also what we thought they were: shortsighted incompetents who aren't really sports fans. If they were they would be putting up a much bigger stink.
Well, not so much if you are a raging insane person who is so self absorbed that you don't know when you have a good thing. Yes, I'm looking at you Jim Irsay. The same Jim Irsay who caused the city of L.A. to say "thanks for the offer of bringing your team to us, but we'd rather not have to deal with you." Jim Irsay pulled a Jerry Krause. Instead of keeping the core of a winner together, he went nuclear on it. Fire the GM who took your team from decade plus long laughingstock to playoff lock every year. Then can the coaching staff. Then blow up all the team. Finally, cut the franchise player who made it all possible, even though he still wants to play.
And so Jim Irsay has no upset his fan base, polarizing them in favor of Manning. Right? Well, wrong. In fact, 98% of Colts fans seem totally fine to kick Manning to the curb, ignore all he did for the franchise, and move on to the next best thing. Of course, of that 98% over half of these "fans" stopped following football all together last year as their team didn't win. Colts fans have happily joined Jim Irsay in kicking Manning to the curb, and Manning has handled it with class.
I'm most troubled by this because I know that any true fans that would really be okay with kicking their franchise player to the curb. The Celtics wouldn't have done it with Bird, and the Bulls fans certainly wouldn't have done it with Michael. The gambit the Colts are playing is that Luck will be to Manning what Steve Young was to Joe Montana, but what happens if Luck is one of the 50% of QB prospects who don't make it? What if he is more Tim Couch or David Carr, rather than Peyton Manning? What if five years from now the team is drafting there next Manning all over again? And what happens if Peyton goes out and wins again? It's not likely ... history indicates that Manning will probably have a few more years being an above average QB, leading his team to the playoffs, and then will fade ... but wouldn't it have been better for his legacy and the Colts fans if it happened with them? In the end Irsay is the nutcase we thought he was, and the Colts fans are also what we thought they were: shortsighted incompetents who aren't really sports fans. If they were they would be putting up a much bigger stink.
On Nostalgia and Van Halen
"Here's to your thin red line ... oh, I'm stepping over"
What is it about the past that draws us in? The obvious answer is the comfort of being somewhere we’ve been before. It gives us a sense of comfort … perhaps even a sense of control. We feel like we know the rules, we know the game, and, accordingly, we are in control of the outcomes. The power of nostalgia is clearly exhibited by the progression of a child through school. Every step up through school leaves the child looking to the past and what was. Of course, the irony is that just about the time that the child “masters” a school level (elementary, Jr. High or High School) they are moved on to the next. (Of course, by the time you master college you move into the real world, and then everything appears as an idealistic memory of how great it was). Conversely, you live life, have kids, achieve professional competency, retire … and then you get old and want to move “back home.” Life really has a way of book ending things, but that search for home is really a search for the past, and for a comfort level which is, more than anything, a trick of our imagination.
And that, via digression, brings me to Van Halen. The consummate 1980s rock band is back on tour again, and they are once again touring with David Lee Roth as their front man. Diamond Dave, the consummate 1980s rock star is back on the road. As I caught wind of the impending tour I quickly looked at the tour dates, saw a February 24th date at the United Center, and booked tickets for The Wiese and I to go see the boys. The nostalgia train was moving out of the station, and I quickly: A) rediscovered my old Van Halen albums, B) Listened to them repeatedly, and C) purchased the new album (the theoretical reason for the tour), then forced myself to like it by playing nothing else for a few weeks. (By the way, it worked: I love the new Van Halen album. Although I suspect this is in no small part due to the fact that at least half the album is just reworked songs from the 1970s which were never put on an album before, which, in turn, made the music sound more like what I was already familiar with).
