But what has he done?
It's beginning to look more and more like Barack Obama is going to be the Democrat nominee for President (this is, of course, barring any dirty tricks from Hillary Clinton, and you'd have to be a complete idiot to ignore that possibility). He certainly looks and sounds the part - he's telegenic, an excellent speaker, witty, has a magnetic personality - it's easy to see why so many people have compared him to John F. Kennedy, a Democrat that had strong support among Republicans. One can only speculate what kind of Presidency JFK might have had if his life hadn't been cut short, but there's no denying that he was a leader. He was by no means perfect - there was the Bay of Pigs, getting us into Vietnam, not to mention his womanizing (I can't condone that, but he did Marilyn Monroe - I mean, damn!) - but he had the balls to stand up to the Russians and Castro during the Cuban missle crisis, and how many "leaders" today would've not blinked if faced with the same threat? My guess is very few. Harry Reid? Nancy Pelosi? Give me a freaking break.
And, JFK was inspiring. People still speak of "Camelot" with a gleam in their eye.
Obama is inspiring also, no doubt about it. He resonates, strikes a chord with voters. People find his message of hope and promise of change (the buzzword of this campaign season) to be something to which they can hitch their wagons. And if I weren't such a cynic, I might do so myself. Fortunately, I learned a long time ago not to drink any candidate's Kool-Aid without taking a close look at what he or she has to offer.
It seems that there is one big problem with Obama that everyone not in the candidate's camp has with him - experience, or lack thereof. I do know that he served in the Illinois state legislature and is in his first term in the US Senate. And I remember him delivering the keynote speech at the 2004 Democrat national convention. Beyond that, nothing. A quick look at Wikipedia (if it's on the internet, it must be true!) tells me that as of less than a week ago he's sponsored or co-sponsored 570 bills since joining the Senate. Only fifteen of these bills have been passed - less than 2.7 %. In all honesty, I have no idea what the average success rate of bill sponsorship among Obama's colleagues is, so I don't know how to gauge that statistic, but maybe someone reading this post does. Please respond if you know this; I'd love to find out.
What tells me Obama has an issue with being inexperienced is that even his prominent public supporters have no answer when the question of his resume comes up. This clip from "Hardball" with Chris Matthews illustrates this perfectly. At the 1:33 mark you can almost hear crickets chirping as Matthews waits for an answer. And I apologize in advance for exposing you to Keith Olbermann at the end of this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj4VK9wVAi0 (You may have to cut and paste this link)
What's shocking about this is not that Chris Matthews, a partisan hack if there ever was one, is taking on a Democrat (in this case Texas State Senator and former Austin mayor Kirk Watson) like a rabid pit bull, but that Obama's been a declared candidate for a year now, and his supporters still don't have a talking point to answer the question of "What has he done?" If his advisors didn't know this would be an issue at the start of the campaign, it should be obvious to anyone with even the most casual interest that it is now.
I personally think that politics and political campaigns have become too scripted and structured, that what we see of a candidate is more of a product than a person, but I suppose that's a trade-off for living in an age of 24/7 information, when it takes literally mere seconds between an event occurring and coverage being dissimenated worldwide. If the Obama campaign is deliberately not providing their supporters with an answer to the $64 question in an effort to keep things organic and spontaneous, I applaud their efforts, but not their judgment. I never thought I would find myself agreeing with Hillary Clinton on anything, but this will have to be an exception. The office of President is not a position in which on the job training is a suitable option.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
I could've been a contender...
...or at least worked for one.
I spent the eighties working in radio. From May of 1980 until August of 1990 I logged time at a couple of AM stations when the classic Top 40 format was morphing into what was termed CHR, which officially stood for "Contemporary Hit Radio," but those of us in the industry (especially programming, in which I was also involved) referred to it off the record as "Crap in Heavy Rotation" because we played the same crap every three hours or so. It was an interesting time, because the CHR format incorporated a number of singles charts (back when singles really mattered) from Billboard Magazine, then the Bible of music and program directors. The "interesting" (in the ancient Chinese blessing/curse sense) part came from having to program a song that was on multiple charts at the same time and going in different directions. The quintessential example of this is a Lionel Ritchie song called "Stuck on You," which appeared on the Billboard Hot 100, Adult Contemporary, R & B, and Country charts simultaneously. I don't recall the movements on the individual charts but as you may have guessed by now, the numbers weren't all moving in sync. What to do? Lower the song's position on the station's playlist because it's peaked on one chart? Move it up in rotation because it's just entered another chart and climbing? Do I crap or go blind? Do I close one eye and fart? What to do?
