Fantasy Football Can Be Hazardous to Your Health

As they used to say in the old Dragnet series, "The following story is true, but the names have been changed to protect the innocent."

It was going to be a fabulous Fantasy Football League. It was called the Overweight Bozo's Of Europe or OBOE. And nobody was from Europe. The Commissioner was Joe, our used car manager. There were eight players involved in OBOE who each paid a two hundred dollar entry fee. The $1600 pool was to be divided between eight hundred paid to the regular season winner and the other eight to the super bowl winner. I won't bore you with the details of the way everything was determined. However, Joe the commissioner went as far as getting a separate bank account for the money so everything was above reproach.

The season came and went and our Finance Manager, Mark (his real name), won the regular season as well as the super bowl. He is a really competitive east coast guy and was psyched about the payout. He is also very tight. We had to nag him for 2 years to get new shoes and he finally relented and went on E-bay to buy some of the finest used loafers money could buy. We called him "Dead Mans' shoes". I couldn't blame him for being budget conscious as he was only making a small fortune every month.

Mark asked Joe to pay him off and Joe said he only had $1000. Let's just say Mark went off in a way that would make any East Coast Italian proud. He ground up Joe every day as he got paid in piece meal portions. Joe was making great money as well. "You spent the fantasy football money?? What are you, the lowest mooch in the world?" Okay, we're trying to keep it clean here. It was alot more personal and vulgar.

The months flew by and Joe found another job at a nearby Ford agency. Mark swore he would get even and he said he would leave me out of the loop and would not tell me until the prank was done. Mark and a friend were legendary for sending people that were goofballs on "road trips." His favorite saying was "you can beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride." He had a friend who would make the calls for him. This guy was a pro and was very convincing. He once had a guy fly to Seattle for a deep sea fishing job. After playing the stunt they told the lot boy not to fly to Seattle, but he did anyway. Of course they never heard of him when he arrived in Seattle, but luckily, he got hired. Most of the people involved in their pranks were not this lucky.

Joe the Fantasy Football president, got a call, in fact several calls from a big Austin Chevy dealership. "Hi my name is Mr. Jones and I've heard about you Joe, from a head hunter that says you are the best. Now I have to call you because right now I am just a consultant for the dealer and will take the store over in the next month. I have heard about your talents. We offer a plan that will pay you as much as 30 grand a month once we have the dealership really running like it is capable. Your position is also granted 2 demos. You can take a Corvette as one of them, I don't care." Joe had many calls like this for a 2 week period.

When the time came for Joe to pick up his 2 demo's he was told that a limo would meet him at the Austin airport with driver meeting him with a sign bearing Joe's name. This was after all, a big time position. When the day came for Joe to go to Austin he had to hold a sales meeting at the dealership...the one he planned on quitting.

There are sales meetings and then there are ones for the ages and Joe put on one for the ages. The place Joe was presently working was a toilet, and that is being kind. "You are the weakest bunch of no good idiots I have ever seen! F*#@@ You and You and You. I have never seen a bigger bunch of bozos in my life." Joe went on to spew profanities for another 5 minutes and then threw the keys for his demo out the window. He told his adoring audience that he was done, to go to hell, and he was calling it quits.

Joe then got in his personal car and drove to Houston Hobby Airport for the flight to Austin for his dream job, where he would pick up his Corvette and Tahoe and make the move. After all, he had his ticket in hand sent personally in the dealerships envelope.

A crazy thing happened at the Austin airport. Apparently there was a huge mixup and the limo driver was not there. Since Joe was told not to call the dealership and ask for this Mr. Jones, Joe proceeded to take a taxi to the Chevrolet store. He asked for Mr. Jones and was given a curious look. There was no Mr. Jones at the dealership. In fact, security had to be called to haul Joe off the property. He was furious.

Mark told me this after the fact. I asked him about the airline ticket. His buddy who played Mr. Jones worked for the Chevy dealership and sent the ticket out in one of their envelopes. Mark said it was the best $89 he ever spent.

I always wondered why I got the strange phone calls that day from the dealership Joe was working for. It was very confusing because I was in no way involved in the prank. The only thing it has made me wary of is fantasy football. That stuff can kill ya.

How Phoenix Got the Suns

It was a palace, it was a Mecca of basketball, and we had never seen anything like it in Phoenix....The Madhouse on McDowell, Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Until the building was erected, our biggest gym was the old Sun Devil Gym at Arizona State University.