Van Halen is in an interesting stage of rock stardom now. They’ve been through the stereotypical break up; the group has always been about Eddie (on guitar) and Alex (on the drums), but their history with their front men have in many ways defined the group. They seem strangely perfect to talk about lost love, or the struggles of love, since the break up of the group and David Lee Roth seemed straight out of a high school romance playbook. Guy (Eddie and Alex) is with girl (David Lee). Guy and girl split (Diamond Dave and the Van Halen’s plus Michael Anthony splitting). Guy gets a new girl and is equally popular, but somehow different (Alex, Eddie and Michael teaming with Sammy Hagar to create Van Hagar… I mean, Van Halen). Before you know it, it’s a well established relationship with everyone on the outside figuring it’ll last forever. But it doesn’t (Hagar leaves), and the first girl is still around (the recording of the greatest hits), and before you know it the guy is comparing his first and second love (Diamond Dave and Hagar), then goes slumming for awhile (I can’t even tell you who, but they had another front man). Eventually a part of the guy changes fundamentally as his innocence is lost (Michael Anthony is no longer with the band). But then, when you least expect it, the guy gets back with the girl who started it all (Diamond Dave teaming up with Eddie, Alex, and new bass player Wolfgang Van Halen, Eddie’s son, for a new album). On the outside you are looking to see if this is real. Do they still have feelings for one another? Can they make it work? Who has aged the worst from the whole experience?
In the case of the improbable, yet totally expected reunion between the Van Halen’s and Diamond Dave these are somewhat difficult questions to answer. The show clearly demonstrated that the group was happy to play together again, but the tension was still evident. David Lee Roth still does his thing and seems hell-bent on taking the attention. Eddie still allows himself to fade into the background more than he should (he is, after all, one of the top five guitarists of his generation). Alex is still removed from everything, although underrated as a drummer. The interesting addition that makes it all work is Eddie’s son, Wolfgang. Just when you doubt that there is devotion in what they are doing, and you start thinking it’s 100% about the money, you see Wolfgang and Eddie come side by side and jam together, or hear them hit the harmony together perfect. That’s when you see that it might mean more to the group. There was also one semi-genuine hug between Eddie and Dave, fleeting, but strong enough to hint something might be there.
As far as if they can make it work, there is little doubt that Eddie realizes now, after his struggles with addictions, that time is fleeting. The opportunity to play with your son and brother in front of stadiums packed full with fans is a unique chance to create memories most can’t dream of. Dave just brings you back to the first part of the band’s evolution, and his antics (yelling at the sound guy, telling the crowd he doesn’t give a ****, and generally playing the part of pompous rock star as well as anyone ever has) seem at home, but still draw from the whole product. One thing is for sure: Diamond Dave has aged the worst out of the whole experience. Eddie and Alex were still spot on; Dave, not so much. He may still be a draw, but the three Van Halen’s looked like they still belonged on the pinnacle of rock music; Dave made you wonder if time had passed him by.
All said, the band did deliver for the crowd. I have to say that I am 100% satisfied, yet I also don’t think I’d feel the need to see them again. Going to a show for Van Halen reminded me a lot of seeing the Goo Goo Dolls: I’m glad I did it once, but there isn’t a force pulling me back over and over again. Billy Joel I would see any chance I got. My love for Dave Matthews Band is well defined in this space, and I’m already giddy with excitement of the seven (hopefully more) shows I plan on going to this summer. Van Halen was much better than my experience seeing Bob Dylan (I’m still not convinced he isn’t dead and they aren’t just touring his body Weekend at Bernie’s style), but even my strong nostalgia for their music, taking me back to my early youth, couldn’t overcome reality. You see, Billy Joel loves the music more, and is has a much greater ability to connect with the crowd in a way that makes a 25,000 seat stadium feel like a small bar. Dave Matthews Band love playing together in a way that Van Halen probably never has and never will. In turn, the crowd reflects that love back, amplifying the experience. Van Halen was well worth the money, but also something that doesn’t need to be repeated. In other words, it’s like most of the memories we carry with us and reminisce on longingly.
Monday, February 13, 2012
The Links - Happy Comp Day Edition
Having recovered from the horror that was the Giants victory/Patriots collapse, I'm back to share some articles and quic
k hits that are not all to do with sports. It's always nice to be able to take a day off because you've worked too much recently. I highly recommend each article I link to, and I'll explain why:
- First, an article from a few months ago that popped back into my head following class last Thursday night. We were discussing the process of eminent domain, the law which allows the government decide to purchase private land if it is determined that the land could better serve the public in another capacity. You see this when the government buys up a bunch of houses, bulldozes them, then widens the road. Or in Chicago, when O'Hare airport needs longer runways. What caught my mind drifting back to this article was one simple thing: the former owner of the New Jersey Nets managed to turn a HUGE profit by using eminent domain and pushing the team towards a move to Brooklyn. The article is brilliant, a quick read, and by Malcolm Gladwell, so enjoy.
