Well, haven't updated the blog in a while, not because I didn't have something to say, but more didn't have soemthing worthy enough. But, I did finally find something worthy.
So check this out, in the city of Seattle there are over 400,000+ parking tickets each year. See the link below.
http://www.kirotv.com/money/22637476/detail.html
And that number has been rising since they improved their dispatch system, making it easier for parking enforcement to give you a ticket. So, why would they improve this system, the answer, tax revenue.
Now think about this, we are paying the salary of parking enforcement (they are a public service), who in turn, ticket our cars. Now, I understand the overall importance of parking enforcement, it serves a purpose and provide a service to the community, but really 400,000+ is an outrageous number. The city of Seattle has a little over 600,000 people (that is defined within the city limits, the metro area is 3.3 million) so roughly 2 out of every 3 citizens will recieve a ticket! And how many of these parking tickets are really necessary, someone is late to the meter by a couple of minutes, really, is that the most pressing issue. There is real crime to deal with.
I have not recieved a parking ticket in Seattle, but from the sound of things, it is going to happen sooner or later.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
Top Sports stories of the Decade Part 2
I realized that I needed to divide up this entry. There were several more stories needing to be brought and the first entry was much too long. As with the first, I will not be ranking them. And as with the first set, there are 10 stories.
11. Alex Rodriguez finally wins a championship
A-Rod may be not only be one of the best players of this era (with exception to maybe Albert Pujois and Barry Bonds), but one of the greatest of all time. His accomplishments are many, 12 time all star, 3 time MVP, 5 time AL leader in Home Runs, 2 time gold glove winner, youngest player to hit 500 home runs, a member of the 40 home runs-40 stolen bases club, and already a future hall of famer. Whether you love or hate him, you can't argue that is not a great player. And it is fitting that one of the greatest players wins his world championship with baseball's most recognizable team, the New York Yankees. he may not be the captain, (that belongs to Derek Jeter), but he is the center of the team for many fans. Alex Rodriguez has some similarities to the Yankees, both are bigger than thier sport in some aspects. The Yankee logo is recognized everywhere from music videos to persons coming from other countries in search of something "American, meanwhile A-Rod is covered in as many sporting magazines as in the mainstream media, be it GQ or on TMZ. A-Rod and the Yankees' transcend the sport.
As the decade closed the Yankees had not won a championship since the beginning of the decade, a long time for a team that had already won 26 championships. A-Rod finally winning the World Series not only brought joy to his fans but the Yankee fans who had waited for the "World Champion" title to be brought back to the Bronx.
A few that didn't make the cut;
11. Alex Rodriguez finally wins a championship
A-Rod may be not only be one of the best players of this era (with exception to maybe Albert Pujois and Barry Bonds), but one of the greatest of all time. His accomplishments are many, 12 time all star, 3 time MVP, 5 time AL leader in Home Runs, 2 time gold glove winner, youngest player to hit 500 home runs, a member of the 40 home runs-40 stolen bases club, and already a future hall of famer. Whether you love or hate him, you can't argue that is not a great player. And it is fitting that one of the greatest players wins his world championship with baseball's most recognizable team, the New York Yankees. he may not be the captain, (that belongs to Derek Jeter), but he is the center of the team for many fans. Alex Rodriguez has some similarities to the Yankees, both are bigger than thier sport in some aspects. The Yankee logo is recognized everywhere from music videos to persons coming from other countries in search of something "American, meanwhile A-Rod is covered in as many sporting magazines as in the mainstream media, be it GQ or on TMZ. A-Rod and the Yankees' transcend the sport.
As the decade closed the Yankees had not won a championship since the beginning of the decade, a long time for a team that had already won 26 championships. A-Rod finally winning the World Series not only brought joy to his fans but the Yankee fans who had waited for the "World Champion" title to be brought back to the Bronx.
12. Bobby Bowden's retirement
Bowden has had an amazing career. Here are a few highlights; 389 total career wins, (2nd all time behind Joe Paterno), 14 consecutive seasons in which Florida State was ranked in the top 5, 14 consecutive seasons in which Florida State won at least 10 games, 33 of 34 seasons at FSU with a winning record, and 31 of 34 seasons at FSU with a bowl game. Bowden took over as head football coach in 1976, a program which had relatively little success and little recognition. FSU was not a football school, but Bowden changed that. Bowden made FSU a football program that star players wanted to be part of. Some of the great players that made it big professionally include Deion Sanders, Warrick Dunn, Anquan Boldin, Derrick Brooks, Laveranues Coles, Walter Jones, Samari Rolle, Sebastian Janikowski, and Tra Thomas. There are many more players that made it to the professional level, but Bowden did more than just have the athletes play well, he made them better people. Bowden knew that many of his players did not come from the best of circumstances. They came from inner cities, poverty, single parent households, some had past legal trouble and some got into trouble while with FSU. But, Bowden protected his players when they got involved in scandal, waiting to discipline them when all the facts were out. Bowden tried to make his players better people by teaching them to be better. He had yearly trips with the team to local churches, not to force religion, but to bring the players together as a community.
But, Florida State grew tired of the football program not having the same success as it once did. A program which Bowden himself built, which made the school millions and millions of dollars so that the school itself could be better to attrach better students and athletes. So unfortuately, Bowden's impressive legacy came to a rather sad ending. Instead of going out in a championship game or major bowl, he went out winning a rather minor bowl against the school he coached before FSU, West Virginia. But instead of being bitter as some would be when hoisted out of a program, Bowden was the same polite and positive man he has been for years. And hopefully the mismanaging on Florida State's part will be overshadowed by the greatness of Bowden.
