A Football Post? Heresy!

This will be an interesting year for me to watch the playoffs – I have no team for which I have strong feelings for.

I have three teams I root for a lot (Bears, Giants, and the Jets – I’ve tried to let them go, but their scrappy performance and Rex Ryan’s coaching job have brought me back in) and three teams I passionately root again (Dallas, which was due to growing up in the ‘70s and my father’s JFK assassination-fueled dislike of the city; Oakland, because of Al Davis, and a third team to come).  So, in order of least liked to most, here’s who I’m rooting for – and against:

12. New England Patriots:  the Jets’ arch-rivals, exacerbated by Bill Belichick, whose cowardly departure from the Jets to coach the Patriots after one day to coach the Patriots (admittedly, Bill Parcells had done something similar in reverse a few years before, but this was far more blatant) was nauseating.  Can’t stand him, can’t stand the team.  (My father, on the other hand, was a big Patriots fan, but he died before Belichick took over.)

11. Philadelphia Eagles:  Long-time irritating rival of the Giants.

10. Cincinnati Bengals:  The Browns have done such an awful job running this team.  They’ve done better the last few years, but I have a feeling what you’re now seeing is as good as it’s going to get.

9. Carolina Panthers:  More a geographical annoyance; I spent two years living and working in North Carolina while my wife went to Duke, and they weren’t fun.

8. New Orleans Saints:  Don’t hate them – Drew Brees is a good guy, and the city’s been through a lot – but don’t have any strong feeling for them, either.

7. Seattle Seahawks:  No strong feelings one way or another.   I’d probably like them more if they hadn’t had seven players suspended over the course of this year for substance abuse.

6. San Francisco 49ers: Might rank a little higher if Jim Harbaugh weren’t such a pain.  On the other hand, if Harbaugh weren’t the coach they probably wouldn’t be in the playoffs.

5. Kansas City Chiefs:  It’s been a long time since they were in a Super Bowl – the only teams of the original NFL-AFL merger that have been out longer are the Jets (by a year) and the Lions (never) – and KC is a nice town.

4. San Diego Chargers:  I have a lot of friends there.  Pittsburgh would have ranked higher; they’re an admirable organization and I have relatives who are huge Steeler fans.

3. Indianapolis Colts:  Relatively local.

2. Denver Broncos:  Denver’s also a nice city, and Peyton Manning’s a good guy who deserves a second Super Bowl win.

1. Green Bay Packers:  Surprise!  Despite yesterday’s loss and the rivalry, I like the Packers.  Locally owned by the city is a big reason, but they also have the history (I’ve read Instant Replay three or four times), and I liked them before moving out here.  Yes, there will always be bitter feelings between Green Bay fans and Chicago fans, but there’s also a ton of respect.

 

*****

 

Now, onto today’s bowl games:

-          Armed Forces Bowl (Middle Tennessee v. Navy) – this start in about fifteen minutes, so I guess I ought to post this soon.  Navy’s had a pretty good record in bowl games, and I try to root for the guys in the armed forces whenever I can, so it’s an easy call here.  It’s about the lousiest of the games left to play, however – the only one ranked lower is the Heart of Dallas Bowl, which is inexplicably being played New Year’s Day opposite three other bowl games and the Rose Bowl parade.

-          Music City Bowl (Georgia Tech v. Ole Miss) – hard to get excited about this, but it’s in Nashville, so the fan bases won’t have too far to travel.

-          Alamo Bowl (Texas v. Oregon) – this should be a good game.  Oregon had BCS hopes at the beginning of the year, and then fell apart at the end.  Texas and Mack Brown are parting was, because once you’ve won a championship, nothing less will do after that.   I guess I’d like to see Oregon win.

-          Holiday Bowl (Texas Tech v. Arizona State) – almost always a good game, but it starts so late (9:15 PM Central?!?) that I doubt I’ll watch much.

The Future of The Yankees

Apparently, they've finally figured out they need to develop prospects.