- A second article takes you inside a very realistic doomsday scenario that I bet 99.3% of Americans have no idea about. Think about this: I'd say the odds of this happening are at least 5% in the next few years, yet the overwhelming majority of Americans would have the following reaction if it happened: "What the hell? What happened? How did they (read "Obama" for they) let this happen?" That doomsday scenario is a massive solar flare (aka a coronal mass ejection) frying and completely decimating the North American power grid. Estimates vary, but it seems logical to me that it could take years to rebuild the grid if it is hit by a storm the likes of which we've seen in the last 200 years. If it's even worse? Needless to say, it's disheartening to realize how likely this is, as we approach solar maximum, and to look at how little is being done to prevent it. This article, from Popular Mechanics, does a good job of running you through this little thought of but increasingly possible catastrophic situation.
- A third article, really an interview of sorts, is a five book recommendation from Phil Plait. Mr. Plait wrote "Death From The Skies," which is a totally scientific breakdown of the various ways the world could end from the heavens (hint: coronal mass ejections are discussed). I haven't read any of these five books, but the man (who you can read here as the "Bad Astronomer") has a unique ability to communicate complicated subjects in accessible ways.
- The Atlantic has an in depth breakdown of the Obama Presidency thus far. I'm only part of the way through this, but it raises some good questions. In my opinion I'd say that Obama is a shrewd political player who has been hamstrung by an impossible political atmosphere. If a politician as smooth and centrist as Obama is unable to deal with this gridlock God help us all if we get someone much more extreme or unable to bring people around a central tenant.
- Speaking of Obama, this article on Politico reminds you that no matter what the guy does someone is demonizing him. Whether the right or the left, nothing he does is good enough for somebody. Why would he even want to run again? Gotta be the power, huh?
- This post, from Universe Today, looks at the potential effects of tidal heating on exo planets. An exo planet, for those who are unfamiliar with the term, is a planet orbiting a star other than our own Sun. I greatly enjoy the search for these new worlds, as I deeply hope that sometime in my life we might be able to find the signs of life, any life, somewhere else so that we can dispel the myth that we are alone in the universe. Although, given the way we react to things, I'm not sure it would have the unifying effect I'd hope for.
- Joe Posnaski (of Sports Illustrated) has a good post on the 70th birthday of Muhammad Ali. Many of his themes (heroes in athletes, aging athletes, childhood perceptions of sports) are themes I've written on before. I find the rise, the suspension, the comeback, and the eventual fall and end of Ali's career to be fascinating. Watching Ali in his prime (thank you Youtube) reminds me of what it was like to watch Jordan in his prime. So rarely do we see someone, anyone, who transcends the rest of society. Ali did it. Jordan did it. Tiger did it for a time. All lose it, although the fall is different for each. Think of the athletes who were truly great who didn't have a downfall and left on top. How many can you name? I can think of Jim Brown and Barry Sanders right away. Peyton Manning, if he never takes another snap, would be close, although the injury still has to factor in and take some of that luster away. Who else? It's so hard for someone as competitive as we demand our athletes to be to walk away with anything left in the tank. What Brown and Sanders did would be akin to LeBron walking away in three years when he was at his apex. It's unfathomable; it's why Jordan's final shot in Chicago and subsequent retirement were so shocking and such a fairytale of sorts. I'd be curious to hear what you think.
- Finally, I'm going to see Van Halen at the United Center on the 24th. Should be a good time, and at the very least it will be nice to unwind a bit. But the big news comes out later this month (week hopefully!) when Dave Matthews Band unveils their tour schedule for this summer. With us expecting a full tour again, it could be epic. I'm looking forward to trying to top last summer (7 shows) by getting to eight shows. Thank goodness I have a girlfriend who agrees...
k hits that are not all to do with sports. It's always nice to be able to take a day off because you've worked too much recently. I highly recommend each article I link to, and I'll explain why:- First, an article from a few months ago that popped back into my head following class last Thursday night. We were discussing the process of eminent domain, the law which allows the government decide to purchase private land if it is determined that the land could better serve the public in another capacity. You see this when the government buys up a bunch of houses, bulldozes them, then widens the road. Or in Chicago, when O'Hare airport needs longer runways. What caught my mind drifting back to this article was one simple thing: the former owner of the New Jersey Nets managed to turn a HUGE profit by using eminent domain and pushing the team towards a move to Brooklyn. The article is brilliant, a quick read, and by Malcolm Gladwell, so enjoy.
