Greatest Song Evah 9/29/23

Jane Says

This week’s selection was a brilliant introduction to Jane’s Addiction. As many may know, the Jane in the song, as well as the Jane the band was named for, is Perry Farrell’s old housemate and the lyrics contain several biographical details concerning Jane Bainter. She has later said that some of these details are somewhat exaggerated, but what Farrell sings about is at times both hopeful and heartbreaking. “I want them if they want me.”

This song proves that under the right circumstances a solid acoustic guitar riff can rock just as hard as an electric one can. And the kettle drums add such a special touch; Jane Says works as well as it does precisely because there’s nothing else that sounds quite like this. That’s part of what made Jane’s Addiction so special; Farrell had a very distinctive diction and he always found a way to make the musical arrangements in his songs unique.

This didn’t break through to mainstream radio at the time of its release, but it laid a strong foundation for what was to come. Their debut album came out just a couple of years before the alternative rock explosion so by the time their followup came out the world was more ready for them, and Farrell capitalized on that. With his founding of Lollapalooza he placed himself at the forefront of pop culture and that’s helped him remain relevant long after his record sales declined.

Everybody Loves Tito

The Guardians defeated the Reds Wednesday evening, dealing a severe blow to Cincinnati’s wild card hopes. More important, it was Cleveland’s final home game of the season which made it the final home game of Terry Francona’s distinguished managerial career. In what turned out to be a disappointing season for the Guardians at least they were able to give Francona a W as he bade farewell to the home crowd.

He will always hold a special place in the hearts of fans throughout the game. In a position that’s too often filled with grouchy authoritarians, he has been affable and self-deprecating. It’s a bottom line business, however, and no one would care if he’s a good dude if there was no success to back him up. Well, as some of you may have heard he led the Red Sox to their first title in 86 years, and although Cleveland fell short of the brass ring he did lead them to 1 AL pennant along with consistent contention. His resume matches up well with any of his peers, and his presence in the game will be sorely missed.

His record is more than deserving of Cooperstown induction and I will be fascinated to see if his candidacy gets fast tracked. This year the rotation of era committees just happens to cycle into the managers/executives/umpires committee. Will he be placed on this year’s ballot, or will he need to wait until that committee meets again in 3 years? I hope so, because otherwise it looks to be a fairly uninspiring group of candidates this time. There are a batch of successful managers - Davey Johnson, Jim Leyland, Charlie Manuel, and Lou Piniella - with one championship each to their names. Is that enough? Or what about Billy Martin, who surprisingly only has 1 title himself, but also laid a path of destruction wherever he managed? Will they give George Steinbrenner, a man who was suspended from the game twice, another shot? Will they actually nominate Joe Freakin’ West? Better to nominate Tito now, especially because in 3 years Dusty Baker and Bruce Bochy are both likely to be retired themselves.

Godspeed, Terry Francona. He has been a credit to the game, and hopefully escaping the constant grind of the game and the frequent travel will be what he needs to improve his health. He’s earned the rest.

Hall Ceremony Update

With the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony approaching - and with Jann Wenner drawing unwanted negative attention towards the institution - this news came out yesterday.

Chaka Khan’s name jumped out for me. She had been fairly silent following the announcement of her induction, so it was hard to say how much of a s*** she gives. But it’s clear that she’s all in. Rage Against the Machine are notably absent, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re a “no.” And as expected, Kate Bush’s name is not listed. There is zero chance she’ll perform, but the only question has always been whether she would hop on a plane to accept in person or simply film a videotaped thank you speech.

It’s not a final list, either, so more names will be added the closer we get to the ceremony. For now, everyone can play the matchup game beyond the obvious Elton John/Bernie Taupin connection. As fellow Farm Aid board members, Dave Matthews will clearly honor Willie, and Chris Stapleton is likely part of the Willie tribute as well. Brandi Carlile probably lines up with Sheryl Crow, and St. Vincent seems to be an ideal match for Kate Bush. As for New Edition; The Spinners? Don Cornelius? And H.E.R. is a versatile enough artist that there are multiple options for her. Could she be the centerpiece of the George Michael tribute?

