Don't put anything in writing. Because then you have plausible deniability.
One thing about Trump, he's proven to be surrounded by third-rate attorneys who are really henchmen, lawyers that would be disbarred if their activities ever came to light.
And now we have Dylan Howard and Jon Fine of American Media extorting Jeff Bezos in print, as if they've got no idea how the world works, never mind the law.
This is what happens when you're drunk with power, when you serve those with agendas in the world of gotcha, believing if they're the biggest bully they will always win.
That's not only David Pecker, but Donald Trump.
Oh, don't get your knickers in a twist. Trump doesn't believe in sunlight, no tax returns, no information on the most powerful man in America, just the way he likes it. And when he's squeezed, he squeals. And isn't it interesting the only person who can really get his goat is Nancy Pelosi, a woman.
Now if you've been paying attention for the past few years, you know that Nancy Pelosi is an over-the-hill, ineffective hack out of touch with America. That's how the Republicans and right wing press have depicted her. It's a veritable war of words, with the Democrats historically playing defense. To the point where when Elizabeth Warren and AOC play offense traditional Democrats decry them, playing into the Republicans' hands.
But then Pelosi maneuvers herself into the Speaker gig and it turns out that unlike the President, she knows how to play the game, she even runs circles around Chuck Schumer. Because she's willing to dress up nice but still throw a punch, without looking like she's even losing control. Sure, Republicans still hate her, but Democrats who bought into the right wing's depiction of her no longer do.
It's a veritable club I tell you, the politicians and the news media. Same faces, owed favors. And we never know what's really going on.
Which is why it's so great that Jeff Bezos published his story on Medium.
He OWNS the "Washington Post." He could act like a dictator and insist they include his words. But he could see the negative effect of that, he doesn't want to tarnish the "Post," so he publishes on the web.
And goes from zero to hero overnight.
We saw this with David Letterman, extorted over an affair, he exposed the situation on television, and the story no longer was about his moral failings, his duplicity, his stepping out on his wife, but his honesty!
Jeff Bezos acts like an adolescent, then gains his cool and plays like Jordan in the NBA Finals. Or should I say LeBron?
Bezos lays it all out, at length, and it reads like it was written by him.
Now what?
This is bad for the "Enquirer," this is bad for Trump.
But it's good for our country.
You see this is how the world has been run for eons. Backroom dealings. You've got to know the players to know what's really going on, in all businesses.
Which is why Pelosi succeeds and Trump fails. Being a politician is a profession. The aforementioned Michael Jordan proved that being the best basketball player of all time didn't make him a world class baseball player.
But those are both sports.
It's like saying Mark Spitz would be a great Senator.
Or Howard Schultz would be a great President.
Conversely, I doubt Nancy Pelosi could run Starbucks.
Then again, you or me gets caught up in a scandal and we've got no options. Peter Thiel sues Gawker out of existence and Bezos spends bucks to find out what happened at the "Enquirer."
Meanwhile, like Manafort before him, David Pecker believes the law doesn't apply to him.
But to quote Bob Dylan:
"For them that think death's honesty
Won't fall upon them naturally
Life sometimes must get lonely"
We're all human, we're all the same, with similar desires and similar lives.
But in the era of billionaires, there's a whole coterie of wealthy people who think they're better than us.
Then again, those without cash believe money rules.
But they would be wrong, money is trumped by power.
That's what David Pecker had and has.
Fox News is not worth as much as Netflix, but it's much more powerful.
This is what insiders know.
And when you play the power game, you've got a number of cards.
Pecker believed that Bezos's ego would not allow him to have his sexual peccadilloes exposed. All the money in the world could not make Pecker and the "Enquirer" go away.
But the honesty card put a knife in the "Enquirer"'s heart.
And the truth is, if you lay it out for all to see, they'll look.
You should now:
"No thank you, Mr. Pecker": https://bit.ly/2WOLuOf
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Thursday 7 February 2019
Kendrick, Drake & Gambino Decline To Perform At The Grammys
The Grammys have not only lost touch with the audience, they've lost touch with the artists.
What if you gave a party and nobody came?
This is kinda like the election of Trump. Globalization left behind the underclass which decided to overturn the table. After years of appeasing CBS instead of the artistic community, Drake, Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino have refused to perform on the Grammy stage.
Good work my friends!
This is like Kaepernick, only today's musical artists don't depend upon the NFL, i.e. the Grammys, to work. That's why change has come from entertainment first. The barrier to entry is low, and there are fewer constraints upon artists. As for labels...their leverage is their catalogues and their relationships with terrestrial radio and network television, could they be suffering a moment of truth soon?
Kinda like the Backstreet Boys being number one. Only in bizarro world, where the "Billboard" chart means anything. You can't find a single Backstreet Boys tune in the Spotify Top 50. Meanwhile, "7 Rings," the song Ariana Grande wanted to perform at the Grammys, is number one on Spotify, not only in the U.S., but the entire WORLD!
This is a fake news crisis. How is anybody supposed to believe a Grammy is important, has any gravitas, when there are eight nominees and an act can win with less than 15% of the old farts' votes. This is when you lose hearts and minds.
Kinda like that inane article in the "New York Times" today about the loudness wars, what is this 2007? It turns out mainstream media is preaching to a tiny fraction of the public, mostly to those who are out of it. If you're a fan of something, you go much deeper than the big media outlets ever go, so you laugh when you read an article like this.
But back to the Grammys...
Fans resent athletes making all that money, not realizing they bring in the fans and the owners are so much wealthier.
But when it comes to musical artists, perception is the acts earned their big bucks, and are allowed to spend them however they want to. They're unfettered. So who gains cred here, Drake, Kendrick or Gambino or the Grammys?
Not the organization.
Neil Portnow has been asleep at the wheel for years. A caretaker who slept while the world changed.
And Ken Ehrlich has been out of control ever since he got Aretha Franklin to thank him during the Grammy telecast.
The Grammys are supposed to serve the industry, not defy it.
As for the big CBS contract... Ain't that America, where you're beholden to the bucks.
As for these three acts, they've got little to gain from appearing on the telecast. Their audience is already aware of them. They don't depend upon TV to reach potential fans, the internet does it so much better, and there is no Grammy bounce.
This is what the internet and streaming have wrought. You don't hear Drake complaining about streaming. He's making plenty of bucks. It's only the old people who triumphed under the old system who complain. They want their Oldsmobiles in a world of Teslas.
The Oscars lost touch because no one saw the nominated movies.
The Grammys lost touch because the deserved never won.
So Jay Z refuses to play the Super Bowl, says the NFL needs him more than he needs them.
That's true.
And same deal with Drake, Lamar and Gambino.
This is important stuff, this is a turning point. After thirty years, the artists are taking back control of the industry, because the industry was asleep and driving towards the cliff.
This is like the sixties, when acts refused to record in label studios and use union engineers. When the contract said a label had to release the record, it could not shelve it.
You don't need a label to put out a record today, and you certainly don't need a Grammy to enhance your career.
As for the statuette, the legends who won always put them in the bathroom anyway.
And awards in art are a joke, how do you quantify? And with hindsight, so many of the winners are losers.
So I'm encouraging more acts to boycott the Grammys. To put an end to the charade. When you band together, you get change.
But one record and one act can change the world.
And obfuscation and lying are passe. Ehrlich makes up mumbo-jumbo about why Ariana Grande will not sing, and the woman herself takes to Twitter and calls him out, saying he's wrong, and she needs no prep time.
The same oldsters who complain about social media and the "incomprehensible" Twitter are being bitten on the ass by it.
It ain't your Daddy's music business anymore.
THANK GOD!
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What if you gave a party and nobody came?
This is kinda like the election of Trump. Globalization left behind the underclass which decided to overturn the table. After years of appeasing CBS instead of the artistic community, Drake, Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino have refused to perform on the Grammy stage.
Good work my friends!
This is like Kaepernick, only today's musical artists don't depend upon the NFL, i.e. the Grammys, to work. That's why change has come from entertainment first. The barrier to entry is low, and there are fewer constraints upon artists. As for labels...their leverage is their catalogues and their relationships with terrestrial radio and network television, could they be suffering a moment of truth soon?
Kinda like the Backstreet Boys being number one. Only in bizarro world, where the "Billboard" chart means anything. You can't find a single Backstreet Boys tune in the Spotify Top 50. Meanwhile, "7 Rings," the song Ariana Grande wanted to perform at the Grammys, is number one on Spotify, not only in the U.S., but the entire WORLD!
This is a fake news crisis. How is anybody supposed to believe a Grammy is important, has any gravitas, when there are eight nominees and an act can win with less than 15% of the old farts' votes. This is when you lose hearts and minds.
Kinda like that inane article in the "New York Times" today about the loudness wars, what is this 2007? It turns out mainstream media is preaching to a tiny fraction of the public, mostly to those who are out of it. If you're a fan of something, you go much deeper than the big media outlets ever go, so you laugh when you read an article like this.
But back to the Grammys...
Fans resent athletes making all that money, not realizing they bring in the fans and the owners are so much wealthier.
But when it comes to musical artists, perception is the acts earned their big bucks, and are allowed to spend them however they want to. They're unfettered. So who gains cred here, Drake, Kendrick or Gambino or the Grammys?
Not the organization.
Neil Portnow has been asleep at the wheel for years. A caretaker who slept while the world changed.
And Ken Ehrlich has been out of control ever since he got Aretha Franklin to thank him during the Grammy telecast.
The Grammys are supposed to serve the industry, not defy it.
As for the big CBS contract... Ain't that America, where you're beholden to the bucks.
As for these three acts, they've got little to gain from appearing on the telecast. Their audience is already aware of them. They don't depend upon TV to reach potential fans, the internet does it so much better, and there is no Grammy bounce.
This is what the internet and streaming have wrought. You don't hear Drake complaining about streaming. He's making plenty of bucks. It's only the old people who triumphed under the old system who complain. They want their Oldsmobiles in a world of Teslas.
The Oscars lost touch because no one saw the nominated movies.
The Grammys lost touch because the deserved never won.
So Jay Z refuses to play the Super Bowl, says the NFL needs him more than he needs them.
That's true.
And same deal with Drake, Lamar and Gambino.
This is important stuff, this is a turning point. After thirty years, the artists are taking back control of the industry, because the industry was asleep and driving towards the cliff.
This is like the sixties, when acts refused to record in label studios and use union engineers. When the contract said a label had to release the record, it could not shelve it.
You don't need a label to put out a record today, and you certainly don't need a Grammy to enhance your career.
As for the statuette, the legends who won always put them in the bathroom anyway.
And awards in art are a joke, how do you quantify? And with hindsight, so many of the winners are losers.
So I'm encouraging more acts to boycott the Grammys. To put an end to the charade. When you band together, you get change.
But one record and one act can change the world.
And obfuscation and lying are passe. Ehrlich makes up mumbo-jumbo about why Ariana Grande will not sing, and the woman herself takes to Twitter and calls him out, saying he's wrong, and she needs no prep time.
The same oldsters who complain about social media and the "incomprehensible" Twitter are being bitten on the ass by it.
It ain't your Daddy's music business anymore.
THANK GOD!
--
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Wednesday 6 February 2019
Ariana Grande Punts The Grammys
"Don't tell me what to do
And don't tell me what to say"
Don't these guys learn? After leaving Lorde out of the ceremony last year?
Medleys suck. If they were so desirable, they'd be on the hit parade. As for the vaunted "Grammy Moments," none of them equal Prince at the Super Bowl. Come on, what's next, the Donald singing "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" with Pelosi on backup? The winds of change have blown, and the Grammys and CBS did not get the message, despite having Tina Tchen heading a "diversity task force," does anybody at the Grammys even speak to each other?
For twenty years, the artists have been tools of the man, now a tiny woman with a big voice who is arguably the biggest star in the land has been told what to do and wants no part of it.
Meanwhile, the bozos from U2 appear three times on the telecast in 2018, and they weren't even nominated for any awards, unlike Ms. Grande.
