McNabb is either a giant idiot, or the smartest guy in town.
Here's my case for the latter:
McNabb has had two terrible seasons in the last two years. He ripped his groin apart after dealing with the TO situation that not only ripped his locker room, but his city, apart. Then he comes back TO free and starts out well, plays okay but the team can't win, then tears his ACL on a non-contact run out of bounds. Karma, much?
He comes back this year, swears he's healthy when it's obvious he's not - and the team knew he wasn't when they held him out of camp and most of the preseason - and in week TWO is already bitching about how nobody loves him and the Philly fans are all racist. Week two? I don't care if James Brown was doing the interview and you guys are boys. Hell, I don't care if they dug up the body of the Godfather of Soul to do the interview, you don't take a shot like he did unless you want out.
His argument has no validity outside of his city. No other black QB, not counting Michael Vick, really gets any public or media scorn. No quarterback in the league is more scrutinized than the guy who just won the Super Bowl. Until he won that game, Peyton Manning was the most scrutinized player in the history of the position.
Here are the black QBs in the league (not including third stringers and people who will never play like Troy Smith). Tell me if any of them get more crap than Rex Grossman does.
Starters/High Profile Guys
McNabb - Eagles
Steve McNair - Baltimore
Vince Young - Tenn
Jason Campbell - Wash
Byron Leftwich - Now with Atlanta
JaMarcus Russell - Raiders
Daunte Culpepper - Raiders
David Garrard - Jacksonville
Mike Vick - State Pen
Tavaris Jackson - Minnesota
Backups
Seneca Wallace - Seattle
Cleo Lemon - Miami
DJ Shockley - Atl (IR)
Anthony Wright - NYG
Charlie Batch - Pitt
Quinn Gray - Jacksonville
Kellen Clemens - Oh...wait
Are there enough black qbs in the league? No. And coaches are always trying to turn them into wide receivers. But sometimes it works. Antwaan Randle-El is in the league because he can play other positions. So are Hines Ward and Arnaz Battle and Wallace may soon be a WR. Good white college QBs - safe Matt Jones - don't become WRs or DBs to keep their spot on an NFL roster. Just ask Eric Crouch.
Sure, Vick has his troubles, and Leftwich got dumped (for another black qb) and now finds himself in Atlanta. Culpepper brought his situation on himself by firing his agent and trying to do it himself. The year after he did that, he lost a battle for a new contract in Minny, tore up his knee, signed a deal with Miami and came back too early and is now a backup for one of the worst offenses in the league.
Look at the others. Everyone loves Vince. He's on the freakin' cover of Madden. And Campbell is a budding young star after beating, ironically, McNabb, on national TV. Steve McNair stinks, and probably was the reason Baltimore didn't make it to the AFC title game last year and nobody kills him, ever.
So let's look back at McNabb. He wants out of Philly, but is savvy enough to play the sympathy card and let all his friends in the media say he "deserves" to get out of Philly. Seriously, we are notoriously hard fans on our stars. Mike Schmidt is the best third baseman ever and people booed him all the time, just because they didn't like him. McNabb is an affable character, and would lose his marketability if he lashes out at the city directly. He can't come out and say he hates Philly because we'd bury him alive under the I95 overpass. So instead, he makes sweeping generalizations about being a black quarterback and lets the sports talk debate carry it to where he wants - getting him out of Philly.
He'll spend the next six months doing interviews about how he thinks the Eagles can win, and how he wants to be the leader of that team. He'll show us how great a guy he is, even if he's no longer as great a player as he once was. And he'll let everyone else do the work for him, making sure he's out of town by next year, without turning fans in his current city against him - and making sure he moves to his new city with any baggage.
Now, where does McNabb want to go? Hmm....maybe his hometown of Chicago. Chicago is a tough town, albeit not as tough as Philly. But if he can sign his figurative moving papers early this season, he can shop himself around behind the scenes for the rest of the year. Fans in Chicago can start a groundswell of support for McNabb, and force the hand of the Bears to dump Grossman and bring in Donovan. Bears fans would be happy because they'd have a hometown boy and legit star quarterback in their mix. Philly fans would be happy because the circus McNabb has created, and perpetuated, during the last three years will be over.
Note: As I'm finishing this, Mike and Mike are already talking about getting him out of town and finding him a spot on a contender next year. Ah, and Greeny just mentioned the Bears. Let the national campaign begin.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
American Idol Gives Back...and so do I
American Idol is giving back tonight...and so am I. One time only blog for you, because I love. (This is incredibly long, and totally disjointed because I’m doing it live, so deal with it.)
The show opens on a stumble, as Seacrest forgot he was on LIVE TV. They usually put the intro in the can, but today was live, and now we know why. Ryan comes out of the, ahem, scoreboard, to let us know that it's the most shocking result ever. Meaning, Lakisha is gone. I don't think Melinda is gone, so it has to be Lakisha.