In the last 40 years, the Yankees have had two great runs - the 1976-1981 teams that won five division crowns, four pennants, and two World Championships, and the 1995-2013 teams, that have made the playoffs all but one year and brought home five World Championships.  The first group was put together with a couple of free agent acquisitions and savvy trades (Sparky Lyle for Danny Cater, Graig Nettles for a bunch of prospects and has-beens, Chris Chambliss for a bunch of prospects and has-beens... wow, the Yankees should have sent Cleveland a thank-you note), the second with an amazing core of prospects that all panned out (Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, and Bernie Williams from a year or two before).  But they've been doing it lately with free agents and guys that signed too-long contracts (yes, we're looking at you, Mr. Rodriguez).

It may take a few years.

Miami Cold

Cold is the best description of the feelings Florida residents have for the Miami Marlins, who built a new baseball park (primarily at the residents' expense) and brought in several high-priced free agents, then dumped them all within a year.  And things aren't getting any better, per Buzzfeed.

This Is Why God Invented Snowblowers

Carl Pavano will likely be out six to eight weeks after rupturing his spleen shoveling snow.

Not to get too far upon my high horse, but Pavano made eight and a half million dollars last year and over 70 million in his career, per Baseball Reference.  (He was still a free agent up until now for this year, however - think teams will be lining up to sign him now.)  You think it's possible to hire somebody to shovel the driveway, or buy a snowblower?

Seattle Mariners Trade for Michael Morse

The Mariners get Mike Morse from Washington in a three-team trade.  Sort of understandable, given the Nats just resigned Adam LaRoche.  Although I'm thinking (1) LaRoche is two years older than Morse, and (2) Morse has more upside, but whatever.

A's dump George Kottaras as part of the deal, who would make a good backup catcher for someone.

Your 2012 Radio Announcers

I have the phone app MLB AtBat 2012, which allows me to listen to any baseball game live. I wanted to know who would be on the air, so I compiled a list of who announces for which teams, which I'm sharing here.

Baltimore Orioles – Joe Angel, Fred Manfra
Boston Red Sox – Joe Castiglione, Dave O’Brien
Chicago White Sox – Ed Farmer, Darrin Jackson
Cleveland Indians – Tom Hamilton, Jim Rosenhaus
Detroit Tigers – Dan Dickerson, Jim Price
Kansas City Royals – Denny Matthews, Bob Davis, Steve Physioc
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – Terry Smith, Jose Mota
Minnesota Twins – Kris Atteberry, Cory Provus
New York Yankees – John Sterling, Suzyn Waldman
Oakland Athletics – Ken Korach, Vince Cotroneo, Ray Fosse
Seattle Mariners – Rick Rizzs, (rotating) Ron Fairly/Ken Levine/Ken Wilson/Dave Henderson/Dave Valle
Tampa Bay Rays – Andy Freed, Dave Wills
Texas Rangers – Eric Nadel, Steve Busby
Toronto Blue Jays – Jerry Howarth, Mike Wilner, Alan Ashby

Arizona Diamondbacks – Greg Schulte, Tom Candiotti, Jeff Munn
Atlanta Braves – Jim Powell, Don Sutton
Chicago Cubs – Pat Hughes, Keith Moreland
Cincinnati Reds – Marty Brennaman, Jeff Brantley, Jim Kelch
Colorado Rockies – Jack Corrigan, Jerry Schemmel
Houston Astros – Milo Hamilton, Brett Dolan, Dave Raymond
Los Angeles Dodgers – Vin Scully, Charlie Steiner, Rick Monday
Miami Marlins – Dave Van Horne, Glenn Geffner
Milwaukee Brewers – Bob Uecker, Joe Block
New York Mets – Howie Rose, Josh Lewin
Philadelphia Phillies – Chris Wheeler, Larry Andersen
Pittsburgh Pirates – Greg Brown, Tim Neverett, Bob Walk, Steve Blass, John Wehner
San Diego Padres – Jerry Coleman, Ted Leitner, Andy Masur
San Francisco Giants – Jon Miller, Duane Kuiper, Mike Krukow, Dave Flemming
St. Louis Cardinals – John Rooney, Mike Shannon
Washington Nationals – Charlie Slowes, Dave Jageler

Superhits '78, Part 4

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted one of these.

Kiss, “Shout It Out Loud [live version],” #54, February 12, 1978
Yet another song my son can sing along to thanks to its exposure on Scooby-Doo. This was the second time “Shout It Out Loud” had been released as a single; the studio version had peaked at #31 in May of 1976. Kiss was a merchandise bonanza by that point, given “Shout It Out Loud” came from their second double live album, along with six studio albums, in four years – not to mention all the other stuff (including their own comic book). The worm would start to turn within the next two years: the band members’ solo albums were all sales disappointments, a made-for-TV movie was an artistic failure, the disco-sounding “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” turned off the heavy metal fans, and drummer Peter Criss would be phased out of the band (Ace Frehley would follow a few years later).