(Thinking back, the ambiance of the old time gyms like those were unmatched when packed to the rafters. You were so near to the action even in the balcony.) Veterans Memorial held almost 12,000 people! The Suns would eventually pack this place.

The big event in Phoenix was ASU football. Sun Devil Stadium was in its' infancy in those days, but Frank Kush packed them in. This was as close to a profession team that Phoenix had.

The NBA in or around 1965 decided to make Phoenix a test market for expansion.

My dad, or a friend who had a license would drive me to the games. When I walked in, it was like paradise. I could get an actual NBA program and tickets were only about five bucks. Our de-facto home team was the Golden State Warriors. It seemed like every opponent we played against was really good. Cincy with Oscar, The Celtics....a star studded team featuring Bill Russell, Philly with Wilt, the Lakers...you name it...they all came our way. The good thing was the Warriors were our home team for 8 Regular Season games a year. The owner of the Warriors was Franklin Meuli, a cool dude who wore a Kangol type hat in his pictures and looked like a beatnik...we figured he had to be living in San Francisco! Plus the Golden State Warriors had the coolest unis ever with the Golden Gate Bridge on the front and a Cable car on the back going over their shoulder where the number was located. The announcer was Bill King, (see pic) and he was the greatest next to Chic Hearn. I tried to listen to them at home as much as possible at night.

The great thing about the games was, when they started playing, the coliseum went dark except for the lights over the court. It was like watching a movie, only live and certainly not with all the whacked out distractions of attending an NBA game live in 2011. Smoking was still a cool thing to do, so when the lights went out you saw all the smoke up in the rafters. Yes, you could light up that ole Marlboro court side. Oh yes, and drinking alcoholic beverages in the stands was not allowed. The colessium had a room in its' bowels where the adults could get their favorite beveridge at halftime in the great ambiance of the air conditioning ducts...but they could not bring the cocktails back inside the gym.

The ushers would tend to look the other way after the game started, so you could sneak down to an empty seat close to the court and see the action up close and personal.

Hand checking was not a foul in those days. Golden State had two very fun guards to watch: Guy Rodgers and Al Attles. Rogers was the smooth passing play maker and Attles was a Karate black belt who specialized in defense. Attles was considered the toughest guy in the NBA by many. This duo was a joy to watch. They really knew each other intuitively, something you don't see as much with all the free agency movement in 2011. The center was Nate Thurmond, or Nate the Great. Just a great player. The star of the team was a rookie, Rick Barry. This is the man they call "Larry Bird before there was a Larry Bird". I would come early to watch him shoot. He shot from way out and never missed. He was the golden boy of the team and had his hair "Razor Cut". I wanted to get a razor cut as well, but during the season our coach made us go really short...probably so girls would not be a distraction.

Once, we got to the coliseum really early and Wilt was walking by dressed in crazy style, and my friend goes"HIYA WILT". Wilt said "Hows it Goin Kid?" and we almost fell over. It sounded like a voice from on high talking down to the minions. We were dumbfounded.

Fast forward to the summer of 68 and to Brophy Prep High School. A small crowd of fans gather to see Coach John Red Kerr put the inaugural Phoenix Suns through the paces. That team was led by Dick Van Arsdale, their first choice in the expansion draft. He would later be joined by his twin brother Tom in the mid 70's.

The team wasn't very good at first, but in 1976 they would be Western Conference NBA champions, beating the Golden State Warriors...the original NBA home team for Phoenix , and the Warriors coach was Al Attles.

The Best Ticket In Sports

If you have ever had the pleasure and privilege to sit courtside of an NBA game, you have just sat in the best seat in any sport. I sat front row once upon a time when you could see Olajuwon, Kemp, Barkley, Drexel, Jordan and the Admiral up close and personal for about a buck twenty five. It spoiled me. Now that ticket is a good four digit number coast to coast. One of my greatest memories was getting my father a courtside ticket to see the Rockets and Spurs on our final visit. I let him sit courtside with my older son while my younger son and myself sat in the nose bleeds. My dad met Sean Elliott a few times and was a big fan. It was last I would see my father.

Still, at that point in time we were in a very warm building for basketball, the Summitt...which has since been taken over by Joel Osteen. This building had a personality and the League had not succumbed to total entertainment. I could handle the nose bleed or semi nose bleed seats.

Not any more. Now going to a game in Houston is obnoxious and non stop nonsense. When the visiting team is announce the PA man mumbles in a low voice. Of course this jerk is an over the top homer for YOUR HOUSTON ROCKETS. Whenever Chuck Hayse scores...and on our night he had a big game...ITS THE CHUCK WAGON!!!!....with a picture of Chuck Hayes' head superimposed driving a horse powered Chuck Wagon. Enough.