Ryan calls the 70 million votes a world record. Give that man a Guiness, they broke a world voting record for text messaging. The Idol gives back-a-thon is going off book, and they've got Ellen Degeneres and she's already making fun of Seacrest's announcement of imminent (two hours from now) shock.
Ellen, who parenthetically, dresses better than Seacrest and is a better host than Seacrest, dabbles into a little Salt N Pepa, but stops before admitting that her weakness is, in fact, men. We're on to you, Ellen.
Getting the show kicked off the right way with a little Earth, Wind and Fire, featuring the greatest androgynously moustachioed bass player in Verdine White. My wife asked, "what is this, the Poconos?" Seriously, they kick the show off with EWF? That's almost as depressing as....
Randy Jackson chronicles the damage of Hurricane Katrina, with narration by the Dog himself. Yes, in the midst of a Katrina Relief piece, Randy, presumably in a limo, said "the Dog has come back to his home state." Even in times of trouble, a dog is dog.
Randy on stage, doing his part to give back. This is actually a good cause, so it's hard to kill them for this, but if Fox wanted to donate the money, just do it. You don't need two hours to pat yourself on the back.
Oooh....the Idols in all white singing a Quincy Jones original song that is just terrible, like all the songs are. You see, these people aren't any good. We just get tricked into thinking they are because they compete against each other every week. When they get out in the real world, they will all fail. Two idols have had measurable success after the show - Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. Kelly didn't get popular until someone completely changed her identity. Carrie has Jesus driving her pickup, so I'm not going there.
Okay, that song is over. Did anyone else realize that Quincy Jones was conducting, um, nobody? Yeah, he wasn't conducting anyone. He was just up there in a captain's outfit, swinging his arms.
Ben Stiller is trying to be funny, and it's not working. Ben is a really funny guy, except when he's trying to be funny. Then he's not funny. In this case, he was trying too hard.
Simon and Ryan in Africa. Or a sound stage in Hollywood with a bunch of SAG extras to make it look like Africa. Yes, I got that joke from Ricky Gervais on Comic Relief, but how many of you knew that?
A young African boy is crying about living in a one room cardboard box with no parents because they are dead. Ryan comforts him by saying, "it's alright. It's alright." No, Ryan. It's not. When you get on your jet home, this kid will be eating whatever he can find. Again, this is a noble cause, but Seacrest is wearing jeans that cost more than the village these children live in.
Simon looks completely uncomfortable on stage and clearly wants nothing to do with this. I applaud that, because he realizes how shameless this night is. If you want to donate money, donate. Simon clearly doesn't care if we do, and I thank him for that.
Terry Hatcher looks like Beetlejuice, and asks us to pledge our money. Then Melinda was safe as quick as that. Melinda, you're safe, now let's watch Paula with a boys and girls club. Paula looked like she let the kids use their paint brushes on her eyelids. Thankfully, they don't let Paula wax extemporaneous and go right to Ellen, who introduces Il Divo, who are really good. And handsome. Hmm....maybe these guys are onto something. Now if only I were tall, dark, handsome and could carry a tune.
Ryan wants someone from the audience to come up, and they pan past Jack Black. Then, (wow) coincidentally, Seacrest calls Jack Black’s number. Jack decides to do Kiss from a Rose by Seal. Jack is awesome, and Kyle Gass is in the crowd with a rose. Jack gets critiques from the judges, and Paula gave the worst canned joke (School of Rock called, they want this joke back). Jack says that Seal would love it, and low and behold, SEAL LOVED IT. Safe the joke from Paula (Simon’s quip that Jack was better than Sanjaya was predictable yet funny to a point), this bit was the best of the night.
To recap – Jack Black, always funny. Ben Stiller, not so much. Oh, and Blake, you’re safe. Let’s move on.
Carrie Underwood has a video covering the Pretenders “I’ll Stand by You” with a bunch of little black kids. This might sound terrible, and I don’t mean it to, but when they keep going back and forth between impoverished areas of this country and impoverished countries in Africa, its really hard to know where people are. They should have just kept this in America. I know they want to touch the world, but there are so many people in this county who need help, American Idol should have focused on them. Just my two cents.
Rascal Flats brings the night to a slow grind at the one-hour mark. Doesn’t the lead singer, Rascal I surmise, look a lot like Alf? Hey Willie, hurry up and finish so we can move on.
Hey look it’s Tom. Am I the only one on Myspace who doesn’t have Tom as a friend? What gives with that? Paula now talks about black lung and illiteracy in Kentucky. Paula is on stage afterwards, and I don’t know what was pumped up more before the show – her lips or her boobs. Let’s call it a tie, and move on.
