News has flashed about everything in the music world since Michael Jackson died. I have read every review about music in today's society and I am here to tell you that everything is messed up. Similar to when Elvis Presley died, we stand in shock by the death of the king of pop. Americans wonder what is next in the music world. Stars in music often fade within ten years of their existence, which is why legends like Jackson are rare. Take N'Sync and Britney Spears for example. Ten years ago, we thought that N'Sync could never die because of the great vocals by the entire band. Audiences were in aww by the backflipping feats conqured on stage. We saw droves of people run to ticket booths even if it meant that we were to see from the farthest vantage point. Females were no obstruction for the music industry either. Britney Spears was on top of the world hitting chord after chord in peaceful harmony. I was transfixed by her "Oops I did it again" video. She wore a tight leather jump suit that had every young teenager wanting her, while middle aged men were left urning for their youth. Then, everything changed. The music world realized that N'Sync was not really an entire band, but rather a very expensive set of speakers. Not once did the band pull off a show without lipsyncing to the music. Even more, the music sang by them was not evey theirs. Scores of people came together like a football team for these guys and all they had to do was look good and pull off countless on stage tricks. When Justin Timberlake left the band, we were all curious as to how the remaining members would do. As time has told us, nobody had any talent on that singing roster. What about Britney? The sad truth is that she became relevant during an era when anyone would listen to pop. The Backstreet Boys, O-Town, and N'Sync to name a few provided a very good cover for America's discrimination of women. When all of the bands that sounded oh so good went away, we were left with the real Britney. With so much pressure on her shoulders, she made mistakes that were amplified simply because she was a woman. Two kids and a meltdown later, we wonder where all of her bliss went.
This is why Michael Jackson is so huge. He set the record straight by giving everyone hope. When he performed, it wasn't just about music, but rather the people listening. I truly believe that Michael brought the best out of everyone. Now that Michael is gone though, we find ourselves in another transition wondering when the next "king of something" will show their face. In the meantime, we bash everything that we had before Mr. Jackson left us. American Idol, Americas Got Talent and any other show that might produce a lick of good natured acts. I was reading this story about some guy name Ju'nu or something like that and he made me sick. How could American Idol not be rigged? Think back to the Dale Earnhardt, Sr. days. Remember when Nascar secretly made engine builders produce components that would ultimately take away any advantage in a car, thus making them bunch up? That whole situation literally blew up in their face with the death of one of Nascar's finest. Lucky for idol, there really is no way for this to blow up. I realize that when I am watching a show, regardless of what people think, American Idol will do what it has to in order to keep the ratings alive. We all saw this with Sanjaya staying on the show after being in the bottom 3 more than six times.
When I finish this blog, I will no doubt post it. But I'd like to think that the death of Michael would make us better. But...I doubt it will.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Why do we worship the quarterback?
These days, quarterbacks seem to get all of the attention from American sports fans. We gather around their every move and become overly excited before they finish a sentence. Frankly, I am getting sick and tired of Brett Favre. I grew up in Wisconsin and every year the talk was about how great Brett was.
The entire scheme all started the year Green Bay won the super bowl. The chants were loud and thunderous while the celebrations seemed a bit unorthodox. Most championship teams set up a parade through hometown streets to show off their new hardware; not in Green Bay. The year the Packers went all the way, a rally was held at the stadium followed by two days worth of parades through Green Bay and Milwaukee. Separate rallies without the players were held across the state. The leading man holding the Lomardi trophy was Mr. Iron man himself; Brett Favre. I watched as he fisted the trophy through the air, never once handing it off to another teammate. I doubt this was selfishness, I just think young Brett was so caught up in the moment that he forgot that his teammates were normally in front of him, whereas during the parade, everyone was behind.
The next year was similar, just no hardware. Green Bay lost to Denver in a heated battle down in southern California. Brett somehow secured his title as “the man” in Green Bay. The media was littered with his stats for everyone to see, not to mention that his second MVP title was displayed on almost every billboard in the state.
Year after year Wisconsinites went through the tradition of hearing about Brett’s awesome stats. Then something changed, Brett became old. His graying beard no longer gave him away as a young gunslinger, but rather a mature man who relied on his team to make plays. Funny thing is, the Packers never went anywhere during his gray years. Then something new was introduced to Wisconsin in the spring of 2004; Brett began contemplating retirement. This struck everyone off guard because the Packers refused to draft quarterbacks on the first day of the entry draft. The entire state along with me could not see past the day when a new signal caller would take snaps behind center. We never saw it coming. I guess we were that stupid, hell, even Denver new when John Elway was going to say goodbye.
2005 saw its ups and downs. Among them, another year where Brett refused to color his beard to pass himself off as a credible young threat; he just stuck with the gray as we did with him. That spring was probably the hardest on Packerland. Everyone wanted to know; is this the last year for Brett? While we tossed and turned over the entire summer, Mr. Favre spent his vacation from football in cozy Mississippi. Then, just when the Packers were about to start camp, Favre decided that he wanted to come back to football. We accepted him with open arms, and even brushed off the idea of spending a draft pick on a quarterback.
2006 was much of the same. Favre played, and then pulled his antics at the end of the season. For two years, Wisconsin had become accustomed to waiting for Favre to make a decision. Even though we knew his arm was fading faster than his beard was graying, we stuck with Brett.