13. Steroids in baseball and Juiced
The scandal that still hasn't ended. Baseball took a major blow when Jose Canseco's Juiced was published. In it he brought to light what many had speculated for years, that many of the top baseball players of the 1990s and 2000s; including Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Jason Giambi, Ivan Rodriguez, and even himself. Though Canseco has probably more haters than fans, his book and the subsequent public outrage are very important. The fact that Congress became involved in pro sports is almost unheard of, I mean how could Congress be more focused on this when the country was in the midst of 2 wars? Many sad Canseco was a lot of talk and making false reports about who was doing steroids, but ultimately, Canseco was right. He was right on all the players he said above and even on some that he speculated on like Roger Clemens. Canseco will continue to be hated, but he was right even if he is a jerk.
14. Todd Bertuzzi and Marty McSorely
Bertuzzi and McSorely are both professional hockey players who have similar stories. Both inflicted tough hits on players that caused serious injuries and both players were face both league and legal rammifications. McSorely hit Donald Brashear on February 21 2000. Brashear would suffer a concussion and McSorely was charged with assualt and got 18 months probation, along with a 23 game suspension, which was following the conviction turned into a year suspension. Bertuzzi hit Steve Moore on February 16 2004 which resulted in a concussion and again an assault charge. Bertuzzi recieved a year probation and the league suspended him for 20 games. Brashear's career has continued, but Moore's has not, in fact Moore hasn't played since the hit and even filed a lawsuit against Bertuzzi. McSorely never played in the league after his suspension; Bertuzzi has and had a fair amount of success. These stories has a great deal of similarities, but what is most interesting is in the fact that both stories resulted in lawsuits and charges against the players. This is amazing since there really is no other sport where a player could face criminal charges for playing their sport. Players get into legal trouble, but not for what they do on the field of play. These cases bring up the question that haunts the NHL, is the sport to violent? compared to all other major sports, hockey is by far the most likely to include violence, fights are common and part of why people attend, but a bad hit may be a result of a player being dirty, or simply just trying to hard. Ultimately these stories are important because of the precendent they set for the league in dealing with hits on players and how the league change rules concerning hits.
15. University of Colorado scandal
The University of Colorado football program faced one of the worst scandals of the decade. in 2004 allegations of rape came up, and not only this, but the school's lackluster response by not reporting them to the police. The reason I included this story was that the football program was accused of using sex (and alcohol) as a recruiting tool to attrach high school students. The scandal become even worse when Katie Hnida, a former student athlete on the team and the first female player in college football to score a point in Div. 1, said that she had been harassed and sexually assualted by a member of the team. The then coach, Gary Barnett, basically said that it didn't matter what Hnida said since she was a girl and bad player. Barnett was only suspended for this comment, but did finally lose his job for poor team performance. UC football program has really fallen apart since the scandal, but football is not important is this story. What is inportant is that the school, which is required to investigate harassment, intimidation, assualt and any type of discrimination based upon gender (see Title IX) and failed. Not only did the school break the law, it made affected the lives of several women by basically ignoring their sexual assualts. The school made recruiting good players more important than the safety of their students, they allowed for sexual assualts to occur and did nothing.
A few that didn't make the cut;
Adam 'Pac Man' Jones and NFL player conduct policy
Retirements and Unretirements - Brett Farve, Michael Jordan, and Mario Lemieux.
Kobe Bryant's rape allegations
Danica Patrick enters into pro racing
Tim Donaghy and the betting scandal in the NBA
Sunday, December 27, 2009
The top Sport stories of the decade: Part 1
There have been numerous "Top Sport Stories of the Decade" as this decade comes to a close. This decade for sports has been an interesting one. There has been a lot of controversy and many stories that are sad and tragic. There have been some uplifting ones as well. I wanted to share some of the ones I found most compelling, interesting, and important. What I have noticed was that many of these sports stories tend to focus on the latter part of the decade, which may be a result of the stories being more fresh in people's minds or maybe they simply received more coverage with the emergence of new media. I plan to focus on the major sports in the United States (the big four of baseball, basketball, football, and hockey). Though I will scatter a few of the other emerging sports as I call them, MLS soccer, NASCAR, and UFC. And even pro-wrestling, since it is a form of sport as entertainment. College football will be included as well. Stories that I will not include but I do consider important are Michael Phelps' 8 Olympic gold medals (Olympics are important, but just don't grab Americans the way it does in Europe), Tiger Woods' affair/fall from grace (too soon to examine it and it has nothing to do with sports), Lance Armstrong (since cycling is not, in my opinion, a major sport in America, but still an amazing accomplishment) and Duke U's Lacrosse team's sexual assault case (there is probably still more to this story as well).
Some stories get inclusion as a result of under coverage, some because of the bizarre nature of the story, and some for the repercussions. Many of the stories have little to do with the actual on-field accomplishments, since this decade has really been a decade of scandal. But, there have been some great sport accomplishments, LA Lakers championships, Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox ending their droughts, New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers both winning multiple championships in the NFL, Florida/SEC dominance in college football, and several NHL teams winning the cup for the first time. I have created a long list and will proceed to write out my top stories in no particular order. Some stories have been combined into a category and some have been combined with a person that spurred the story, I did so in order to relate where the story began it's coverage and in order to save some space.
1. NHL Lockout of 2004-2005 Season
Hockey is often overlooked in American sports' media, it is still one of the big 4 sports, but the fan base is smaller and more niche. This story is a pretty big deal though, baseball and basketball both had lockouts in the 1990s, but they seasons were only shortened, and in baseball there was no playoffs. But the NHL lockout is the first time an entire season was cancelled, not a single game was played by the the 30 NHL teams. Players went to Europe to play, (nearly 400 of them!) some never to return to the U.S.A. again and some even went to play for minor league teams. At the center of the issue was money. Teams were not making enough compared to the amount that they paid players. The league wanted to institute a salary cap on teams, or possibly a luxury tax or even revenue sharing, along with a pay cut across the board. Something which was something the players would not let happen, even though the league was losing money. After nearly a year the lockout ended with the salary cap being approved. The result is that stability would come to the league, which has been mostly true, but there are still teams in trouble such as the Phoenix Coyotes.