Furthermore, as if they had the talent and gravitas of Tom Petty, the Academy won't back down. Hell, this is 2019, you apologize and move on. What, are you teaching Ariana a lesson? What, are we being jetted back to the fifties? Women have power now, she's exercising it, and you cry foul?
As for playing her current hit... You opened the show with the Police who hadn't recorded a new track in decades. Furthermore, people have played their non-nominated cuts seemingly every year.
The institution is not as big as the players.
This business runs on talent. Every executive is disposable, but the acts are not.
Ever since the days of Tommy Mottola, the execs have believed they were king. But not anymore. Because acts don't even need a label, and they can monetize in so many ways other than recordings. The industry and the lame Grammys are subservient to the talent, not the other way around.
How in the hell can you say no to a woman after last year, is it because Neil Portnow and Ken Ehrlich are on their last legs? They fired Al Campanis, the heads of these guys should have rolled a year ago, when their egregious behavior was on display for the world to see.
CBS and the Grammys should be groveling to have Ariana on the show.
Then again, CBS blew out Les Moonves, and Neil Portnow is still bloviating.
Some people are categorically incapable of doing the right thing. They don't deserve second chances.
So Rihanna and a slew of other acts refuse to play the Super Bowl in support of Kaepernick, they abhor the plantation mind-set of the NFL.
And now Ariana punts the Grammy football away.
Neither star NEEDS the institution. They're doing fine without it.
The Grammy ratings keep on going down and all we get is endless medleys, hackneyed scripts and TV stars reading from teleprompters.
Did the VMAs insist on medleys?
Telling Ariana Grande what to do...who do they think they are?
"You don't own me
Don't try to change me in any way
You don't own me
Don't tie me down 'cause I'd never stay"
THANK YOU LESLEY GORE!
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And don't tell me what to say"
Don't these guys learn? After leaving Lorde out of the ceremony last year?
Medleys suck. If they were so desirable, they'd be on the hit parade. As for the vaunted "Grammy Moments," none of them equal Prince at the Super Bowl. Come on, what's next, the Donald singing "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" with Pelosi on backup? The winds of change have blown, and the Grammys and CBS did not get the message, despite having Tina Tchen heading a "diversity task force," does anybody at the Grammys even speak to each other?
For twenty years, the artists have been tools of the man, now a tiny woman with a big voice who is arguably the biggest star in the land has been told what to do and wants no part of it.
Meanwhile, the bozos from U2 appear three times on the telecast in 2018, and they weren't even nominated for any awards, unlike Ms. Grande.
Furthermore, as if they had the talent and gravitas of Tom Petty, the Academy won't back down. Hell, this is 2019, you apologize and move on. What, are you teaching Ariana a lesson? What, are we being jetted back to the fifties? Women have power now, she's exercising it, and you cry foul?
As for playing her current hit... You opened the show with the Police who hadn't recorded a new track in decades. Furthermore, people have played their non-nominated cuts seemingly every year.
The institution is not as big as the players.
This business runs on talent. Every executive is disposable, but the acts are not.
Ever since the days of Tommy Mottola, the execs have believed they were king. But not anymore. Because acts don't even need a label, and they can monetize in so many ways other than recordings. The industry and the lame Grammys are subservient to the talent, not the other way around.
How in the hell can you say no to a woman after last year, is it because Neil Portnow and Ken Ehrlich are on their last legs? They fired Al Campanis, the heads of these guys should have rolled a year ago, when their egregious behavior was on display for the world to see.
CBS and the Grammys should be groveling to have Ariana on the show.
Then again, CBS blew out Les Moonves, and Neil Portnow is still bloviating.
Some people are categorically incapable of doing the right thing. They don't deserve second chances.
So Rihanna and a slew of other acts refuse to play the Super Bowl in support of Kaepernick, they abhor the plantation mind-set of the NFL.
And now Ariana punts the Grammy football away.
Neither star NEEDS the institution. They're doing fine without it.
The Grammy ratings keep on going down and all we get is endless medleys, hackneyed scripts and TV stars reading from teleprompters.
Did the VMAs insist on medleys?
Telling Ariana Grande what to do...who do they think they are?
"You don't own me
Don't try to change me in any way
You don't own me
Don't tie me down 'cause I'd never stay"
THANK YOU LESLEY GORE!
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Tuesday 5 February 2019
Blue Avenue
"I gotta quit this habit
It's like this drug for you"
Actually, after a ruinous New Year's Eve I was finally recovering, finally seeing a road unfolding in the future. She'd left back in May the year before and for a long time I thought she'd come back, but she didn't. And then just when she said she was ready, I was worried, fearful of the craziness returning, but just before I could tell her I was unsure, her doctor told her the time was not quite here, and togetherness was tabled.
Until two months later, around noon, when there was a knock on the door. There she was.
That's how life works in case you don't know. Once you give up on something it happens. You can't play mind tricks, convincing yourself it won't happen, you've got to have truly given up, gone through all the Kubler Ross stages. And then...
She was smiling. Walking into the house we used to share. And for some reason, I showed her the video of Elton John's "Club At The End Of The Street."
I was a massive Elton fan, still am. And after he took a break, after "Blue Moves," when he ultimately showed up on Geffen, it wasn't quite the same. There was that other lyric writer, Chris Thomas instead of Gus Dudgeon, and there were hits but they didn't have the same essence of what came before, until...
"Club At The End Of The Street."
This was when MTV ruled. Before Nirvana eviscerated the hair bands, when you turned on the television to know what was going on, radio followed in MTV's footsteps, after all, the programming team was poached from KROQ, the hippest station in the land.
And this was also when production values mattered, when a performance video no longer cut it. And I couldn't get over how in the animated video Elton's flip was imperfect. Like the clip was done on the cheap. In any event, I taped it and played it again and again, it made me feel good. Especially the bridge:
"There's a downtown smell of cooking
From the flame on an open grill
There's a sax and a big bass pumping
Lord, have mercy
Ooh, you can't sit still
Oh, you can't sit still"
That's right, listening to "Club At The End Of The Street" lit my spirit, Elton was back, and quite possibly so was I. Lord have mercy!
And she walks in and it's like she never left. And caught up in the mood, I showed her the video, you can watch it here: https://bit.ly/2GowqkK
And then she was on her way, to Seattle, to recover. We went out to her truck and she showed me our wedding picture and then she was gone. Like always.
I was doing my back exercises the other day and I was calling out songs to Alexa, on the Echo Show. I don't believe in playlists, they're unsatisfying. And I didn't want to hear the hits, I wanted to hear the album tracks, songs that resonated with me.
And that's when I thought of "Blue Avenue."
"And it's no use each way we lose
You and me at the crossroads of Blue Avenue"
Actually, I thought of "Club At The End Of The Street" first, but I wasn't in an upbeat mood, I wanted something to soothe me, that lived in my head, that would make me feel comforted, not alone.
You see "Blue Avenue" is the last song on that 1989 album containing "Club At The End Of The Street," "Sleeping With The Past."
And playing the CD in the wake of loving "Club At The End Of The Street," I fell in love with "Blue Avenue," it's got the gravitas Elton's famous for, all the way back to "Sixty Years On" and "The King Must Die."
And I'm lying on the floor listening, and I was wishing after the farewell tour Elton would go on the road to play all the album cuts. Yes, he does "All The Girls Love Alice," but I need to hear "Elderberry Wine" and "Teacher I Love You" and "Blue Avenue."
"You've got the same obsession"
And then she called. Just when I was coming down from her disappearance. I couldn't be all lovey-dovey, I couldn't make nice, I told her she called me when she needed me, but what I needed...
Was to get off, and I did.
And I found new love. Just like that. I was done. I was on the high of connection, finally feeling good after a year of hell.
And then she came back to L.A. and called.
She was now ready.
But I was not. I told her, I was involved with somebody else.
But that phone conversation totaled my love connection with the record company girl. You see she was upbeat and game, but I was married to the other one, we'd lived together for years, she could not be instantly forgotten, she'd touched my heart, and then broke it.
"And it's no use each way we lose
You and me at the crossroads of Blue Avenue
Hit and run hearts collide here
True love passes through
Looks like we've got a wreck babe
Up on Blue Avenue"
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2Bkum9U
YouTube: https://bit.ly/2DWcsfq
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It's like this drug for you"
Actually, after a ruinous New Year's Eve I was finally recovering, finally seeing a road unfolding in the future. She'd left back in May the year before and for a long time I thought she'd come back, but she didn't. And then just when she said she was ready, I was worried, fearful of the craziness returning, but just before I could tell her I was unsure, her doctor told her the time was not quite here, and togetherness was tabled.
Until two months later, around noon, when there was a knock on the door. There she was.
That's how life works in case you don't know. Once you give up on something it happens. You can't play mind tricks, convincing yourself it won't happen, you've got to have truly given up, gone through all the Kubler Ross stages. And then...
She was smiling. Walking into the house we used to share. And for some reason, I showed her the video of Elton John's "Club At The End Of The Street."
I was a massive Elton fan, still am. And after he took a break, after "Blue Moves," when he ultimately showed up on Geffen, it wasn't quite the same. There was that other lyric writer, Chris Thomas instead of Gus Dudgeon, and there were hits but they didn't have the same essence of what came before, until...
"Club At The End Of The Street."
This was when MTV ruled. Before Nirvana eviscerated the hair bands, when you turned on the television to know what was going on, radio followed in MTV's footsteps, after all, the programming team was poached from KROQ, the hippest station in the land.
And this was also when production values mattered, when a performance video no longer cut it. And I couldn't get over how in the animated video Elton's flip was imperfect. Like the clip was done on the cheap. In any event, I taped it and played it again and again, it made me feel good. Especially the bridge:
"There's a downtown smell of cooking
From the flame on an open grill
There's a sax and a big bass pumping
Lord, have mercy
Ooh, you can't sit still
Oh, you can't sit still"
That's right, listening to "Club At The End Of The Street" lit my spirit, Elton was back, and quite possibly so was I. Lord have mercy!
And she walks in and it's like she never left. And caught up in the mood, I showed her the video, you can watch it here: https://bit.ly/2GowqkK
And then she was on her way, to Seattle, to recover. We went out to her truck and she showed me our wedding picture and then she was gone. Like always.
I was doing my back exercises the other day and I was calling out songs to Alexa, on the Echo Show. I don't believe in playlists, they're unsatisfying. And I didn't want to hear the hits, I wanted to hear the album tracks, songs that resonated with me.
And that's when I thought of "Blue Avenue."
"And it's no use each way we lose
You and me at the crossroads of Blue Avenue"
Actually, I thought of "Club At The End Of The Street" first, but I wasn't in an upbeat mood, I wanted something to soothe me, that lived in my head, that would make me feel comforted, not alone.
You see "Blue Avenue" is the last song on that 1989 album containing "Club At The End Of The Street," "Sleeping With The Past."
And playing the CD in the wake of loving "Club At The End Of The Street," I fell in love with "Blue Avenue," it's got the gravitas Elton's famous for, all the way back to "Sixty Years On" and "The King Must Die."
And I'm lying on the floor listening, and I was wishing after the farewell tour Elton would go on the road to play all the album cuts. Yes, he does "All The Girls Love Alice," but I need to hear "Elderberry Wine" and "Teacher I Love You" and "Blue Avenue."
"You've got the same obsession"
And then she called. Just when I was coming down from her disappearance. I couldn't be all lovey-dovey, I couldn't make nice, I told her she called me when she needed me, but what I needed...
Was to get off, and I did.
And I found new love. Just like that. I was done. I was on the high of connection, finally feeling good after a year of hell.
And then she came back to L.A. and called.
She was now ready.
But I was not. I told her, I was involved with somebody else.
But that phone conversation totaled my love connection with the record company girl. You see she was upbeat and game, but I was married to the other one, we'd lived together for years, she could not be instantly forgotten, she'd touched my heart, and then broke it.
"And it's no use each way we lose
You and me at the crossroads of Blue Avenue
Hit and run hearts collide here
True love passes through
Looks like we've got a wreck babe
Up on Blue Avenue"
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2Bkum9U
YouTube: https://bit.ly/2DWcsfq
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Monday 4 February 2019
Re-Maroon 5 & The Super Bowl
There was a game? Guess I missed it while binging on Deadwood.