Crappy Ford Mustang ad singing Queen. This is a great segue into the fact that last season my blog was quoted on the Huffington Post, ripping on Ace Young and his sleeveless shirt singing Queen. I didn’t find out until this week, though.
Staying Alive is lip-synced by a calvalcade of celebs, including a third of the cast of Friends, Goldie Hawn, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Helen Mirren and a bunch of others including RYAN SEACREST. Why would Seacrest be in there? And did you notice that all the women looked like old hags? I mean, Helen Mirren is the best looking woman over 55 in the world, and she looked like a bag lady. They made everyone look awful.
Phil, you’re safe, now let’s show a woman with AIDS die. Ellen coughs up $100,000 of her own money, then introduces Josh Groban, singing with a small African children’s choir. Seriously, where is Paul Simon? He invented the African backing band. If we don’t get Diamonds on the Souls of Her Shoes tonight, I’m writing a letter.
Celebrities talking about the number of funerals they’ve been to, none more than 10 (Gweneth Paltrow has lost some close people, and her makeup bag). A guy in Africa has gone to 280. Malaria kills hundreds of people a day. A mother tries to get her baby to a clinic in time, but didn’t make it. Maybe that’s because they had to let the CAMERA MAN on the truck. This has passed the level of kosher to me. Now it’s 100% shameless, except for one thing…
Ellen is awesome. She’s asking kids to donate $1 if their parents put in $9. She’s almost getting me to donate. Of course, I donate to my own charities, so I think I’ll pass. Kelly Clarkson stole Janis Joplin’s outfit, and sings with Jeff Beck on guitar. I wonder who more people in this country know right now, Jeff Beck or Kelly Clarkson. Wait, I don’t want to know.
Half hour to go…and its either Lakisha, Jordin or Chris who is gone. Now, either of the woman would be a shock to most (I think Lakisha is toast, so that won’t be a shock to me). Chris going wouldn’t shock anyone, so the only other option is that they don’t boot anyone this week, and the votes carry over to next week. They could have planned that in to the schedule. That would be a shock, I guess.
Ben Stiller still singing, and it’s still not funny. Simon getting judged by the Simpsons. With Simon doing the Pussycat Dolls, as Homer acts like Simon, Marge like Randy (Dog) and Lisa like Paula – full of loopiness. Then Bart throws in the line of the night, with a DUNKLEMAN REFERENCE. Seacrest liked that, as he sold his soul for someone to kill Dunkleman.
Wait, Lakisha is safe? Now I’m shocked. Jordin might be gone? Hmm. That’d stink. Can’t we vote off Sanjaya again? Now I really think they don’t boot anyone off b/c it’s such a special night. I’m pretty certain of it. At least I hope, because Jordin is the only one I don’t hate at this point.
Celine Dion doing a duet with Elvis. I wonder if that’s a filter on her and she’s on stage live…or is she in Vegas actually with Elvis? The Idols sing backup for the King and Celine. Let’s think back to the beginning. Who does Earth Wind and Fire have naked pictures of to get on this show? Josh Groban, Il Divo, Rascal Flats, some random former winners, Celine Dion, ELVIS and Bono to come….why would EWF be there, if not to sweep up the stage after the show is over?
Madonna with a message. I wonder what it is? Oh, it’s donate. Remember when she was the Material Girl? Wow that was a long time ago.
Bono should be coming up. I was going to make a joke that they should do one of those Nat King Cole/Natalie Cole duets with Bono and Sonny Bono. That would be classic. Then – bam – Elvis showed up with Celine. I was close, and potentially much funnier. Especially imagining Bono singing the Cher parts.
Almost at $30 million raised tonight. That’s pretty impressive. What’s not impressive is Seacrest’s ability to ad lib. He’s terrible when his face isn’t plastered to a teleprompter. Man, Ellen is persuasive. Now introduces the “amazing” Annie Lennox. The Eurythmics video of Here Comes the Rain was the scariest video I’ve ever seen. I think I’m still afraid of short cropped redheads because of that video. Annie singing Bridge Over Troubled Waters, in terrible fashion, then just gets up from the piano halfway through the song, and some dude takes over. Why not just do the whole song that way? How self-serving was that? Hey, you know who would have been great singing that song? PAUL SIMON. What he hell is going on here?
You’re welcome.
Five minutes left. Rob Schneider says he’s Sandler, which was actually funny. No Bono, and we’re down to the final two. Chris and Jordin. She’s panicking. Chris is safe. Jordin is safe too. I’m right. You’re welcome. Votes carry over, and they did a major screw job with Jordin. However, the shock is that two go home next week.
WAIT A MINUTE. Bono is on TAPE. What the hell is this? That guy is such a douchebag. He never does anything live. Whenever he’s on something, he’s never there. He’s still one of the coolest five people on the planet (with Brad Pitt, George Clooney and two other people I can’t figure out right now).