- A second article takes you inside a very realistic doomsday scenario that I bet 99.3% of Americans have no idea about. Think about this: I'd say the odds of this happening are at least 5% in the next few years, yet the overwhelming majority of Americans would have the following reaction if it happened: "What the hell? What happened? How did they (read "Obama" for they) let this happen?" That doomsday sce
nario is a massive solar flare (aka a coronal mass ejection) frying and completely decimating the North American power grid. Estimates vary, but it seems logical to me that it could take years to rebuild the grid if it is hit by a storm the likes of which we've seen in the last 200 years. If it's even worse? Needless to say, it's disheartening to realize how likely this is, as we approach solar maximum, and to look at how little is being done to prevent it. This article, from Popular Mechanics, does a good job of running you through this little thought of but increasingly possible catastrophic situation.- A third article, really an interview of sorts, is a five book recommendation from Phil Plait. Mr. Plait wrote "Death From The Skies," which is a totally scientific breakdown of the various ways the world could end from the heavens (hint: coronal mass ejections are discussed). I haven't read any of these five books, but the man (who you can read here as the "Bad Astronomer") has a unique ability to communicate complicated subjects in accessible ways.
- The Atlantic has an in depth breakdown of the Obama Presidency thus far. I'm only part of the way through this, but it raises some good questions. In my opinion I'd say that Obama is a shrewd political player who has been hamstrung by an impossible political atmosphere. If a politician as smooth and centrist as Obama is unable to deal with this gridlock God help us all if we get someone much more extreme or unable to bring people around a central tenant.
- Speaking of Obama, this article on Politico reminds you that no matter what the guy does someone is demonizing him. Whether the right or the left, nothing he does is good enough for somebody. Why would he even want to run again? Gotta be the power, huh?
- This post, from Universe Today, looks at the potential effects of tidal heating on exo planets. An exo planet, for those who are unfamiliar with the term, is a planet orbiting a star other than our own Sun. I greatly enjoy the search for these new worlds, as I deeply hope that sometime in my life we might be able to find the signs of life, any life, somewhere else so that we can dispel the myth that we are alone in the universe. Although, given the way we react to things, I'm not sure it would have the unifying effect I'd hope for.
- Joe Posnaski (of Sports Illustrated) has a good post on the 70th birthday of Muhammad Ali. Many of his themes (heroes in athletes, aging athletes, childhood perceptions of sports) are themes I've written on before. I find the rise, the suspension, the comeback, and the eventual fall and end of Ali's career to be fascinating. Watching Ali in his prime (thank you Youtube) reminds me of what it was like to watch Jordan in his prime. So rarely do we see someone, anyone, who transcends the rest of society. Ali did it. Jordan did it. Tiger did it for a time. All lose it, although the fall is different for each. Think of the athletes who were truly great who didn't have a downfall and left on top. How many can you name? I can think of Jim Brown and Barry Sanders right away. Peyton Manning, if he never takes another snap, would be close, although the injury still has to factor in and take some of that luster away. Who else? It's so hard for someone as competitive as we demand our athletes to be to walk away with anything left in the tank. What Brown and Sanders did would be akin to LeBron walking away in three years when he was at his apex. It's unfathomable; it's why Jordan's final shot in Chicago and subsequent retirement were so shocking and such a fairytale of sorts. I'd be curious to hear what you think.
- Finally, I'm going to see Van Halen at the United Center on the 24th. Should be a good time, and at the very least it will be nice to unwind a bit. But the big news comes out later this month (week hopefully!) when Dave Matthews Band unveils their tour schedule for this summer. With us expecting a full tour again, it could be epic. I'm looking forward to trying to top last summer (7 shows) by getting to eight shows. Thank goodness I have a girlfriend who agrees...
Saturday, February 4, 2012
The P.O.V. Super Bowl Pick
Giants .... Patriots ... at least I got the conference title games right. What can happen on Sunday? Ultimately only time will tell. You can read all the previews you want to, and you'll see that most of the experts are picking the Giants. The public, certainly, seems to be favoring the Giants heavily, as the Vegas line has down shifted from +3.5 ... to +3.0 ... to +2.5 now in some places. So where does that leave the pick? Consider:
- I already tried the "too many people believe in the Giants" theory when the public came in heavy on them against the Packers ... didn't work.
- I tried the "Patriots are a juggernaut, and will handle the AFC title game" theory against the Ravens ... didn't work, as I needed a miracle to get the Pats to this game.