Prism, “Take Me to the Kaptin,” #59, February 12, 1978
Uninteresting hard rock piece from a Vancouver-based band probably best known for launching the careers of producer Bruce Fairbairn (he co-produced their self-titled first album, from which this is taken), and songwriter Jim Vallance (who plays drums here under the pseudonym Rodney Higgs). This is the second of three Hot 100 hits for the band, which still records and tours today (although I don’t believe any of the original members of the group remain).



Cerrone, “Supernature,” #70, February 12, 1978
Disco concoction from French superstar Mark Cerrone, who was a bestseller in Europe but wasn’t able to achieve the same in the states. I remember picking up my first issue of Billboard magazine at age 15 and seeing a 16-page ad piece on this “best-selling” singer, all the time wondering who on earth he was.



Billy Joel, “Just the Way You Are,” #3, February 19, 1978
The song that really launched Joel into the stratosphere. First hit off The Stranger, his fourth solo album (well, fifth if you count the mastered-at-the-wrong-speed curio Cold Spring Harbor). Actually, I’ve heard that “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)” was the first release and did nothing, only charting after this song hit, but I don’t have any way of verifying that. Written for his (first) ex-wife, Elizabeth.



Santa Esmeralda, “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” #15, February 19, 1978
And I spent all these years thinking this was one of the first songs by a Hispanic group to hit the Top 20. Not so much; the band was formed in Paris, and lead singer Leroy Gomez, previously in Tavares, was born in Wareham, Massachusetts. Nifty disco concoction, and it tied the Animals’ version when it hit #15 (the song was actually written for Nina Simone).



Foreigner, “Long, Long Way From Home,” #20, February 19, 1978
Third and least of the singles from Foreigner’s self-titled debut, which had already yielded “Cold as Ice” and “Feels Like the First Time.” Left off of the first full Foreigner greatest hits set (I’m not counting their first greatest hits set from 1982, Records, which Atlantic Records concocted to create Christmas product while Foreigner was between albums) for no apparent reason, so some listeners may not know this one as well. It’s still an AOR staple today.



Odyssey, “Native New Yorker,” #21, February 19, 1978
Not really a disco song, contrary to popular opinion; call it sleek soul instead. The group was made up of three sisters from the Virgin Islands, and Filipino singer Tony Reynolds. “Native New Yorker” (which, oddly, didn’t get a whole lot of airplay on the New York Top 40 stations as I recall) would be their only American Top 40 hit.



Con Funk Shun, “Ffun,” #23, February 19, 1978
Long-lived seven-piece funk band from Valejo, California that would place 26 hits on the Billboard R&B charts over three decades, but never quite hit the same heights on the pop charts, scraping into the Top 40 only one more time in 1981 with “Too Tight.” This song was, uh, fun to listen to, but apparently didn’t draw enough of a pop audience to keep the momentum going.



Meco, “Theme From Close Encounters,” #25, February 19, 1978
Thirty-three years after it hit the charts, this song is now greeted by listeners with “This is a joke, right?” Domenico Monardo (a.k.a. Meco) was a jazz trombonist and arranger who decided to go in a different direction after seeing Star Wars four times in its first 24 hours of release. Working with producer/engineer Tony Bongiovi (yes, he’s Jon Bon Jovi’s brother), with whom he’d collaborated on songs like Gloria Gaynor’s “Never Can Say Goodbye,” Meco turned out the #1 “Star Wars” theme a few months later. This one was the followup, and what was similar to his big hit then makes one laugh today (especially the “goodbye… goodbye” part at the end). Still, Meco had nine chart hits between 1977 and 1983, so he must have known something.



Wet Willie, “Street Corner Serenade,” #30, February 19, 1978
Sixth chart hit (but only the second to hit the Top 40, three and a half years after their Top 10 smash “Keep On Smilin’”) for this southern rock group. Fifties nostalgia had already started going away at this point (the continued popularity of Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley notwithstanding), so the doo-wop sound and attitude of this song already must have felt a little passé to AM program directors.



