Mr. Charles P. Pierce, at Grantland, going after the easy targets…
Given my track record, I am in no position to wax sententious about any journalism start-up. Since 1978, I have worked full-time for five publications. Two of them do not exist anymore… So, if Derek Jeter wants to start up an athlete webzine and use it to cut out the middleman in the delivery of sporting banalities, who am I to ridicule the notion?…
In case you missed it, Jeter has launched something called The Players’ Tribune, a website where celebrity athletes — or someone in their employ — get to communicate with their primary audience without having to go through the scrimy reprobates of the establishment press corps… This, of course, is not the first time anyone has thought of this. They’ve been doing it for a while on the political side of things: ghostwritten editorials and books, the lamentably departed George magazine, the lamentably still extant Politico, and, of course, Fox News and MSNBC. In sports, we’ve had the ghosted biographies and autobiographies — Charles Barkley once famously insisted he’d been misquoted in his autobiography…
But in these clickbaiting days, what any fledgling publication really needs most is one good controversy to light up the more obscure regions of the blogosphere. TPT had its breakthrough only recently, and it was a whopper. It involved Tiger Woods and his sense of humor, which I believe was on loan from the Petrified Forest at the time…
It seems Mr. Woods was offended by a parody written by Dan Jenkins for Golf Digest. Mr. Woods’ decision to start a war of words with the guy who wrote Semi-Tough — not to mention a certain other sportswriter whose initials are CPP — turns out to be every bit as ill-advised as if either Mr. Jenkins or Mr. Pierce had decided to challenge Mr. Woods to a few rounds of golf.
Second funniest post I’ve read this week about of the very sensitive, extremely tender fee-fees of America’s Point-Zero-Zero-One Percenters, right behind Darrell West’s “How I Upset Donald Trump and a Few Other Powerful Billionaires” in the Atlantic…
RobertDSC (Quad Intel Mac)
Tiger should just hang it up. He’s a shell of his former self.
In handegg matters, I’m glad the Patriots won today.
LosGatosCA
Baja Oklahoma is the greatest title for a book of any genre ever. Including the Bible.
lamh36
Open Thread?
Ok cool, I’m off to bed soon, but I had to share this gem I found.
So tonight the 2014 Kennedy Center Honors happened (recorded tonight will be televised the end of the month). So if you don’t already know, Al Green is one of the honorees. So since I wasn’t gonna be able to see the actual show until later this month, I figured I’d just check out some Al Green videos on YouTube. I was particularly looking for LIVE performances and I came across this:
Al Green Live 1974 Best Eve
If you’ve 40min to spare check out true showmanship, then you have to see it. It’s Al Green basically confirming that he just might be like the best soul singer ever…He sings literally every classic song you think of when you think early Al Green.
Mnemosyne
For some reason, our oldest and youngest cats are getting into running battles where she chases him into a corner and traps him. It’s very weird, with unusual amounts of hissing and growling. I think it’s because we moved stuff around again today, which freaks her out, but I’m still taking Keaton to the vet this week for a checkup to be sure there’s not something wrong.
Little Boots
needs more omnes.
Omnes Omnibus
@lamh36: Otis. All respect to Al Green, but if you want to suggest that someone is a better soul singer than Otis and you don’t mention Sam Cooke, you are a bit confused.
Little Boots
@Omnes Omnibus:
told ya.
although he has an attitude sometimes.
NotMax
Idly poking around the intertubes.
The pix on this puppy calendar are just – weird.
Villago Delenda Est
The thing on the Donald’s head should sue him, for making the thing look bad.
Suzanne
Ahhhhh, got some bad health news tonight about an elderly family member. This sucks.
Yatsuno
@Suzanne: *hug* Hopefully the news isn’t too bad.
lamh36
@Omnes Omnibus: By virtue of being the survivor of the 3, I’m giving this one to Al.
Now I’ll admit during their brief time on earth, both of those singers did the damn thing, but still I’ll put Rev Al Green in their stratosphere for sure. Now if Otis and Sam and survived longer, who knows what string of hotness they may have produced.
But Al Green def can’t be denied in that top 3 tier…
Now hush, while I watch Al Green on Soul Train! I mean broken arm and all, Al Green in his hey day sure knew how to tear up a concert floor. The audiences were literally groveling at his feet ;-)
Al Green – Here I Come
As I told someone else, one of the BEST LIVE performers on Soul Train. Can’t wait to see who they chose to honor him for the Kennedy Center tribute.
Al Green – Love and Happiness (LIVE Soul Train)
Omnes Omnibus
@lamh36: I just cannot disagree with you more. If I sold my soul for something, it would be Sam Cooke’s voice. And I would do a very long term lease on it for Otis’s voice.
