Quote of the day

And the over the top emotive quote of the day that for some reason like goes to Lemuria for the line, "When I lost everything, you offered Jesus. Didn't seem like a fair trade at all."

Thoughts on Cultivating A Sports Fan

Every so often when I allow myself I wonder what it would be like to have kids. I have no real interest in having them, but it's fun to think about sometimes. I think about what books I would like them to read, what films would be interesting, how it would feel when they achieve something that they care about and worked for. This are simple harmless idle thoughts. The thought that seems to come up the most to me though is what sports and teams would I try and convince them to watch and enjoy.*

I have always felt like my sports fandom was missing something because I never had a team that my family carried about. Both my dad and my brother are sports polygamist. I find this idea to be disgusting. I have long said that you pick a team and that's it. You root for that team forever not matter what.**

Most kids inherit their teams from their parents, or at least that is how it has always seemed to me. But, I often wonder about the kids who grew up in families that didn't really watch sports or who were fans of the ilk of my dad and brother. How do these kids go about connecting with a sport or a team?

I remember when I was growing up that Wimbledon use to be on HBO. My parents both worked and so I had tons and tons of free time during the days of summer to myself. Wimbledon became appointment viewing for the majority of my youth. Even today I can't help but watch if Wimbledon is on, and I don't mean watch a few minutes, I mean watch hours of it.

How do you get that sort of brand loyalty out of someone exactly? I often hear about how baseball is not getting new fans and such. I think there are a TON of reasons for this, but maybe one of them is that it isn't on enough. I know that sounds a bit crazy. You have the ESPN Monday night game, the ESPN Wednesday Night Game, The MLB Network Thursday Night Game, The Fox Saturday Day Game**, The MLB Nework Saturday Night Game, The TBS Sunday Day Game, and last (but certainly not least) The ESPN Sunday night baseball game. And of course you have whatever game is on your local RSN, possible a cubs or white sox game on WGN, and in the past a Braves game on TBS.***

However I really don't think that's enough games on. I mean it's a TON of games, there is no doubt about it, but half of the games are fairly uninteresting and b/c of national start times tend to lead to an East Coast bias of what games are shown. I have found that with baseball the announcers do a fairly poor job of actually explaining the game. I mean not the high level stuff of throw ball, hit ball, catch ball. I mean the more subtle stuff of why a pitcher choose to throw which pitch there, why the defense is aligned the way it is. More of the game with in a game stuff. I think to do that and to really drive it home you need to show more games.

Now, I know there is a ZERO chance of what I am suggesting happening, but why not have more day games? I know the big money for the teams is games at night, but if you truly want the sport to grow, why not show the games during the day and really suck in the younger audience who is at home doing nothing all summer? I think if baseball could some how get that demographic then they would be set. The younger you suck a fan in the better.

In the past baseball was able to do this with stuff like baseball cards, but those have essentially gone the way of the Dodo. So I am wondering if MLB could work out some sort of deal to have all day games televised in all every market. It would be costly and odds are they would lose some money, but it could create some life long fans. I dunno, the idea is pretty damn pie in the sky, but all I know is that I still watch tennis, and I am not even what you would call a tennis fan.

*And by try I mean force.

**Baring them moving or doing something truly unforgivable like signing A-Roid

***Not really sure if they do that anymore or not. My gut says no, but I wonder if they are on a different channel b/c I live in their "region"...

Lemuria: Get Better

Lemuria's Get Better is a great pop record. It is a no frills power pop record. This is the type of record I don't spend nearly enough time with. It's the kind of record that when one of the songs comes up on shuffle you can't help but think, "Why don't I listen to this all the time?" I think the main reason I don't spend enough time with records of this ilk is simply because so much of it seems boring, but this band is anything but boring. Almost all the songs are up beat and catchy with very simple lyrics*. If your looking for a fun sing along record, then I highly suggest Lemuria's 2008 release Get Better.*


*When I say simple i don't mean simplistic. I mean often repeated. The lyrics deal with the usual themes. Love, Love Lost, Friends, Day to Day life, and so forth.

*Don't worry by the way, a slew of emo and hardcore reviews are coming. I have by no means forgotten my roots.

Owen: At Home With Own

Let's try something new. See I have not bothered to write words at all in so long that I fear that I may lose the skill. So, with that crippling fear driving us forward, how about some record reviews? I have recently gotten into buying and listening to music again* So the first batch of new records arrived on my door Saturday. First up Owen - At Home With Owen

Some quick background on the Owen. Owen is a group out of Chicago IL. The members have done a zillion other bands that they would probably prefer people not to mention in reviews.* Plus framing bands in the context of all their former bands often times give you the wrong impression and sets expectations in the wrong direction.

