“If Jeezy’s is paying Lebron, I’m paying Dwayne Wade.” – Jay-Z “Empire State of Mind”
It looks like Jay’s going to have to change up some lyrics. After tonight’s wild culmination of the last two years of speculation, that line’s sounding a little more like, “If Riley’s paying Lebron… then… oh, Riley’s also paying Dwayne Wade… then…wait… Riley’s paying him too… hold on a minute… who am I paying?” Turns out Hova’s paying Travis Outlaw, but for some reason, that just doesn’t seem to have the same ring to it.
I don’t think anyone really feels bad for Jay-Z or Prokhorov or The Nets though. Jay’s probably pouring champagne on all three of their faces on Dwayne’s yacht right now (at 12:40am CST on July 9). Nobody should feel bad for The Knicks or The Bulls or The Clippers either for that matter. The Knicks might have Carmello next year and the Bulls will be good without one of The (New) Big Three. They had the most to gain (with a great young core already in place) and the least to lose (because that core is much more than the other contenders had after dumping major salary cap space). They’ll be alright, and maybe they won’t just be alright. Maybe they’ll be contenders. And the Clippers have Vinny, so they should be okay too, right? All of those teams tried with everything they had and they lost, but the city of Cleveland had the rug pulled out from under itself and it’s residents collective asses are feeling bruised and pretty cut up right about now.
At one time, as a lifelong Bulls fan, I had convinced myself that Chicago would have been the best decision for James to make. I’d tell myself and whoever would listen to me that, “The Bulls have Rose and Noah and if he actually wants to win championships, he and a power forward will come here.” And, I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t want him for The Bulls as recently as two seconds before “South Beach” left his lips on that stage. But I stopped believing that Chicago would have been the best decision around when “The Decision,” the hour-long, primetime, self-indulgent, unprecedented, ego (how could it get bigger?) inflating ESPN special was announced. I wondered if he was actually going to have the balls to go on television and announce to the world and to Cleveland, more importantly, in such a grand and tacky way, that he was out.
That’s about when I started to feel conflicted. I obviously wanted him on The Bulls, which with every minute over the last week seemed to become a longer and longer shot, which lead me to believe that it was an unrealistic wish, but I also hoped not to see Cleveland’s heart ripped out and stomped on. There was a lot of talk about the potential economic impact that Lebron leaving Cleveland would have in regards to bars and restaurants simply closing as a result of the stadium going from sold-out on a nightly basis to half-full on good nights without him. That’s also probably pretty presumptuous and doesn’t really say much about Cleveland fans, but I was sure there would be effects, the extent of which I don’t think anyone could really estimate.
Could he really turn his back on his hometown? Yes. But, he has every right to do it. What bothers me and I think most people is the manner in which it was handled. It was like a jumbo-tron break-up instead of an engagement. If Lebron had quietly chosen to stay or go (see Kevin Durant’s Twitter post announcing his contract extension, “Extension for 5 more years with the Thunder….God Is Great, me and my family came a long way…I love yall man for real, this a blessing!”(obviously he chose to stay, not to go, but I’m guessing the humility with which he handled his announcement would have been similar if it were a different announcement)), rather than inflating himself into something that was bigger than the game or the world and everyone in it, would have (probably) curbed Cleveland and the world’s reaction to his decision. I have to imagine that it is completely because of the way that the announcement became public that there will be no #23 jerseys or LBJ pictures hanging on the walls and in the hallways in Quicken Loans Arena tomorrow morning and is also what spurred the emotional (and crazy) open letter from Dan Gilbert which was posted on The Cav’s official web site not long after the announcement.
The bottom line is that underneath the façade and the royal nickname and the ego that may not fit inside of his new home, American Airlines Arena, Lebron looked scared. The questions from Jim Gray seemed to be built in to stall and to obviously give him more face time before most viewers turned a middle finger at the TV, turned it off and walked away as he became the most hated person in American sports, but they also seemed built in so he could stall until he had enough guts to say what he had come there to say. His eyes looked weak and the confidence that pours from him on the court seemed to have decided that “The Decision” may have not been the greatest forum for the type of announcement, and this specific announcement, more specifically.
But, what has been done has been done. The (New) Big Three are headed for the beach. Tonight, the James jerseys are burning in Cleveland and Gilbert’s fingers are probably aching like Kanye’s after typing so hard and in such aggressive CAPS. Tomorrow, the sun will probably be really bright in Miami and it might rain in Cleveland. Tomorrow, the Bulls will try to shore up a shooting guard and The Knicks and The Nets will scramble for what’s left. The Heat will have to figure out how to get nine other players and The Cavs will figure out how to fill seats. It may seem like this Dream Team is seemingly going to dominate the Eastern conference and the NBA forever, but dominance is never permanent and every King eventually falls.
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1. Study physics really hard and figure out how to get a flash sideways alternate reality for you and all of your friends.
2. Avoid all of ABC’s sure to quickly and steadily arrive sci-fi/drama/action knock-offs.
3. Read all of the books that were referenced over the course of six seasons, looking for more “answers” than were given in the finale.