Jack Douglas
_______________________________________
Re: The Superbowl
Dear Bob,
I'm the biggest Rams fan on the face of the earth! My father took me to those early games at The L.A. Colosseum when they didn't
have chairs.. yep.. you sat on benches.. This game just sucked... In fact, I turned off the volume and continued to watch the Ted Bundy Tapes
on Netflix... Actually, I think Maroon 5 were creepier...
Kindest Cheers,
Jeff Laufer
_______________________________________
What a boring fucking game. I hope the world remembers Levine with his shirt off. His career will never recover. On another Super Bowl note: I loved Cardi B for refusing the halftime gig because she's supporting Colin K (her AP history prof came in support of her sometime in the last few days). I'm not crazy about her music, but she's absolutely her own person.
JH Tompkins
_______________________________________
All I could think of when Maroon 5 was playing was "how much are they paying those people crowding around the stage screaming?".
Bobby Thomas
_______________________________________
Refusing the check? You think Kaepernick isn't profiting more off his martyrdom than his mediocre football career? Maybe we aren't as dumb as you think.
Jenny Sjolund
_______________________________________
Good perspective, Bob.
But I find that you can never under-estimate shallowness.
I have a friend that is my age, still watching and talking about superhero movies. We had the same education, the same success, so I just can't figure out how he is still talking about this stuff at 47. I watch the movies to keep in the loop with him and all I can think is they are so predictable and so shallow, but so pretty.
I just don't get it.
I'm 47 and I feel like the old curmudgeon yelling about the good old days. Am I crazy?
You seem to have nailed the word- soul. I'm not seeing the soul of the people, of the culture anymore, at least in the mainstream.
But then I look back at the TV of the 1970s, my childhood- Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Chips, Dynasty, none of these were any
deeper than what we have now. Maybe the soul is in TV now. I don't know.
-Gerry Bayne
_______________________________________
Worst Stupour Bowl ever. The game and the halftime show. Brady retire and let the rest of us rest in peace
Paul Ciario
_______________________________________
When r u going to realize. It's just a silly game. And nobody cares (they don't)about these social issues because they r all working too many jobs to keep food on the table.
It's a hustle.
This game gives people pause to recharge their batteries. NOT March in the streets.
Kenn Kweder
_______________________________________
Check out HBO's Bryant Gumbel Real Sports EP 262... The piece by Bernie Goldberg entitled "The changing Face of Football". It's clear the game is dangerous and the NFL preys on poor minority kids to keep the game going and the money flowing. The affluent kids, mostly white, aren't in this anymore. Ask the Donald about Barron. This was a good piece very convincing.
Yes acts and groups not doing the half time show IS the revolution.
So now football is the new boxing...not cool but still very much alive both ...College and Pro..cuz of the $$$.
Another good piece Bob.
BTW did you see the Linda Ronstadt piece on CBS Sunday Morning?
Bob Cushner in Baltimore
_______________________________________
I am neither in the elites or nincompoops......I read your emails because you provide the right slant. Call me a modified slantist.
Thomas B
_______________________________________
On the anniversary of the music dying, seems accurate.
Kevin
_______________________________________
Yes.
Multiple late-stage capitalist nadirs, concurrent, and in tragic harmony. Like the violins on the aft deck of the Titanic.
All in high definition, yet still not visible to the majority of our fellow human beings. History bears out that this does not end well.
Dave Dalzell
_______________________________________
So true. I watched the same game and felt exactly the same way. Everything about it — including sitting on the couch like a force-fed chicken and having those God-bless commercials stuffed down your throat — felt like yesterday, a throwback to a stupider time.
John Pitt
_______________________________________
Haters are going to hate, and you are a hater. "Twitterverse" is mostly populated by no life, facts be damned, losers. People who believe that posting idiotic things makes them popular, part of the "in" crowd. The kind of people who tweet out death threats to high school boys whose only "crime" turned out to be their choice of head wear.
It's people like you who are the threat to our country-tolerant of every opinion-as long as it dovetails with what you think. Perhaps you should take the time to read "1984", if you are as open minded as you portray yourself to be, you might just see the the actions of "twitterverse" in there. Not going to hold my breath on that though.
Craig Nickman
_______________________________________
This was an awesome summary. Years later, people will read this and think you were clairvoyant! Nice work Bob.
Baris Ozyetis
_______________________________________
Good piece. Howard just gave you a shout out.
Gary Sender
_______________________________________
2014, the year my beloved 49ers moved from Candlestick to Levi Stadium-that was the beginning of the end for me. Season ticket holders since Kezar days were priced out in favor of corporate luxury boxes. Then Kaepernick got injured, took a knee, was benched for poor play and the Niners really began to suck, never to rebound.
But CTE was the main thing. Absolutely could no longer watch; it felt like Christians being fed to the lions. Albeit well paid ones. My sons were both terrible at team sports so playing football was never an option. Thank God.
I'll take Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl.
Randi Swindel
_______________________________________
Everything you said resonated with me 10000%
I love when everyone I know asks what I'm doing or where am I going for "The Super Bowl"
My answer is I Don't give a
Fuck about it.
Id rather watch Penn State play
Michigan or watch ANY Yankee
Game.
Neil Lasher
_______________________________________
Plus, one of those M5 songs was a complete ripoff of Prince's "I Would Die 4 U."
Stuart Gunter
_______________________________________
Hi Bob,
Glad you liked the C.T.E Bowl as much as me!!
The only good thing is that the Patriots will visit the White House and we will at least have a few patriots there.
Let's all boycott next year until the commercials cost $10.6 per minute instead of $10.6 million!!
Bless,
Native Wayne Jobson
Los Angeles
_______________________________________
Spot on.
Paul Vincent Nunes
_______________________________________
I stopped watching the NFL two seasons ago after following closely my entire life. The product just isn't that great anymore. Rule changes, politics, owners taking the spotlight, fantasy football, etc... have diminished the appeal for me.
Ken Madson
_______________________________________
It is hard to stand up and do what is right when so many have too much. The influencers and decision makers have been overrun by affluence, social media and the news outlets marginalized our capacity for deep, rationally-based thought. You know too much Bob, have seen too many things. Time to start carving the analysis by eras as it is a not so brave new world, incomparable to the one in which you've come.
Marty Winsch
_______________________________________
Omg my uncle was in an Up With People halftime show.
I tried to find a super bowl stream for about six minutes because I'm in Canada and don't have cable. Gave up and watched The Punisher on Netflix instead..........
Ryan Brown
_______________________________________
"It's not that Maroon 5 were bad, it's that they were EH."
Really, Bob? Just EH? Unless EH is your abbreviation for Egregiously Horrid, I think you missed the mark by a very long shot.
It is, in fact, that Maroon were bad...very bad and I would have thought you should have been able to recognize it and call bullshit.
Performance, power, talent... "EH" or fucking non existent?
The slow poser crawl to taking off a shirt as a closer?
Come on.
Absolute proof that real artists can't be fabricated.
The only person near that stage that wasn't an embarrassment to the art of live performance...was the pyro tech.
Pete Angelus
P.S. And if Adam Levine proved anything definitively...it was that no matter how many tattoos he festoons his body with, and how many jackets and shirts he flings at young girls, he wouldn't even be an acceptable female backup singer for Bruno Mars.
_______________________________________
We're from similar generations --- I predate you by a bit but the mindset is similar enough.
There are many of us out here who make reading what you present a daily pharmaceutical and it matters not whether we agree wholly or partially or not at all with what you present ---
Years from now when next generations and historians want to know what was 'real' in this era in which you've been keeping the daily ledger, they/we will turn to your wealth of writing for the broad as well as the min-strokes of this early 21st century doings.
Thank you --- you make my day!
R. Lowenstein
_______________________________________
Great article, I went to bed at the opening of the Super Bowl, got up this morning, read your article, brilliant !
Justified me going to bed and didn't waste 4 hours, I must be hip!
Cheers
Ray Williams
_______________________________________
You have friends? Just kidding. You're right, the best and brightest are going to the streaming services and the networks are getting the talentless leftovers. I thought the Nance-Romo match up was good. Learned a few things from Romo. He's smart and just the right amount smart ass. Halftime show was a #3 with cheese and the commercials sucked thanks to more talentless leftovers.
Billy Chapin
_______________________________________
Good one! I felt a little bad for Adam Levine... He sounded awful and my Facebook feed is full of people ripping on the performance. I do like him on Howard, and he CAN play guitar. But overall, yes he is a pretty-boy tool. The California tattoo is the worst. Straight up dorky on Adam. If I saw it on Anthony Kiedis I don't think I'd mind because I believe Anthony is who he is.
I too sense an impending shift. A move away from commercialism. It's happening on the edges already.
Colleen Kenny
_______________________________________
Maroon 5 played their best material, that first record was great and here they are 15 or what years later opening their set with Harder to Breathe.
I bet some family members about 7 years ago that the NFL would be gone in 5-10 years...I will lose that bet but hopefully not by much. I have a friend who was special teams and now is in the last fight with ALS and it's devastating. Maybe what it will take it's the CTE and ALS to touch peoples lives like cancer has in order for change to come. This is another sad truth about our country, if it's not affecting you than it's not your fight.
Leland Grant
PS: how eerie was it when the cameras cut to the owners of the teams; holy crony Batman!
_______________________________________
Jesus, I was feeling pretty good this morning until this.
Keith Michaels
_______________________________________
I am surprised you didn't mentioned Maroon 5's sad attempts at guitar solos! What the?!? In terms of CBS, their CBSAllAccess app had issues throughout the night and we ended up with our Super Bowl party gathered around a laptop. The CBS app had issues two weeks ago during the playoffs and we had to call in to their tech support line and they said they knew about the issues and assured they'd be resolved by the Super Bowl. They weren't. The app constantly froze and crashed every 5-10 minutes to the point of being un-watchable.
Wade HinesJesus, I was feeling pretty good this morning until this.
Keith Michaels
_______________________________________
Well done! Thank you~
Thank you,
Adam Reiver
_______________________________________
Thanks Bob
You article was more believable than the Maroon 5 performance - not to mention the game...
John Kanakis
_______________________________________
How does someone bring the soul back in this environment?
Also, I agree.
Binta Niambi Brown
_______________________________________
Note perfect Bob!
Terry Gabis
_______________________________________
Gladys Knight was Super Bowl 53's MVP period. She will now start deservedly to sell tickets...
Ed
_______________________________________
But almost worth watching for Andy Warhol!
TY-TodayMedia
SXM
Memphis
_______________________________________
My friends who know Adam Levine tell me he is a nice dude but I gotta admit you are right...When he took his shirt off it was super corny.
If he walked down the street in Compton he would still get beat up with or without the tattoos.
Stevie Salas
_______________________________________
Hey Bob -
Funny, I didn't watch the game for the first time ever this year—more for logistical / travel-related reasons than any kind of personal or political stance—but I found I didn't miss it.
I grew up in a football family. My dad played through college, my brother in high school. I fell asleep as a kid watching Monday Night Football and still get pangs of nostalgia recalling the theme music. Every Sunday my dad makes a pot of chili and watches the Giants play, bless him.
But this year, I didn't miss it. You can find the commercials online, and a quick scan through my Twitter feed gave me everything I needed to know about the snoozy offense and Adam Levine's really bad tank top.
I think you're onto something about the paradigm shifting. I read that C.T.E. NYT article in Saturday's paper... as well as the one about all the musical acts performing in Atlanta this weekend that were NOT part of the halftime show, drawing large crowds and boo-ing the NFL, celebrating the history & vibrancy of Atlanta's homegrown talent.
And still, when I texted my dad yesterday to see if he was watching, his response was.... "Best ever so far. Defense! And Maroon 5 was fab!" ...
Katie Barton
_______________________________________
Brilliant. Fucking brilliant. How is it you can see the future so clearly? I hope we're all still around to witness it.
Lynn Crosswaite
_______________________________________
Every point in this essay is spot-on and thought-provoking.
