Very Different - Live vs TV

by Bill Holmes

Cowboys Stadium

I had the opportunity recently to go to the NCAA Basketball Tournament South Region round of 16 games. The south region games were here locally at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. The stadium is only about 12 miles from where I live. I don't consider Arlington, Texas a typical South location but I've already addressed the NCAA geographical problems in another blog. I spent the outrageous amount of money for tickets because the Florida Gators were playing. I've been a Gators fan since my childhood growing up in Florida. We don't get to see the Gators very often here in north Texas so this year I'm glad the NCAA is geographically impaired.  Most importantly, I got to go with my youngest son who is also a huge Gators fan. As a bonus we got to see  a terrific Kansas - Michigan game before the Gators played. Then the Gators won. It was a great evening and night and turned out to be well worth the money.

All that is just a little background for the real point of this blog. I'd like to talk about the differences

between seeing an event live and watching it on TV. For this exercise I'm talking mostly about sporting events, in particular the NCAA South Regional's. Some of my observations also apply to other events.

Besides going to the games, I also recorded them. I've watched much of what I recorded so here are my views. I've been to many live games and concerts but this may be the first I ever recorded and then watched again.

The first big difference is you have to plan for going to a live event. You have to buy tickets, figure out a schedule, think about traffic and parking, pay attention to the weather, etc. At home you just need to plan to have stuff in the fridge and cupboards and pay your cable bill.

Cowboys Stadium Menu 

In this particular case we decided to leave home about two and a half hours before the first game. That would give us time to drive through rush hour traffic, get good parking and eat an early supper before going to the game. That's usually our plan when going to live games. Better to eat good food and have a reasonably priced beverage before going to the stadium where mediocre (at best) $10 hot dogs and beers are the norm. As it turned out, the restaurant offered free parking for the games if you spent a certain amount. We managed to spend about a $1.50 more than required and had an excellent meal. After that we had to walk a little less than a mile to the Stadium. That was a good thing after a large and satisfying meal. On the way, we passed $30, $40 and $50 parking and that was before we even got to the actual stadium parking lots.

For viewing at home you have to remember to turn on the TV. I usually manage to get free parking on the couch or recliner. I hardly ever charge my guests for food and the beers are way less than $9. The food may not be gourmet but it won't be an overpriced crap hot dog either. Parking is always free and very close by.

The second difference is the cost of the event. That difference is pretty drastic. In the past, the

difference between live events and TV was almost infinite since TV was free. Now days it's not quite infinite but probably pretty close. If you divide your monthly cable bill by how much stuff you watch, any specific hour or two is pretty cheap. That's not the case with most live events these days. They are expensive. For popular sporting and music events it's even worse. Scalpers and ticket brokers buy up most of the tickets and then resell them at a higher price. I paid well over twice face value for the NCAA tickets when service, processing, handling and delivery charges (all scams) were added. I'm a little spoiled and old fashion in this regard. I've been to a lot of sporting events and concerts that were actually affordable. I was at that 1964 Beatles concert in Jacksonville. Check the price on the ticket. There were $4 tickets too. Somewhere along the line affordable changed to whatever the traffic will bear. The rise in ticket prices far outpaces the rate of inflation.

Tickets for all my home events are very reasonable and most are free. I never add a service or handling charge.

At the actual event there are a ton of differences. At a live venue the seats a not as comfortable, the bathroom if farther away and probably grosser, there is no fridge nearby, although a vendor with cold beverages may come by but not on your schedule, and every time you go somewhere you have to crawl over people and go up or down stairs. People stand up in front of you or walk by in the aisle and block your view. Of course there was a tall guy sitting in front of us. He stood up for every good play or crucial situation. Matt and I had to stand for the last several minutes of regulation and all of the overtime period. Thankfully he left shortly after the Gators game started. Depending on the venue you might have to deal with less than ideal weather. I've been at Rangers Ballpark in the rain and August heat.

Here the fridge, pantry and bathroom are all within 15 steps of the TV and no stairs. I have a choice of a couch, recliner and a couple of chairs, all comfortable. The bathrooms are relatively clean. The heat and AC work fine and the roof doesn't leak. There's room to go around rather than over anyone else sitting nearby. You can walk on either side of the coffee table.

Now on to the actual differences in viewing the game. Maybe the biggest difference is at a live event there is no running commentary. No one to tell you what you are watching or how to interpret it. You have to depend on your own eyes to tell you what is going on. Charles Barkley couldn't tell me if a play was good or bad. There is no halftime analysis show so obviously you have no idea what you just watched. Halftime is for finding a bathroom and maybe a concession stand.

We watched the games from behind the team benches and official scorer's table. The TV viewpoint was from the other side of the court. That gives you a different perspective on the game but is a little confusing. A play you remember going left to right now goes right to left. You tend to get the halves confused. Some plays that were an obvious foul from one side of the court look totally different from the other side. Today's stadiums have big video displays so you do get some replays but not nearly as many as on TV plus you don't get the TV expert analysis of the replay. Without the expert analysis there is no way you can interpret the replay. Some controversial calls are not shown on the stadium screens. I've noticed this often at baseball games. They don't want to show up the umpires.

The number and length of the game stoppages are intrusive. Most of the timeouts were not called by the teams involved, they were called by the officials and TV. When you are at home these stops in the action seem normal and are filled with commercials or an update on other games. At the live event they are a real pain. It's amazing how long they last. Not long enough to make a bathroom run but long enough to get your attention. Basketball needs to flow a little more quickly. TV and the referees need to figure out how to speed up the games but I'm not holding my breath in hope that will happen. TV has to get the commercials in.

I was amazed at how few updates we got about the other Sweet 16 games going on at the same time. I would have thought that with the 60 yard scoreboard, baby scoreboard hanging from it, smaller screens and display panels circling the arena there would be room to show other scores. We did get a very few updates during timeouts and halftime.

Now a few specifics about the NCAA games we attended.

Cowboys Stadium is a magnificent venue with a 60 yard wide video display. Despite that, Jerry Jones or the NCAA decided it was necessary to hang a smaller display from the big one, one that is more like those found in basketball arenas. Maybe it was necessary so those close to the court could see a scoreboard. Big and little screens showed the same thing. I'm not a big fan of Jerry's Jiant screen. If you are in a middle or upper deck it is almost impossible to watch the game on the field. The screen dominates your view. From the lower levels it's not quite as intrusive. Another gripe is that the giant screen was a little out of ratio. It seemed a little squished top to bottom and spread out side to side. If your friend the cheerleader asks, I'm afraid the answer is "Yes, that made your butt look big". Giant screens are not kind for most close-ups. College kids with zits do not look good on a 60 yard HD screen. That four foot wide pimple is not attractive. By the way, if you watched the game on TV you may have seen the FGCU Cinderella. She was much more attractive live than on the video screen. The smaller screen hanging from the giant screen had a better ratio. My home screen is slightly less than 60 yards wide but the ratio is perfect.