4. Watch the LOST actors’ other movies and shows on streaming Netflix to see how bad they had it and how they will probably never have it as good ever again.
5. Get outside; see some people.
6. Wait anxiously until August 24th, when the complete series box set will be released, and start it all over again.
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Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record
MGMT – Congratulations
Jamie Lidell -Compass
Visit my portfolio for these in the near future and right now for reviews of new albums from Light Pollution, Dr. Dog, Gorillaz, Shy Child, Liars, Rocky Votolato, Yeasayer, Spoon and many more.
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We’re super excited about the release of our (A Lull) new 7″ “Weapons For War/Spread It All Around.” Get details here and pre-orders, downloads and remixes here. Thanks!!
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1/21 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas Tavern
1/22 – Indianapolis, IN @ Vollrath Tavern
1/23 – Louisville, KY @ Skull Alley
1/24 – Indiana, PA @ The Indiana Players
1/25 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Point Park University Ballroom
1/27 – Rochester, NY @ BugJar
1/28 – Manhattan, NY @ Pianos
1/29 – Brooklyn, NY @ The Grasslands
1/31 – Arlington, VA @ Galaxy Hut
2/1 – Charlotte, NC @ The Evening Muse
2/2 – Columbia, SC @ The Elbow Room
2/3 – Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn
2/4 – Tallahassee, FL @ The Engine Room
2/5 – Birmingham, AL @ The Nick
2/6 – Mobile, AL @ Alabama Music Box
2/8 – Houston, TX @ Super Happy Fun Land
2/9 – Austin, TX @ Hole In The Wall
2/10 – Dallas, TX @ Bills Records (In-store)
2/11 – Tulsa, OK @ Soundpony
2/12 – Lawrence, KS @ Replay Lounge
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1. Game 3 of the 2005 American League Division Series, Chicago White Sox v. Boston Red Sox
It was an early game, on a rainy Friday evening. The game was being played in Boston, but it was raining there too. I had somewhere to be, but I wasn’t going to leave until the game was over because I just wasn’t going to leave in the middle of a tight playoff game. In the sixth inning, the White Sox were ahead, but it didn’t look good. The bases were loaded with Red Sox and there were no outs. Ozzie Guillen called El Duque, Orlando Hernández, who had been a starter for much of the season came into the game, out of the bullpen to try and minimize the damage.
I have never seen a moment as tense as those next ten minutes in all of the sports I’ve ever watched, but somehow, some way, the base runners stayed where they were. The first two batters popped up and then Johnny Damon struck out swinging. The inning was over, amazingly, and the White Sox still had the lead. Of course, The White Sox went on to win the game and the series and the World Series eventually, but better than the four game sweep of the Houston Astros or the dropped-third-strike-stolen-base by A.J. Pierzynski against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim or the home runs by Scott Podsednik and Paul Konerko or the four consecutive complete games pitched by Mark Buerhle, John Garland, Freddy Garcia and José Contreras was the inning when the seemingly impossible feat of holding with no outs and the bases loaded was accomplished.
2. Game 6 of the first round of the 2009 NBA Playoffs, Chicago Bulls v. Boston Celtics
The one Bulls game that I made it to last season was certainly the best Bulls game in the post-Jordan era to date and was part of what will go down in history as potentially one of the best first rounds ever played. Granted, had Kevin Garnet been healthy, the Bulls wouldn’t have stood a chance, but he was injured and the the teams were as evenly matched as they could have been. Four of the seven games in the series went into overtime and on this particular night, at the United Center, there were three overtime periods played and everyone in the building was standing and screaming for the entire time. It was a game of buzzer beating three point shots, hard fouls, clutch steals ands all around great basketball. When the Bulls finally edged out the win, the on-court television reporter handed Joakim Noah the microphone but instead of talking about the positive or negative aspects of the game, he jumped onto the scorers’ table and belted out a high-pitched scream into the microphone, thanking the fans for the night and essentially for the season, as it would be the last time that the Bulls would appear in the United Center that season. In Game 7, in Boston, the Bulls weaknesses finally showed and they were eliminated from the playoffs. But, that night it didn’t matter what was going to happen the next day. The energy inside of that building was as if the Bulls had just won the entire championship.
3. Super Bowl XLI 2007, Chicago Bears v. Indianapolis Colts
The 2006-2007 NFL season was a strange one in Chicago. Rex Grossman was our quarterback and after every win, we were left looking at each other, wondering if we were dreaming or if Rexy was actually in the process of leading the Bears to the Super Bowl. Well, the Bears were underdogs from the onset, no questions asked, but Devin Hester had been blazing by just about everyone, returning just about every kick for a touchdown all season, so maybe there was a chance. Maybe. We bought into it anyway. Chicago stopped its normal activities on February 4, to watch the two teams play in the rain in Miami. Whether we were at bars, saving seats in front of a television for hours or whether we were at a party with friends or relatives or whether we were at home nervously munching on spinach balls, not saying much at all for fear of jinxing something, we were all watching. We were all watching when the ball was kicked off to start the game and we were all watching and screaming and cheering at whichever TV was the closest while Devin Hester returned the opening kick for a touchdown. What a pace setter. What a game changer. Even if Rex was our quarterback, we had Devin and that was enough. Maybe. But, the rain kept falling and that initial lead was lost with injuries to our number one running back, Cedric Benson, and a Colts team that wanted it more. Eventually the game was lost and there was no joy in Chicago that night, but Devin Hester’s electric abilities were reason enough for just a little bit of hope and excitement.