- I've considered that the Pats only last week won their first game of the year against a winning team, needing a miracle to do it.
- Conversely, the Giants might have needed the bigger miracle to win last week, and have gotten lots of bounces their way to get through the last two weeks of the playoffs.
At the end of the day we've got to ask one question: what's the best story? The last time these teams faced off in the Super Bowl the best story was the upset, and it happened. This time? Think of this:
... Brady's fourth Super Bowl, matching Montana for first all time ...
... The Patriots matching the Steelers of the 1970s ... the 49ers of the 1980s .... and that's the list, as the four time super bowl dynasties...
... Peyton Manning can watch it all in his home town ...
... and all those jagoff Colts fans can watch all this go down on their homefield ...
Come ON! How can that not happen? Well, consider:
Since Jordan retired I've had to deal with a decade of terrible Bulls basketball while the NBA fell apart .... The Hoosiers falling into obscurity ... continued Cubs pain, including 2003 and 2008... watching the Cardinals win not one, but two World Series ... watching the White Sox win the series ... watching the Red Sox break their curse ... Watching my Bears fall to the Colts ... and Peyton Manning winning a title to salvage his legacy (taking him from Marino to Elway level, and nearly to Greatest of All Time level) ... Eli Manning winning a Super Bowl... the Pack winning last year ... and worst of all, my brother falling to the dark side and rooting for the cheese heads ...
Yeah. You get it. More times than not the story line I want doesn't work out. But consider:
... Tracy Porter intercepting Manning to win the game ... Dirk Nowitzki saving us from year one of the Miami threesome... the Bulls resurgence ... the IU resurgence ... Jerry Angelo getting canned ... Theo coming to Chicago ...
Sometimes good things happen. The tie breaker? The Giants website today had a banner declaring "Giants win Super Bowl" which linked to a place to buy championship gear. Bad karma. Check Mate.
The Pick:
Pats (-2.5) over Giants
Pats 31 - Giants 24
Go New England. Screw the Giants, and the horse Eli is riding in Indy this week. :-)
...
- I already tried the "too many people believe in the Giants" theory when the public came in heavy on them against the Packers ... didn't work.
- I tried the "Patriots are a juggernaut, and will handle the AFC title game" theory against the Ravens ... didn't work, as I needed a miracle to get the Pats to this game.
- I've considered that the Pats only last week won their first game of the year against a winning team, needing a miracle to do it.
- Conversely, the Giants might have needed the bigger miracle to win last week, and have gotten lots of bounces their way to get through the last two weeks of the playoffs.
At the end of the day we've got to ask one question: what's the best story? The last time these teams faced off in the Super Bowl the best story was the upset, and it happened. This time? Think of this:
... Brady's fourth Super Bowl, matching Montana for first all time ...
... The Patriots matching the Steelers of the 1970s ... the 49ers of the 1980s .... and that's the list, as the four time super bowl dynasties...
... Peyton Manning can watch it all in his home town ...
... and all those jagoff Colts fans can watch all this go down on their homefield ...
Come ON! How can that not happen? Well, consider:
Since Jordan retired I've had to deal with a decade of terrible Bulls basketball while the NBA fell apart .... The Hoosiers falling into obscurity ... continued Cubs pain, including 2003 and 2008... watching the Cardinals win not one, but two World Series ... watching the White Sox win the series ... watching the Red Sox break their curse ... Watching my Bears fall to the Colts ... and Peyton Manning winning a title to salvage his legacy (taking him from Marino to Elway level, and nearly to Greatest of All Time level) ... Eli Manning winning a Super Bowl... the Pack winning last year ... and worst of all, my brother falling to the dark side and rooting for the cheese heads ...
Yeah. You get it. More times than not the story line I want doesn't work out. But consider:
... Tracy Porter intercepting Manning to win the game ... Dirk Nowitzki saving us from year one of the Miami threesome... the Bulls resurgence ... the IU resurgence ... Jerry Angelo getting canned ... Theo coming to Chicago ...
Sometimes good things happen. The tie breaker? The Giants website today had a banner declaring "Giants win Super Bowl" which linked to a place to buy championship gear. Bad karma. Check Mate.
The Pick:
Pats (-2.5) over Giants
Pats 31 - Giants 24
Go New England. Screw the Giants, and the horse Eli is riding in Indy this week. :-)
...
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