For basketball, the permanent lower level sideline seats (aka expensive) are covered by temporary flooring, seats, aisles and railings that slope from the court to the lower level boxes. Seems like there would be a better way. There are also way more people on that lower level than during a Cowboys football game. The smaller playing field (court) leaves much more room for seating on what would normally be the football field. Ingress, egress and concessions are not made for that many people on that stadium level.

WiFi and cell coverage in the stadium was less than desirable. Cell coverage was barely OK for simple text but crapped out while trying to send a picture. WiFi was just atrocious. Cowboys Stadium allegedly has AT&T WiFi. I was able to connect a couple of times but never for more than a minute or so. It didn't get any better when over half the folks from the Michigan - Kansas game left. Right now here at home it shows AT&T WiFi out of range the same as it did sometimes when I was in the stadium. Amazingly, I have fair cell coverage and great WiFi coverage here at home. In fact, I'm WiFi connected right now as I type this blog, just as you probably are while reading it.

Unknowingly the NCAA saved me a fortune. There were no beer sales at the stadium for the general public. I don't know about the suites. Beer is usually $9 plus there's a tip if you buy from a roving vendor. I did buy one bottle of water which was only a very reasonable $5. We were at the stadium for over five hours so I imagine I would have consumed a few beers had they been available. There is always beer available at my place and you can get nine or 10 for the price of one at the stadium. No tips either.

Yes, it is a hassle and expensive to go to a live event. You can get better views, cheaper food and beverages, fewer tall people sitting in front of you and a more comfortable seat at home. So why go to a live event? It's because you are in the middle of the action. You can feel the atmosphere rather than just watching it. We were sitting next to the main Kansas section on Friday night. They were a jovial, happy group during most of the game. When Michigan tied it in regulation, you could feel the trepidation from the Kansas crowd. When Michigan won the game in OT, you could feel their joy and the despair and disappointment from the Kansas faithful. When FGCU got off to a fast start against Florida there was electricity in the arena. Everybody but true Gators was rooting for the Cinderella team. When Florida regained the lead you could feel the letdown and the Kansas and Michigan fans began to leave in droves. You couldn't get those dynamics sitting at home watching on TV.

Bottom line is I love that I can watch so many events on TV. I get to watch almost every Texas Rangers game. I get a chance to see most Florida Gators football games. I've watched many of the NCAA Tournament games even though I only went to two of them.  I'm grateful that there is so much sports and entertainment on TV. I'm also grateful that we still have live events. I'll watch most of the Rangers games on TV, but any chance I get, I'll go to the stadium. If it's a team or a game you care about then being there in the moment is better. You can live without the play by play babble. You can figure out what happened without Charles Barkley or Tim McCarver telling you. You can fight the crowd at the bathroom. You can even look at stuff the TV camera isn't pointed at. Go to a concert. The artists may hit a bad note and maybe won't sound exactly like on the album but it's a much better experience than listening to the CD or MP3 alone. You may get hot or cold or wet. You may get a beverage spilled on you. You may also make new friends. You'll get to share the thrill of victory or agony of defeat. You can bond with other Parrot Heads. Group dynamics are powerful and most experiences are better when they are shared. So get out there and support your team or favorite entertainer. You'll probably have a damn good time.

wjh

NCAA March Geography Madness

by Bill Holmes

It is no wonder our children are confused about geography. Every year about this time the NCAA releases the brackets for the NCAA Basketball Tournaments. I will be concentrating on the men's tournament but the women are just as guilty of this travesty against US geography.

The NCAA Division I Tournament is made up of 68 teams from colleges and universities all over the country. These teams play a single elimination format until a champion is determined. The teams make the tournament based on their regular season records or conference tournament results. These teams are seeded and placed into a bracket which shows the team pairings and locations for the games. Because there are so many games, as many as 16 per day in the round of 64, several locations are used. The four main divisions of the bracket are called regions and it is here where the devious plot begins. A plot obviously designed to undermine every geography expert, teacher, professor, author and mapmaker. Let us examine this plot in depth.

Partial 2013 Bracket

The bracket regions are named East, West, South and Midwest. I have no idea what North did to piss off the NCAA. Maybe Midwest has a better marketing department. The names are innocent enough, you just divide the country into four sections based on physical location and population. If a university or college is in that region that's the section of the bracket they play in. Perfectly logical right? Au contraire Mr. or Ms. Geography. That would be too simple.

Let me give you a few examples of this debacle. The number one seed in the South is the University of Kansas and number one in the East is the University of Illinois. The four locations for the first two rounds of the South region are Kansas City; Auburn Hills, MI; Austin, TX; Philadelphia. Four of our most famous old south cities, steeped in southern charm and tradition. Those four cities are also used for first round games in other regions. Austin in the East, Philadelphia and Auburn Hills in the Midwest and Kansas City in the West. Confused yet? There's plenty more. Pittsburgh, Southern, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Kansas St., Harvard, Notre Dame, Iowa St. and Ohio St are playing in the West region. In the meantime UNLV, California, Montana, Colorado and Pacific are in the East. It goes on and on with teams and game venues in the wrong geographical locations but I think you get the point. If you don't then the NCAA has already succeeded in their plan to eliminate all geographical accuracy and knowledge.

This is even worse when you consider that this mangling of geography is being done by the NCAA, the National COLLEGIATE Athletic Association. An organization composed of our institutions of higher learning. An organization that supposedly has many college educated people, some of who probably passed a geography course or two. Even if there are no geography experts working in the NCAA it would seem that they would have access to a few at there member institutions.

That being said I can only assume that it is a devious plot to confuse the public, undermine geography teachers, keep our children uneducated and ultimately destroy our country. We have already seen evidence of the results of this plot. Those who programmed the Apple Maps app are proof our young people don't know where they are or how to get where they want to go.

I demand that we change the region names to something geographically neutral. Some suggestions might be colors like red, white, blue and green. How about named after famous basketball people like John Wooden, James Naismith, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lew Alcindor) or Michael Jordan. Please, don't suggest coach Mike Krzyzewski, nobody could ever spell or pronounce the region name. There are hundreds of other possibilities, let your imagination run wild.

So it is incumbent on those of us who know that Harvard is not in the West to correct this situation. Do whatever is necessary to get this changed before the 2014 tournament. Start a petition, contract congress and the president, send a donation to The American Geographical Society, picket the games. Get out there and support the return of responsible geography and save our country. Stop the March Geographical Madness.

wjh

The British Beat

by Bill Holmes

Here's another music review of a PBS My Music program this time titled The British Beat. Surprise, it's a compilation show of British Invasion singers and groups that was made in 2004. It's mostly live performances with just a couple of old tapes. Petula Clark was the hostess.

For those too young or those who have forgotten, a possibility if you were fully engaged during the decade, the British Invasion refers to the music invasion that occurred in the mid 1960's. Technically this was the second British invasion. The first one was in 1812 and involved guns and swords instead of guitars, keyboards and drums. I guess the 1812 invasion had fifes and drums but they were not the main instruments. I don't consider the Revolutionary War (1775-1783) a British invasion since the American Colonies were under UK rule.