2. Pat Tillman's death
Pat Tillman was a safety for the Arizona Cardinals who after 4 seasons in the NFL decided to put his career on hold to go serve this country in the War in Afghanistan. Tillman was killed in 2004 as a result of friendly fire. There was a big controversy following his death because it appeared that there was a cover up of some sort by his army unit. The cover up became the story, but the real story is that Pat Tillman is a great American who served his country not out of requirement or a draft, but out of his love for the nation. Tillman's number was retired by the Cardinals as well as his college team. Tillman is also represents something that professional sports needs more of, real heroes.
3. Pacers/Pistons brawl
November 19 2004 was the night that may be one of the worst nights in NBA history. Near the end of the Pacers and Pistons game in Detroit, after a tough contest between the teams, a fan tossed his soda onto Ron Artest of the Pacers. Artest responded by running into the stands and punching a fan, (not the one who tossed his soda at him). Team-mate Stephen Jackson followed him and punched a fan as well, then the players returned to the floor where Artest punched two more fans and Jermaine O'Neal punched a fan as well. Fans spilled unto the floor, players were running into the stands and back, security finally made its way to restore order, but it was too late. The mess resulted in Artest's suspension for the rest of the season, (several other players were suspended too) as well as legal ramifications for the fans and the players as well (most of the players received community service and probation). This made the NBA look like the players were unprofessional. Having a soda or beer thrown at a player is wrong, but for the player to lose their cool to such an extreme manner hurt the league as a whole, not just the player or team's reputation. Never has there been such an event to occur in professional sports, to see players and fans to engage in violence with one another is almost unheard of it. And to basically see a riot occur is still unbelievable.
4. Gone too soon - early deaths in pro sports
There have been many shocking and sad deaths this decade. Many players taken down in their prime. Sean Taylor of the Redskins was shot and killed. Nick Adenhart was killed by a drunk driver on his way home from pitching a game. Cory Lidle was killed in a plane crash, shockingly similar to the Thurmon Munson tragedy. Darryl Kile died a few days before he was scheduled to make his next start, he died of a unusual heart defect. Chris Henry died at the young age of 26, sad as he was trying to restore his public image and make changes from his previous lifestyle. Fred Lane, a running back for the Carolina Panthers was murdered by his wife, a mere 25 years old in the beginning of what could have been a great career. Corey Smith and Marquis Cooper, two friends and NFL players who were lost at sea while on a fishing trip in the offseason. Derrick Thomas, the great Kansas City Chief linebacker who died as a result of a car accident. Josh Hancock, another St Louis Cardinal player who died young. Joe Kennedy, a journeyman pitcher who died suddenly of hypertensive heart disease, at the age of 28. Eddie Griffith, Malik Sealy, both Minnesota Timberwolves who died in car accidents. Dan Snyder a 23 year old hockey player who died in a car accident, the driver was his then teammate Danny Heatley. And lastly, Korey Stringer, who died in 2001 in training camp for the Vikings. There have been numerous other deaths, but this point is not to dwell on their death, but to celebrate their life and for the accomplishments.
5. Dale Earnhardt's death
I wanted to separate this point from the previous list. All of the players had varying degrees of success, some were hall of famers, some were solid players, and some died before their careers could fully blossom. Earnhardt is different, he was one of the greats. Earnhardt's #3 car was semi-retired it hasn't been used since his death. His death is also different because he was essentially on the field, he died as he attempted to win NASCAR's biggest race, the Daytona 500, which he was in the top 3 at the time of the crash. Earnhardt's death spurred changes to NASCAR's safety regulations.
6. The emergence of Mixed Martial Arts
MMA is quickly becoming of the new big sports in America. The major MMA is the UFC, started in the early 90s. The UFC has expanded between pay per view and TV deals and even into merchandise, clothing, and video games. Names once no one new are now household names, Chuck Liddell (was on Dancing with the stars even!), Tito Ortiz, Frank Mir, Randy Couture, Tim Sylvia, Rampage Jackson, and Forrest Griffin. The UFC is the best known, but there are several other promotions such as IFC and Strikeforce and many many others. But UFC is the biggest and I predict will eat up the smaller ones and become "the league" in the MMA. The sport is on the rise and will an ever expanding fan base, it is amazing that a sport that is essentially two people fighting in a cage could become some popular.
7. David Beckham come to the U.S. and the MLS reaps the benefits
Soccer failed in the 1970s in the US, but in 1996 the MLS debuted. Early on it was a big money loser, but things began to turn with the beginning of the decade. The teams started to become profitable and the league added new teams. Then in 2007 David Beckham came to the U.S. One of the biggest stars in the sport. Beckhan is known as much for his off-field news as his play on, from being married to a Spice Girl to having a film named in his honor. Beckham made people even more excited about soccer and gave the league the ability to secure a better TV contract and even more stars and even more teams. The league become a money maker, not a money loser and even more expansion is planned for the future.
8. Chris Benoit and other pro wrestlers dying young
There were several pro wrestlers dying young this decade (Chris Candido, Eddie Guerrero, Bam Bam Bigelow, Mike Awesome, Umaga, Curt Hennig, Crash Holly, Test, and British bulldog/Davey Boy Smith). But the one that got the most attention and was the most bizarre was Chris Benoit. Benoit was one of the best technical wrestlers of his time, he was ruthless and truly one of the toughest competitors. He won many titles including the world championship, the premire title in WWE. Benoit's career was a struggle to make it to the top and by 2007 he was one of the top in WWE. Benoit's death was not only his, but his family's as well. Although what went down specifically is not known for sure, what is known is tragic. Benoit killed his wife and son, before hanging himself in his home gym. Benoit's death made the national news unlike any wrestler's death before. And with it came the truth from steroid and drug use to head injuries that put his mind out of place. With all of this came the cries of was the WWE ignoring drug use and encouraging their employees to juice? The WWE had a firestorm that they had never seen before, Benoit's death along with Guerrero's resulted in the creation of a drug policy and testing of the employees. It also resulted in WWE offering drug rehab for both current and former employees. WWE continues to be the premiere pro-wrestling company, but now has to better protect its employees and image in the face of this event.