2007 came and went by once again. This time we had somebody in the midst though; Aaron Rodgers. Wait a second, Aaron who? That is what I thought when Brett was contemplating what he wanted to do. After all, he had just come off of a season where he threw the ball directly to the opposing team during over time. I mean c’mon, why didn’t he just run the football into the Giants end zone? Either way, we waited. Then it happened, a teary eyed Favre appeared on our screens resilient to thank every fan for the money they had spent on tickets. I thought for a second, I am watching a legend say goodbye to the game! What a sight….or so I thought.
Three months later, Favre was a New York Jet and Wisconsin was sick of him. He ditched us for an AFC team after announcing his retirement during the end of the previous season. There was a retirement ceremony for him planned and I am sure that more people would have called in sick for that event than the super bowl.
The long of the short, Favre sucked in New York and then retired again. Now he wants to come back and spite the Packers (who supported him for years) by signing with the Vikings. How the hell is that any paid respect to the fans who supposedly did so well at supporting you? That would be like Joe Sakic coming out of retirement to play for Detroit. Doesn’t make any sense at all, then again, we worship the quarterback.
These days I wonder when Brett will give up. He is definitely going down the path of destruction and should be put into a wall of shame somewhere near Lambeau Field. Let’s just say hypothetically that he does help the Vikings this year. Will he be able to carry them for another year after that? I think Favre is more of a liability at this point than a help. He needs to go on a team where they have everything but a quarterback so that they can reach the super bowl. Scratch that; Favre already left that situation in New York. Good luck Minnesota, the 2010-2011 season should be a good test for your current back ups.
The entire scheme all started the year Green Bay won the super bowl. The chants were loud and thunderous while the celebrations seemed a bit unorthodox. Most championship teams set up a parade through hometown streets to show off their new hardware; not in Green Bay. The year the Packers went all the way, a rally was held at the stadium followed by two days worth of parades through Green Bay and Milwaukee. Separate rallies without the players were held across the state. The leading man holding the Lomardi trophy was Mr. Iron man himself; Brett Favre. I watched as he fisted the trophy through the air, never once handing it off to another teammate. I doubt this was selfishness, I just think young Brett was so caught up in the moment that he forgot that his teammates were normally in front of him, whereas during the parade, everyone was behind.
The next year was similar, just no hardware. Green Bay lost to Denver in a heated battle down in southern California. Brett somehow secured his title as “the man” in Green Bay. The media was littered with his stats for everyone to see, not to mention that his second MVP title was displayed on almost every billboard in the state.
Year after year Wisconsinites went through the tradition of hearing about Brett’s awesome stats. Then something changed, Brett became old. His graying beard no longer gave him away as a young gunslinger, but rather a mature man who relied on his team to make plays. Funny thing is, the Packers never went anywhere during his gray years. Then something new was introduced to Wisconsin in the spring of 2004; Brett began contemplating retirement. This struck everyone off guard because the Packers refused to draft quarterbacks on the first day of the entry draft. The entire state along with me could not see past the day when a new signal caller would take snaps behind center. We never saw it coming. I guess we were that stupid, hell, even Denver new when John Elway was going to say goodbye.
2005 saw its ups and downs. Among them, another year where Brett refused to color his beard to pass himself off as a credible young threat; he just stuck with the gray as we did with him. That spring was probably the hardest on Packerland. Everyone wanted to know; is this the last year for Brett? While we tossed and turned over the entire summer, Mr. Favre spent his vacation from football in cozy Mississippi. Then, just when the Packers were about to start camp, Favre decided that he wanted to come back to football. We accepted him with open arms, and even brushed off the idea of spending a draft pick on a quarterback.
2006 was much of the same. Favre played, and then pulled his antics at the end of the season. For two years, Wisconsin had become accustomed to waiting for Favre to make a decision. Even though we knew his arm was fading faster than his beard was graying, we stuck with Brett.
2007 came and went by once again. This time we had somebody in the midst though; Aaron Rodgers. Wait a second, Aaron who? That is what I thought when Brett was contemplating what he wanted to do. After all, he had just come off of a season where he threw the ball directly to the opposing team during over time. I mean c’mon, why didn’t he just run the football into the Giants end zone? Either way, we waited. Then it happened, a teary eyed Favre appeared on our screens resilient to thank every fan for the money they had spent on tickets. I thought for a second, I am watching a legend say goodbye to the game! What a sight….or so I thought.
Three months later, Favre was a New York Jet and Wisconsin was sick of him. He ditched us for an AFC team after announcing his retirement during the end of the previous season. There was a retirement ceremony for him planned and I am sure that more people would have called in sick for that event than the super bowl.
The long of the short, Favre sucked in New York and then retired again. Now he wants to come back and spite the Packers (who supported him for years) by signing with the Vikings. How the hell is that any paid respect to the fans who supposedly did so well at supporting you? That would be like Joe Sakic coming out of retirement to play for Detroit. Doesn’t make any sense at all, then again, we worship the quarterback.
These days I wonder when Brett will give up. He is definitely going down the path of destruction and should be put into a wall of shame somewhere near Lambeau Field. Let’s just say hypothetically that he does help the Vikings this year. Will he be able to carry them for another year after that? I think Favre is more of a liability at this point than a help. He needs to go on a team where they have everything but a quarterback so that they can reach the super bowl. Scratch that; Favre already left that situation in New York. Good luck Minnesota, the 2010-2011 season should be a good test for your current back ups.
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