It was in 1988 that a serious relationship I was involved in for some time came crashing down around me. I had based all thoughts of my future on spending the rest of my life with the young lady that was the other half of this relationship, and now she was gone. At the time, it was the worst thing that I thought could happen to me. Hindsight being 20/20, it was the best for a number of reasons. I had been considering leaving radio, but had no idea what I could or would do. Whatever it was, I knew it would involve going back to school to get at least a bachelor's degree. This breakup gave me the kick in the ass I needed to evaluate my strengths and weaknesses and determine at what I excelled. I decided that my greatest asset was my ability to write well, so I set out to pursue a degree in a writing-intensive major, namely public relations (I don't currently work in that field, but that's another story for another blog).
The plan was to attend the local community college, working part-time on getting an associate's degree during the day while I worked the evening shift at the radio station. This would allow me to transfer to a university as a junior, where I could concentrate on my major (communication arts with a concentration in public relations) and minor (political science, which should come as no surprise to even casual readers of this blog). During my last year at the community college, however, I was lead into temptation - a friend with connections to a local 100,000 watt FM station playing a classic rock format informed me that said station was about to lose their midday jock. A shot at a position like this had the potential to change my mind about leaving radio. I got together an aircheck and resume and went calling on the station's program director, a fellow by the name of Justin.
Justin confirmed that yes, their midday jock was leaving, but the station manager was looking to continue with another female in that time slot, so he didn't know if my tape and resume would be given any consideration. However, you can't predict what the future will hold, so Justin encouraged me to leave my stuff with him in case anything came up.
The station did indeed fill the eventual vacancy with another female jock and I never heard anything back from Justin, so I took this as a sign that I was destined to move on and complete my studies. A year or so passed, and I had put aside all thoughts of blasting 100 K of Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones to the masses, but then things took an unforeseen turn...
It was a sunny afternoon when the phone rang. The caller asked to speak to me, and identified himself as Allan Handelman from WXRC-FM. I had heard him on the air, immediately recognized the voice and knew it wasn't one of my sick friends playing some joke on me. Allan explained that he had recently joined WXRC as the station's program director and that the station was moving across town to another building (I knew this to be true - they were moving to the building which used to house WSPF-AM, a station which had "gone dark," meaning the license hadn't been renewed when it expired and was no longer on the air) and in the course of moving he had found a stash of airchecks and resumes which the previous regime had accumulated. To come to the point, Allan said that he found my aircheck, liked what he heard, and that he liked what he saw on my resume, and wanted to offer me a job. Just like that. Sight unseen. A pig in a poke. Easiest job interview I've ever had. Just one problem - I had already committed to finishing my education. By now I had been accepted at a nearby university, got my financial aid in order, received a couple of scholarships, found a roommate and a place to live, and was just waiting to make the big move. 100,000 watts of FM greatness was being offered to me on a plate, and I couldn't take it.
That was eighteen years ago. I never met Allan Handleman in person, although I have emailed him at his current gig, an afternoon drive talk show at a radio station that is, ironically, about two miles from my house. I guess it was about the time of our telephone exchange that he also began what was to become a nationally syndicated weekend show, heard coast to coast each Sunday evening. These two shows have just gotten Allan named to industry publication Talkers Magazine's Heavy Hundred, "the 100 most important radio talk show hosts in America." As you can imagine, this is something to highlight on one's resume.
We often wonder about the path not taken. I've spent a lot of time thinking about what my life would be like, had I chosen to stay in radio. It wasn't that long ago that I considered getting back in the business. I consulted Donnie, my boss for nine of the ten years I was behind the mike, a guy who knows me as well or better than any of my previous employers. Now retired, Donnie told me that he would help me in any way he could, but warned me that the business had undergone wholesale changes since I left in 1990, changes that made what I knew almost unrecognizable. His personal opinion was that anyone entering the business as air talent today had to be crazy.
I haven't given a second career in radio much thought since receiving Donnie's advice, but I often think of what may have happened if I had forsaken my education for an airshift at WXRC. As in many industries, broadcasting has an "old boy" network built on a vast array of contacts and personal associations. Someone like an Allan Handleman is in a position to bring people with him, such as producers, call screeners, et al, when he moves, and who knows where that can lead? He's obviously made a mark (and Allan, if you happen to stumble upon this while surfing the web, congratulations on everything you've accomplished and thanks again for the job offer all those years ago) and I get a rare bit of an ego rush when I realize that I could've worked for someone with such accomplishments to his name. And maybe, just maybe, I might've been along for the ride. I may have not been a contender, but I could've worked for one.