Thanks for that.
Asif Ghazanfar
_______________________________________
Bravo, Bob!
The soul of America is buried under sickness caused by pollution (light, noise, air), mass-produced food, and instant gratification. Heal America and let the soul shine!
Thanks for your letter.
Best,
Matthew Eshed
_______________________________________
Exactly! Spot on!!
Donna Freeberg
_______________________________________
Sad. We are lost. LA has certainly jumped the shark. Life is changing. It's going to be a very bumpy ride. Glad I'm not young. And Maroon 5 sounded great. Then we went back to The Kitty Bowl.
KATHY ROWE
_______________________________________
While the old guard made it seem like the biggest concert of the weekend was Maroon 5, that is far from the truth. The major event of the weekend was Marshmello's Forenite concert. Having a 13 year old son, this is truly what the younger generation was talking about! (Mostly what everyone was talking about except for the old tired media and the NFL.)
https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/2/18208223/fortnite-epic-games-marshmello-concert-exciting-bizarre-future-music
Enjoy your work,
Scott Strong
_______________________________________
It seemed like 21 Savage got more attention!
What did you think about the Pepsi commercial. I love Cardi!!
Can't wait for your Grammy write up:)
Fiona Bloom
_______________________________________
One thing I can truly say..., I will never regret the time I have spent reading your blog. I very much appreciate your continued (emphatic ) voice crying out, "Look the Emperor has no clothes. Can't you see! He has no clothes!"
Thanks,
Bob Whiteley
_______________________________________
Chris Stein @chrissteinplays
Who should play the next Superbowl
Gwar 39%
Suicide 16%
Suicidal Tendencies 13%
Moe Tucker drum solo 32%
522 vote3s
_______________________________________
Love this column! You hit the bullseye again!! You identified a paradigm shift that hopefully continues towards something more compassionate, meaningful and real. Thank you for identifying and writing boldly about it!!
Regards,
Richard Honig
_______________________________________
Thanks Bob.Another great read.Stay well.Ted Keane
_______________________________________
I agree with you 100% Bob regarding Adam Levine's tattoos! Nobody is original anymore every guy you look at is tattooed up! I was at the beach last summer in Torrance and I would say 95% of the people had tattoos and a lot of people had tattoos almost entirely everywhere on their body. All of these knuckleheads are going to wake up one day and they're going to look like smudged comic books when they get old and they are going to regret really regret all the stupid things they wrote on themselves! What a disappointment Adam Levine was when he took his shirt off off and that big stupid California tattoo across his belly it made me think of him so much less. I watched him play purple rain at Howard Stern's birthday party years ago and he is a great musician and songwriter but he still is in my opinion after yesterday a big knucklehead!
Wayne Landry
_______________________________________
I'm glad it wasn't political, and I wish you hadn't made it so. Sometimes it's just nice to sit with your friends, enjoy the conversation, not fight, not yell, not scream, not be hateful, and not be hurtful, just enjoy it. Can't you accept that Gladys Knight did something wonderful for herself and for millions of people instead of going negative on this classic taste maker? Her struggle was very real, and for 50 plus years,,, and you just discounted it. Such a shame.
Maroon 5, whatever,,,
Steven McClintock
37 Records
_______________________________________
And the commercials? The oh so mighty brilliant ads? That are supposed to unite us all, with their pop culture touchstones?
Who are these "celebs"? Who knows? (Except for an incredibly "hip" millennial with "f.o.m.o.".)
Most of us are shrugging our shoulders..We don't recognize the rappers, and the schtick that preceeds them...We don't get the "Game Of Thrones" shout outs..
The Superbowl is to real fans, what New Year's Eve is, to real party people..A day for rookies...The bar that had $2 beers the day before, is asking $99 for their "special" celebration...Rookie BS...
James Spencer
_______________________________________
you are correct about the CTE issue. I would not want to own a football team 10 years from now.
-Kyle J. Ferraro
_______________________________________
Nice shout out from Howard on Stern show this am...
Congrats...
Blaine Leeds
_______________________________________
Kaep has nothing to lose. And that's the best fire to the soul.
Raphaella Lima
_______________________________________
RE SUPEBORWL HALFTIME: When I was watching Adam Levine bounce around the stage my mind went back to 1967 or maybe it was 68. Either way I was an 18 year old standing in front of Peter Green and watching one of Fleetwood Macs first hows in America at the Boston T Party and the music was so real and so authentic it blew me away. This happened over and over like I was when I saw one of Led Zeppelins first concerts or Jeff Becks Band or The Who or BB King, Buddy Guy, Howlin' Wolf, Roland Kirk, Otis Spann and dozens and dozens of other real musicians who were not chasing radio or streams or commercialism or pleasing the masses. I don't think they gave a fuck about the masses. I was thinking how far we've come and how watching the Superbowl half time show with it's contrived audience wavers and wow look America we are so hip and it was making me want to go back to the old days when on any given night I could drive in to town and hear a legend play. Yep, those days are long gone but at least I feel lucky that I was there to witness it but I feel sorry for all the people who weren't there. It was what music was all about.
Andrew Kastner
P.S. Is it just me or did Adams levine head look like it was on the wrong body. Like at Coney Island where you stand in front of one of those wooden painted muscle men with no head and put your head on top and take a picture.
_______________________________________
Agree 100%. This is the first game I watched all year. Football culture is the reason why we got Trump. Everyone is drunk half the year, glued to the tv 3 days a week. Colossal waste of time.
The first thing I thought when he took off his shirt was, "time to get my tattoos removed".
The single most shocking part of the day that you didn't mention is that Dylan allowed "Blowin' in the Wind" to be used in a Budweiser commercial!
--
Best Regards,
Zachary Goode
_______________________________________
Brilliant! Thanks Bob for the dose and keep the motors running. The one element that I thought was also interesting is the game and halftime show mirrored one another exactly which suggests to me a "higher order" of reality where we are all connected.
Scott Tavis
_______________________________________
There's more buzz about Marshmello being on Fortnite than Maroon 5 being on the Super Bowl.
Charly Salvatore
_______________________________________
...and the three men I admire most...the Father, Son and Holy Ghost...just took the last train for the coast...
rfcc
_______________________________________
What I don't understand is why all the fuss for musicians to boycott playing the show.
what about the players, staff, workers? should they be pressured to boycott as well?
maybe a lot of folks simply don't care about Kapernicks position, he exercised his rights, just as Maroon 5 did in taking the gig
Im glad big boi said fuck you to the haters, then showed up in a caddy with a fur coat on. highlight of the telecast.
He knows that when you got 100 million eyeballs on you, you take advantage of it
regards
Thaddeus Graham
_______________________________________
Hey Bob,
Great piece, what a bore of a show overall. Speaking to your point about CTE, did you see last weeks HBO Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel? They had a great piece about football and who, if anyone will be playing it in a few years, since only the poor and desperate will be wiling to take the risk.
As for Levine, He seems like a really nice guy whenever he is on Howard, but those tattoos and his new beefy look made it look like he just "Escaped from Danamorra" or some prison yard somewhere! "California" tattoed across his stomach 2pac "Thug Life" style?
He's the toughest guy to come out of Brentwood since OJ!
Thanks!
Tim Brennan
_______________________________________
Brilliant article. I felt the same way while watching the game last night. We have exhausted ourselves with the same shit. Thanks for writing.
Adam Gonzalez
_______________________________________
As it started in uk at about 11 pm only watched first couple of minutes
There is a niche support for american football in uk
They sell out wembley
But..in the build up to the match it was constantly claimed by american
commentators that most watched sports event in the world
I understand it claims 110 mill
Well when regular league match between manchester united and liverpool shown
it gets 700 mill
World cup final,european final,champions league final
Rugby,cricket finals
Olympics
Real madrid barca
The list goes on
Its probably about 40th in world
And if you look at market outside usa and canada
I would guess not even in top 100
Regards
Martin elbourne
_______________________________________
What's funny is Goodell got what he conspired for - an all time record setting QB under his tenure and an SB win for MAGA.
What's also funny is the only positive I've heard anyone talk about today is how quickly the game was over. NFL needs to get the memo. Stop drawing out the games. We want faster results. Can't tell you how many times this year I got disinterested with a game in the 3rd quarter and switched to binge streaming.
Would love to see the viewership numbers in NOLA during the Boycott Bowl Party they held in the French quarter.
Blake Jessee
_______________________________________
Bob, the myriad of flashy regional soul bands whose crackerjack showmanship wowed southern and midwestern audiences throughout the 1960s and 70s drew their inspiration from: Pop. Blues. Gospel. AND...college football halftime shows in which mammoth marching bands provided a spectacle to rival the game itself.
Maroon 5? Blech.
Paul Lanning
_______________________________________
Given your past writings regarding the New England area, the chip people have on their shoulders there and the Patriots, I would have thought you would know. Booing Roger Goodell has nothing to do with Trump. Everything doesn't...It stems from the NE Patriots fanbase belief that he targeted Tom Brady and falsely accused him of cheating in "Deflategate". You may recall the league spent $12+ million dollars on a report that started out with the league conclusion and worked backwards. That was 4 Super Bowl appearances for the Patriots and 3 Super Bowl wins for the Patriots ago. He has also generally been booed at every NFL event that fans are at like the NFL draft.
Alex Lara
Austin, TX
Pats Fan
_______________________________________
As my brother said as we muscled thru halftime ..."I'd rather be marooned"...
Tom Clark
Maui
_______________________________________
10 million play Fortnite on Saturday night to watch Marshmello set https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2019/02/10m-watch-groundbreaking-10-minute-marshmello-fortnite-set-video.html?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzEmail&utm_campaign=0&utm_content=395530
Super Bowl has lowest ratings in 10 years: (44.7) https://deadline.com/2019/02/super-bowl-ratings-patriots-rams-marron-5-worlds-best-cbs-1202548893/
That audience gap is closing fast.
Ben Patterson
_______________________________________
Hi Bob. Love your blog. Re/ Maroon 5, you're not really the target audience so your opinion here doesn't matter much. I can tell you that the ladies at our house watching the SB went absolutely crazy when Adam took his shirt off. There you go!
Jon Brooks
_______________________________________
Bob,
Which one are you, an elite or a nincompoop?
Gene Amoroso
_______________________________________
Bob...Everything you said is right on point!
Thanks for articulating everything I've been thinking.
All the best,
Brandon Wilde
_______________________________________
The Gen Me kids of today aren't watching and don't care, much like they don't care about award shows or regular TV in general. In a few years we will be witnessing the long term effects and these spectacles will become like the Dodo bird, extinct.
mmpoppa1
_______________________________________
Normally your sports rants are half baked, but this one is on point. Worst game ever. Worst halftime ever. A complete disappointment in every way
Josh Berman
_______________________________________
Get a grip.......good likelihood more football lovers than detractors in this world and it probably won't be going anywhere anytime soon. On a side note: how much evidence do we need to draw attention to a sport that is truly deadly: skiing. I'd be willing to bet there's a strong chance it has more collective fatalities to date than pro football. C'mon let's rally to close the resorts, sell off the lifts, shutter the gear manufacturers and work together to extinguish it immediately because, like smokers, we're pariah's if we still ski right?
Jack Willhite
_______________________________________
NFL fans have been booing Goodell at the Super Bowl postgame (and the NFL Draft) long before Trump started his POTUS run. Also, the kids don't smoke, now, they Juul. That's probably just as unhealthy as cigarettes. All that nicotine can't be good for your heart.
Take care,
Michael Ball
Kensington, MD
_______________________________________
So it's Trump's fault decorum is gone? Bobbies' gone delusional, ignoring story after story, day after day, month after month, year after year of negative words against the President. Of course, getting mad at the Fake Americans of whom you seem to be a member, can't be a good thing because you Socialists say so. I say, go Trump, and I didn't even vote for him
Rich Case
_______________________________________
Adam Levine is just as bland and dull as Bread, Christopher Cross, and Kanye. He was the perfect act for this year. Glad I missed it.
ljmurphy01
_______________________________________
Predictable.