9. Michael Vick
Vick story is important because he was one of the marquee names in the NFL. But he took a fall from grace that is nearly unprecedented. Vick went from the football field to jail as part of an alleged dog fighting ring. He would spend about a year in prison for his part in the ring, Vick not only fought the dogs, but killed some of the weaker ones himself. After doing his time, he returned to the league, but the fact that a player of his star stature had the stupidity to get involved in dogfighting, a barbaric sport, in what makes this story so compelling. Along with the fact that he was an active player at the time in the prime of his career.
10. Rae Carruth
Rae Carruth was a wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers with a couple of seasons under his belt. In 2000, Carruth was tried and found guilty for murdering his girlfriend and their unborn child. The events of the murder were that Carruth drove up to his girlfriend's vehicle while another car drove up and shot her. She died after calling police. Their daughter was born via C-section, 3 months early, and died shortly after. Carruth received 18 years in prison. This story has faded for many, but it still remains one of the saddest in the sports for the circumstances under which the events transpired.
Some stories get inclusion as a result of under coverage, some because of the bizarre nature of the story, and some for the repercussions. Many of the stories have little to do with the actual on-field accomplishments, since this decade has really been a decade of scandal. But, there have been some great sport accomplishments, LA Lakers championships, Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox ending their droughts, New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers both winning multiple championships in the NFL, Florida/SEC dominance in college football, and several NHL teams winning the cup for the first time. I have created a long list and will proceed to write out my top stories in no particular order. Some stories have been combined into a category and some have been combined with a person that spurred the story, I did so in order to relate where the story began it's coverage and in order to save some space.
1. NHL Lockout of 2004-2005 Season
Hockey is often overlooked in American sports' media, it is still one of the big 4 sports, but the fan base is smaller and more niche. This story is a pretty big deal though, baseball and basketball both had lockouts in the 1990s, but they seasons were only shortened, and in baseball there was no playoffs. But the NHL lockout is the first time an entire season was cancelled, not a single game was played by the the 30 NHL teams. Players went to Europe to play, (nearly 400 of them!) some never to return to the U.S.A. again and some even went to play for minor league teams. At the center of the issue was money. Teams were not making enough compared to the amount that they paid players. The league wanted to institute a salary cap on teams, or possibly a luxury tax or even revenue sharing, along with a pay cut across the board. Something which was something the players would not let happen, even though the league was losing money. After nearly a year the lockout ended with the salary cap being approved. The result is that stability would come to the league, which has been mostly true, but there are still teams in trouble such as the Phoenix Coyotes.
2. Pat Tillman's death
Pat Tillman was a safety for the Arizona Cardinals who after 4 seasons in the NFL decided to put his career on hold to go serve this country in the War in Afghanistan. Tillman was killed in 2004 as a result of friendly fire. There was a big controversy following his death because it appeared that there was a cover up of some sort by his army unit. The cover up became the story, but the real story is that Pat Tillman is a great American who served his country not out of requirement or a draft, but out of his love for the nation. Tillman's number was retired by the Cardinals as well as his college team. Tillman is also represents something that professional sports needs more of, real heroes.
3. Pacers/Pistons brawl
November 19 2004 was the night that may be one of the worst nights in NBA history. Near the end of the Pacers and Pistons game in Detroit, after a tough contest between the teams, a fan tossed his soda onto Ron Artest of the Pacers. Artest responded by running into the stands and punching a fan, (not the one who tossed his soda at him). Team-mate Stephen Jackson followed him and punched a fan as well, then the players returned to the floor where Artest punched two more fans and Jermaine O'Neal punched a fan as well. Fans spilled unto the floor, players were running into the stands and back, security finally made its way to restore order, but it was too late. The mess resulted in Artest's suspension for the rest of the season, (several other players were suspended too) as well as legal ramifications for the fans and the players as well (most of the players received community service and probation). This made the NBA look like the players were unprofessional. Having a soda or beer thrown at a player is wrong, but for the player to lose their cool to such an extreme manner hurt the league as a whole, not just the player or team's reputation. Never has there been such an event to occur in professional sports, to see players and fans to engage in violence with one another is almost unheard of it. And to basically see a riot occur is still unbelievable.
4. Gone too soon - early deaths in pro sports
There have been many shocking and sad deaths this decade. Many players taken down in their prime. Sean Taylor of the Redskins was shot and killed. Nick Adenhart was killed by a drunk driver on his way home from pitching a game. Cory Lidle was killed in a plane crash, shockingly similar to the Thurmon Munson tragedy. Darryl Kile died a few days before he was scheduled to make his next start, he died of a unusual heart defect. Chris Henry died at the young age of 26, sad as he was trying to restore his public image and make changes from his previous lifestyle. Fred Lane, a running back for the Carolina Panthers was murdered by his wife, a mere 25 years old in the beginning of what could have been a great career. Corey Smith and Marquis Cooper, two friends and NFL players who were lost at sea while on a fishing trip in the offseason. Derrick Thomas, the great Kansas City Chief linebacker who died as a result of a car accident. Josh Hancock, another St Louis Cardinal player who died young. Joe Kennedy, a journeyman pitcher who died suddenly of hypertensive heart disease, at the age of 28. Eddie Griffith, Malik Sealy, both Minnesota Timberwolves who died in car accidents. Dan Snyder a 23 year old hockey player who died in a car accident, the driver was his then teammate Danny Heatley. And lastly, Korey Stringer, who died in 2001 in training camp for the Vikings. There have been numerous other deaths, but this point is not to dwell on their death, but to celebrate their life and for the accomplishments.