...or at least worked for one.
I spent the eighties working in radio. From May of 1980 until August of 1990 I logged time at a couple of AM stations when the classic Top 40 format was morphing into what was termed CHR, which officially stood for "Contemporary Hit Radio," but those of us in the industry (especially programming, in which I was also involved) referred to it off the record as "Crap in Heavy Rotation" because we played the same crap every three hours or so. It was an interesting time, because the CHR format incorporated a number of singles charts (back when singles really mattered) from Billboard Magazine, then the Bible of music and program directors. The "interesting" (in the ancient Chinese blessing/curse sense) part came from having to program a song that was on multiple charts at the same time and going in different directions. The quintessential example of this is a Lionel Ritchie song called "Stuck on You," which appeared on the Billboard Hot 100, Adult Contemporary, R & B, and Country charts simultaneously. I don't recall the movements on the individual charts but as you may have guessed by now, the numbers weren't all moving in sync. What to do? Lower the song's position on the station's playlist because it's peaked on one chart? Move it up in rotation because it's just entered another chart and climbing? Do I crap or go blind? Do I close one eye and fart? What to do?
It was in 1988 that a serious relationship I was involved in for some time came crashing down around me. I had based all thoughts of my future on spending the rest of my life with the young lady that was the other half of this relationship, and now she was gone. At the time, it was the worst thing that I thought could happen to me. Hindsight being 20/20, it was the best for a number of reasons. I had been considering leaving radio, but had no idea what I could or would do. Whatever it was, I knew it would involve going back to school to get at least a bachelor's degree. This breakup gave me the kick in the ass I needed to evaluate my strengths and weaknesses and determine at what I excelled. I decided that my greatest asset was my ability to write well, so I set out to pursue a degree in a writing-intensive major, namely public relations (I don't currently work in that field, but that's another story for another blog).
The plan was to attend the local community college, working part-time on getting an associate's degree during the day while I worked the evening shift at the radio station. This would allow me to transfer to a university as a junior, where I could concentrate on my major (communication arts with a concentration in public relations) and minor (political science, which should come as no surprise to even casual readers of this blog). During my last year at the community college, however, I was lead into temptation - a friend with connections to a local 100,000 watt FM station playing a classic rock format informed me that said station was about to lose their midday jock. A shot at a position like this had the potential to change my mind about leaving radio. I got together an aircheck and resume and went calling on the station's program director, a fellow by the name of Justin.
Justin confirmed that yes, their midday jock was leaving, but the station manager was looking to continue with another female in that time slot, so he didn't know if my tape and resume would be given any consideration. However, you can't predict what the future will hold, so Justin encouraged me to leave my stuff with him in case anything came up.
The station did indeed fill the eventual vacancy with another female jock and I never heard anything back from Justin, so I took this as a sign that I was destined to move on and complete my studies. A year or so passed, and I had put aside all thoughts of blasting 100 K of Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones to the masses, but then things took an unforeseen turn...
It was a sunny afternoon when the phone rang. The caller asked to speak to me, and identified himself as Allan Handelman from WXRC-FM. I had heard him on the air, immediately recognized the voice and knew it wasn't one of my sick friends playing some joke on me. Allan explained that he had recently joined WXRC as the station's program director and that the station was moving across town to another building (I knew this to be true - they were moving to the building which used to house WSPF-AM, a station which had "gone dark," meaning the license hadn't been renewed when it expired and was no longer on the air) and in the course of moving he had found a stash of airchecks and resumes which the previous regime had accumulated. To come to the point, Allan said that he found my aircheck, liked what he heard, and that he liked what he saw on my resume, and wanted to offer me a job. Just like that. Sight unseen. A pig in a poke. Easiest job interview I've ever had. Just one problem - I had already committed to finishing my education. By now I had been accepted at a nearby university, got my financial aid in order, received a couple of scholarships, found a roommate and a place to live, and was just waiting to make the big move. 100,000 watts of FM greatness was being offered to me on a plate, and I couldn't take it.
That was eighteen years ago. I never met Allan Handleman in person, although I have emailed him at his current gig, an afternoon drive talk show at a radio station that is, ironically, about two miles from my house. I guess it was about the time of our telephone exchange that he also began what was to become a nationally syndicated weekend show, heard coast to coast each Sunday evening. These two shows have just gotten Allan named to industry publication Talkers Magazine's Heavy Hundred, "the 100 most important radio talk show hosts in America." As you can imagine, this is something to highlight on one's resume.