Your analysis of the half-time show. Their analysis of the half-time show. Predictable. Every. Single. Year. The same.
Let's ask: Exactly what act would everyone watching the Superbowl enjoy? The septuagenarian "Rolling Stones?" Snoop Dog? Beyonce? Carrie Underwood? Elton John? Def Leppard? The cast of "Hamilton?" Ed Sheeran? Bob Dylan? Drake? Who?
The answer is: No act. There is no act that the entire viewing audience is going to enjoy. There is no act that is going to bring the country together. There is no act that will lead Americans to ponder our nation's great untapped potential, or, whatever. None.
So what is the point of the annual, ritual condemnation of the half-time show? It's absurd.
Complaining about the half-time show is analogous to complaining about the quality of the balloons at a kid's birthday party. It overlooks the fact that a balloon serves no purpose outside of making things seem more festive. (Read that again.)
It's not about "the music." It's about the primeval pleasure that comes from watching explosions and fire. Flashing lights. Kids screaming and waving their hands. Lighted drones. That is all. Sit back and enjoy the spectacle, and then forget about it.
It's a Dorito. It's a handful of popcorn. It's a candle in a jack-o-lantern. It's confetti. It's "Left Shark." It's an LED in your car's cup-holder. It's a vuvuzela.
It's not designed to be meaningful. It's not designed to have a purpose. It's not meant to be analyzed. You can enjoy it, or not. Consume it in the moment and then forget about it.
You want to "fix" the half-time show? Easy: Marching bands. There. Nothing to bitch about. There's a football game, and, at half-time, there's a marching band...just the way the Baby Jesus said it should be.
Thanks -
Dan S.
TakeFourJazz
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Amen , Bob.
Bruce Gordon
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Thought the Audi commercial was pretty darn good. Made me laugh out loud. Everything else was just so much AI, robots and social media cancer devices.
Nick Brokenshire
Vegas
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Another "on target" piece, Bob.
The Super Bowl halftime show diminishes anyone who appears on it. From Bruce to The Who, they're just another part of an aural and visual in-your-face spectacle: "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
Last night Maroon 5 was simply one more piece of the shill machine...a mere commodity; no more relevant than the screaming, hand waving pseudo fans in the pit at Adam Levine's feet.
Maroon 5..and others in past years...are not unlike a dancing bear at the circus: a once proud being reduced to "performing" for the masses who pay.
The difference, of course, is that the bear doesn't have a choice. Maroon 5 did. And they made the wrong one.
There's no upside in such art-as-commodity games. You lose whatever cred you had the day before and will never get it back.
Maybe they'll move a few more units or prompt some additional downloads. It that really worth it?
To trade one's life work and image (and, I'd argue, soul) for a few coins of the realm? For some fleeting minutes, after which the Super Bowl money people kick you to the culture curb? (Next!)
We once looked to musicians to hear "the word:" to give voice to what we were experiencing and were concerned about. We believed we were part of a cultural revolution for the better good, in conversation with each other through records and radio.
Last night Maroon 5 caught - in the words of Don Mclean - "the last train for the coast." How ironic that they did so on the 60th anniversary of "the day the music died."
Ed Osborne
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I'm 31 and had much better things to do like putting the screen protector and matte console wrap on my Model 3.
Tony Cassara
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You're right about the fallout from C.T.E. Even Texas parents are thinking twice about letting their kids play football.
Regarding "a C.T.E. documentary", there is already a good one focusing on college football, C.T.E., and other unfortunate results because of the NCAA not protecting college athletes.
The film is "The Business of Amateurs" https://www.amazon.com/Business-Amateurs-Ed-Obannon/dp/B01K90YZD8
The director, Bob DeMars, played football at USC. This was a passion project for him. It's very powerful.
Keep telling it as you see it,
Al Staehely
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"It's like the powers-that-be are convinced everybody in America is dumb, and will accept this pabulum."
Hey Bob-
There was a TV spot a couple years ago that showed a Nissan (I think) jumping on top of a commuter train. At the end, the disclaimer read "DO NOT ATTEMPT. CARS DO NOT FLY."
That's pretty much all you need to know about what the powers-that-be think of the average American's intelligence quotient.
Best
Frank Palombi
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Bob, you are on the right track here; the game was boring because of a lack of passing, which we have now become dependent upon for the "high moments". The problem is the NFL rules on pass interference have become too precise without the desired effect of fairness.
On a higher plan, the Super Bowl event has lost all of its original appeal as exemplified by the swagger of Joe Namath predicting a victory over Baltimore. We have had too many Hollywood producers try to suss out what will stimulate our animal spirits visually, acoustically and pyrotechnically. They now assume that the actual event has to feel like a video game (Madden was always more exciting on the sidelines than on the game box).
Maroon 5 and that other act in the polar vortex coat were in conflict with the actual old school SB viewer. After watching Adam strip, I wasn't sure whether he was a musician or a promo for Chippendales. Their music was so far removed from the show performed by Prince that I could barely wait for it to end. The arrival of the big "fur bear" didn't add a thing, other than pander to the black community dominance in Atlanta. I don't know about you, but I found all the pregame hype of the Commissioner attending black awareness/social justice events during the pre week PR, the most disingenuous nonsense since, Bill Clinton's "I didn't have sex with that girl" plea. It corrupts what little authenticity may remain in the game.
At the end of the day, I agree that the whole NFL experience will continue a slow fade. As I have written previously, the price of a ticket and the effort to stay relevant to the current shift in demographics will spell the death of the value of the franchises. In the future, it will just be a video game that a group in LA produces and sells as pay per view, much like what has occurred in boxing and "Ultimate Street Fighting". The memories of cheering for Joe Namath will die with my generation along with the horror of how our enlightened leaders took our youth to Vietnam and wasted millions of dollars and lives.
Thomas Geimer
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Hey bob,
I've been reading your letters since about 2015 and I've got to say thank you. A lot of what you say is true about the times today.
For instance- my friends invited me to a party to watch the Super Bowl but I stayed home and went to bed early to get a good nights sleep. (Being 27 I can remember when the Super Bowl was a big deal and performing the halftime show took your musical career to the next level.)
But those days are gone, and in this age of "influencers" and "selling out for sponsorships" it's easy to see why the music is becoming the same old drivel. If it sells or becomes a hit there are at least 10 copies. No one can be original anymore.
Used to be only the best musicians got their music made but now, everyone wants to be included, want to be part of the party when they haven't earned it.
I love music, I have since I can remember. I was raised listening to classic rock. The music was always good and now anyone with a Mac and garage band is suddenly a musician.
I miss when musicians had chops. When musicians were musicians, not musicians & actors, dancers, tv show judges and whatever else. But I understand when you conquer one field you want to conquer more. But cant we all just stay in our lane?
I find the it ridiculous how suddenly everyone is multi/talented. You know that ain't true except for a lucky few. No one is good at everything. You spend your time perfecting one trait. Not 10. You won't be good at any of them.
Sending the best,
Leah "Rae" Hight
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From: Brandi Carlile
Bob,
Please never stop writing about football.
I couldn't agree more.
Xobc
Jack Douglas
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Re: The Superbowl
Dear Bob,
I'm the biggest Rams fan on the face of the earth! My father took me to those early games at The L.A. Colosseum when they didn't
have chairs.. yep.. you sat on benches.. This game just sucked... In fact, I turned off the volume and continued to watch the Ted Bundy Tapes
on Netflix... Actually, I think Maroon 5 were creepier...
Kindest Cheers,
Jeff Laufer
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What a boring fucking game. I hope the world remembers Levine with his shirt off. His career will never recover. On another Super Bowl note: I loved Cardi B for refusing the halftime gig because she's supporting Colin K (her AP history prof came in support of her sometime in the last few days). I'm not crazy about her music, but she's absolutely her own person.
JH Tompkins
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All I could think of when Maroon 5 was playing was "how much are they paying those people crowding around the stage screaming?".
Bobby Thomas
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Refusing the check? You think Kaepernick isn't profiting more off his martyrdom than his mediocre football career? Maybe we aren't as dumb as you think.
Jenny Sjolund
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Good perspective, Bob.
But I find that you can never under-estimate shallowness.
I have a friend that is my age, still watching and talking about superhero movies. We had the same education, the same success, so I just can't figure out how he is still talking about this stuff at 47. I watch the movies to keep in the loop with him and all I can think is they are so predictable and so shallow, but so pretty.
I just don't get it.
I'm 47 and I feel like the old curmudgeon yelling about the good old days. Am I crazy?
You seem to have nailed the word- soul. I'm not seeing the soul of the people, of the culture anymore, at least in the mainstream.
But then I look back at the TV of the 1970s, my childhood- Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Chips, Dynasty, none of these were any
deeper than what we have now. Maybe the soul is in TV now. I don't know.
-Gerry Bayne
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Worst Stupour Bowl ever. The game and the halftime show. Brady retire and let the rest of us rest in peace
Paul Ciario
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When r u going to realize. It's just a silly game. And nobody cares (they don't)about these social issues because they r all working too many jobs to keep food on the table.
It's a hustle.
This game gives people pause to recharge their batteries. NOT March in the streets.
Kenn Kweder
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Check out HBO's Bryant Gumbel Real Sports EP 262... The piece by Bernie Goldberg entitled "The changing Face of Football". It's clear the game is dangerous and the NFL preys on poor minority kids to keep the game going and the money flowing. The affluent kids, mostly white, aren't in this anymore. Ask the Donald about Barron. This was a good piece very convincing.
Yes acts and groups not doing the half time show IS the revolution.
So now football is the new boxing...not cool but still very much alive both ...College and Pro..cuz of the $$$.
Another good piece Bob.
BTW did you see the Linda Ronstadt piece on CBS Sunday Morning?
Bob Cushner in Baltimore
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I am neither in the elites or nincompoops......I read your emails because you provide the right slant. Call me a modified slantist.
Thomas B
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On the anniversary of the music dying, seems accurate.
Kevin
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Yes.
Multiple late-stage capitalist nadirs, concurrent, and in tragic harmony. Like the violins on the aft deck of the Titanic.
All in high definition, yet still not visible to the majority of our fellow human beings. History bears out that this does not end well.
Dave Dalzell
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So true. I watched the same game and felt exactly the same way. Everything about it — including sitting on the couch like a force-fed chicken and having those God-bless commercials stuffed down your throat — felt like yesterday, a throwback to a stupider time.
John Pitt
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Haters are going to hate, and you are a hater. "Twitterverse" is mostly populated by no life, facts be damned, losers. People who believe that posting idiotic things makes them popular, part of the "in" crowd. The kind of people who tweet out death threats to high school boys whose only "crime" turned out to be their choice of head wear.
It's people like you who are the threat to our country-tolerant of every opinion-as long as it dovetails with what you think. Perhaps you should take the time to read "1984", if you are as open minded as you portray yourself to be, you might just see the the actions of "twitterverse" in there. Not going to hold my breath on that though.
Craig Nickman
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This was an awesome summary. Years later, people will read this and think you were clairvoyant! Nice work Bob.
Baris Ozyetis
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Good piece. Howard just gave you a shout out.
Gary Sender
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2014, the year my beloved 49ers moved from Candlestick to Levi Stadium-that was the beginning of the end for me. Season ticket holders since Kezar days were priced out in favor of corporate luxury boxes. Then Kaepernick got injured, took a knee, was benched for poor play and the Niners really began to suck, never to rebound.
But CTE was the main thing. Absolutely could no longer watch; it felt like Christians being fed to the lions. Albeit well paid ones. My sons were both terrible at team sports so playing football was never an option. Thank God.
I'll take Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl.
Randi Swindel
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Everything you said resonated with me 10000%
I love when everyone I know asks what I'm doing or where am I going for "The Super Bowl"
My answer is I Don't give a
Fuck about it.
Id rather watch Penn State play
Michigan or watch ANY Yankee
Game.
Neil Lasher
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Plus, one of those M5 songs was a complete ripoff of Prince's "I Would Die 4 U."
Stuart Gunter
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Hi Bob,
Glad you liked the C.T.E Bowl as much as me!!