5. Dale Earnhardt's death
I wanted to separate this point from the previous list. All of the players had varying degrees of success, some were hall of famers, some were solid players, and some died before their careers could fully blossom. Earnhardt is different, he was one of the greats. Earnhardt's #3 car was semi-retired it hasn't been used since his death. His death is also different because he was essentially on the field, he died as he attempted to win NASCAR's biggest race, the Daytona 500, which he was in the top 3 at the time of the crash. Earnhardt's death spurred changes to NASCAR's safety regulations.
6. The emergence of Mixed Martial Arts
MMA is quickly becoming of the new big sports in America. The major MMA is the UFC, started in the early 90s. The UFC has expanded between pay per view and TV deals and even into merchandise, clothing, and video games. Names once no one new are now household names, Chuck Liddell (was on Dancing with the stars even!), Tito Ortiz, Frank Mir, Randy Couture, Tim Sylvia, Rampage Jackson, and Forrest Griffin. The UFC is the best known, but there are several other promotions such as IFC and Strikeforce and many many others. But UFC is the biggest and I predict will eat up the smaller ones and become "the league" in the MMA. The sport is on the rise and will an ever expanding fan base, it is amazing that a sport that is essentially two people fighting in a cage could become some popular.
7. David Beckham come to the U.S. and the MLS reaps the benefits
Soccer failed in the 1970s in the US, but in 1996 the MLS debuted. Early on it was a big money loser, but things began to turn with the beginning of the decade. The teams started to become profitable and the league added new teams. Then in 2007 David Beckham came to the U.S. One of the biggest stars in the sport. Beckhan is known as much for his off-field news as his play on, from being married to a Spice Girl to having a film named in his honor. Beckham made people even more excited about soccer and gave the league the ability to secure a better TV contract and even more stars and even more teams. The league become a money maker, not a money loser and even more expansion is planned for the future.
8. Chris Benoit and other pro wrestlers dying young
There were several pro wrestlers dying young this decade (Chris Candido, Eddie Guerrero, Bam Bam Bigelow, Mike Awesome, Umaga, Curt Hennig, Crash Holly, Test, and British bulldog/Davey Boy Smith). But the one that got the most attention and was the most bizarre was Chris Benoit. Benoit was one of the best technical wrestlers of his time, he was ruthless and truly one of the toughest competitors. He won many titles including the world championship, the premire title in WWE. Benoit's career was a struggle to make it to the top and by 2007 he was one of the top in WWE. Benoit's death was not only his, but his family's as well. Although what went down specifically is not known for sure, what is known is tragic. Benoit killed his wife and son, before hanging himself in his home gym. Benoit's death made the national news unlike any wrestler's death before. And with it came the truth from steroid and drug use to head injuries that put his mind out of place. With all of this came the cries of was the WWE ignoring drug use and encouraging their employees to juice? The WWE had a firestorm that they had never seen before, Benoit's death along with Guerrero's resulted in the creation of a drug policy and testing of the employees. It also resulted in WWE offering drug rehab for both current and former employees. WWE continues to be the premiere pro-wrestling company, but now has to better protect its employees and image in the face of this event.
9. Michael Vick
Vick story is important because he was one of the marquee names in the NFL. But he took a fall from grace that is nearly unprecedented. Vick went from the football field to jail as part of an alleged dog fighting ring. He would spend about a year in prison for his part in the ring, Vick not only fought the dogs, but killed some of the weaker ones himself. After doing his time, he returned to the league, but the fact that a player of his star stature had the stupidity to get involved in dogfighting, a barbaric sport, in what makes this story so compelling. Along with the fact that he was an active player at the time in the prime of his career.
10. Rae Carruth
Rae Carruth was a wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers with a couple of seasons under his belt. In 2000, Carruth was tried and found guilty for murdering his girlfriend and their unborn child. The events of the murder were that Carruth drove up to his girlfriend's vehicle while another car drove up and shot her. She died after calling police. Their daughter was born via C-section, 3 months early, and died shortly after. Carruth received 18 years in prison. This story has faded for many, but it still remains one of the saddest in the sports for the circumstances under which the events transpired.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
What defines a real hair band?
My previous post was on the hair metal genre. Originally this post was suppose to be that one, a discussion of the genre and and analysis of sorts of who is a hair band and who is not. I got sidetracked onto a much interesting topic about the ability of the genre to revive itself. So now i will focus on the topic of who I consider the "hair bands" who I see as often mislabeled.
First, the bands that got lumped in by accident. One thing that I found interesting about this genre is the number of bands that got lumped in. There are probably several reasons, I have a few theories. The bands these bands toured with; if you are an up and coming band, an example would be Tesla, and get an opportunity to open for a big band, Poison, you take that opportunity. Unfortunately, you get labeled as something you might not sonically be like. I use Tesla and Poison, because they did in fact tour together, and they could not be further apart, outside of the lone fact that they make a form of hard rock music. A second reason is that labels signed up as many of these hard rock/metal bands as they could, so the label had more control over the marketing of the band which led to further confusion over the band's genre. These factors I think result in the mislabeling. But, I want to help set the record straight on these bands.
1. Guns N Roses - this band gets labeled as a hair band from time to time. The reason, I think, is that in the Welcome to the Jungle video. lead singer Axl Rose does his hair up and puts on heavy amounts of makeup, looking like a typical L.A. hair band. But, this is the only time in the band's career he appears like this. Everyone else is dressed in a gypsy-like manner, jeans and t-shirts, Axl included. Almost every album they released had a parental advisory, they controversial, (see G'N'R Lies), they were incredibly diverse musically (the Illusion albums), they were full of attitude and anger and they were really dangerous (causing riots in Montreal and St. Louis). The band was never a hair band, but somehow gets labeled as one.