We also now know where it will be broadcast and streamed. Since not everyone has the inclination or stamina to watch the whole thing live, I’m sure it will also be available for on demand streaming, so that viewers can pause and fast forward as so desired. In addition, a 3 hour edit of the ceremony will air on ABC New Year’s Day. That will be the first time the ceremony has ever aired on a broadcast network.

The ceremonies did not start to be televised until the 10th induction. That’s a real shame, because that means inductions of many of the most legendary artists in history were largely unseen, although you can find some moments if you dive into a rabbit hole on YouTube. MTV aired the 1995 ceremony in a one-off. The 1996 induction wasn’t televised either, but the following year VH-1 or VH-1 Classic began a roughly 10 year run, before passing the torch to Fuse. Fuse televised the festivities for 3 years and then HBO began its run. I’ll be interested to see if a network platform will produce high ratings for the evening.

What A POS

Would it shock you that I’m speaking of Curt Schilling? His list of societal sins - from antisemitism to white supremacy to solidarity with the insurrectionists and beyond is tragically long. Not to mention that his fleecing of the state of Rhode Island made him one of the biggest welfare queens in the nation. He took his repulsiveness to another level on his podcast.

He revealed serious health news about one of his ex-teammates (and the player’s wife as well) that the family wished to keep private. The Red Sox were quick to condemn Schilling for that breach of privacy, their statement sure reads like they were carefully drafting it to basically say “what an a**hole” without using that exact phrasing.

The man was a great pitcher, but is a complete failure as a human being.

Awards Watch

In this WNBA season 3 different players put together extraordinary seasons that would be strong enough to win the MVP award in any normal year, but there can only be one winner. To give a sense of how tight the race was, Alyssa Thomas tallied the most first place votes, but Breanna Stewart won the trophy due to receiving a larger number of second place votes. IMHO I would have voted for A’ja Wilson, who finished third. The point is that all 3 were so good that it’s difficult to have a quarrel over any of the choices.

Which brings us to the NL MVP race. The general consensus is that Ronald Acuna Jr. will win, which is fair enough. But Mookie Betts has had just as strong of a year. It’s a shame that one of them will need to finish in second place. Acuna made history with the game’s first 40 home run/70 steal season, but Betts epitomized the word “valuable” by pitching in wherever he was needed, ably filling in at both second base and shortstop in addition to his regular spot in right field. I hope there isn’t too much anger when the winner is announced in November; whichever of the two wins will be a most worthy choice.

Dame Time Comes To Milwaukee

Big NBA news on the eve of the opening of training camps as the long awaited trade of Damian Lillard from Portland finally took place. In a surprise, he’s not heading to his preferred destination of Miami. The Heat just could not put together a package that was enticing enough for Portland. Instead he is going to the Bucks, as Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo promise to be Milwaukee’s greatest duo since Lenny & Squiggy.

The move is not only a shock but it’s also a game changer. Giannis has dropped hints that he might not be willing to make a long term commitment to Milwaukee if the franchise isn’t willing to go all in on building a championship team. The front office responded in resounding fashion; the Bucks have likely leapt over Boston and are the clear favorites in the Eastern Conference. Lillard may be on the wrong side of 30, but he did make All-NBA 3rd Team this past season. He’s still damn good. And this must be a devastating disappointment for Miami. They didn’t do much this offseason to improve an 8th seeded team; likely feeling confident that they were the front runners to land Lillard. Where do they look now? Do they really want to take a chance on the mercurial James Harden? Even if they do, if they don’t have the assets to obtain Lillard, why would Harden be any different? It could be a long season in South Beach.

She Blinded Me With Science

Food for thought. There’s nothing I can add to this. Simply amazing.

Remember, in another life, she was a key consultant for Al Gore’s 2000 campaign.

That’s All She Wrote

We all made it through another week. Great job everybody! Have a great weekend all, and next time we speak it’ll be MLB a playoff time! See you again on Monday.