Enough 18th and 19th century history and on to the 1960's. Of course the music invasion was led and dominated by the Beatles but they were far from the only Brits to crack the US music charts. There were warning signs of the invasion in late 1963 but the full assault started in early 1964. There were many great artists who emerged during this period. Some of the best known iconic classic rock music was released in the 1960's. A few of the singers and groups are still performing. So, on to the show.

The show opened with Wayne Fontana without the Mindbenders. He sang The Game of Love and A Groovy Kind of Love. Wayne has had a few run ins with the law and mental health system but he still sounds pretty good. Next came Peter and Gordon who sang Go To Pieces and World Without Love, written by Paul McCartney. They sounded great, but Gordon Waller looked like hell. He died in 2009. Peter Asher became a record executive with Apple Records after P&G broke up. He also produced albums for Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Cher and others. They were followed by Mike Pender without The Searchers who sang Needles and Pins, or should I say Needles and Pinza. He sounded OK, but I think it was lip synced.

Now on to one of the highlights, an old performance of You Don't Have To Say You Love Me by the great Dusty Springfield. It's a good song performed by someone with an exceptional voice. Dusty also had stage presence and charisma. Unfortunately Dusty died in 1999. It's one of my favorites artists and songs.

Host Petula Clark sang Downtown next. Petula's voice is still good. She would have been 71 or 72 years old when the show was recorded. It looks like she has had a little plastic surgery. After several good performances we were due for a clunker and Paul Jones, formerly of Manfred Mann, gave us one. He sang Do Wah Diddy Diddy badly. He tied for the worst performance of the show. Probably should have lip synced it because the voice is shot.

Fortunately we quickly got back on track with a fun, energetic rendition of Here Comes My Baby by the Tremeloes. The guys sounded good and seemed to be having fun. They were followed by an old tape of The Rolling Stones classic (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction. One of the best ever guitar riffs. Then to change it up there was a combination of old footage and live performance of We Gotta Get Out Of This Place by The Animals. The producers did a good job of editing the taped and live pieces together. After that they did an all live version of House of the Rising Sun. Eric Burdon and his voice have a lot of hard miles on them, but he is still getting it done.

A couple of highlights followed. The Zombies Time of the Season and She's Not There. I'm a Zombies fan and those are two great songs. They still sound good. Colin Blunstone (lead singer) and Rod Argent (keyboards), the original heart and soul of the Zombies, are still with the band. I remember seeing the Zombies live in 1964 or 65. Continuing the upward trend, Lulu did To Sir With Love. Another favorite artist and song. Lulu looks and sounds great.

OK, so it's time for another dud and The Troggs delivered one with Wild Thing. That song has a good guitar riff but is not actually a very good song. Reg Presley never had a very good voice and it had gotten considerably worse. Reg recently died. This tied or maybe even surpassed the Paul Jones performance for the worst in show award.

Recovering quickly we have Gerry and The Pacemakers singing Ferry Cross the Mersey and Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying. Both good songs. Gerry Marsden looks bad and his voice is fading but it wasn't terrible. Chad and Jeremy took the stage next to sing Yesterday's Gone. The boys sounded good. They still perform and tour. Herman's Hermits did three songs, Wonderful World, Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter and Listen People. That's about two, maybe three, too many songs for me. I was never a Herman's Hermits fan. I thought they had a bubble gum sound and a too cutesy delivery. Peter Noone's (Herman) voice isn't great either. If I were the producer, I would have cut a couple of these songs and added a second or third number to another act.

To close out the show we have Denny Laine without the Moody Blues performing Go Now. This was another old footage and live performance mix. It sounded good but the live portions looked lip synced to me.

Overall it was a good show. It's both nice to see the old acts now and sometimes a little sad. Some of the old British invaders haven't held up too well or are gone. Others still look and sound pretty damn good. I guess it's the same for many of us that lived through and survived the 1960's. It's probably even more difficult for famous rockers who had all the advantages and disadvantages of the sex, drugs and rock & roll lifestyle. Regardless of how the bodies and voices have held up, we will always have the music, my music. For that I'm thankful.

wjh

The World According to Dick Cheney

by Bill Holmes

I just watched the Showtime documentary The World According to Dick Cheney. It's an interesting program that doesn't break any new ground but does put a lot of events and time into a two hour capsule. I'm not going to document all of Dick Cheney's life but rather touch on those things in the documentary that I found important.

First off, let me say that I find Dick Cheney one of the most dangerous kind of people and politicians that there is. He's a very intelligent, politically savvy and well connected person. Probably the smartest guy in the room most of the time. On the surface many of his philosophies and idea sound right and reasonable. It's OK to be intelligent and savvy and connected. It's also OK to champion your philosophies, ideas and agenda. So you may ask what makes Cheney dangerous? It's his core philosophy and the methods he uses to advance those views. I'll get into that in the next few paragraphs and then sum up my take on Dick and his influence.

It's unusual for a college dropout, unfocused party animal with two DWI arrests to make it to the White House. You have to give Cheney, or his wife Lynne, credit for turning his life around. He earned  bachelors and masters degrees from the University of Wyoming and started a doctoral program at the University of Wisconsin before Washington DC lured him into politics. It's also amazing that Cheney had his first heart attack at age 37. He's now 72 and on his second heart.

Cheney has an impressive resume. He was a White House staff member at the age of 30 in the Nixon administration. Chief of Staff for President Ford at 34 and later Ford's campaign manager in 1976. He was a ten term Congressman from Wyoming, rising to House Minority Whip. He served as Secretary of Defense under George H.W. Bush. He ran for president in 1994 but never got much traction or support, maybe it was his charming personality and charisma. During Clinton's administration Cheney became CEO of Halliburton, a tenure that is not without controversy. Of course he finished his career as vice president during both of George W. Bush's terms.

Cheney has always been a staunch conservative and hawk. Sometimes those two ideals were in conflict. As Secretary of Defense he reduced the military budget. As vice president he pushed for the Iraq invasion. Cutting spending is conservative, going to war is hawkish.

On to the review of the Showtime documentary. Cheney was interviewed for the show, but that was a small part of the program. Mostly it was pictures, film, narrative and talking head commentary. I would say the general tone was anti-Cheney although not blatant, there were supporters interviewed. The Cheney interview segments often did not include the interviewers questions, just Cheney's responses so it was sometimes difficult to discern what he was commenting about. I was hoping for a much more one on one question and answer session with a tough interviewer. Where is Mike Wallace when you need him?

Some of Cheney's responses were disturbing. He was asked about his main fault and responded - "I don't spend a lot of time thinking about my faults." He has no compunction about torturing terrorist captives, not even a ethics or legal close call to him. If there is a 1% chance of WMDs that must be treated as a certainty of WMDs. Even though he was warned that Iraq WMDs may not exist he still kept pushing that as a reason to invade. Finally when no WMDs were found he came up with other reasons we should have invaded Iraq. He was a proponent of sending terrorist, Afghanistan and Iraqi prisoners to Guantanamo so they wouldn't get any extra rights by being in the US. He argued that those prisoners did not qualify for POW rights under the Geneva Convention. He wanted to spy on Americans and circumvent subpoena laws. He lied or kept Justice Department objections hidden about the subpoena stuff from W. He would have let many of the top Justice people resign rather than follow their legal advice on this issue. In his view compromise is a dirty word.