2. Def Leppard - A little tougher to defend, but I think it can be done. Lep was one of the biggest bands of the decade, making a very poppy hard rock sound. But it is tough to call the band a hair band, they were just a big band. Pyromania and Hysteria combined to sell 22 million + in the U.S. since their releases, an amazing feat. The Lep members are similar to GNR in the sense that they just didn't have that hair metal look, no one had big hair, no makeup, and clothing was really pretty simple. The band's first 2 albums are clearly metal albums specifically NewWaveOfBritishHeavyMetal (NWOBHM) which is akin to Iron Maiden, which is not a hair band. Pyromania had elements of the NWOBHM and Hysteria's producer, Mutt Lange wanted to create the hard rock version of Michael Jackson's Thriller. So, I come to the conclusion that Def Lep cannot be labeled a hair band.
3. Jackyl - Not well known as the first 2, but a band that is grossly mislabeled. The band came out in 1992, a time in which hair bands were dead, but this band went onto sell 1 million copies of their debut and their followup went gold in 1994 and they played Woodstock. They did write some pretty nasty and dirty songs (Dirty Little Mind, Down on Me, I could never touch you like you do), but the band is really more of a combination of a Southern Rock and Metal band. A tough band to define; the band loves the South, from 'Redneck Punk' to 'Dixieland', to 'Dumb Ass County Boy', not typical of hairbands. They really don't have any ballads song. Most of their songs represent a sense of work hard, play hard attitude, motorcycle riding, be loud and be proud.
4. Skid Row - Such a great band that had a hugely successful album, that is a hair album. But, after that self titled debut and power ballads, the band's true colors appeared. A pure metal band. Slave to the Grind (1991) was a heavy metal band, the album went from talking about typical hair band topics into social commentary. Poverty (Livin on a Chain Gang) political unrest (Slave to the Grind, The Threat) political corruption (Monkey Business) and drug abuse (Wasted Time). The band toured with Guns N Roses and Metallica for this album and followed this album with an even heavier album in 1995. The band was mis-labeled because of their first album, when they were clearly much heavier and had more to offer.
5. Tesla - The final band I want to talk about. This one, out of all of the above mentioned bands seems to be most mislabeled. The band is from Sacramento CA, probably the biggest band besides Deftones to come out of the city. The band's sound is not hair metal, it is really tough to label. There is alot of talent and several of their early releases contain both electric and acoustic guitar parts playing together or alternating between the two. The band was a not glam at all, I mean the lead singer drove a cement truck for a living before the band. The band was named after Nikolai Tesla, considered by many the inventor of the radio, and had songs and albums named after the debate of Tesla (the man) concerning who invented the radio. My point, who writes a song about this, who would right a song about Edison, who would do a cover of Five Man Electric Band's "Signs". The answer is a. Tesla, and b. not a hair band.
There are few other bands that can be debated as well, but I felt that these 5 were the most critical since they were almost all very successful and had been mislabeled far too often. There is one band that defines the genre, but there are key elements. The look (big hair/makeup), the sound(metal, but poppy/catchy, and power ballads)(strong 70s influence), the subject matter (girls, partying, drinking and more girls), the attitude (I am a rock star, I am king od my world), and the clothing(spandex/leather, black and then a lot of bad colors like neons). Thus for some reason or another all of the above mention bands cannot be labeled as a hair bands.
Hair Metal; love it or hate it, it won't go away
Hair Metal.
Although I was born in the later years of this music genre, there has always been something that has made me love to this genre and style. It started when I got my first Motley Crue CD (Dr. Feelgood) 7 years ago and I have created a collection and become an expect of sorts on the genre. I have a few bands that are personal favorites, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, KISS (the non-makeup years) W.A.S.P., and Poison. I have almost all of the CDs by these artists and continue to support them with their new music. Some other artists that I have strong liking towards include Ratt, L.A. Guns, Faster Pussycat, Warrant, and Slaughter. There are some other bands that I enjoy that often get mis-labeled as hair bands, Def Leppard, Jackyl, and Skid Row. There are dozens of other bands out there that are as good or even better than the ones mentioned above; (Twisted Sister, Quiet Riot, Dokken, Winger, White Lion, and Cinderella).
It is tough to defend these bands as far as musical merit goes. The songs are straight forward in every sense of the word. The look is unorthodox and the music is formulaic. But, I always enjoyed the music for the entertainment value. It is over the top, but there is certain level of showmanship that makes the music good. Watching Decline of Civilization II, recently, I tried to see if I could better understand the genre or give the genre some deeper meaning, but couldn't.
For those who have not seen it, do yourself a favor and go find it or wait for it to appear on TV. Essentially it is a documentary of heavy metal in the late 1980s, focusing on the L.A. hair bands, but also containing. The musicians interviewed in the film (the majority of the interviews were with artists from minor bands, but a few better known bands were mixed in), came across as un-educated guys who really just liked having a good time. The film did do a good deal of for shadowing, the music was becoming being over populated with too many bands, many of which had better looks than talent. With the exception of a somewhat up and coming band (a few albums had been released, but had yet to reach their peak), Megadeth. The most famous scene is probably with Chris Holmes of W.A.S.P. Holmes is seen drinking vodka straight from the bottle, literally pouring it down, while sitting in his pool, with his mother of all people sitting in the side of the pool looking on in disgust. The interview consists of basic questions; why do you do this, where do you see yourself in 10 years, how does it feel to be this big star etc. Holmes says he is a full blown alcoholic and predicts he will be dead in 10 years and tries to get his mother to drink with him. Ultimately, painting these artists are really people we should feel for, not envy. Though, I think it should be noted that the director did select to interview a guy who is nicknamed "the mean-motherfucking-man" by his bandmates and had his band leader say that Holmes is only good at two things, getting drunk and playing guitar, and is generally considered one of the most outrageous and reckless people of the metal community. On a happier note, he was also married to Lita Ford for a couple of years. This interview and the film as a whole shined a new light onto the scene, one that was much grittier and darker that it appeared on the cover.