War, “Galaxy,” #39, February 19, 1978
Fourteenth and final chart hit of the decade (including two with Eric Burdon), and unfortunately also their last. A catchy song that just didn’t live up to their biggest hits (“Cisco Kid,” “Why Can’t We Be Friends,” “Low Rider,” etc.). A label change, some confusion over identity, the loss of a couple of members, and a bitter split between the group and their manager (four of them still tour today as the Lowrider Band, but are prohibited from calling themselves War because one other member stuck with that manager and thus retains the name) have put them on the margins, but they deserve mention as a soul/funk band right with Sly & The Family Stone.



Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, “Breakdown,” February 19, 1978
The very first chart hit for Petty and the Heartbreakers, which didn’t become a hit until over a year after the self-titled LP came out. Still a signature song for Petty today, and the first of many, many hits for the band. Even better in its live version, where the audience sings the first verse. Here's how that works: http://youtu.be/qNxfPAF1frM (unfortunately, this video can't be embedded).



Stillwater, “Mind Bender,” February 19, 1978
This – thing, on the other hand, is justifiably never heard on the radio today. It used the “talk box” guitar effect (best known today on such songs as Peter Frampton’s “Do You Feel Like We Do” and the Eagles’ “Those Shoes”) over the course of an entire song, with the guitar telling the singer of its lineage. Stillwater was a southern rock band from the late ‘70s on Capricorn Records (home of The Allman Brothers Band, The Marshall Tucker Band, and others); headed to obscurity after that label collapsed. They’re not to be confused with the band Stillwater in the Cameron Crowe movie Almost Famous.



Andrea True Connection, “What’s Your Name, What’s Your Number,” February 19, 1978
Yikes, this is actually worse than the last song. Once and future pornographic actress True’s last Hot 100 hit, revealing the limits of her singing ability. For what it’s worth, True’s film work wasn’t a major factor in her music career; most of her publicity didn’t mention it, and in the days before Howard Stern, it wasn’t like she made lots of radio appearances in minimal attire. Fortunately, she seems to have invested her money well, as she’s been retired from both industries since the early 1980s, with no comebacks on the horizon (she turns 68 later this year).

UPDATE: I just rechecked Wikipedia; True died in November 2011 of heart failure.



Ted Nugent, “Home Bound,” #70, February 19, 1978
Follow up to Nugent’s biggest hit, “Cat Scratch Fever” (which actually only hit #30 – Nugent really wasn’t a singles artist), and the second single off the Cat Scratch Fever album. Nugent’s first eight solo albums (after leaving The Amboy Dukes) all went gold or platinum, so he was on a commercial high here. I’m not a Nugent fan (either of his music or his opinions), so my comments would be superfluous.



Pockets, “Come Go With Me,” #84, February 19, 1978
Not much available on this band, who does have a CD in print from this era through Collectables Records (unfortunately, none of the songs are available for legal download). Appears to be an eight-piece soul group from the Baltimore area, and this may have been their only Hot 100 entry.



Pablo Cruise, “Never Had a Love,” #87, February 19, 1978
Third and final single from their A Place in the Sun album, after the breakthrough hit “Whatcha Gonna Do?” and the title track. Fun and sun for this band from southern California, which still occasionally tours today (when founder Cory Lerios can break away from writing TV themes – he’s written the main theme or score for shows ranging from Baywatch to Days of Our Lives).



Eloise Laws, “1,000 Laughs,” #91, February 19, 1978
Dance hit from the R&B singer from Houston (her sister, Debra, was also a somewhat popular singer around this time). Laws had bad label luck – her first label, Invictus, folded not long after her first album came out, and her second, ABC, was in the middle of being sucked into MCA at that point, which meant only the superstar acts got attention. She’s still got a fair amount of material in print, but this song ain’t one of them.



Brick, “Ain’t Gonna’ Hurt Nobody,” #92, February 19, 1978
Funk/jazz band that had a hard time finding the handle outside of their 1977 hit “Dazz” (although the followup, “Dusic,” did climb into the Top 20). It probably didn’t help that their label was Bang Records, which was not terribly successful outside of Neil Diamond, and was in its death throes by the late 1970s. Still in print today, but as far as I can tell the band has gone its separate ways.