Eventually Cheney wore out his welcome as the opponent of terrorists at all costs and war monger. He became the lone man out and lost power in the White House and eventually lost Bush's trust. It appears that although they once had a close relationship, George W. and Dick are no longer friends. Despite whatever you think of W., I feel he is a very decent person who finally saw the true Cheney and didn't like what he saw.

So, why do I think Cheney was dangerous? It's because he is willing to eliminate, suspend or bend the rules to advance his views. He pretends to be a true red, white and blue patriot but has no problem stomping on the rights of those who don't agree with him. He sees a threat to our security behind every tree and around every corner. It's OK to torture the "enemy" to get information. It's OK to deny them almost any and all rights. We need to be vigilant to protect our country but we can not abandon our basic principles and rights to do it. Do we want to protect a country and way of life that is the same or worse than those trying to destroy us?      

Cheney was also dangerous because he had political power and was in positions to implement his views. His paranoid, uncompromising attitude is popular with a segment of our population. I'm always amazed at the knee-jerk reactions to trouble or tragedies. Many people are more than willing to give up our rights in the hope of preventing something bad, even if that something hardly ever occurs.

Of course those who advocate these infringements on our rights always have caveats. It's OK to eliminate subpoenas when spying on suspected terrorists but not OK to require background checks to purchase an AK-47 at a gun show. You can step on the rights of those I don't like or agree with but don't dare step on my rights. I think Cheney is one of those who loves his rights but really doesn't care about yours. He waves the US flag but doesn't think all that it stands for is important.

A few closing thoughts. Cheney is a full blown hawk about using US force but he said this - In 1989, The Washington Post writer George C. Wilson interviewed Cheney as the next Secretary of Defense; when asked about his deferments, Cheney reportedly said, "I had other priorities in the '60s than military service".

In closing the documentary he stated - "If I had to do it over again, I'd do it in a minute."  I guess that's easy to say for someone who has no faults. 

If you have the Showtime channels this show is on a million times this month (March 2013). Watch it and decide for yourself. 

wjh

REO Speedwagon

By Bill Holmes

This is music review number four in my trilogy. I thought after my last review of Aaron Neville's Doo Wop concert that I was through for a while with this topic. Unknown, or is it unremembered, at the time I had an REO Speedwagon concert on AXS in the DVR queue. I just watched it, so here's the BillyJim critique.

REO Speedwagon is a rock band formed in 1967 in Champagne, IL. by University of Illinois students. They were popular in the 1970's and 80's. They hit their peak in the 80's when they changed from harder rock to a more pop oriented, radio friendly style of music. There Hi Infidelity album spent 65 weeks on the charts and, 32 weeks in the top ten and 15 weeks at number one. It sold over 10 million copies. Not too shabby. The current band members include only one original member, Neal Doughty. Lead singer Kevin Cronin has been with the group since 1972 except for a couple of years and sang their 1980's hits.

Steve Perry of Journey

I was never a big REO Speedwagon fan although I like many of their songs. It's not that I didn't like them so much as I didn't really pay as much attention to bands in the 1980's. I just listened to songs I liked. There were several groups of that era that sounded pretty much alike to me. Groups like Styx, Foreigner, INXS, Rush and Air Supply. I'd be hard pressed to be able to identify who performed a particular song among those bands. I wasn't completely tone deaf or musically illiterate during the 70's and 80's. I can tell a Journey song but that's easy because of Steve Perry's great unique voice. Other groups also had unique sounds like Simply Red, again a great lead singer in Mick Hucknall, Fleetwood Mac, Dire Straights and others.

It's normal to know every popular song and singer when you're a teenager. Less so in your 20's but music and concerts are still important. By the 30's it fades even more as the kids and career move to the forefront. You may know more Sesame Street or Sponge Bob songs than top 40 hits.

Kevin Cronin - Now

Back to REO Speedwagon. Here is the playlist from the TV show. You may recognize a few of the songs.

• Find Your Way Home
• Take It On The Run
• Keep Pushin'
• Can't Fight This Feeling
• Dangerous Combination
• Time For Me To Fly
• Don't Let Him Go
• Keep On Loving You
• Roll With The Changes
• Ridn' The Storm Out

Kevin Cronin - Then

The concert was OK. Kevin Cronin's voice is not as good as it was in the 1980's but it's not bad. That's to be expected. Many of us have declined in some areas over the 30+ years. He also had some lame chatter between songs. I did not recognize most of the songs. Take It On The Run and Keep On Loving You were big hits that I do remember. As for the others I don't know if they are from the 1970's and 80's or are "new" songs. They haven't had any hits since the late 80's but they have produced a few new albums as well as reissues and compilations of their hits.

Of the five concerts/shows in this four part trilogy, this one is maybe fourth. The History Of The Eagles was the best. Aaron Neville's Doo Wop and Hullabaloo are tied for second for different reasons. Hullabaloo is pure nostalgia and Aaron is a favorite artist who still is performing at a high level although he was singing nostalgic songs too. The REO Speedwagon concert was fourth. It was OK, nothing to write home about but apparently good enough to blog about. Hootenanny was just bad and finishes in last place.

So, I checked and there are no new recorded music shows or concerts on the DVR or in the queue. A fifth entry in the trilogy might be pushing it. I did record the Dick Cheney interview/documentary, The World According to Dick Cheney, on Showtime. Maybe that will be next. From Hullabaloo to Cheney will be quite a transition. Cheney may belong on The Viewpoint blog. Stay tuned.

wjh

Doo Wop

By Bill Holmes

The third in what is becoming a music review series. Our subject for today is the PBS program Aaron Neville - Doo Wop: My True Story. This is a recording of a live concert at the Brooklyn Bowl, which is a concert venue and bowling alley. The songs, for the most part, were from Aaron's latest album My True Love. As you may have guessed, it's an album and show of Doo Wop songs.

Doo Wop is a style of rhythm & blues music that features harmony. It is often performed a cappella or with minimal backing instruments. It's a little like a more modern, hipper and blacker barbershop quartet style. It is always sung by a group of singers although there can be a lead singer such as Aaron in this show. It started mostly in large cities in the northeast of the US and reached it's greatest popularity in the late 1950's and early 60's. There were many Doo Wop groups in those years, both black and white. It proceeded the British invasion. One of the earliest Doo Wop groups was the Mills Brothers. They had great harmony. During it's peak popularity, groups like The Diamonds, The Crests, The Flamingos and dozens of others dominated the radio and the music charts. The style faded from popularity by the mid 60's as folk, surf and British invasion style music rose to the top. There are still Doo Wop groups around as well as an occasional  Doo Wop style song or two by contemporary artists. PBS has produced a couple of Doo Wop oldies shows over the years. It's great music which emphasizes the voice rather than amps.