Then you have the cheer leaders. That's cool and part of the game. Even the guy on the trampoline dunking is okay. But then there are the other break people...we'll call them the ants in their pants group. The ants in their pants group comes out on many breaks with crappy music playing jumping up and down with streamers and hula hoops and summer saults. This is organized chaos. Then the Rockets mascot drives around on a Harley going berserk. What a croc. The whole game is nonstop yelling and garbage when the game is on a time out. To me it really detracted from a good game. So, if you are not courtside in Houston, the best seat is in your living room.

Now, I will contrast this to an Indiana Pacers game where the focus was more on the game and less on the corny BS. The game was a nice game and I didn't leave there with my head ringing. Know this, I still play in groups from time to time that have to play extremely loud music so I'm not trying to be a prude. I love the NBA, but I guess I will stay with my living room for viewing. The NBA in Houston may be fantastic, but to me, just plain annoying. Put me back in the 70s, 80s and 90s when the game was more the thing.

THE GOLDEN AGE

Right now we are extremely lucky to be watching what is becoming a golden age in the NBA. The great talent is extremely young. The matchups for the first round are extremely exciting and down to the wire. The Magic are on the ropes and the Lakers are being stretched. The second round will be extremely entertaining. This will be one of the best second rounds in years. So watch it from the best seat in the house...the front row if you are lucky to get courtside tickets, or your living room.

The Final Four: A Tourist Trap That's Fun

My Final Four experience started innocenly enough. I was on a flight back to Houston out of Charlotte. I asked the tall gentleman sitting next to me if he was going to the Final Four and he said he was. I asked him if he was a coach and he said he worked for ESPN. How was I to recognize Jay Bilas when he wasn't in a coat and tie? I tried not to bother him too much. Jay is a world class tweeter and I had some things to take care of as well. During the landing portion of the flight we had a conversation about the quality of play in college basketball the past two years. The consensus was that play has gone down in quality and hopefully will not continue in the downward spiral. The big issue that cannot help but improve college basketball is having the NBA force a rule that would keep players in school 3 years. Right now there is sloppy play in college and too many teams in the pros. Something has to give pretty soon as many NBA teams are hemmoraging red ink. RELIANT STADIUM SATURDAY Until Saturday I have not attended a game at Reliant Stadium in about 6 years. When I pulled into the Metro Park and Ride I noticed I was periously close to the parking spot 666. I avoided this spot like the plague but was determined to notice if anyone would park in this spot later, as I was very early. I left Kentucky UCONN with about 5 minutes to go. After all we get the frontrunner teams jammed down our throats all year long. I am happy to note that spot 666 was vacant upon my return to the parking lot. I documented this on my photo page. This crowd was not nearly as innebriated as the typical Texan NFL group. In fact, I noticed a very civilized group of people. Remember the guy who says "I play ball all the time. I have played with ____________(Insert Name of Famous Player) regularly and he said I really was great" I have met that guy hundreds of times and he was out in force during the pre game festivities. There were quite a few makeshift courts outside where one could go show his "stuff". I spent a good 15 minutes watching airballs and some really bad shooting form by the guys mentioned above. It was great theatre. The scalpers could not get any kind of price for their tickets. In fact, a few just gave their away. The next trend I noticed was the many people dressed in the various colors of the school they were following. Kentucky had by far the biggest group of fans. This is a concept with which I have always had a hard time. I played for Miami, but truthfully, I haven't really known very many people that have played for Miami since I have left. What do I really have in common with Miami players except a fleeting bond with the brick and mortar buildings in Coral Gables we may have shared during different time periods. That being said, the passion runs deep in the Blue Nation. I talked to many of the fans. Many of them never went to Kentucky but root for them because their parents raised them that way. I'll bet that's the way it goes with most peoples allegiances' to their teams. ONE LAST HURRAH Once upon a time, when the Final Four wasn't very well publicized, there was a coach who had a vision of gigantic crowds attending basketball games. In fact, he had the first game of this magnitude in the Houston Astrodome in 1967 when UCLA came into town to play the Houston Cougars. That man was coach Guy Lewis of the Houston Cougars. He took 5 teams to the Final Four. He integrated college basketball in Houston in the early and mid 60's with Elvin Hayes and Don Chaney which at that time was a daunting task. Other than UTEP, which was at the other end of the state 850 miles away and in another time zone, most Texas college teams had no African American student athletes. Guy Lewis is now well into his 80's and in a wheelchair. He was honored with the Phi Slamma Jamma crew during this weekend. Why he is not in the basketball Hall can be explained in 3 easy words...East Coast Bias. When a Lou Carnesecca from St. Johns is in the Hall of Fame with zero Final Four appearances, that says it all. Still, the man who had the vision that started all this March Madness in big football stadiums is forgotten. Really a sad affair. Yes children there was a time when being recruited by the University of Houston was really big time. MISC THOUGHTS Enough has been written about the games. Charles Barkley was exceptionally funny, especially when he talked about the "Itty bitty East". His back and forth with Coach Pitino was priceless. Pitino's face was redder than his teams road jersies. I was able to meet Coach Calhoun in 01 through my sons AAU coach. He comes on like a really humble ordinary guy. I know they are saying alot of things about his recruiting, but I like the guy. It cannot be denied he is a great coach. Shooting in a big stadium has to be a dicey proposition. There is a distorted background that would have to make it difficult in the sight perception field of a basketball player. The Astrodome is dwarfed by Reliant Stadium. It sits there empty like an old ghost from the past. A ghost that is full of memories. It's not the 7th wonder of the wold any longer. Every time I go to Reliant Stadium I wish I could recruit the entire marketing department for the Houston Texans. They have to be the greatest marketing division in all sports franchises. Every year they convince all of Houston, the Houston press and many prominent national media members that the Texans will be really great. These guys have an open invitation for employment if I have any say. Ten Years of sellouts with a less than desireable product speak for itself. Yes the final four was a blast, but my son told me he watched it from a sports bar with Matt Figger and Head Coach Frank Martin from Kansas State. Now that would have really been fun.

