Day 170: I think that all of you who know me well understand that I love college basketball. One of the main side effects of this love is that I find the Men's NCAA basketball tournament i.e. March Madness to be hands down the greatest sports event ever conceived by mankind. I suppose that you also know that the first weekend of the tournament when 64 teams are pared down to 16 is to me the four best days of sports all year long. For this reason, I have made it a tradition to always (and I mean every single year of my professional career) taken vacation days on the Thursday and Friday of the first weekend of the tournament. Well, guess what day today is? In order to celebrate my annual "basketball holiday," I thought that I would spend the next four days sharing with you some of my favorite sports-related tunes. Today's selection "Ready To Go" by Rebulica is yet another One-Hit-Wonder that I am sure that you will recognize if you have ever attended a live sporting event. This high energy, fun track is great for firing up crowds before the games actually get underway. I was on the leading edge of discovering this song, as I think I must have heard it on the Impact sometime during 1996 when the track was released. I even bought the CD, which as you might expect is not that great. Well, I don't know about you, but I am certainly ready to go for the big dance. Let's throw it up and play ball!
03/20/2015
Day 171: I am a bit embarrassed to say this, but you know what? I kind of like Smash Mouth. They seem exactly like the kind of band that I wouldn't like. The late 90s and early 2000s seemed saturated with poser rock bands that were more interested in cashing in than in making good music, and Smash Mouth doesn't really seem all that much different than some of those other bands that I really despise (Sugar Ray, Sponge, 311, etc.) But, there is just something about their use of the organ and Steve Harwell's surprisingly interesting lyrics that just works for me. So naturally today I would like to feature Smash Mouths ultimate Jock Jam "All Star" from the 1999 album Astro Lounge. Of course, there is a lot of talk about getting your game on, and making the "loser" symbol on your forehead, but there are some actually nuggets of wisdom buried in there too, like "Somebody once asked could I spare some change for gas, I need to get myself away from this place. I said yep, what a concept; I could use a little fuel myself, and we could all use a little change." Well played Smash Mouth. Well played. In any event, let's hope that MSU plays like all stars today!
03/21/2015
Day 172: I mentioned a few months ago that this is not the first time that I have engaged in a music related daily message. Back in the spring of my Freshman year at MSU, I used to send out song quotes every morning by e-mail to a select group of friends. I don't remember more than a handful of those messages, but I do remember one in late March of 1995 very clearly. 1994-95 was an important year in MSU basketball, as it was the final year of legendary coach Jud Heathcote. I had season tickets as a student and Jovon and I even had a chance to meet Jud just long enough for him to refuse to autograph a poster for us (don't worry Jud, we still love you). As it turns out, MSU had a pretty good year that year with star players Shawn Respert and Eric Snow (AKA Fire and Ice!) and entered the Big Dance as a #3 seed. We had great expectations for the squad to send out Jud with a bang, maybe even a Final Four type of bang. The first stop on the journey was some school from out west called Weber State. I remember watching the game with Jovon and our other friends, most likely in our dorm room. MSU played well in the first half... very well as I remember and yet did not seem to have a very big lead at the half. In the second half, things seemed to go south quickly. MSU went cold from the field and wound up losing 79-72. I was pretty devastated by the loss. It just wasn't supposed to end like that for Jud. That particular day, I drew solace from today's song "Boxers" by Morrissey. The song tells the story of a boxer who loses his first match and it contains the lyrics that I sent out by e-mail almost exactly 20 years ago, "Losing in front of your home crowd. You wish the ground would open and take you down... Losing in front of your home town. The crowd call your name; They love you all the same." Fortunately, MSU was able to win yesterday and advance to the round of 32, but on the day in which MSU plays their final game in this year's tournament, I am sure that this song will be playing in my head.
03/22/2015
Day 173: At some point during my first year or so at MSU, I must have heard today's song "I'm Not Afraid" by the husband and wife duo Flemming and John on the Impact. The concept of the song is extremely simple. The verses list all the things that the singer is afraid of (such as driving fast, flying, getting old, and photos of Mom and Dad when they were young), while the chorus states "but I'm not afraid of you." The music is pretty rocking, which is a cool juxtaposition to the sweet soprano vocals. I flat out loved the sound and pure defiance of the song. When MSU's football season kicked off in 1995, MSU's first opponent was #2 ranked, Tom Osborne coached Nebraska squad. There was a lot of buzz on campus leading up to the game, as Goliath was clearly coming to town, and David thought that he had a shot at him. As I walked around campus in the days leading up to the match-up, I had this song in my head. "I'm not afraid of those guys," I thought. Well, as it turned out, MSU should have been afraid as we wound up getting blown out 50-10, but every since that game, this song is always in my head when a heavy underdog gets a shot at one of the big boys. Today, MSU will face 2-seed Virginia, a team that when healthy has a very legit shot to win the whole tournament. But, you know what? It's March, we have Tom Izzo, and we ain't afriad of nobody!
I would like to close this chapter the highlights the intersection of perhaps my two favorite past times: sports and music. But, the Big Dance is still on-going of course, and you know what that means? I simply feel like dancing. So tomorrow, we will open up a new chapter on my favorite tunes to cut a rug to!
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