Aaron Neville grew up singing Doo Wop with his older brothers Charles and Art in New Orleans. The My True Story album is a trip back to those days in the projects. The Brooklyn Bowl concert and TV show is, for the most part, a live performance of that album. Aaron was accompanied by five back up singers and a six member band. The band consisted of a piano, organ, guitar, stand up base and drums with a bonus of brother Charles Neville on saxaphone and flute. Joan Osborne and Paul Simon also dropped by to sing with Aaron.

Here is the playlist from the show:

• Little Bitty Pretty One
• Ting-A-Ling
• Tears On My Pillow
• My True Story
• Money Honey -  with Joan 
• Ruby Baby - starts out a cappella
• Don't Go, Please Stay 
• Hercules
• Under the Boardwalk
• Tell It Like It Is 
• Have Mercy Baby
• This Magic Moment/True Love medley
• We Belong Together - with Paul 
• Work With Me Annie
• Be My Baby     

There are some great songs on this playlist. Tears On My Pillow is a favorite of mine especially the Little Anthony & The Imperials version. Ruby Baby is a Doo Wop street corner standard. Under the Boardwalk by The Drifters is in the top five Doo Wop songs of all time. There are no duds in this group.

Money Honey, sung with Joan Osborne, was OK but was probably the weakest of the selections. Their voices were not a great blend. We Belong Together with Paul Simon was good. This song is not on the album. Paul is not and never has been a great singer but he does have some experience singing with someone who has a great voice. He knows how to harmonize. Charles Neville contributed a flute break on Be My Baby. I think my favorite selection was Don't Go, Please Stay. It highlights Aaron's angelic voice and brother Charles added a nice sax break. This Magic Moment/True Love medley is another highlight. Aaron does justice to all the songs.

It was a good show. I'll admit, I am a huge Aaron Neville and Neville Brothers fan all the way back to The Wild Tchoupitoulas days. I've seen The Neville Brothers live in New Orleans at Tipitina's (the original @ Napoleon & Tchoupitoulas). I own over 20 albums by various members and combinations of the Neville family and had even more at one time. So you see, I may be a little prejudiced in my review of this program. Never the less, if you are a Doo Wop and/or Aaron Neville fan, My True Story is a worthwhile album and show. Aaron is touring in support of this album. You can check Aaron's website to see if he's going to be in your town. No D/FW dates yet. The PBS program will be rebroadcast in the D/FW area (KERA, 13) on Friday, 3/15 @ 10:30 PM. It's a pledge program, so as usual, I highly recommend recording it so you can fast forward through the pledge segments.

I don't have any new concerts or music shows on the DVR so maybe the reviews will stop for awhile. We've pretty much covered all the popular music genres of the 1960's with Doo Wop, Hootenanny and Hullabaloo. I'm sure I'll think of something else to expound or rant about soon.

wjh  

Hootenanny

By Bill Holmes

As mentioned in my recent blog about Hullabaloo, I had recorded a PBS show about another 1960's music show, Hootenanny. Last night I watched it so here is my report on that show.

Hootenanny was a TV show in 1963 & 64. It was dedicated mostly to folk music although there was some gospel, country, a little jazz and comedy too. It aired during the very brief folk music craze. There were 43 episodes produced over two years. The shows were taped on college campuses, 22 different ones. Hootenanny started as a half hour program that was later expanded to a full hour. Like many of these old show, the original video tapes were erased to save money. The tape was reused. That left only crappy black and white kinescopes for posterity. The PBS show is a compilation of segments from these kinescopes. It was a normal PBS pledge drive program where they cram less than an hour of content into a 1:30 show. No jazz or comedy segments were shown. Here's the lineup of the acts featured:

• New Christy Minstrels w/Barry McGuire
• Trini Lopez
• Travelers Three
• Ian & Sylvia 
• Judy Collins 
• Theodore Bikel 
• Clara Ward Singers - gospel
• Johnny Cash
• Leon Bibb
• The Tarriers
• Jimmie Rogers
• Bob Gibson
• Brothers Four
• Joe & Eddie
• Hoyt Axton
• Chad Mitchell Trio
• Rooftop Singers
• Marion Williams - gospel

I will not lie, I did not remember some of these performers and I listened to a lot of folk music in the 60's. I barely remember the show.

This was a very laid back and mellow show. Most looked like they were taped in the gym with a small stage in the middle of the floor surrounded by students. There was very minimal camera work consisting of a shot of the performer with a few crowd shots cut in. Being folk music, it was all acoustic instruments and usually one microphone. The songs were performed live, no lip syncing or prerecorded music. There were many guitars, stand up basses, banjos and a few mandolins. Most acts were male, either solos or three, maybe four guys.  The few women had very high voices as in Judy Collins and Sylvia Tyson. There were no elaborate sets, dancers or production numbers. Jack Linkletter, Art's son, was the low key host.  No bombastic introductions here.   Just a simple show with simple acts performing simple songs. Most of those songs were traditional folk music much of which was written decades before. Overall the show didn't seem to have much energy. Unless you are a real folk fan, this show will probably be a disappointment. The poor quality of the video doesn't help but there are plenty of other problems with the production.

The folk music craze hit it's peak in the early 1960's. Hundreds of groups, national and local, sprung up. Old traditionalists like Pete Seeger and the Weavers, Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly had been performing those songs for years. In the late 50's and early 60's, younger musicians began to adopt the genre. The Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul & Mary, The Limelighters, Judy Collins and others attracted new audiences and the folk wave started. There was acoustic, mellow music on the radio. Folk groups drew big crowds to concerts. The top forty charts included folk music right alongside rock, R&B and pop. High school kids formed folk groups. One of my best friends was a member of a folk music quartet, The Coachmen, that had success performing at local venues. It was this surge in popularity that brought about the Hootenanny TV show.

I was a fan of folk music and had several albums by the popular groups. Ian and Sylvia were my favorite and their song Four Strong Winds, written by Ian, was the best. Scotch and Soda by the Kingston Trio ain't bad either. I remember going to Miami to see Ian & Sylvia live at a small coffee house or club. Tommy Ewart and I drove to Miami from Tampa in his VW Beetle convertible. That was not a good road trip car and the roads weren't great back then. No interstate between Tampa and Miami. I think we stayed with friends of Tommy. This was during our college days at the University of South Florida. It was probably 1966 or 67. It was well worth the trip. We sat at a table very close to the stage. Sylvia had a high soprano voice that seemed to be the norm for female folk singers. Ian had a remarkable baritone voice, powerful with great range. They had good harmony. Another memory is of a Peter, Paul and Mary concert at the old Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum. Shortly after the concert began, they asked management to turn off the air conditioning. The noisy flow of air through the old duct work was bothering them. The place was packed and did get a tad warm. We didn't care. It was a good show. I can't remember what year that was or who I was with. I've seen the Kingston Trio live a few times.