The finalists sing American Prayer, which means they knew they were closing the show together. Would they have kicked someone off and NOT let them sing a solo? That’s not right, so the six had to know they were all safe. Even the “in no order” thing was a dead giveaway. I can’t believe it took me that long to figure it out.
What a total let down. I can’t be more mad at Bono. I mean, I knew he’d punk out and not show up live, but I figured he’d pull one of those “live on stage in Hong Kong” things. The fact that he was actually in LA, but didn’t stay for the show is BS.
Okay, America voted, and gave money. I gave two hours writing to you. I feel better, and I hope you do too.
Good to be back….
The show opens on a stumble, as Seacrest forgot he was on LIVE TV. They usually put the intro in the can, but today was live, and now we know why. Ryan comes out of the, ahem, scoreboard, to let us know that it's the most shocking result ever. Meaning, Lakisha is gone. I don't think Melinda is gone, so it has to be Lakisha.
Ryan calls the 70 million votes a world record. Give that man a Guiness, they broke a world voting record for text messaging. The Idol gives back-a-thon is going off book, and they've got Ellen Degeneres and she's already making fun of Seacrest's announcement of imminent (two hours from now) shock.
Ellen, who parenthetically, dresses better than Seacrest and is a better host than Seacrest, dabbles into a little Salt N Pepa, but stops before admitting that her weakness is, in fact, men. We're on to you, Ellen.
Getting the show kicked off the right way with a little Earth, Wind and Fire, featuring the greatest androgynously moustachioed bass player in Verdine White. My wife asked, "what is this, the Poconos?" Seriously, they kick the show off with EWF? That's almost as depressing as....
Randy Jackson chronicles the damage of Hurricane Katrina, with narration by the Dog himself. Yes, in the midst of a Katrina Relief piece, Randy, presumably in a limo, said "the Dog has come back to his home state." Even in times of trouble, a dog is dog.
Randy on stage, doing his part to give back. This is actually a good cause, so it's hard to kill them for this, but if Fox wanted to donate the money, just do it. You don't need two hours to pat yourself on the back.
Oooh....the Idols in all white singing a Quincy Jones original song that is just terrible, like all the songs are. You see, these people aren't any good. We just get tricked into thinking they are because they compete against each other every week. When they get out in the real world, they will all fail. Two idols have had measurable success after the show - Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. Kelly didn't get popular until someone completely changed her identity. Carrie has Jesus driving her pickup, so I'm not going there.
Okay, that song is over. Did anyone else realize that Quincy Jones was conducting, um, nobody? Yeah, he wasn't conducting anyone. He was just up there in a captain's outfit, swinging his arms.
Ben Stiller is trying to be funny, and it's not working. Ben is a really funny guy, except when he's trying to be funny. Then he's not funny. In this case, he was trying too hard.
Simon and Ryan in Africa. Or a sound stage in Hollywood with a bunch of SAG extras to make it look like Africa. Yes, I got that joke from Ricky Gervais on Comic Relief, but how many of you knew that?
A young African boy is crying about living in a one room cardboard box with no parents because they are dead. Ryan comforts him by saying, "it's alright. It's alright." No, Ryan. It's not. When you get on your jet home, this kid will be eating whatever he can find. Again, this is a noble cause, but Seacrest is wearing jeans that cost more than the village these children live in.
Simon looks completely uncomfortable on stage and clearly wants nothing to do with this. I applaud that, because he realizes how shameless this night is. If you want to donate money, donate. Simon clearly doesn't care if we do, and I thank him for that.
Terry Hatcher looks like Beetlejuice, and asks us to pledge our money. Then Melinda was safe as quick as that. Melinda, you're safe, now let's watch Paula with a boys and girls club. Paula looked like she let the kids use their paint brushes on her eyelids. Thankfully, they don't let Paula wax extemporaneous and go right to Ellen, who introduces Il Divo, who are really good. And handsome. Hmm....maybe these guys are onto something. Now if only I were tall, dark, handsome and could carry a tune.
Ryan wants someone from the audience to come up, and they pan past Jack Black. Then, (wow) coincidentally, Seacrest calls Jack Black’s number. Jack decides to do Kiss from a Rose by Seal. Jack is awesome, and Kyle Gass is in the crowd with a rose. Jack gets critiques from the judges, and Paula gave the worst canned joke (School of Rock called, they want this joke back). Jack says that Seal would love it, and low and behold, SEAL LOVED IT. Safe the joke from Paula (Simon’s quip that Jack was better than Sanjaya was predictable yet funny to a point), this bit was the best of the night.
To recap – Jack Black, always funny. Ben Stiller, not so much. Oh, and Blake, you’re safe. Let’s move on.