Tree With Water
It figures. Jeter was wisely cognizant of his image throughout his career, and guarded it jealously. He knew how to play that game, too. But he cracked up doing it, as his farewell, “ah shucks, I’ll walk to the stadium one final time” commercial proved. He probably looks at Grantland and thinks to himself “piece of cake, I’ll set up shop, too”. Tiger Woods just goes to show you can’t buy yourself a sense of humor.
lamh36
@Omnes Omnibus: Bah…I can’t talk to you when you’re disagreeing with…I don’t like it
;-)
Gonna turn up volume of my Soul Train videos to drown you out :-)
Al Green – You Oughta Be With Me
Al Green – For the Good Times and Love and Happiness with QA with Soul Train audience
Omnes Omnibus
@lamh36: Al just never caught me. I recognize the talent (it is stunning), but he doesn’t touch me the way that Sam and Otis do.
lamh36
@Omnes Omnibus: both those fellas died in the 60s. Al Green in comparison would be a new breed of R&B singer, and I can def see someone from the Sam Cooke and Otis Redding era, seeing Al Green as a different type of R&B singer, he definitely brought more of that Southern church pulpit feel to R&B music, and of course the sex appeal that some earlier Black artist weren’t really “allowed” to show so that they could be more “acceptable” to white audiences.
Add to that the showmanship and yeah, R&B fans would put Al Green at the top of the list of Soul Singers and some may even put him above the Cooke and Redding by virtue, as I said, that Al Green was able to make more music than either of those two artists did due to their early deaths.
ETA: Check out that 2nd clip of “For The Good Times” I posted, and see the end of it, I swear it’s it’s secular, but feels like a church, especially when he goes into the audience
Omnes Omnibus
@lamh36: Otis died in a lake about 5 miles from me almost 47 years ago. I also think that Otis and Sam had a lot of of Gospel style in what they did. In the end, the rough edges that they showed in their voices make them preferable to me. Ultimately it is a matter of personal taste. Neither of us is wrong.
ETA: Bed now for me.
lamh36
Alright…good night BJ.
Normally if you hear someone playing this song on a loop, I’d suggest you go and check up on them and just ask them if they are alright. I mean it’s called “Tired of Being Alone”, so yeah, they could be having a moment, but more than likely, they just appreciate how great Al Green sings it.
Tired of Being Along
Course most of my younger cousin know the song from the movie “Dead Presidents”, but I don’t suspect that anyone on BJ knows what movie I’m talking about.
Good night.
patrick II
For me, 1. Otis, 2. Sam. 3. Al. I could switch 1 and 2 around, depending on which song of theirs I listened to last. But it’s really like the Jordan/Lebron/Russell conversation, it’s so close and depends on what you think is most important in a basketball player.
Changing the subject to jazz singers, I saw Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga on PBS tonight. Tony was his usual great self, but starting to lose it just a bit on softer held notes. Gaga was a surprise. That lady can really sing jazz and has a great presence on stage.
patrick II
And just because its an open thread, I’ll just say I saw something weird on Letterman the other night (although I’m not sure it wasn’t a rerun). Mitt Romney came on and did one joke just before the top ten — and then walked off backwards. Just weird watching Mitt trying to be cool and funny, and also the surest sign yet that he is thinking of running.
Another Holocene Human
white supremacy is the air we breathe
I like to watch forensics shows
youtube.com/watch?v=XMgwaUynYTg
In this episode, NOVA police (FFX Cty) casually call on resources in our nation’s capital in the early 1990s to solve a homicide … while the DC arsonist was firebugging away and people were getting mugged, stabbed, shot, raped all over DC
that’s fucked up
the fed agencies didn’t get involved in the DC arson case until the end of the GWBII admin!!
fuck!
the other case they spent probably thousands of dollars looking for a body in a case where this crazy guy–well, probably crazy, definitely a psychopath–had confessed to two other murders they could easily put him away for. But he was a white guy in florida, white victim and they needed to get him on the first case because reasons
they put black dude white victim with confession away for life (called it first degree, bullshit, it was 3rd degree, but whatever, black perp white victim obvs 1st degree amirite) on one offense
white supremacy is the air that we breathe
so when they talk about black male homicide victim rate … our society won’t pay the money to get justice for black victims, won’t stop murderers before they become serial murderers
instead of being happy they caught the guys in this episode I just fucking feel sick
JordanRules
Disturbing police action against the protesters in Berkely tonight.
Sigh
Elizabelle
@lamh36:
Thanks for the Al Green links. Love him. Does he still perform in concerts?
Bitter Scribe
Bah. Screw Dan Jenkins. He’s a sexist, racist, homophobic jerk.