Superbowl Halftime Revised and the Greatest Dies

One thing is for sure...if Gary Moore did the halftime show at last weeks Superbowl, he would have had enough material to do 10 hours worth of songs without breaking a sweat. He wouldn't have had to bring Slash in to do a tired dead song. Usher wouldn't have had to come down by a rope. Gary wouldn't have had to wear a costume to look like George Jetson.

Gary Moore is the greatest guitarish most people have never heard of. But the heavyweights of guitar all knew him and lined up to play with him. In England and all of Europe, the bands that headline here were the warm up bands for Gary Moore. It is almost criminal that this guy never had more of a name.

He spent about a total of 6 months with Thin Lizzy and his fellow Irishman Phil Lynott. He held a concert for Lynott in Dublin when they unveiled Lynott's statue. Twenty one thousand were there. Whenever I lend the video, people are in awe...he is that awesome. People you think are great guitarists crumble in Moore's presence. Check out Stormy Monday...the guitar solo's keep on coming and it is just so strong. Check out the Texas Blues on his Still Got the Blues CD. ZZ Top wishes they could sound this good. BB King, Clapton...name a decent guitarist and they all wanted to play with Gary Moore. And they all made it a point to play and record with him.

Which leads me to the Super Bowl halftime show. I am sure Slash sold out for a good amount of money to play a song that was old and tired 10 years ago...Sweet Child of Mine. Really sorry. And how much money did the guy who designed the Jetson outfits for the Black Eyed Peas extort from the NFL? These would be some better lyrics considering the attire the group wore:

Hubba hubba,Pa Docket Pa Docket,

Gotta get to work at Spacely Sprockets

Now with those lyrics at least you would know they were trying to at least be funny.

Here is what they could do next year in keeping with the halftime tradition:

And now Ladies and gentlemen Its Michael Buble!

Sweet home Alabama, Scooby Dooby Doo

Where the Skys Are Blue, Yahten dotten wop wop

But, since we are in the techno revolution, let's bring back a virtual digital Sammy Davis Junior! I could hear him singing now.

I'm as free as a bird now, daddyo,

And this bird you cannot tame, yabby gobby wop wah do

I said I'm a Free free bird sister and brother and Frankie and Dino baby

Or better yet, since we are talking tired overplayed songs, then Sammy and a virtual Frank Sinatra duet:

Is that a woman or a man

Yeah Daddyo Turn the Page

I said that long long hair and that tired cliche

My long hairs a statement and you better

Turn the Page Baby, I said turn that page,

Or Frankie, he's gonna get the Boys from Jersey after you

If you don't turn the Page ya ya scooby wah bop wah!!!

You get the picture. Any of the above would beat what we see at the normal halftime. Unfortunately, the boys on Wall Street make the trends and we have to follow. Or maybe not.