Carrie Underwood has a video covering the Pretenders “I’ll Stand by You” with a bunch of little black kids. This might sound terrible, and I don’t mean it to, but when they keep going back and forth between impoverished areas of this country and impoverished countries in Africa, its really hard to know where people are. They should have just kept this in America. I know they want to touch the world, but there are so many people in this county who need help, American Idol should have focused on them. Just my two cents.
Rascal Flats brings the night to a slow grind at the one-hour mark. Doesn’t the lead singer, Rascal I surmise, look a lot like Alf? Hey Willie, hurry up and finish so we can move on.
Hey look it’s Tom. Am I the only one on Myspace who doesn’t have Tom as a friend? What gives with that? Paula now talks about black lung and illiteracy in Kentucky. Paula is on stage afterwards, and I don’t know what was pumped up more before the show – her lips or her boobs. Let’s call it a tie, and move on.
Crappy Ford Mustang ad singing Queen. This is a great segue into the fact that last season my blog was quoted on the Huffington Post, ripping on Ace Young and his sleeveless shirt singing Queen. I didn’t find out until this week, though.
Staying Alive is lip-synced by a calvalcade of celebs, including a third of the cast of Friends, Goldie Hawn, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Helen Mirren and a bunch of others including RYAN SEACREST. Why would Seacrest be in there? And did you notice that all the women looked like old hags? I mean, Helen Mirren is the best looking woman over 55 in the world, and she looked like a bag lady. They made everyone look awful.
Phil, you’re safe, now let’s show a woman with AIDS die. Ellen coughs up $100,000 of her own money, then introduces Josh Groban, singing with a small African children’s choir. Seriously, where is Paul Simon? He invented the African backing band. If we don’t get Diamonds on the Souls of Her Shoes tonight, I’m writing a letter.
Celebrities talking about the number of funerals they’ve been to, none more than 10 (Gweneth Paltrow has lost some close people, and her makeup bag). A guy in Africa has gone to 280. Malaria kills hundreds of people a day. A mother tries to get her baby to a clinic in time, but didn’t make it. Maybe that’s because they had to let the CAMERA MAN on the truck. This has passed the level of kosher to me. Now it’s 100% shameless, except for one thing…
Ellen is awesome. She’s asking kids to donate $1 if their parents put in $9. She’s almost getting me to donate. Of course, I donate to my own charities, so I think I’ll pass. Kelly Clarkson stole Janis Joplin’s outfit, and sings with Jeff Beck on guitar. I wonder who more people in this country know right now, Jeff Beck or Kelly Clarkson. Wait, I don’t want to know.
Half hour to go…and its either Lakisha, Jordin or Chris who is gone. Now, either of the woman would be a shock to most (I think Lakisha is toast, so that won’t be a shock to me). Chris going wouldn’t shock anyone, so the only other option is that they don’t boot anyone this week, and the votes carry over to next week. They could have planned that in to the schedule. That would be a shock, I guess.
Ben Stiller still singing, and it’s still not funny. Simon getting judged by the Simpsons. With Simon doing the Pussycat Dolls, as Homer acts like Simon, Marge like Randy (Dog) and Lisa like Paula – full of loopiness. Then Bart throws in the line of the night, with a DUNKLEMAN REFERENCE. Seacrest liked that, as he sold his soul for someone to kill Dunkleman.
Wait, Lakisha is safe? Now I’m shocked. Jordin might be gone? Hmm. That’d stink. Can’t we vote off Sanjaya again? Now I really think they don’t boot anyone off b/c it’s such a special night. I’m pretty certain of it. At least I hope, because Jordin is the only one I don’t hate at this point.
Celine Dion doing a duet with Elvis. I wonder if that’s a filter on her and she’s on stage live…or is she in Vegas actually with Elvis? The Idols sing backup for the King and Celine. Let’s think back to the beginning. Who does Earth Wind and Fire have naked pictures of to get on this show? Josh Groban, Il Divo, Rascal Flats, some random former winners, Celine Dion, ELVIS and Bono to come….why would EWF be there, if not to sweep up the stage after the show is over?
Madonna with a message. I wonder what it is? Oh, it’s donate. Remember when she was the Material Girl? Wow that was a long time ago.
Bono should be coming up. I was going to make a joke that they should do one of those Nat King Cole/Natalie Cole duets with Bono and Sonny Bono. That would be classic. Then – bam – Elvis showed up with Celine. I was close, and potentially much funnier. Especially imagining Bono singing the Cher parts.
Almost at $30 million raised tonight. That’s pretty impressive. What’s not impressive is Seacrest’s ability to ad lib. He’s terrible when his face isn’t plastered to a teleprompter. Man, Ellen is persuasive. Now introduces the “amazing” Annie Lennox. The Eurythmics video of Here Comes the Rain was the scariest video I’ve ever seen. I think I’m still afraid of short cropped redheads because of that video. Annie singing Bridge Over Troubled Waters, in terrible fashion, then just gets up from the piano halfway through the song, and some dude takes over. Why not just do the whole song that way? How self-serving was that? Hey, you know who would have been great singing that song? PAUL SIMON. What he hell is going on here?