The only good thing is that the Patriots will visit the White House and we will at least have a few patriots there.
Let's all boycott next year until the commercials cost $10.6 per minute instead of $10.6 million!!
Bless,
Native Wayne Jobson
Los Angeles
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Spot on.
Paul Vincent Nunes
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I stopped watching the NFL two seasons ago after following closely my entire life. The product just isn't that great anymore. Rule changes, politics, owners taking the spotlight, fantasy football, etc... have diminished the appeal for me.
Ken Madson
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It is hard to stand up and do what is right when so many have too much. The influencers and decision makers have been overrun by affluence, social media and the news outlets marginalized our capacity for deep, rationally-based thought. You know too much Bob, have seen too many things. Time to start carving the analysis by eras as it is a not so brave new world, incomparable to the one in which you've come.
Marty Winsch
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Omg my uncle was in an Up With People halftime show.
I tried to find a super bowl stream for about six minutes because I'm in Canada and don't have cable. Gave up and watched The Punisher on Netflix instead..........
Ryan Brown
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"It's not that Maroon 5 were bad, it's that they were EH."
Really, Bob? Just EH? Unless EH is your abbreviation for Egregiously Horrid, I think you missed the mark by a very long shot.
It is, in fact, that Maroon were bad...very bad and I would have thought you should have been able to recognize it and call bullshit.
Performance, power, talent... "EH" or fucking non existent?
The slow poser crawl to taking off a shirt as a closer?
Come on.
Absolute proof that real artists can't be fabricated.
The only person near that stage that wasn't an embarrassment to the art of live performance...was the pyro tech.
Pete Angelus
P.S. And if Adam Levine proved anything definitively...it was that no matter how many tattoos he festoons his body with, and how many jackets and shirts he flings at young girls, he wouldn't even be an acceptable female backup singer for Bruno Mars.
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We're from similar generations --- I predate you by a bit but the mindset is similar enough.
There are many of us out here who make reading what you present a daily pharmaceutical and it matters not whether we agree wholly or partially or not at all with what you present ---
Years from now when next generations and historians want to know what was 'real' in this era in which you've been keeping the daily ledger, they/we will turn to your wealth of writing for the broad as well as the min-strokes of this early 21st century doings.
Thank you --- you make my day!
R. Lowenstein
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Great article, I went to bed at the opening of the Super Bowl, got up this morning, read your article, brilliant !
Justified me going to bed and didn't waste 4 hours, I must be hip!
Cheers
Ray Williams
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You have friends? Just kidding. You're right, the best and brightest are going to the streaming services and the networks are getting the talentless leftovers. I thought the Nance-Romo match up was good. Learned a few things from Romo. He's smart and just the right amount smart ass. Halftime show was a #3 with cheese and the commercials sucked thanks to more talentless leftovers.
Billy Chapin
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Good one! I felt a little bad for Adam Levine... He sounded awful and my Facebook feed is full of people ripping on the performance. I do like him on Howard, and he CAN play guitar. But overall, yes he is a pretty-boy tool. The California tattoo is the worst. Straight up dorky on Adam. If I saw it on Anthony Kiedis I don't think I'd mind because I believe Anthony is who he is.
I too sense an impending shift. A move away from commercialism. It's happening on the edges already.
Colleen Kenny
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Maroon 5 played their best material, that first record was great and here they are 15 or what years later opening their set with Harder to Breathe.
I bet some family members about 7 years ago that the NFL would be gone in 5-10 years...I will lose that bet but hopefully not by much. I have a friend who was special teams and now is in the last fight with ALS and it's devastating. Maybe what it will take it's the CTE and ALS to touch peoples lives like cancer has in order for change to come. This is another sad truth about our country, if it's not affecting you than it's not your fight.
Leland Grant
PS: how eerie was it when the cameras cut to the owners of the teams; holy crony Batman!
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Jesus, I was feeling pretty good this morning until this.
Keith Michaels
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I am surprised you didn't mentioned Maroon 5's sad attempts at guitar solos! What the?!? In terms of CBS, their CBSAllAccess app had issues throughout the night and we ended up with our Super Bowl party gathered around a laptop. The CBS app had issues two weeks ago during the playoffs and we had to call in to their tech support line and they said they knew about the issues and assured they'd be resolved by the Super Bowl. They weren't. The app constantly froze and crashed every 5-10 minutes to the point of being un-watchable.
Wade HinesJesus, I was feeling pretty good this morning until this.
Keith Michaels
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Well done! Thank you~
Thank you,
Adam Reiver
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Thanks Bob
You article was more believable than the Maroon 5 performance - not to mention the game...
John Kanakis
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How does someone bring the soul back in this environment?
Also, I agree.
Binta Niambi Brown
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Note perfect Bob!
Terry Gabis
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Gladys Knight was Super Bowl 53's MVP period. She will now start deservedly to sell tickets...
Ed
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But almost worth watching for Andy Warhol!
TY-TodayMedia
SXM
Memphis
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My friends who know Adam Levine tell me he is a nice dude but I gotta admit you are right...When he took his shirt off it was super corny.
If he walked down the street in Compton he would still get beat up with or without the tattoos.
Stevie Salas
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Hey Bob -
Funny, I didn't watch the game for the first time ever this year—more for logistical / travel-related reasons than any kind of personal or political stance—but I found I didn't miss it.
I grew up in a football family. My dad played through college, my brother in high school. I fell asleep as a kid watching Monday Night Football and still get pangs of nostalgia recalling the theme music. Every Sunday my dad makes a pot of chili and watches the Giants play, bless him.
But this year, I didn't miss it. You can find the commercials online, and a quick scan through my Twitter feed gave me everything I needed to know about the snoozy offense and Adam Levine's really bad tank top.
I think you're onto something about the paradigm shifting. I read that C.T.E. NYT article in Saturday's paper... as well as the one about all the musical acts performing in Atlanta this weekend that were NOT part of the halftime show, drawing large crowds and boo-ing the NFL, celebrating the history & vibrancy of Atlanta's homegrown talent.
And still, when I texted my dad yesterday to see if he was watching, his response was.... "Best ever so far. Defense! And Maroon 5 was fab!" ...
Katie Barton
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Brilliant. Fucking brilliant. How is it you can see the future so clearly? I hope we're all still around to witness it.
Lynn Crosswaite
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Every point in this essay is spot-on and thought-provoking.
Thanks for that.
Asif Ghazanfar
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Bravo, Bob!
The soul of America is buried under sickness caused by pollution (light, noise, air), mass-produced food, and instant gratification. Heal America and let the soul shine!
Thanks for your letter.
Best,
Matthew Eshed
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Exactly! Spot on!!
Donna Freeberg
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Sad. We are lost. LA has certainly jumped the shark. Life is changing. It's going to be a very bumpy ride. Glad I'm not young. And Maroon 5 sounded great. Then we went back to The Kitty Bowl.
KATHY ROWE
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While the old guard made it seem like the biggest concert of the weekend was Maroon 5, that is far from the truth. The major event of the weekend was Marshmello's Forenite concert. Having a 13 year old son, this is truly what the younger generation was talking about! (Mostly what everyone was talking about except for the old tired media and the NFL.)
https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/2/18208223/fortnite-epic-games-marshmello-concert-exciting-bizarre-future-music
Enjoy your work,
Scott Strong
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It seemed like 21 Savage got more attention!
What did you think about the Pepsi commercial. I love Cardi!!
Can't wait for your Grammy write up:)
Fiona Bloom
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One thing I can truly say..., I will never regret the time I have spent reading your blog. I very much appreciate your continued (emphatic ) voice crying out, "Look the Emperor has no clothes. Can't you see! He has no clothes!"
Thanks,
Bob Whiteley
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Chris Stein @chrissteinplays
Who should play the next Superbowl
Gwar 39%
Suicide 16%
Suicidal Tendencies 13%
Moe Tucker drum solo 32%
522 vote3s
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Love this column! You hit the bullseye again!! You identified a paradigm shift that hopefully continues towards something more compassionate, meaningful and real. Thank you for identifying and writing boldly about it!!
Regards,
Richard Honig
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Thanks Bob.Another great read.Stay well.Ted Keane
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I agree with you 100% Bob regarding Adam Levine's tattoos! Nobody is original anymore every guy you look at is tattooed up! I was at the beach last summer in Torrance and I would say 95% of the people had tattoos and a lot of people had tattoos almost entirely everywhere on their body. All of these knuckleheads are going to wake up one day and they're going to look like smudged comic books when they get old and they are going to regret really regret all the stupid things they wrote on themselves! What a disappointment Adam Levine was when he took his shirt off off and that big stupid California tattoo across his belly it made me think of him so much less. I watched him play purple rain at Howard Stern's birthday party years ago and he is a great musician and songwriter but he still is in my opinion after yesterday a big knucklehead!
Wayne Landry
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I'm glad it wasn't political, and I wish you hadn't made it so. Sometimes it's just nice to sit with your friends, enjoy the conversation, not fight, not yell, not scream, not be hateful, and not be hurtful, just enjoy it. Can't you accept that Gladys Knight did something wonderful for herself and for millions of people instead of going negative on this classic taste maker? Her struggle was very real, and for 50 plus years,,, and you just discounted it. Such a shame.
Maroon 5, whatever,,,
Steven McClintock
37 Records
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And the commercials? The oh so mighty brilliant ads? That are supposed to unite us all, with their pop culture touchstones?
Who are these "celebs"? Who knows? (Except for an incredibly "hip" millennial with "f.o.m.o.".)
Most of us are shrugging our shoulders..We don't recognize the rappers, and the schtick that preceeds them...We don't get the "Game Of Thrones" shout outs..
The Superbowl is to real fans, what New Year's Eve is, to real party people..A day for rookies...The bar that had $2 beers the day before, is asking $99 for their "special" celebration...Rookie BS...
James Spencer
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you are correct about the CTE issue. I would not want to own a football team 10 years from now.
-Kyle J. Ferraro
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Nice shout out from Howard on Stern show this am...
Congrats...
Blaine Leeds
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Kaep has nothing to lose. And that's the best fire to the soul.
Raphaella Lima
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RE SUPEBORWL HALFTIME: When I was watching Adam Levine bounce around the stage my mind went back to 1967 or maybe it was 68. Either way I was an 18 year old standing in front of Peter Green and watching one of Fleetwood Macs first hows in America at the Boston T Party and the music was so real and so authentic it blew me away. This happened over and over like I was when I saw one of Led Zeppelins first concerts or Jeff Becks Band or The Who or BB King, Buddy Guy, Howlin' Wolf, Roland Kirk, Otis Spann and dozens and dozens of other real musicians who were not chasing radio or streams or commercialism or pleasing the masses. I don't think they gave a fuck about the masses. I was thinking how far we've come and how watching the Superbowl half time show with it's contrived audience wavers and wow look America we are so hip and it was making me want to go back to the old days when on any given night I could drive in to town and hear a legend play. Yep, those days are long gone but at least I feel lucky that I was there to witness it but I feel sorry for all the people who weren't there. It was what music was all about.
Andrew Kastner
P.S. Is it just me or did Adams levine head look like it was on the wrong body. Like at Coney Island where you stand in front of one of those wooden painted muscle men with no head and put your head on top and take a picture.
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Agree 100%. This is the first game I watched all year. Football culture is the reason why we got Trump. Everyone is drunk half the year, glued to the tv 3 days a week. Colossal waste of time.
The first thing I thought when he took off his shirt was, "time to get my tattoos removed".
The single most shocking part of the day that you didn't mention is that Dylan allowed "Blowin' in the Wind" to be used in a Budweiser commercial!
--
Best Regards,
Zachary Goode
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Brilliant! Thanks Bob for the dose and keep the motors running. The one element that I thought was also interesting is the game and halftime show mirrored one another exactly which suggests to me a "higher order" of reality where we are all connected.
Scott Tavis
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There's more buzz about Marshmello being on Fortnite than Maroon 5 being on the Super Bowl.