Why the SEC Rules the BCS Interview with Coach Gator

Coach James "Gator" Bamgardner has sent more than 40 players to various SEC schools. He has also sent various other schools to the other power conferences as well. Coach Gator, as he prefers being called has coached 4 state high school championship teams along with two National Junior College Championship teams. We feel privileged to have coach Gator here on our humble blog. His nickname of Gator does not reflect any affinity for the Florida Gators, rather a fact that he wrestled an alligator somewhere in the swamps between Orange, Texas and Lafayette Louisiana.

BD: Coach Gator, what was your opinion of the recent Auburn-Oregon Tostitos national Championship game.

Coach: Well mah friend, I for one am getting sick and tired of all these little midgets who write sports and have never played the game saying how it was such a dominating victory for Auburn. I mean, the game went down to the last play.

BD: True enough, but were they mentioning the interior line play, where Auburn seemed to have it won hands down.

Coach: That may well be and Auburn had a distinct advantage to that part of the game. To me Oregon had a mediocre line with an outstanding system. Auburn had a good system with some outstanding size and strength. But there is one secret all SEC teams have and this cannot be duplicated by many other teams around the country.

BD: What is that?

Coach: I will tell you at the end of the interview.

BD:You don't seem like an SEC homer. What was your opinion of Oregon.


Coach: Well, I am objective and I would like to think I am a student of the game. Oregon may well have beat Auburn if they don't wait for over a month to play the game. Oregon has a ton of speed. This is why I think the PAC-10 matches up better with the SEC than the Big-10, because of the speed out there on the coast that them plowboys in the midwest cannot duplicate as much. Oregon has a very out of the box system and with over a month, Auburns size and speed was able to somewhat shut it down. Remember, I'm not such a homer to think that Southern Cal was only good for one national championship when Pete Carrol was there. There were as good or better than the 2 loss LSU team and had Texas dead in the water until Bush laterals and Pete Carrol goes on 4th down without Reggie Bush. They let a team that was down and out with the best player in college football back in the hunt. So the PAC -10 is a good conference.

BD: Why can't the Pac-10 seem to play defense that well in alot of cases, especially in pass coverage?

Coach: Well, USC has had some teams that have but overall I just don't know. It seems odd to me because they have some of the best quarterbacks and passing games in the country every year and you would think practicing every day against these boys they would surely be better in coverage. I think it's the pass rush as much as anything, and that's part of the secret I will tell you at the end of the interview.

BD: What could Oregon have done to win the game?

Coach: Well hell Boy, if they would have just kicked a field goal instead of trying to run it over that big ole Farley kid that was stuffin up the middle all day, they might be still playing. That game was really about as close as a game can be.

BD: What's your opinion on recruiting?

Coach: The most and best players consistently come out of 3 states...Florida, Texas and California. It's a numbers game and those states have the people and the players. Now, there are other state around those that have players in unusual amounts for small states. Two that come to mind are Louisianna and Mississippi. They probably have the greatest athletes per capita of any states. And then there is Georgia which is a rat race unto itself. It helps support Auburn, Georgia, Georgia Tech and Tennessee plus various other schools. When Auburn gets the best players out of Georgia, Tennessee and Georgia suffer and vice versa. Then there is Ohio which is owned by Ohio State. Their pro player production has increased by 3 players per year since Jimmy Tressell has become the captain of that ship. They are sort of like an SEC team playing in the big ten. And remember, in Southern Cal's back yard they have a school, Long Beach Poly high school, that has put more players in the NFL than any other school.

BD: Any other thoughts?

Coach: There are a few dream jobs like Florida, Florida State, Texas, Texas A and M, Miami, Southern Cal where if they just recruit the best in their back yard, they are in the top ten every year. The problem is their back yard is getting invaded...invaded heavily mah friend.

BD: Are there any sleeping giants sort of asleep at the wheel that could be great programs?

Coach: A few come to mind. One is UCLA. That is a great campus with the best weather in the country. Their degree is second to none and it has everything a kid wants, good lookin uniforms and lots to do off campus. Same for Arizona State. Best facilities anywhere, the countries biggest school, but they have to be successful recruiting in other states. Hell son, if ya tole me Oregon would be great a few years back I woulda laughed. But Ole Phil Knight of Nike threw so much money at the school that they became good. Maybe at UCLA's expense. I was gonna mention Texas A and M, but Coach Sherman seems to have turned that around. What a crazy bunch of fans they have.