But here we are 20 years later and many of these bands that were once dismissed continue to tour and make new music. Almost all of the big bands still exist, Bon Jovi and Motley Crue both have big tours. Bon Jovi somehow managed to navigate the changing times of the 90s and still sell millions of records, every album released post 1990 has gone at least gold or platinum. Some of these bands have undergone lineup changes, but still keep charging onward. There is even an emerging market of new bands that borrow heavily upon the sound and look of the 1980s. The one people would most recognize is Steel Panther, (The Darkness and Beautiful Creatures are others of note) but in Sweeden there are many bands out there that copy the look and sound (Crash Diet, Vains of Jenna, Hardcore Superstar). A revival of sorts is going on, which is amazing to see since the music, will not go away.
No more Fiesta Mix on Airplanes! AKA the downsides of travelling
I have done some flying over the past month and had the pleasure of enjoying some various airline food. Now, we all know that food on airlines can be good and can be bad. But, a recent flight I was on served Cranberry snack mix. The flight was at 8AM, so they had to serve a breakfast item, so I went in thinking, alright, dried cranberries, maybe some fruit. I opened the mini bag only to find that there were at most 5(!!) cranberries, with a mix of honey flavored sesame sticks and cinnamon flavored soybeans. Remind you, it was 8 in morning. I was hunger, so I figured why not. I did not want to buy their snack/meals, which are decent, but out of principle. The cranberries were alright, but the sesame sticks were not sweet nor were the soybeans, both tasted just like they do in the fiesta mix, bland and salty.
I know the airlines are hurting, but could they at least get something a little better? This food is cheap, I did a search to buy the Fiesta Mix online and it is $6.95 a pound, which if divided up probably provides enough snacks for about 30 people, so they probably need to buy 5 bags per flight, so basically an airline may spend under $50 for food for an airplane of people who paid a couple of hundred dollars each for their seat.
It was bad enough when they took peanuts away, they at least had flavor and some nutritional content, but what they have replaced it with is literally non-food. Pretzels are a step up from the fiesta mix (Who would serve this at their party?, No one!), but still a step down from peanuts. And this breakfast snack was only a breakfast snack because they put 5 cranberries in it. They could have easily just gone out and bought those mini boxes of raisins, might have to spend $20 more per flight, but I am sure people would be happier with what they got.
I hate to have to complain about such a minor and insignificant item, especially when there are many people who may not have the opportunity to fly and would be grateful to have just that opportunity, but the overall experience of flying has really gone downhill. And it has gone down hill fast, I remember when I was a kid, 10 or 15 years ago, how food was good, flying was an enjoyable, you didn't get treated like a criminal at security, and overall the experience was something to look forward to. But now, it is terrible.
On another note, one of the most entertaining parts of traveling has been security. In 2002, my mom, grandfather and I took a trip from Atlanta to California. Well, the way we ending up buying tickets, we had one way tickets at a certain point. (We went Atlanta to San Francisco, then San Fran to Seattle, Seattle to Atlanta, so the one way was San Fran to Seattle). So, we of course got the serious and expert inspection at the airport. We, being good citizens, agreed and let the TSA people to do their job. Now, my mom and I had no problem with the inspection, search the bags, take off shoes (this is pre-shoe bomber incident). But they made my 89 year old grandfather take off his shoes, which was a lot of extra work for him, since the couldn't provide him a shoehorn. But it brings up the point that comes up time and time again, why do this to someone who is clearly not a threat? Look, he was 89 years old, we used a wheel chair to get him onto the plane, really is this your threat. And now more recently, my mom had her bag searched as we went through the airport at Los Angeles (LAX, which by the way, is quite possibly the worst designed airport, and what is worse it that the city has the second largest metro population in the country, so it is not some small airport where it wouldn't matter). So my mom's bag was searched and the item of interest, was a piece of fish that we got as a gift (Copper River gift set, the fish is freeze dried or something). I had to just start laughing at the situation, because simply, this was the threat? A piece of fish.
So, back to my original point, the overall experience of flying has significantly gone down and the food, as I see represents this. Something that was once good has become awful and little steps could be made to remedy this.
I know the airlines are hurting, but could they at least get something a little better? This food is cheap, I did a search to buy the Fiesta Mix online and it is $6.95 a pound, which if divided up probably provides enough snacks for about 30 people, so they probably need to buy 5 bags per flight, so basically an airline may spend under $50 for food for an airplane of people who paid a couple of hundred dollars each for their seat.
It was bad enough when they took peanuts away, they at least had flavor and some nutritional content, but what they have replaced it with is literally non-food. Pretzels are a step up from the fiesta mix (Who would serve this at their party?, No one!), but still a step down from peanuts. And this breakfast snack was only a breakfast snack because they put 5 cranberries in it. They could have easily just gone out and bought those mini boxes of raisins, might have to spend $20 more per flight, but I am sure people would be happier with what they got.
I hate to have to complain about such a minor and insignificant item, especially when there are many people who may not have the opportunity to fly and would be grateful to have just that opportunity, but the overall experience of flying has really gone downhill. And it has gone down hill fast, I remember when I was a kid, 10 or 15 years ago, how food was good, flying was an enjoyable, you didn't get treated like a criminal at security, and overall the experience was something to look forward to. But now, it is terrible.