Charly Salvatore
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...and the three men I admire most...the Father, Son and Holy Ghost...just took the last train for the coast...
rfcc
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What I don't understand is why all the fuss for musicians to boycott playing the show.
what about the players, staff, workers? should they be pressured to boycott as well?
maybe a lot of folks simply don't care about Kapernicks position, he exercised his rights, just as Maroon 5 did in taking the gig
Im glad big boi said fuck you to the haters, then showed up in a caddy with a fur coat on. highlight of the telecast.
He knows that when you got 100 million eyeballs on you, you take advantage of it
regards
Thaddeus Graham
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Hey Bob,
Great piece, what a bore of a show overall. Speaking to your point about CTE, did you see last weeks HBO Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel? They had a great piece about football and who, if anyone will be playing it in a few years, since only the poor and desperate will be wiling to take the risk.
As for Levine, He seems like a really nice guy whenever he is on Howard, but those tattoos and his new beefy look made it look like he just "Escaped from Danamorra" or some prison yard somewhere! "California" tattoed across his stomach 2pac "Thug Life" style?
He's the toughest guy to come out of Brentwood since OJ!
Thanks!
Tim Brennan
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Brilliant article. I felt the same way while watching the game last night. We have exhausted ourselves with the same shit. Thanks for writing.
Adam Gonzalez
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As it started in uk at about 11 pm only watched first couple of minutes
There is a niche support for american football in uk
They sell out wembley
But..in the build up to the match it was constantly claimed by american
commentators that most watched sports event in the world
I understand it claims 110 mill
Well when regular league match between manchester united and liverpool shown
it gets 700 mill
World cup final,european final,champions league final
Rugby,cricket finals
Olympics
Real madrid barca
The list goes on
Its probably about 40th in world
And if you look at market outside usa and canada
I would guess not even in top 100
Regards
Martin elbourne
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What's funny is Goodell got what he conspired for - an all time record setting QB under his tenure and an SB win for MAGA.
What's also funny is the only positive I've heard anyone talk about today is how quickly the game was over. NFL needs to get the memo. Stop drawing out the games. We want faster results. Can't tell you how many times this year I got disinterested with a game in the 3rd quarter and switched to binge streaming.
Would love to see the viewership numbers in NOLA during the Boycott Bowl Party they held in the French quarter.
Blake Jessee
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Bob, the myriad of flashy regional soul bands whose crackerjack showmanship wowed southern and midwestern audiences throughout the 1960s and 70s drew their inspiration from: Pop. Blues. Gospel. AND...college football halftime shows in which mammoth marching bands provided a spectacle to rival the game itself.
Maroon 5? Blech.
Paul Lanning
_______________________________________
Given your past writings regarding the New England area, the chip people have on their shoulders there and the Patriots, I would have thought you would know. Booing Roger Goodell has nothing to do with Trump. Everything doesn't...It stems from the NE Patriots fanbase belief that he targeted Tom Brady and falsely accused him of cheating in "Deflategate". You may recall the league spent $12+ million dollars on a report that started out with the league conclusion and worked backwards. That was 4 Super Bowl appearances for the Patriots and 3 Super Bowl wins for the Patriots ago. He has also generally been booed at every NFL event that fans are at like the NFL draft.
Alex Lara
Austin, TX
Pats Fan
_______________________________________
As my brother said as we muscled thru halftime ..."I'd rather be marooned"...
Tom Clark
Maui
_______________________________________
10 million play Fortnite on Saturday night to watch Marshmello set https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2019/02/10m-watch-groundbreaking-10-minute-marshmello-fortnite-set-video.html?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzEmail&utm_campaign=0&utm_content=395530
Super Bowl has lowest ratings in 10 years: (44.7) https://deadline.com/2019/02/super-bowl-ratings-patriots-rams-marron-5-worlds-best-cbs-1202548893/
That audience gap is closing fast.
Ben Patterson
_______________________________________
Hi Bob. Love your blog. Re/ Maroon 5, you're not really the target audience so your opinion here doesn't matter much. I can tell you that the ladies at our house watching the SB went absolutely crazy when Adam took his shirt off. There you go!
Jon Brooks
_______________________________________
Bob,
Which one are you, an elite or a nincompoop?
Gene Amoroso
_______________________________________
Bob...Everything you said is right on point!
Thanks for articulating everything I've been thinking.
All the best,
Brandon Wilde
_______________________________________
The Gen Me kids of today aren't watching and don't care, much like they don't care about award shows or regular TV in general. In a few years we will be witnessing the long term effects and these spectacles will become like the Dodo bird, extinct.
mmpoppa1
_______________________________________
Normally your sports rants are half baked, but this one is on point. Worst game ever. Worst halftime ever. A complete disappointment in every way
Josh Berman
_______________________________________
Get a grip.......good likelihood more football lovers than detractors in this world and it probably won't be going anywhere anytime soon. On a side note: how much evidence do we need to draw attention to a sport that is truly deadly: skiing. I'd be willing to bet there's a strong chance it has more collective fatalities to date than pro football. C'mon let's rally to close the resorts, sell off the lifts, shutter the gear manufacturers and work together to extinguish it immediately because, like smokers, we're pariah's if we still ski right?
Jack Willhite
_______________________________________
NFL fans have been booing Goodell at the Super Bowl postgame (and the NFL Draft) long before Trump started his POTUS run. Also, the kids don't smoke, now, they Juul. That's probably just as unhealthy as cigarettes. All that nicotine can't be good for your heart.
Take care,
Michael Ball
Kensington, MD
_______________________________________
So it's Trump's fault decorum is gone? Bobbies' gone delusional, ignoring story after story, day after day, month after month, year after year of negative words against the President. Of course, getting mad at the Fake Americans of whom you seem to be a member, can't be a good thing because you Socialists say so. I say, go Trump, and I didn't even vote for him
Rich Case
_______________________________________
Adam Levine is just as bland and dull as Bread, Christopher Cross, and Kanye. He was the perfect act for this year. Glad I missed it.
ljmurphy01
_______________________________________
Predictable.
Your analysis of the half-time show. Their analysis of the half-time show. Predictable. Every. Single. Year. The same.
Let's ask: Exactly what act would everyone watching the Superbowl enjoy? The septuagenarian "Rolling Stones?" Snoop Dog? Beyonce? Carrie Underwood? Elton John? Def Leppard? The cast of "Hamilton?" Ed Sheeran? Bob Dylan? Drake? Who?
The answer is: No act. There is no act that the entire viewing audience is going to enjoy. There is no act that is going to bring the country together. There is no act that will lead Americans to ponder our nation's great untapped potential, or, whatever. None.
So what is the point of the annual, ritual condemnation of the half-time show? It's absurd.
Complaining about the half-time show is analogous to complaining about the quality of the balloons at a kid's birthday party. It overlooks the fact that a balloon serves no purpose outside of making things seem more festive. (Read that again.)
It's not about "the music." It's about the primeval pleasure that comes from watching explosions and fire. Flashing lights. Kids screaming and waving their hands. Lighted drones. That is all. Sit back and enjoy the spectacle, and then forget about it.
It's a Dorito. It's a handful of popcorn. It's a candle in a jack-o-lantern. It's confetti. It's "Left Shark." It's an LED in your car's cup-holder. It's a vuvuzela.
It's not designed to be meaningful. It's not designed to have a purpose. It's not meant to be analyzed. You can enjoy it, or not. Consume it in the moment and then forget about it.
You want to "fix" the half-time show? Easy: Marching bands. There. Nothing to bitch about. There's a football game, and, at half-time, there's a marching band...just the way the Baby Jesus said it should be.
Thanks -
Dan S.
TakeFourJazz
_______________________________________
Amen , Bob.
Bruce Gordon
_______________________________________
Thought the Audi commercial was pretty darn good. Made me laugh out loud. Everything else was just so much AI, robots and social media cancer devices.
Nick Brokenshire
Vegas
_______________________________________
Another "on target" piece, Bob.
The Super Bowl halftime show diminishes anyone who appears on it. From Bruce to The Who, they're just another part of an aural and visual in-your-face spectacle: "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
Last night Maroon 5 was simply one more piece of the shill machine...a mere commodity; no more relevant than the screaming, hand waving pseudo fans in the pit at Adam Levine's feet.
Maroon 5..and others in past years...are not unlike a dancing bear at the circus: a once proud being reduced to "performing" for the masses who pay.
The difference, of course, is that the bear doesn't have a choice. Maroon 5 did. And they made the wrong one.
There's no upside in such art-as-commodity games. You lose whatever cred you had the day before and will never get it back.
Maybe they'll move a few more units or prompt some additional downloads. It that really worth it?
To trade one's life work and image (and, I'd argue, soul) for a few coins of the realm? For some fleeting minutes, after which the Super Bowl money people kick you to the culture curb? (Next!)
We once looked to musicians to hear "the word:" to give voice to what we were experiencing and were concerned about. We believed we were part of a cultural revolution for the better good, in conversation with each other through records and radio.
Last night Maroon 5 caught - in the words of Don Mclean - "the last train for the coast." How ironic that they did so on the 60th anniversary of "the day the music died."
Ed Osborne
_______________________________________
I'm 31 and had much better things to do like putting the screen protector and matte console wrap on my Model 3.
Tony Cassara
_______________________________________
You're right about the fallout from C.T.E. Even Texas parents are thinking twice about letting their kids play football.
Regarding "a C.T.E. documentary", there is already a good one focusing on college football, C.T.E., and other unfortunate results because of the NCAA not protecting college athletes.
The film is "The Business of Amateurs" https://www.amazon.com/Business-Amateurs-Ed-Obannon/dp/B01K90YZD8
The director, Bob DeMars, played football at USC. This was a passion project for him. It's very powerful.
Keep telling it as you see it,
Al Staehely
_______________________________________
"It's like the powers-that-be are convinced everybody in America is dumb, and will accept this pabulum."
Hey Bob-
There was a TV spot a couple years ago that showed a Nissan (I think) jumping on top of a commuter train. At the end, the disclaimer read "DO NOT ATTEMPT. CARS DO NOT FLY."
That's pretty much all you need to know about what the powers-that-be think of the average American's intelligence quotient.
Best
Frank Palombi
_______________________________________
Bob, you are on the right track here; the game was boring because of a lack of passing, which we have now become dependent upon for the "high moments". The problem is the NFL rules on pass interference have become too precise without the desired effect of fairness.
On a higher plan, the Super Bowl event has lost all of its original appeal as exemplified by the swagger of Joe Namath predicting a victory over Baltimore. We have had too many Hollywood producers try to suss out what will stimulate our animal spirits visually, acoustically and pyrotechnically. They now assume that the actual event has to feel like a video game (Madden was always more exciting on the sidelines than on the game box).
Maroon 5 and that other act in the polar vortex coat were in conflict with the actual old school SB viewer. After watching Adam strip, I wasn't sure whether he was a musician or a promo for Chippendales. Their music was so far removed from the show performed by Prince that I could barely wait for it to end. The arrival of the big "fur bear" didn't add a thing, other than pander to the black community dominance in Atlanta. I don't know about you, but I found all the pregame hype of the Commissioner attending black awareness/social justice events during the pre week PR, the most disingenuous nonsense since, Bill Clinton's "I didn't have sex with that girl" plea. It corrupts what little authenticity may remain in the game.
At the end of the day, I agree that the whole NFL experience will continue a slow fade. As I have written previously, the price of a ticket and the effort to stay relevant to the current shift in demographics will spell the death of the value of the franchises. In the future, it will just be a video game that a group in LA produces and sells as pay per view, much like what has occurred in boxing and "Ultimate Street Fighting". The memories of cheering for Joe Namath will die with my generation along with the horror of how our enlightened leaders took our youth to Vietnam and wasted millions of dollars and lives.
Thomas Geimer
_______________________________________
Hey bob,
I've been reading your letters since about 2015 and I've got to say thank you. A lot of what you say is true about the times today.
For instance- my friends invited me to a party to watch the Super Bowl but I stayed home and went to bed early to get a good nights sleep. (Being 27 I can remember when the Super Bowl was a big deal and performing the halftime show took your musical career to the next level.)