BD: Wrapping it up coach, what is the secret you have been talking about that the SEC teams have the unfair advantage?

Coach: Think about it son...it's real simple. It's right there on your forehead....it's the humidity. These kids up north and on the west coast would crumble like daisies in a sauna bath if they had to put up with our humidity and heat. It's our secret and it's what makes our kids the toughest of the tough. Have ya ever wondered why Miami and Houston are the two top cities for puttin pros in the NFL? And Dallas ain't far behind son. It's the damn humidity....when they come out of these swamps they know they can beat anyone.

BD: Coach, thanks for your time, it has been my pleasure.

Coach: Anytime son.
*************************************************************
Two miscellaneous thoughts I have had for a long time. The Texas A and M fight song sounds exactly like the intro to the Yogi Bear Cartoon theme song that Hanna and Barbera produced. The University of Texas fight song is exactly the same tune as "I've Been Working on the Railroad".

Bowl Thoughts and Trying to Ruin Great Songs

It was with mixed emotions that I watched Arkansas play Ohio State. I'm not a big fan of the Big-10 and used to watch their annual trek for the last 40 years to Pasadena. They would come in with great ratings and press clippings and usually leave with an ass whuppin.

Plus Ohio State got a gift from an official when it beat Miami years ago....but believe me that was a very good Ohio State team nonetheless. They have over the top fans...fans that get in your face like Notre Dame fans. When they get in someones face the only reply you can give em is sort of like Larry Bird did when people told him their hometown team beat the Celts and he would ask"how many points did you score champ?"

If you were to believe them, about a ten thousand people have suited up for Ohio State and scored the game winning touchdown in the last 25 years.

Then there is the SEC fan. The SEC is down this year from last year. The SEC East is mediocre. The SEC West is a dog fight, but I don't think they have a team at the top as good as last years Bama squad. The SEC fans are very obnoxious as well. Maybe for good reason, but this year, possibly not.

After a Big 10 disaster on New Years Day, Ohio State pulled it out against the hill billies from Arkansas. Both teams tried to gift wrap the game to the other team. Arkansas had so many big plays dropped.

I will say this about Ohio State. In a dirty business, their man at the top, the Sweater Vest, Jim Tressell, is pure class. He is a gentleman and the people I know who know and have dealt with him say his is for real. Bobby Petrino, I am not so sure.

Also, even though Kirk Herbstreit cannot help his Ohio State bias come through, he is a total class act as well. His insights on the "tattoo 5" and Tyrell Pryor held back no punches and were a pleasure to listen to. He emphasized team...I bet he was a great team mate back in the day.

*************************************************************

I thought it was cool for the little guys that TCU beat Wisconsin. That was a very good Badger team. TCU had a little too much speed. Again, Wisconsin had 3 really good running backs and a great ground attack. Hats off to the Horny Toads. Also, HAHA on Ohio State's president for saying they didn't belong. Just another pompous snow blind buffoon.

Also of note was Stanfords' thrashing of Va. Tech. They do not let everyone into Stanford. That made the win all the more impressive.

****************************************************************

During one of the commercials, I heard the opening bass line from the song "Get Ready" by the Temptations. It is a timeless line that rocks and it almost grabs you and says let's dance. It written by the incomporable Mo-Town master and bass session master James Jamerson. (At that time in our history, musicians and artists actually read music. In fact most of the Mo-Town Artists were proficient on a musical instrument.)

Unfortunately what followed was some sorry rap/hip-hop self promoting lame lyrics. They were performed by an attractive lady...could have been lip synched for all I know...and really ruined and disrespected a great song. Again, if you cannot cover a classic, have enough creativity to make your own. Heck, make it funny or a parody, but the self promoting egotistical, lame posturing lyrics are just sorry.

When I was driving with my son, I heard some really sorry rap...the worst of the worst...and I asked who was it...some guy named Gucci. Again, people are buying this garbage.

Lastly, I caught Keri Hilson on David Letterman. This seemed to be a band that had some talent and some power...back up vocalists, good choreography, a horn section. I found the song they performed very lame lyrically, but overall I could see this artist developing into a strong performer. The good part is the music had a nice groove and swing to it. The group came on a little like the Supremes. She is surrounding herself with good talent and showmanship. Keri Hilson, break this curse of crappy music out there and step it up. Let your generation see it! To see a full blown neo-Soul movement would be just awesome. It was so nice to see a singer with a talented band sing on key and on time with a nice bit of showmanship added to top it off. Step your game up Keri Hilson, the music world needs to get back to music.