Owen play soft indie twee pop. The songs usually center around intricate acoustic guitar playing. There are occasional elements of rock, but over all the band is a soothing listen. The vocals have that classic mid west somewhat off key and yet right in there feel that so many bands from the region have mastered. The lyrical content is great. If you are older guy who has spent anytime on tour, you will be able to relate to a great many songs. Some of my personal favorite lyrics include:

"The free beer and basement shows don't mean what they did.
It's what you do, not who you were,
What you wear, where you've been.
So do something."
This one sums up so many people I have known through the years who are attempting trading on their past glory in bands that almost no one has ever heard of. Trust me, I get how they feel. I sure as hell miss basement shows with bands rocking and screaming. Instead I live in a world where because I have a job where I get up in the morning it means I can't go to rock shows. It sucks and it's painful, but living in the past isn't the answer.

Bad backs and hardwood floors.
I'm so sick of waking up sore and not knowing where I am.
And this was a lot more fun when the music meant something to someone.
And I didn't have a girlfriend.
Basically this one makes me miss everything about tour. Mostly because I have not been touring constantly for a decade plus like the singer.


Over all At Home With Owen is a solid B+ album. It will be in heavy rotation on long night drives for a good while.


And might I just say, that I had no idea how much I missed it.

Let's just say they were in some supper influential indie bands and just move on.

Continuing The Love Fest

I have no real opinion on news papers. I would say that 85% of the news papers I have bought were because I need something to wrap glasses and dishes in. I have never been the type of person to derive a great deal of pleasure from their crisp smell, their crinkling sounds as I turn their pages, or the way in you can flip back and forth b/w the various sections any way you want. I have simply never been that guy.

I find it regretable that so many papers are folding and laying off tons of workers, mostly b/c I am in constant fear for one of my friends job. With all that said, the wonderful Joe Posnanski has created another great blog. This on is all about the down fall of news papers.

For a primer on this blog I suggest you check out these two posts from his normal blog.

Check!?! Check!?!

Been lazy and have not been writing all. Actually, the strange part is I tend to write more when I am lazy. I have actually just been doing stuff lately. However let's move past all of that and talk about the best baseball writer going. His name is Joe Posnanski He writes for Kansas City Star and has hands down one the best and most engaging blogs going. I rarely believe in people who I don't know. In fact you might say it's a rule I developed as a kid.

I grew up loving sports. I played baseball, basketball, did karate*, and skateboarded. I never had hero's in any of these arena's though. There were people who I thought were really good, and seemed to excel above all others, but I never thought, man I wanna be like that guy. My parents were plenty of inspiration.** I never felt like I need to look up to anyone else. Their story was plenty good enough to dream about (and still is). However when I read Posnankski he makes me think about things I normally don't.

See when it comes to baseball, I am stats guy. I am not great or brilliant at this by any means, but I understand them for the most part. I see the game through them, and use them as my baseline for figuring out how good I think a player is***. However, I have a healthy love for talent evaluation, and the more subtle parts of the game. Every spring I love reading the stories about the "Greenest grass you'll ever see" and stories about, "The Crack of the bat as the first pitch is thrown."
That stuff is amazing and does what sports are suppose to do. They are suppose to make you forget about everything else, and just enjoy the game. Not sit there and calculate the chances of X, Y and Z happening, and that's what Posnanski brings to the table.

For the last few years it seems like 75% of the baseball stories are about steroids. I find this maddening because I couldn't care less who did what when and where. I am fine with the testing that is done now, but I believe we should really be doing blood testing. All I really want to do is sit back and marvel and watch players doing amazing and extraoridnarie things that I can not do. I think Posnanski nails a bit of that them in this column. Even if you don't care a lick about baseball, it's a great read.

Oh and check out his blog. There is TONS of none baseball stuff there that is just fun.


*I have never figured out a good way to say that I use to do karate. I mean trained for like 8 or 9 years. I can't remember exactly at this point. To say I trained isn't even slightly accurate, but to over play it is even more annoying. There needs to be a word for something that was truly meaningful and life changing that you were really good at but don't want talk about. I am sure the word exists, but I just don't know it.


**That's right a kind word about my parents. Take a deep breathe.

***Most likely it's a hold over from collecting baseball cards.

Fuck Richard Florida

We have this list to be proud of. I am certain my friend Fearlessvk is very proud today.