You’re welcome.
Five minutes left. Rob Schneider says he’s Sandler, which was actually funny. No Bono, and we’re down to the final two. Chris and Jordin. She’s panicking. Chris is safe. Jordin is safe too. I’m right. You’re welcome. Votes carry over, and they did a major screw job with Jordin. However, the shock is that two go home next week.
WAIT A MINUTE. Bono is on TAPE. What the hell is this? That guy is such a douchebag. He never does anything live. Whenever he’s on something, he’s never there. He’s still one of the coolest five people on the planet (with Brad Pitt, George Clooney and two other people I can’t figure out right now).
The finalists sing American Prayer, which means they knew they were closing the show together. Would they have kicked someone off and NOT let them sing a solo? That’s not right, so the six had to know they were all safe. Even the “in no order” thing was a dead giveaway. I can’t believe it took me that long to figure it out.
What a total let down. I can’t be more mad at Bono. I mean, I knew he’d punk out and not show up live, but I figured he’d pull one of those “live on stage in Hong Kong” things. The fact that he was actually in LA, but didn’t stay for the show is BS.
Okay, America voted, and gave money. I gave two hours writing to you. I feel better, and I hope you do too.
Good to be back….
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Shop For a Good Cause
Hey everyone,
Last year, I introduced my new online shop. Over the past 12 months, we have done well, but no items have sold better than those in conjunction with Tony Kornheiser's radio show. For those who didn't know, this venture started with a simple design commemorating Phil the Showkiller's mom picking George Mason to win the national championship. She came close - after much ridicule - and I thought it would be fun to make a shirt honoring her selection. I expected to sell 5-10 shirts, but with Tony's constant radio plugs, we sold hundreds of items.
On his last day on the radio before leaving for Monday Night Football, Tony announced that I had designed several new "Mr. Tony" products. Over 50 sold that day. Orders are still coming in for Mr. Tony products, and he hasn't been on the radio in months. Being on TV every day doesn't hurt, though.
Tony is coming back to radio on February 20. He will be on Washington Post Radio from 8:30-10:30 every morning, with a replay of the show from 10:30-12:30. You can listen to the show at www.washpostradio.com or in the DC area on 1500AM (the old WTOP signal). I may be a little biased, but it's the BEST radio show out there. It's not a sports show. It's not a news program. It's everything, delivered by a snarky, subversive malcontent, who - oh by the way - is really, really funny.
Also, while you are surfing the internet, please check out my store. I have a few new "Mr. Tony" designs to coincide with his return to radio. There are hundreds of products to choose from, including t-shirts, hats, mugs, mouse pads, magnets, posters and even clothes for your baby or dog! I'm really happy with the new designs, and even Tony himself asked when he's ever looked that handsome.
To check out my store, visit 609design.com/shop.html
All proceeds from the "Mr. Tony" items sold on my store go to the DC College Access program. DC-CAP is a non-profit that provides counseling and financial assistance to students who might otherwise never have the opportunity to go to college. You can visit their website at www.dccap.org
Please forward this email to anyone who is a fan of Tony Kornheiser, or just a fan of helping a good cause. With your help, we can raise a lot of money this year.
Thanks,
Dan
Last year, I introduced my new online shop. Over the past 12 months, we have done well, but no items have sold better than those in conjunction with Tony Kornheiser's radio show. For those who didn't know, this venture started with a simple design commemorating Phil the Showkiller's mom picking George Mason to win the national championship. She came close - after much ridicule - and I thought it would be fun to make a shirt honoring her selection. I expected to sell 5-10 shirts, but with Tony's constant radio plugs, we sold hundreds of items.
On his last day on the radio before leaving for Monday Night Football, Tony announced that I had designed several new "Mr. Tony" products. Over 50 sold that day. Orders are still coming in for Mr. Tony products, and he hasn't been on the radio in months. Being on TV every day doesn't hurt, though.
Tony is coming back to radio on February 20. He will be on Washington Post Radio from 8:30-10:30 every morning, with a replay of the show from 10:30-12:30. You can listen to the show at www.washpostradio.com or in the DC area on 1500AM (the old WTOP signal). I may be a little biased, but it's the BEST radio show out there. It's not a sports show. It's not a news program. It's everything, delivered by a snarky, subversive malcontent, who - oh by the way - is really, really funny.
Also, while you are surfing the internet, please check out my store. I have a few new "Mr. Tony" designs to coincide with his return to radio. There are hundreds of products to choose from, including t-shirts, hats, mugs, mouse pads, magnets, posters and even clothes for your baby or dog! I'm really happy with the new designs, and even Tony himself asked when he's ever looked that handsome.