Just as fast as folk music had became popular and mainstream it faded. There was a little musical event in 1964 called the British invasion, lead by a group called The Beatles. You may have heard of them. Many of the so called folk performers morphed into rock, folk-rock or country artists. People such as John Sebastian, Cass Elliot and John Phillips moved toward a more rock sound. The changing musical landscape along with what was not a great show to begin with doomed Hootenanny. After two short years it was cancelled. ABC replaced it with Shindig! which had a rock music focus, like Hullabaloo.

Folk stuck around in a much more minor roll on the music scene. No more Tom Dooley or Lemon Trees on the Top 40 charts. The big acts like Peter, Paul & Mary and the Kingston Trio continued to tour and make records for years to come. Pete Seeger and Judy Collins still perform today. The lesser acts disappeared, played smaller venues or converted to rock or country. There are still folk and bluegrass festivals all over the country so the music lives on. Maybe someday it will burst into the forefront once again.

Hootenanny now is just a small and fading blip on the music TV radar. Mostly forgotten but it remains the only network TV series dedicated to folk music.

I recorded the Aaron Neville - Doo Wop: My True Story on PBS. Maybe that will be the subject of a future blog. Aaron Neville singing old Doo Wop songs sounds like a good combination to me.

wjh

Hullabaloo and The Eagles

by Bill Holmes

In the last few days I have watched some TV shows about music in the 20th Century. My local PBS station is having yet another pledge drive. That means they break out the oldies music shows and maybe a newer concert. I have also caught a few music shows on other channels.

PBS has a whole vault full of My Music specials. There are big band, 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's music compilation shows. These are made up of several "Oldies" acts, usually performing just one song each. There are individuals and groups that have performed continuously over the years, reunited original groups, some groups with one or two original members combined with new guys and some vintage film. PBS also has some more contemporary full concerts by one performer or group. Then there are the highly produced "specials" like Celtic Women or The Tenors. The one common thread of most of these PBS shows is that they are aired during pledge periods. That turns a one hour concert into a two hour TV program. They are perfect candidates to be recorded. You can then watch later and skip the very long pledge breaks.

There have also been some good concerts on other channels. There was an AXS broadcast of a recent Fleetwood Mac show. Those guys are still getting it done although I do miss Christine McVie. I saw only a little over half of the show and didn't record it. AXS is a source for many concerts.

The two programs I want to address here are the Showtime History of the Eagles and a PBS compilation show of Hullabaloo.

Hullabaloo was a music variety show on NBC in 1965 & 66. It was sometimes a half hour and sometimes an hour show. It was a music show aimed at the youth of the day. I did see it on occasion but not regularly. I think that was probably because, like most mid 60's households, Dad controlled the TV. He wouldn't have been a Hullabaloo fan. There was no option to go to my bedroom to watch my TV. It didn't exist. Also, in those years, I tried to spend as little time at home as possible or didn't live at home. There wasn't much interest in watching TV. Nevertheless, there are vague memories of the original show.

The PBS show was just a compilation of clips from the original Hullabaloo programs. It was almost all songs by the original artists interspersed with a few introductions by the guest hosts and some shots of the dancers. Although the show was taped in color, most of it was later transferred to black and white film so the tape could be reused. A cost saving move with no regard to history. As with most PBS pledge drives, there are CD's and DVD's that contain much more material than what was aired. Pete Noone (aka Herman of the Hermits) was the PBS host. He had also been a guest host and performer on the original show. One of the strange things about Hullabaloo is the hosts often don't fit. It was a youth oriented show but Sammy Davis, Jerry Lewis, Jack Jones and Alan King were some of the hosts. This was probably an effort to lure a few older viewers in with established stars. Mom and Dad might not know who The Zombies were. I'm sure the kids knew the musical acts that were featured and probably weren't all that interested in Jerry Lewis's shtick.

Speaking of the musical acts, here is a list of those featured on the broadcast:

• Herman's Hermits
• Sonny & Cher
• Jay & The Americans
• The Kinks
• Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders
• The Four Seasons
• The Byrds
• Barry McGuire
• The Cyrkle (Red Rubber Ball)
• Trini Lopez
• The Lovin' Spoonful
• The Mamas & The Papas
• The Bobby Fuller Four (I Fought the Law)
• The Young Rascals
• Dionne Warwick
• The Outsiders
• The Zombies
• The Animals
• Paul Revere & The Raiders
• Nancy Sinatra
• The Righteous Brothers

That's quite a lineup. Now here's the kicker. I remembered all the songs and almost all the words to those songs. I can't remember when I last heard the Cyrkle or Bobby Fuller Four but the words came back to me. I also can't remember what I had for lunch but that's another story. Based on the promos for the CD's and DVD's there were many other performers who appeared on Hullabaloo. I guess it was the place to be in 1965. It and Shindig! were the only prime-time TV shows for rock or folk acts at the time. Those were the days of Ed Sullivan, Perry Como, Dean Martin, Andy Williams and other more traditional variety shows. Those shows would occasionally have a rock act on but were mostly aimed at an older audience. 

I was struck by several things. The performers looked very young and not very polished. The production values looked very poor. The sets looked cheap and the camera work was bad. Maybe it looked better in color. The dancers were very enthusiastic but the choreography was weak. None of the instruments were plugged in and there wasn't an amp or speaker  in site. During one of the pledge breaks, Lesley Gore said that all the music was prerecorded but the singing was live, kind of like karaoke . That is probably mostly true because some of the singing and sound levels were a little off. I do think at least some of the backup singing was prerecorded too. There were some clips where five or six people were sharing one mic yet it sounded just like the record. Despite these flaws it was a great trip back to the mid 60's. 

Neither Hullabaloo or Shindig! lasted past 1966. Both had ratings problems. I don't know why but I suspect it was due to one TV households with that television being controlled by the parents. I don't think the poor production values would have been a problem. Most TV shows of that era look poorly produced in retrospect. The country was far less sophisticated back then. I also don't think teens watched TV as much. We were too busy doing other stuff. Even so, these shows were the precursors of music videos and MTV. You could finally see the artists who you had been listening to on records, jukeboxes and the radio even if they didn't do a concert in your home town. 

Now we move from the 1960's to the 70's. The Eagles were never on Hullabaloo, they came a few years later.

The Eagles 70's version

The Eagles documentary is three hours. Two hours about the 1970's when they were formed and reached their peak. The last hour covers the 1994 reunion until now. They have now been reunited twice as long as they were originally united.

I lived through the 70's. It was a time of great change for me. The Vietnam War was still raging as the decade began. I went from business neophyte to running a small field office. I went from single to married. I became a parent. I bought my first house. The 70's were also a time of change in our music. The Beatles split and the British invasion faded. Several new singers and groups emerged. One of those bands was The Eagles.