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Especially this year, for as many people who are putting certain records, Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavillion and Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest specifically, on their “Best of 2009” lists, a lot of people are also putting those records on their “Not Best of 2009” lists. Some of these people are people I know and I know that they know good music.
So, why go as far as to say that these records aren’t any good? Independent music listeners have a long history of going against the mainstream, turning on bands or artists that have “sold out,” even if they are still producing worthwhile music. The only thing I can think of is that these bands have gotten too “big” for people who want to be on the fringes more than to be a part of a large group. Maybe they just want their lists to be different from everybody else’s lists. There could be a bunch of reasons for people turning on these genuinely great records, but whatever they are, it’s happening. So, put these records on your on your “Not Best of 2009” lists, but I will not. These two records in particular were records whose release dates I anticipated and they were records that did not disappoint and they were records that I am still going back to, months after their releases.
Best 10 Records, in my opinion, of 2009
1. Grizzly Bear- Veckatimest
2. Dirty Projectors- Bitte Orca
3. Phoenix- Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
4. Animal Collective- Merriweather Post Pavilion
5. Peter Bjorn and John- Living Thing
6. Acron/Family- Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free
7. Raekwon- Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Pt. 2
8. Tortoise- Beacons of Ancestorship
9. The Very Best- Warm Heart of Africa
10. Mos Def- The Ecstatic
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Yeah, I probably should write about your Hip-Hop-Rock-Dub-R&B fusion-jam project or your Rufus Wainright “inspired” (cover) band. When are you available for an interview?
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Things moved slowly and easily there. There was no great importance held on anything really, at least that’s the way it seemed. It was quiet because nothing much ever seemed to happen. But while it was quiet and still, it was filled with little sounds and motions and activities that became familiar and part of what everything was.
In the morning, at first light, there was wind, the wind that pushed the ripples across the surface of the lake, and woke the sleeping adults and children to the gentle sound of the water meeting the wooden docks and aluminum boats that floated near the shore. At the bait shop, there were men quietly exchanging tips and secrets and hunches on where the Bass and Bluegills were biting and bragging with real accounts and tall tales of how many had been taken the day before. Later in the morning, there were sausage links sizzling on the griddle, popping and crisping until they were brown on their outsides. Even later in the morning, there were the sounds of The Price is Right gently spilling out of screen windows and subtly competing with the last sounds of the water before the wind would move off of the lake and into the corn and bean fields, where it stayed until the evening. Pages of books and magazines flipped and turned. In the afternoon there were the sounds of naps and flies. In town, bells on cash registers chimed and drawers shuffled in and out at the grocery store. Back at the lake, hummingbirds fluttered as they sipped nectar from plastic feeders. Far away, a lawn mower growled and trimmed. As the sun was on its way down, the evening news and Jeopardy then drifted out of those screened windows. In the evening, bonfires cracked. Bugs fried on electric zappers. An occasional bullfrog spoke up. On some nights, there were some fireworks in the sky, somewhere across the lake. Then, when the sun was all the way gone, the news was over and the TVs turned off, the fires had died out, and the mosquitoes had even gone to bed, there was almost silence. It was so close.
At any time in the day, though, morning, afternoon or night, layered far below everything else, there were reels casting out, and pulling in. There were bobbers and bait plunking into the water, softly, but with a slight clap, like the sound of skin slapping skin. There were distant voices of stories being told, and men growing old and boys growing up. The fishing never stopped, and it was what brought everything together, in a place set apart from reality and the rest of the world, on a relatively small lake in Indiana.
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Don’t ask me how, but I managed to score an exclusive interview with six-year-old Falcon Heene, otherwise known this afternoon as Balloon Boy, moments after he emerged from the attic in his family’s home unharmed. This all after he hid in a box for hours while authorities in Colorado scrambled to save him from the makeshift hot air balloon he was allegedly piloting and while the Internet and daily routines screeched to a halt while people were waiting, saying things like, “Forget work, what about Balloon Boy?”
Q: How did you get such an sweet name?
A: Which one? Falcon or Balloon Boy?
Q: Why did you untie the balloon in the first place?
A: Because… Why wouldn’t I? I have the CNN app on my iPhone. I was just watching everything go down, laughing.
Q: Your brother said that he saw you get inside the balloon as it left the ground. This wasn’t exactly true?
A: If you knew him, you’d know that he’s always been a liar. He’s had it out for me since I can remember.
Q: Would you do it again?
A: Hell yeah.
Q: Any regrets?
A: Hell no. I don’t regret anything, ever.
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