To check out my store, visit 609design.com/shop.html
All proceeds from the "Mr. Tony" items sold on my store go to the DC College Access program. DC-CAP is a non-profit that provides counseling and financial assistance to students who might otherwise never have the opportunity to go to college. You can visit their website at www.dccap.org
Please forward this email to anyone who is a fan of Tony Kornheiser, or just a fan of helping a good cause. With your help, we can raise a lot of money this year.
Thanks,
Dan
Friday, January 19, 2007
Preying on False Idols
I created this blog space because I wanted to something a little more this year than my typical myspace blog. Last year, I developed a small following with my American Idol blog, and while I will try to do some Idol blogs on this site, I hope to expand to many other topics involving not just TV, but all popular culture. That said, my goal in life is to design t-shirts (Shameless Plug) and be a TV critic. So here goes....
That said, the first order of business is, of course, the most popular show in the last decade: Idol.
If you are reading this, forward it to people, b/c if I'm doing this, I want as many people as possible to read it. Thanks!
----------------------------
Fox is raking in the cash once again from its number one show. Sorry 24 fans, but this baby is a cash cow the likes that Jack has never seen.
I am concerned that Fox is on autopilot with the show right now, and I've noticed several things in the first few episodes that really should concern the brass at the nation's tawdriest network.
First, they are getting too obvious with their selections to Hollywood, and even have gone so far as to NOT show 10 of the 14 people from a city who were good enough to get a ticket. They, instead, load up 100 minutes with their nightly freak show, because making fun of freaks drives ratings in these early episodes.
Fox also does a decent job of editing the auditions together, making them look "live" from the time the contestant enters until he or she exits. Then at the end of the episode, they do a "freak show" montage with their song of the day. Obviously, they take the time out of some part of the audition to make them do that song. It's either that, or they ask them to come back after making them cry, just to humiliate them again. And don't think most of the judges reactions are to the actual contestant at the time. Those responses are so canned, they may even be from a previous season. The show has become so overproduced, in an effort to tell a story making fun of as many freaks as possible.
Don't get me wrong, I think most of them are hilarious. My favorite from Seattle was the woman whose husband didn't support her, but she thought he was just going to miss her. Uh, not exactly lady. He just realized that you're terrible. I told my wife that if she ever did that, I'd divorce her. To which she replied, "you embarass us on national TV all the time." I couldn't argue with that.
Fox is on a slippery slope with this, however. My wife, who is a doctor of one of the soft sciences, mentioned by watching two minutes of footage that the 27 year old guy (forget the name) who had the really wide open eyes and sang Unchained Melody - pretty much the guy they centered the entire Seattle episode around - most likely has Asperger Syndrome. If you don't believe her, read this description of the syndrome.
Asperger Syndrome or (Asperger's Disorder) is a neurobiological disorder named for a Viennese physician, Hans Asperger, who in 1944 published a paper which described a pattern of behaviors in several young boys who had normal intelligence and language development, but who also exhibited autistic-like behaviors and marked deficiencies in social and communication skills.
Now I've never applied to be on the show, so I'm not sure exactly what they ask on the fact checking questionnaire, but I'm pretty certain they don't do Psych profiles on all 10,000 applicants in each city. More than likely, Fox was making fun of a young man with a pretty serious disorder - and they duped America to come along for the ride.
The other thing it's evident Fox doesn't check for is narcotics in each contestant's system. I don't know if it's just Seattle, or the other cities will have them as well, but there were enough meth heads that made TV to never make me want to visit the Emerald City. I know that they've had a lot of trash on the show over the years, but there were people who were actively on drugs during their auditions. You can see it in their faces too. They've been mess up on meth. I don't know how to describe it, but look at the bizzaro Taylor Hicks's face, and you know he's hooked on junk. Half his lip hangs down, his teeth are sideways, he has bags under his bags under his eyes. But, he was crazy, he was out of control (like when he tried to touch Simon), so let's get him on during the prime ratings slot of the show, go to his job, and, of course, promote him on our commercials.
Not to be outdone, Red - the last contestant - was clearly using something too. It's like these guys say, 'let's huff some glue, go wait in line for two days, huff a little more, and get on TV.' And Fox bites. So do we.
Look, there are four types of people who audition for this show. First, the mediocre, no talent, no personality people who don't get on TV because they can't get past the cross checkers There are about 90% of those people in every city. Next are the people who actually go to try and win. Most of them can sing a little, some very well. But in a city with 10,000 applicants, just over 1/10th of one percent of them get to Hollywood. Your odds are better of getting hit by a car on the way to the audition than they are of even getting to Hollywood, let alone in the finals.
Next are the dillusional people who have absolutely no shot of ever getting famous, so they go on this show because someone in their lives told them it was a good idea. Those people get on TV just to be made fun of. And their presence on the show entices Joe and Jane Fan at home to say, "hell, I'm better than them. I should try out next year." The cycle may never end.