At the core, The Eagles are Glenn Frey, from Detroit, and Don Henley, from Linden Texas, who met in Los Angeles. They are the only constants in the band. They first played together in Linda Ronstadt's band. After that they formed the original Eagles with Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner. That was in 1971. The bands name came out of a peyote and tequila soaked outing in the Mohave Desert. An eagle flew over their campsite at dawn.

Those original members recorded the first two albums. For the third album they added Don Felder. There were now five Eagles.

By then the sex, drugs and rock 'n roll were in full swing for The Eagles. After the fourth album Leadon left the band for artistic differences. Back to four Eagles, but not for long. Joe Walsh joined the group. Joe brought solid rock 'n roll chops, additional drugs, alcohol, craziness and world class hotel room trashing abilities. By this time The Eagles had a number one album. It was 1975.

Next came Hotel California and there was no stopping The Eagles. It was Life in the Fast Lane. So of course the internal strife escalated. The usual ego problems and creative differences emerged, fueled by increased pressure to produce and drugs. Meisner left after the Hotel California tour. They added Timothy B. Schmit, formerly of Poco.

Finally in July 1980 it all came crashing down. The internal problems percolated to the surface and then exploded. The cocaine probably contributed. The Beatles dominated  the 60's but broke up in 1970. The Eagles were the dominant band of the 70's and broke up in 1980. It's tough to be number one. As Glenn Frey said in the documentary, "We made it and it ate us."

Unlike The Beatles, The Eagles have risen from the ashes. Maybe they should change their name to Phoenix. In spite of  Don Henley's statement that the band would get back together "when Hell freezes over", in 1994 The Eagles reunited. So of course the tour was called Hell Freezes Over.

All five guys who made up The Eagles in 1980 returned for the 1994 reunion. They each had varied success as solo artists during the 14 years apart. Henley and Frey were the most successful. Walsh hit bottom with the drugs and alcohol. He went to rehab and sobered up before the reunion. All the guys had cleaned up their act so we now get to hear the sober adult Eagles. Hell Freezes Over was planned to be a one-time only three month tour. The guys had fun and enjoyed being together again. They're still at it here in 2013.

The Eagles - 2007

Unfortunately all the old wounds weren't healed. In 2001 Felder was fired. It's hard to tell which side is at fault in the split. Frey and Felder talked about the reasons, Henley agreed with Frey. The other two members didn't address the situation. He sued everybody. The case was finally settled out of court in 2007. So there are now four Eagles again, the original number they started with in 1971.

As of 2013, The Eagles are still together. There last album was made in 2007 and they have some dates scheduled this year although it's not a tour. They all do solo stuff and collaborate with other musicians and groups between Eagles gigs.

It was an interesting documentary. Of course the music was great but the interviews were the real jewels. There were interviews and candid recordings from the 1970's and recent times plus a little from the 14 years they were apart.

Two good shows that were packed with good music and mostly good memories. Sure beats the normal fare on TV. My local PBS station is still in the middle of a pledge drive so there may be more to come. I recorded a PBS Hootenanny compilation show the other day but haven't watched it yet. Maybe that will be worth a future blog.

wjh  

Lance and Oprah

by Bill Holmes

This blog was originally published 02/01/2013 in the Viewpoint.

Another step in the sad saga of Lance Armstrong, professional cycling and sports cheating has been taken.  There is now absolutely no room for doubt that Armstrong used performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) during most of his professional career.  That includes all seven Tour de France (TDF) races that he crossed the finish line first in.  Now the fallout and analysis begins. 

Armstrong's final downfall began when the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) started  investigating his career and then published their findings last year.  I wrote a blog about that in November.  It goes into some detail including links to the USADA report.

On January 17^th and 18^th Armstrong was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey for a total of 2:30 hours.  Within the first 10 minutes of the interview he admitted to using PEDs and blood transfusions from the mid 1990's until his first retirement after the 2005 TDF. Five yes answers to Oprah's opening “yes or no” questions and the charade was over. This after a decade of not just denying ever doping but of aggressively going after anyone who accused him. As of this date I can not find the full interview on the web although there are excerpts on YouTube and OWN.

Armstrong and his legions used every method available to belittle, humiliate, discredit, threaten, punish and even sue his accusers.  He won or settled those suits.  Because of his wealth and influence within the cycling community he was able to punish and marginalize those within the sport. He refused to allow access or grant interviews to journalists and broadcasters who questioned or criticized him or his team.

So now we have to decide how we feel about Lance finally confessing.  What it means to us, cycling, Livestrong, celebrity endorsements, sports, role models and a host of other issues.  I won't even pretend to have all the answers to one, some or all those questions.  I will share my thoughts on the interview and maybe some opinions on where we go from here. 

Because Armstrong's story was so compelling and he rose to such dominance in his sport, it becomes even harder to forgive him for lying all these years.  He was a cancer survivor who rose from his deathbed to win seven Tour de France races, the greatest and most grueling bike race.  He started a foundation that has raised over $500 million to help cancer patients.  He almost single handedly revived bicycling in the US.  He had a beautiful wife and kids, then after the divorce dated a rock star and later fathered two more kids with his girlfriend despite being thought impotent after his cancer surgery and chemotherapy.

The facts and details have been all over the news so I'll concentrate on my reactions and opinions about the interview and where we go from here.

First a little background for the newcomers to this blog site or my writings;  I am an old guy who started cycling again about five years ago after a very long layoff.  I ride almost every day, I watch the Tour de France and other bike races on TV, I read bicycle magazines and I spend too much money at the bicycle shop in town.  I care about cycling as a sport, a recreation and a lifestyle.  I also am the child of a cancer survivor.  Lance and his story hit close to home.

I watched all of the interview twice and some parts more than that.  I have never watched Oprah, not when she was the queen of syndicated TV and certainly not on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).  I would give her a B-/C+ grade on the interview.  Where is Mike Wallace when you need him?  There was no real new information, just confirmation.

Armstrong admitted to using most every PED he has been accused of.  Cortisone, testosterone, growth hormones, erythropoietin (EPO) and blood transfusions.  His thinking was that he could not have won on the professional cycling circuit without the drugs.  Put air in the tires, water in the squeeze bottles and a few PEDs in the body.  All part of the normal equipment and preparation for a race.  Unfortunately I think his assessment is correct.  He felt he was just leveling the playing field. There was no feeling of cheating.  His words, cheating is getting an unfair advantage.  If everybody is using the same stuff it's not unfair.  He feels he had no special access to anything others couldn't get.  Regardless of whether he felt he was cheating, he was breaking the rules and sometimes laws. That “everybody else is doing it” excuse didn't work for me when I tried it on my Mom and Dad. 

Once he won a TDF or two the expectations rose and became unrealistic.  It wasn't just the bike racing but the cancer survivor thing, the foundation, the sponsors, the perfect life.  He says the drive and win at all cost attitude that got him through the cancer became his behavior in all facets of his life.  Before the cancer that behavior only manifested itself in competition.  Doubtful.  I think Lance was always competitive and combative in all facets of his life.