But those days are gone, and in this age of "influencers" and "selling out for sponsorships" it's easy to see why the music is becoming the same old drivel. If it sells or becomes a hit there are at least 10 copies. No one can be original anymore.
Used to be only the best musicians got their music made but now, everyone wants to be included, want to be part of the party when they haven't earned it.
I love music, I have since I can remember. I was raised listening to classic rock. The music was always good and now anyone with a Mac and garage band is suddenly a musician.
I miss when musicians had chops. When musicians were musicians, not musicians & actors, dancers, tv show judges and whatever else. But I understand when you conquer one field you want to conquer more. But cant we all just stay in our lane?
I find the it ridiculous how suddenly everyone is multi/talented. You know that ain't true except for a lucky few. No one is good at everything. You spend your time perfecting one trait. Not 10. You won't be good at any of them.
Sending the best,
Leah "Rae" Hight
_______________________________________
From: Brandi Carlile
Bob,
Please never stop writing about football.
I couldn't agree more.
Xobc
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History Of Todd Rundgren-Part One-SiriusXM This Week
Tune in tomorrow, Tuesday February 5th, on Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.
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Sunday 3 February 2019
Maroon 5 & The Super Bowl
Is all publicity good publicity?
It was a strange game, since the NFL's ratings were resuscitated by the Chiefs and their passing attack, and this contest was fought on the ground, until the Rams realized that going to the air was their only chance of victory and then Brady aired it out and put the stake in the heart of the competition.
Actually, the only heartfelt moment in the contest is when Robert Kraft honored Belichick and Brady after the trophy was awarded. Although I must say I liked it when they booed Goodell, before Jim Nantz elbowed him aside.
That's what Trump has wrought, decorum and respect are out the window, you can say what you want to whenever you want to. Actually, that Republican Congressman yelling out YOU LIE during Obama's State of the Union address predated Trump, but that's the America we live in, a divided one. Separated into elites and nincompoops.
Kind of like that laughable talent show after the game was over, "The World's Best," what a train-wreck that was. A dog and pony show of those ignored if it weren't for this program, pitched to the brain dead. Talk about shooting low, it's as if CBS just decided to throw in the towel, concede to Netflix. But that's the America we now live in, one of dumb and dumber. Meanwhile, the evening was sans politics and all we care about is politics, which is another reason why Maroon 5's performance seemed so lame. When given an opportunity to take a stand you punt?
It's not that Maroon 5 were bad, it's that they were EH.
A rock band that went pop and followed trends with featured artists that stands for nothing, just like the game of football itself. There was no way in hell Maroon 5 could have succeeded. And they're being trashed in every publication known to man, never mind the Twitterverse.
You see we're at the end of the paradigm. Not playing the Super Bowl is more important than playing it. You get more cred for not doing the show. As for reaching potential customers... Adam Levine already reaches them via "The Voice." Reminds me of my friend Chris Zarou, who manages Logic. Logic did his 1-800 suicide song on the Grammys and there was no bounce. Everybody who cared was already aware.
Used to be football games had marching bands. And Up With People. We made fun of sports. That was part of the sixties ethos, we rebelled against conformity, organization and dictators, like Belichick. The players are interchangeable, it's a coaches game. Otherwise why would they all need headsets with BOSE painted upon them. Once you yield to the almighty dollar, you've lost the plot, like the commercial time outs.
Then again, if you're addicted to football, there's no convincing you the game is not America's Pastime.
But I implore you to listen to Malcolm Gladwell's podcast "Burden Of Proof": https://bit.ly/2s2HY59 How much evidence do we need before we stop watching football because of C.T.E? You will stop, you just don't know it yet. Kinda like the MTV Video Music Awards. They were cool and exciting, a must-see with memorable moments, and now they're completely irrelevant. That's what's gonna happen with the NFL and its halftime show, it's just that the commercial industrial complex doesn't want you to know. Kinda like in the sixties people were for the war until they started showing all the atrocities on the evening news. The "New York Times"'s latest C.T.E. story, of a guy who barely had any experience in the NFL, will make your skin crawl. "Was C.T.E. Stealing His Mind? A Gunshot Provided the Answer": https://nyti.ms/2WzBd8i
You remember how MTV used to have its own halftime show during the Super Bowl, before the NFL got "hip"? Pretty soon, Netflix will have a C.T.E. documentary that launches on Super Bowl Sunday, it's coming.
So the game was boring, there was only one broken arm, but we won't know the true injuries for maybe decades. Kinda like smoking. Which is way down now, people got the message, you're a pariah if you smoke.
As for tattoos... Did Adam Levine convince you not to have them? I remember cutting my long hair when it was no longer a statement of your beliefs, just a fashion choice. Now that we're tattooing faces, a real rebel would go clean. As for Adam doffing his shirt and showing us his ink...it seemed like a wannabe rapper from the suburbs trying to be hip, it was laughable.
If you're sensing a lack of passion in this article, BINGO!
I just don't care.
I liked hanging with friends. I liked eating all the things I don't except for special occasions. But I felt like I've experienced this ritual too many times, and it's long in the tooth.
And I'm sitting on the couch thinking...am I just jaded and are kids into this?
And then I realize kids have much better things to do with their time. Why dedicate four plus hours to the ancient games of adults. It's not like we have the Super Bowl of the Colosseum, what would that be in Roman numerals, Gladiator Bowl MMXIX? These contests die out, the paradigm shifts.
Steve Jobs makes Super Bowl commercials a thing, and everybody tries to imitate Apple's for thirty five years and no one succeeds...isn't it time to give up?
Isn't that the story of today, of this decade, how those who think they know what is going on don't? Like Trump, like Brexit, like so much in the world today.
There's been tumultuous change and everybody thinks everything is still the same.
But it's not.
Like music is so dramatic and fascinating that our eyes will bug out when we see it performed during football halftime. And that we will be impressed with explosions and fire, talk about primeval.
As for the movies advertised... Calorieless fantasies.
It's like the powers-that-be are convinced everybody in America is dumb, and will accept this pabulum. That we will not be able to watch men causing brain damage to each other and we won't be able to stop watching mediocre pop acts and tertiary sideshow performers on television.
The revolution is happening now, and you just don't know it yet.
This is the nadir. No one in their right mind will play the Super Bowl again.
Parents are already keeping their children from playing football.
It's kinda like global warming. People scream about it but you don't see the changes and then you do and believe too.
Audi trumpets the percentage of electric cars they'll produce and Trump cuts CAFE rules.
But that's business.
In a country with no soul.
We need someone to bring the soul back.
And so far Kaepernick's got more of the right stuff than Gladys Knight.
Today it's about refusing the check, standing up for what's right.
Be forewarned.
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It was a strange game, since the NFL's ratings were resuscitated by the Chiefs and their passing attack, and this contest was fought on the ground, until the Rams realized that going to the air was their only chance of victory and then Brady aired it out and put the stake in the heart of the competition.
Actually, the only heartfelt moment in the contest is when Robert Kraft honored Belichick and Brady after the trophy was awarded. Although I must say I liked it when they booed Goodell, before Jim Nantz elbowed him aside.
That's what Trump has wrought, decorum and respect are out the window, you can say what you want to whenever you want to. Actually, that Republican Congressman yelling out YOU LIE during Obama's State of the Union address predated Trump, but that's the America we live in, a divided one. Separated into elites and nincompoops.
Kind of like that laughable talent show after the game was over, "The World's Best," what a train-wreck that was. A dog and pony show of those ignored if it weren't for this program, pitched to the brain dead. Talk about shooting low, it's as if CBS just decided to throw in the towel, concede to Netflix. But that's the America we now live in, one of dumb and dumber. Meanwhile, the evening was sans politics and all we care about is politics, which is another reason why Maroon 5's performance seemed so lame. When given an opportunity to take a stand you punt?
It's not that Maroon 5 were bad, it's that they were EH.
A rock band that went pop and followed trends with featured artists that stands for nothing, just like the game of football itself. There was no way in hell Maroon 5 could have succeeded. And they're being trashed in every publication known to man, never mind the Twitterverse.
You see we're at the end of the paradigm. Not playing the Super Bowl is more important than playing it. You get more cred for not doing the show. As for reaching potential customers... Adam Levine already reaches them via "The Voice." Reminds me of my friend Chris Zarou, who manages Logic. Logic did his 1-800 suicide song on the Grammys and there was no bounce. Everybody who cared was already aware.
Used to be football games had marching bands. And Up With People. We made fun of sports. That was part of the sixties ethos, we rebelled against conformity, organization and dictators, like Belichick. The players are interchangeable, it's a coaches game. Otherwise why would they all need headsets with BOSE painted upon them. Once you yield to the almighty dollar, you've lost the plot, like the commercial time outs.
Then again, if you're addicted to football, there's no convincing you the game is not America's Pastime.
But I implore you to listen to Malcolm Gladwell's podcast "Burden Of Proof": https://bit.ly/2s2HY59 How much evidence do we need before we stop watching football because of C.T.E? You will stop, you just don't know it yet. Kinda like the MTV Video Music Awards. They were cool and exciting, a must-see with memorable moments, and now they're completely irrelevant. That's what's gonna happen with the NFL and its halftime show, it's just that the commercial industrial complex doesn't want you to know. Kinda like in the sixties people were for the war until they started showing all the atrocities on the evening news. The "New York Times"'s latest C.T.E. story, of a guy who barely had any experience in the NFL, will make your skin crawl. "Was C.T.E. Stealing His Mind? A Gunshot Provided the Answer": https://nyti.ms/2WzBd8i
You remember how MTV used to have its own halftime show during the Super Bowl, before the NFL got "hip"? Pretty soon, Netflix will have a C.T.E. documentary that launches on Super Bowl Sunday, it's coming.
So the game was boring, there was only one broken arm, but we won't know the true injuries for maybe decades. Kinda like smoking. Which is way down now, people got the message, you're a pariah if you smoke.
As for tattoos... Did Adam Levine convince you not to have them? I remember cutting my long hair when it was no longer a statement of your beliefs, just a fashion choice. Now that we're tattooing faces, a real rebel would go clean. As for Adam doffing his shirt and showing us his ink...it seemed like a wannabe rapper from the suburbs trying to be hip, it was laughable.
If you're sensing a lack of passion in this article, BINGO!
I just don't care.
I liked hanging with friends. I liked eating all the things I don't except for special occasions. But I felt like I've experienced this ritual too many times, and it's long in the tooth.
And I'm sitting on the couch thinking...am I just jaded and are kids into this?
And then I realize kids have much better things to do with their time. Why dedicate four plus hours to the ancient games of adults. It's not like we have the Super Bowl of the Colosseum, what would that be in Roman numerals, Gladiator Bowl MMXIX? These contests die out, the paradigm shifts.
Steve Jobs makes Super Bowl commercials a thing, and everybody tries to imitate Apple's for thirty five years and no one succeeds...isn't it time to give up?
Isn't that the story of today, of this decade, how those who think they know what is going on don't? Like Trump, like Brexit, like so much in the world today.
There's been tumultuous change and everybody thinks everything is still the same.
But it's not.
Like music is so dramatic and fascinating that our eyes will bug out when we see it performed during football halftime. And that we will be impressed with explosions and fire, talk about primeval.
As for the movies advertised... Calorieless fantasies.
It's like the powers-that-be are convinced everybody in America is dumb, and will accept this pabulum. That we will not be able to watch men causing brain damage to each other and we won't be able to stop watching mediocre pop acts and tertiary sideshow performers on television.
The revolution is happening now, and you just don't know it yet.
This is the nadir. No one in their right mind will play the Super Bowl again.
Parents are already keeping their children from playing football.
It's kinda like global warming. People scream about it but you don't see the changes and then you do and believe too.
Audi trumpets the percentage of electric cars they'll produce and Trump cuts CAFE rules.
But that's business.
In a country with no soul.
We need someone to bring the soul back.
And so far Kaepernick's got more of the right stuff than Gladys Knight.
Today it's about refusing the check, standing up for what's right.
Be forewarned.
--
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