Last are the people who just go to get on TV. They dress up, they act crazy, they do anything to get on TV. For a few years, Fox wasn't putting them on as much, but it seems that more and more, they don't care if the contestant is in on the joke, as long as 37 million of us are watching the punchline.
Makes you wonder who the joke is really on.
That said, the first order of business is, of course, the most popular show in the last decade: Idol.
If you are reading this, forward it to people, b/c if I'm doing this, I want as many people as possible to read it. Thanks!
----------------------------
Fox is raking in the cash once again from its number one show. Sorry 24 fans, but this baby is a cash cow the likes that Jack has never seen.
I am concerned that Fox is on autopilot with the show right now, and I've noticed several things in the first few episodes that really should concern the brass at the nation's tawdriest network.
First, they are getting too obvious with their selections to Hollywood, and even have gone so far as to NOT show 10 of the 14 people from a city who were good enough to get a ticket. They, instead, load up 100 minutes with their nightly freak show, because making fun of freaks drives ratings in these early episodes.
Fox also does a decent job of editing the auditions together, making them look "live" from the time the contestant enters until he or she exits. Then at the end of the episode, they do a "freak show" montage with their song of the day. Obviously, they take the time out of some part of the audition to make them do that song. It's either that, or they ask them to come back after making them cry, just to humiliate them again. And don't think most of the judges reactions are to the actual contestant at the time. Those responses are so canned, they may even be from a previous season. The show has become so overproduced, in an effort to tell a story making fun of as many freaks as possible.
Don't get me wrong, I think most of them are hilarious. My favorite from Seattle was the woman whose husband didn't support her, but she thought he was just going to miss her. Uh, not exactly lady. He just realized that you're terrible. I told my wife that if she ever did that, I'd divorce her. To which she replied, "you embarass us on national TV all the time." I couldn't argue with that.
Fox is on a slippery slope with this, however. My wife, who is a doctor of one of the soft sciences, mentioned by watching two minutes of footage that the 27 year old guy (forget the name) who had the really wide open eyes and sang Unchained Melody - pretty much the guy they centered the entire Seattle episode around - most likely has Asperger Syndrome. If you don't believe her, read this description of the syndrome.
Asperger Syndrome or (Asperger's Disorder) is a neurobiological disorder named for a Viennese physician, Hans Asperger, who in 1944 published a paper which described a pattern of behaviors in several young boys who had normal intelligence and language development, but who also exhibited autistic-like behaviors and marked deficiencies in social and communication skills.
Now I've never applied to be on the show, so I'm not sure exactly what they ask on the fact checking questionnaire, but I'm pretty certain they don't do Psych profiles on all 10,000 applicants in each city. More than likely, Fox was making fun of a young man with a pretty serious disorder - and they duped America to come along for the ride.
The other thing it's evident Fox doesn't check for is narcotics in each contestant's system. I don't know if it's just Seattle, or the other cities will have them as well, but there were enough meth heads that made TV to never make me want to visit the Emerald City. I know that they've had a lot of trash on the show over the years, but there were people who were actively on drugs during their auditions. You can see it in their faces too. They've been mess up on meth. I don't know how to describe it, but look at the bizzaro Taylor Hicks's face, and you know he's hooked on junk. Half his lip hangs down, his teeth are sideways, he has bags under his bags under his eyes. But, he was crazy, he was out of control (like when he tried to touch Simon), so let's get him on during the prime ratings slot of the show, go to his job, and, of course, promote him on our commercials.
Not to be outdone, Red - the last contestant - was clearly using something too. It's like these guys say, 'let's huff some glue, go wait in line for two days, huff a little more, and get on TV.' And Fox bites. So do we.
Look, there are four types of people who audition for this show. First, the mediocre, no talent, no personality people who don't get on TV because they can't get past the cross checkers There are about 90% of those people in every city. Next are the people who actually go to try and win. Most of them can sing a little, some very well. But in a city with 10,000 applicants, just over 1/10th of one percent of them get to Hollywood. Your odds are better of getting hit by a car on the way to the audition than they are of even getting to Hollywood, let alone in the finals.
Next are the dillusional people who have absolutely no shot of ever getting famous, so they go on this show because someone in their lives told them it was a good idea. Those people get on TV just to be made fun of. And their presence on the show entices Joe and Jane Fan at home to say, "hell, I'm better than them. I should try out next year." The cycle may never end.
Last are the people who just go to get on TV. They dress up, they act crazy, they do anything to get on TV. For a few years, Fox wasn't putting them on as much, but it seems that more and more, they don't care if the contestant is in on the joke, as long as 37 million of us are watching the punchline.
Makes you wonder who the joke is really on.
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