He admits to a very flawed character and that he has a lifetime of apologies in front of him.  He admitted to being narcissistic and all that entails.  He admitted to being a bully and a jerk.  Very true.

While he admitted the majority of things, there are still areas that weren't cleared up.  He denied using PEDs during his 2009/2010 comeback.  He claims the use of the biological passport beginning in 2008 cleaned up the sport.  That's still a little suspect.  He finished third at the TDF after a four year layoff and there were still drug problems in 2009.  The 2009/2010 TDF winner, Alberto Contador, was stripped of the 2010 title for failing a drug test.  Seems drugs might have still been in wide use. We need a few years of drug free races to determine if the PED era is past.

Armstrong denies strong arming (pun intended) his teammates to dope.  He admits that there was implied peer pressure to perform and that the team leader (Lance) was doping.  I think the pressure was less subtle than just implied.  I suspect some “my way or the highway” conversations.

He failed to implicate Dr. Michele Ferrari and even called him a good man.  Ferrari was the top doping expert, mostly in cycling, beginning in the mid 1990's.  Indeed Ferrari was a very good man.  Seven TDF victories and no failed drug tests.  USADA has banned Ferrari and claims Armstrong paid him over $1 million during his cycling career.  That's a lot of band-aids.

He admitted to reaching out to some of the people he tried to bury but only in general said he owed them an apology.  No specific apology to the Andreu's.  I suspect some of this is counseling from the lawyers.

The part that was the most touching to me was when Lance talked about confessing to his older kids, a 13 year old son and eleven year old twin girls. He chocked up.  I can't imagine telling your kids that you have been living a lie for their entire life.  The effect on his Mom seemed to cause him concern too.  He also stated that his most humbling point was when Livestrong indicated he was no longer wanted. That has to be hard even for a narcissistic person to face your kids, Mom and foundation.  The kids and Mom are still with him.  I don't blame Livestrong for dumping him.  They could not survive with Lance still in the picture.  Ironically, the cancer surviving founder became a cancer to the organization's continued survival.  There are dozens of potential lawsuits on Lance's horizons.  This will drag on for years and new allegations and facts will emerge.  None of that is good for an organization that depends on contributions and sponsors.

The old Lance came out a few times during the interview.  Traces of  the jerk were still there.  He feels that the lifetime  sports ban is too harsh especially considering that those who testified against him got minimal punishment.  He claims he was not given the opportunity to testify and maybe strike a plea bargain.  I'm not buying this.  Up until a couple of months ago the Armstrong team was in denial and still jousting windmills.  Then there is the Twitter picture he posted in November flaunting his Tour victory jerseys after his titles had been vacated.

I think the Oprah interview is a decent start but Lance needs to go several more steps to begin to fix this mess.  I think there is a possibility that a new, kindlier, gentler Lance may emerge but not quite yet.  He still comes across as an arrogant jerk.  That's probably to be expected.  It would be near impossible to change overnight from a complete prick to a humble, meek person.  He was and is a competitor.  Unfortunately he forgot where the sports competition ended and real life began.

In the long run, I don't really care what happens to Lance Armstrong.  I suspect that even with all the lawsuits that he'll be able to live a decent life.  He is or was allegedly worth over $100 million.  He probably has figured how to salt away and hide some of that.

What I do hope is that the people who told the truth the last 10 or 15 years are vindicated and celebrated.  I hope that Lance and many others tell the whole truth and help clean up cycling and any other sport tainted by doping.  We're not there yet.  Baseball seems to be doing a fairly good job but I'm not sure about several other sports.  Cycling still has a couple of cyclists every race who fail drug tests.  Football, college and pro, hardly ever have someone suspended for PEDs yet the players keep getting bigger and stronger.  The Olympic sports continue to have drug test failures.

I truly hope that the former bad boys of cycling are able to come forward to some kind of truth and reconciliation commission.  A commission that can offer appropriate punishment and some assurance that  meaningful changes will come about in the sport.  I'm not talking just about more or better drug testing and enforcement.  I'm talking about a top to bottom overhaul of cycling from the regulating bodies to the drug enforcers to the race organizers to the sponsors to the manufacturers and suppliers to the team management to the riders and the team staff.  Doping was rampant in cycling for over a decade and anyone inside the sport who didn't know it was either complicit or stupid.  Either way they deserve to be sanctioned or eliminated. 

The governing bodies, the UCI and various national commissions, are corrupt and self serving.  They are much more concerned with maintaining their power and lining the commission coffers and members pockets than advancing the sport.  They are overly concerned with minutia such as ridiculously detailed specs for bicycles and even socks.  Bull shit in place of real governing.  This governing body corruption and malaise is not limited to cycling.  The whole Olympic governing structure is a mess as are many professional sports and leagues.  That's fodder for a future blog. 

In recent days the UCI recommended a truth and reconciliation approach to this mess.  Suspicion among those who follow cycling is that the UCI is proposing this now because an “independent” commission that they appointed to investigate the whole doping mess was about to implicate them.  The UCI has refused to cooperate with there own independent commission and has now decided to support a proposed future commission in conjunction with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), if the details can be worked out.  Expect years of delays.

In even more recent news Travis Tygart, the CEO of USADA, in a 60 Minutes segment aired January 27^th, responded to the Armstrong-Winfrey program.  Tygart refutes several of Armstrong's statements.  He contends that Armstrong had inside information about drug testing so it wasn't a level playing field among dopers.  Lance was a ring leader and did push others to use PEDs.  That Armstrong's representatives tried to bribe USADA.  That Armstrong was still doping during his comeback but didn't admit it because of the statutes of limitations.

In my opinion Tygart is an arrogant jerk too.  Maybe not that much different than the person he is pursuing.  He comes across as a typical cop/prosecutor.  Everything he says is the truth and most of what others say is a lie unless they agree or support him.  No room for doubt.  Tygart and USADA have given Armstrong a February 6, 2013 deadline to come to them and testify under oath.  If he doesn't, the lifetime sports ban is permanent and irreversible.  I also assume that if Lance's testimony doesn't confirm Tygart's version of the truth the ban will remain in perpetuity.  This is a totally artificial deadline.  There is no logical reason or circumstance to justify it.  Another power play by a prosecutor trying to force a confession.  USADA looks a lot like a combination investigator, prosecutor, judge and jury.  What could possibly go wrong?

There aren't many good guys in this scenario.  Everybody had and has an agenda.  As I've said before, any truth and reconciliation board needs to be completely independent and have the authority to make changes to the status quo no matter who's toes get stepped on.  It also needs a credible and strong leader, probably somebody from outside cycling and sports.  I wonder if Bishop Desmond Tutu is available?  He knows how to do the job.

Bottom line, Lance Armstrong did significant, maybe irreparable damage to professional cycling, Livestrong and countless individuals.  I don't know what the future holds and if pro cycling can be fixed.  I hope so.  Stay tuned, I'm sure I'll have more to say either here at the View Point or my personal blog BillyJim47.

In the meantime, I'll continue to ride my bike and encourage others to do the same.  I hope you'll join me. 

wjh