On another note, one of the most entertaining parts of traveling has been security. In 2002, my mom, grandfather and I took a trip from Atlanta to California. Well, the way we ending up buying tickets, we had one way tickets at a certain point. (We went Atlanta to San Francisco, then San Fran to Seattle, Seattle to Atlanta, so the one way was San Fran to Seattle). So, we of course got the serious and expert inspection at the airport. We, being good citizens, agreed and let the TSA people to do their job. Now, my mom and I had no problem with the inspection, search the bags, take off shoes (this is pre-shoe bomber incident). But they made my 89 year old grandfather take off his shoes, which was a lot of extra work for him, since the couldn't provide him a shoehorn. But it brings up the point that comes up time and time again, why do this to someone who is clearly not a threat? Look, he was 89 years old, we used a wheel chair to get him onto the plane, really is this your threat. And now more recently, my mom had her bag searched as we went through the airport at Los Angeles (LAX, which by the way, is quite possibly the worst designed airport, and what is worse it that the city has the second largest metro population in the country, so it is not some small airport where it wouldn't matter). So my mom's bag was searched and the item of interest, was a piece of fish that we got as a gift (Copper River gift set, the fish is freeze dried or something). I had to just start laughing at the situation, because simply, this was the threat? A piece of fish.
So, back to my original point, the overall experience of flying has significantly gone down and the food, as I see represents this. Something that was once good has become awful and little steps could be made to remedy this.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Billboard changes album charting policy; A obvious policy or a reflection of the music industry?
http://www.billboard.com/#/column/chartbeat/billboard-200-undergoes-makeover-1004043310.story
The above article came out a few weeks back discussing how the Billboard Top 200 album chart will undergo a change. In the past the chart would only allow albums to chart on the Top 200 if the album was released within the past 18 months, does not have a charting single, and has fallen below the Top 100, then it can not chart on the Billboard 200. The albums that sell after reaching that criteria chart on a the Top Catalog Albums. Now, on paper it sounds like a obvious decision, that in many ways makes simple sense. No matter when an album was released, it should chart it sales on the same chart. And, how many albums released from 3 years or 13 years ago are still selling in a the same numbers as when they were released (very few), so it would make no difference.
But, to me there is probably a little more going on. There music industry is not selling numbers in the manner it has in the past. For example the best selling album of 2008, Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III, selling 2.88 million. Pretty impressive, but go back a couple years to 2005, the best selling album, Mariah Carey's "The Emancipation of Mimi" selling over 5 million copies, nearly twice of Lil Wayne. But go all the way back to 2000, when N'sync was the best selling album sold 9.9 million in for the year. And a year earlier, the Backstreet Boys "Millennium" sold 11 million album in a year!
Of course, in 2000 file sharing was not as prevent, but Itunes also did not exist and digital sales count to the Billboard count. Long story short, albums are not selling at the rate they once did. Artists are becoming single based, they sell singles that chart well and sell well, but the albums they come off of do not. Lady GaGa has had 5 Top ten singles off her debut album and not even gone multi-platinum.
The second reason, which is may have been the more impactful for the timing of the decision than the decision itself. For three weeks this summer, the top Catalog album outsold the top top 200 album. The album was Michael Jackson's "Number Ones" released in 2003 to a lukewarm reception. This greatest hits sold so well as a result of Jackson's death, and since many retailers had this album in higher stock than his other album, it was what people picked up first. This event is minor to many, but the impact is that a greatest hits album released 6 years ago (sometimes viewed as a replacement to the "HIStory" greatest hits double disc that came out in 1995) could outsell an artist in the present making new music.
Billboard can create positive reasons to why they are combining charts, but it is much more likely that the chart is being created out of necessity, albums are not selling near as well as they were and in order to make it appear that albums are selling in better numbers*, they need to combine the charts.
*Billboard lists how many albums are sold weekly in their website, but the numbers are always mentioned in the end of the article, and only compared to the same week last year, and total yearly sales are only compared to the totals of the previous year.
The above article came out a few weeks back discussing how the Billboard Top 200 album chart will undergo a change. In the past the chart would only allow albums to chart on the Top 200 if the album was released within the past 18 months, does not have a charting single, and has fallen below the Top 100, then it can not chart on the Billboard 200. The albums that sell after reaching that criteria chart on a the Top Catalog Albums. Now, on paper it sounds like a obvious decision, that in many ways makes simple sense. No matter when an album was released, it should chart it sales on the same chart. And, how many albums released from 3 years or 13 years ago are still selling in a the same numbers as when they were released (very few), so it would make no difference.
But, to me there is probably a little more going on. There music industry is not selling numbers in the manner it has in the past. For example the best selling album of 2008, Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III, selling 2.88 million. Pretty impressive, but go back a couple years to 2005, the best selling album, Mariah Carey's "The Emancipation of Mimi" selling over 5 million copies, nearly twice of Lil Wayne. But go all the way back to 2000, when N'sync was the best selling album sold 9.9 million in for the year. And a year earlier, the Backstreet Boys "Millennium" sold 11 million album in a year!
Of course, in 2000 file sharing was not as prevent, but Itunes also did not exist and digital sales count to the Billboard count. Long story short, albums are not selling at the rate they once did. Artists are becoming single based, they sell singles that chart well and sell well, but the albums they come off of do not. Lady GaGa has had 5 Top ten singles off her debut album and not even gone multi-platinum.
The second reason, which is may have been the more impactful for the timing of the decision than the decision itself. For three weeks this summer, the top Catalog album outsold the top top 200 album. The album was Michael Jackson's "Number Ones" released in 2003 to a lukewarm reception. This greatest hits sold so well as a result of Jackson's death, and since many retailers had this album in higher stock than his other album, it was what people picked up first. This event is minor to many, but the impact is that a greatest hits album released 6 years ago (sometimes viewed as a replacement to the "HIStory" greatest hits double disc that came out in 1995) could outsell an artist in the present making new music.
Billboard can create positive reasons to why they are combining charts, but it is much more likely that the chart is being created out of necessity, albums are not selling near as well as they were and in order to make it appear that albums are selling in better numbers*, they need to combine the charts.
*Billboard lists how many albums are sold weekly in their website, but the numbers are always mentioned in the end of the article, and only compared to the same week last year, and total yearly sales are only compared to the totals of the previous year.
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