We often wonder about the path not taken. I've spent a lot of time thinking about what my life would be like, had I chosen to stay in radio. It wasn't that long ago that I considered getting back in the business. I consulted Donnie, my boss for nine of the ten years I was behind the mike, a guy who knows me as well or better than any of my previous employers. Now retired, Donnie told me that he would help me in any way he could, but warned me that the business had undergone wholesale changes since I left in 1990, changes that made what I knew almost unrecognizable. His personal opinion was that anyone entering the business as air talent today had to be crazy.
I haven't given a second career in radio much thought since receiving Donnie's advice, but I often think of what may have happened if I had forsaken my education for an airshift at WXRC. As in many industries, broadcasting has an "old boy" network built on a vast array of contacts and personal associations. Someone like an Allan Handleman is in a position to bring people with him, such as producers, call screeners, et al, when he moves, and who knows where that can lead? He's obviously made a mark (and Allan, if you happen to stumble upon this while surfing the web, congratulations on everything you've accomplished and thanks again for the job offer all those years ago) and I get a rare bit of an ego rush when I realize that I could've worked for someone with such accomplishments to his name. And maybe, just maybe, I might've been along for the ride. I may have not been a contender, but I could've worked for one.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Now for some really important news
I mentioned in a previous post that I love college basketball. You can have the NBA. I have no desire to watch what the professional game has become, primarily due to the character of its participants. The game doesn't have a Micheal Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, et al, anymore. With a few rare exceptions (Tim Duncan and Yao Ming come to mind) pro basketball is dominated by tattooed, blinged-out, overprivileged, overpaid thugs (Allen Iverson and LeBron James, for instance). And don't get me started on Shaquille O'Neal. He's 7' 1", makes millions of dollars and can't shoot a damned free throw? I'm 5' 6" and I could beat him in a game of "H-O-R-S-E."
College basketball, in contrast to professional, is a game dominated by coaches, rather than players. A college player can move through a school in four years, but his coach can stay there indefinitely, thus developing a following that attain cult-like status. This has been the case with numerous coaches, such as John Wooden, Dean Smith, the late Jim Valvano (RIP), Mike Krzyzewski, and the subject of today's post, the General himself, Robert Montgomery Knight.
Bobby Knight retired suddenly on Monday of this week. It was a surprise announcement, apparently shocking everyone except those closest to him, such as his son Pat, who is now his successor at Texas Tech.
People are constantly amazed when I express my admiration for Knight, primarily for two reasons. One is geography. "You live in the heart of the ACC; how can you pull for a Bobby Knight team?" Boy, if I had a dollar for every time I'd been asked that...The other is Knight's reputation for being, how can I put this, a little rough around the edges (some people would say he's a jerk).
I guess I consider Bobby Knight my standard for what a coach should be because he's been successful while making sure that his players do what they're in college to do - get an education. He won three NCAA national championships, eleven Big Ten conference championships, one NIT championship and is the all-time winningest Division One college basketball coach with a 902-371 win/loss record, all while having one of the highest graduation rates in collegiate athletics. Knight famously told his players they were student athletes - students first, athletes second. I've often had people point out that to be such a great coach, Knight had so few players go to the NBA. My response is that just shows that his players actually studied.
As far as his famous temper...well, I can't defend some things. And Knight didn't try to defend it either. A reporter once asked the coach about his temper and Knight asked him if he ever lost his temper at work. Sure, the reporter replied, all the time. Knight responded that the difference between him and the reporter was that he worked in front of thousands of people. And I guess that's probably the thing I like the most about Bobby Knight - he's his own man and doesn't give a damn what others think about him. So many of us - myself included - live our lives caring what others think. In the end, it doesn't matter. What matters is being true to oneself.
So here's to you, Coach Knight. Enjoy your well-earned retirement, and thanks from a fan in ACC country for a lot of great memories.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Hi honey, I'm home!
I haven't written anything in over two weeks. My work schedule has been a bear of late, and I haven't had the energy to focus on committing my thoughts to anything of any permanance. Trying to uphold my end of a coherent conversation has been taxing enough, but putting together something that might leave a paper, or cyber trail, as the case may be, has just been beyond my abilities. There are times when I try to write that I probably come as close to the experience of giving birth as I will ever get. And I have high standards for myself - at least for what I write - and don't want to offer anything that doesn't meet those self-imposed standards. If you find my efforts to be of some quality, even if you don't agree with my opinions, great; that's what I want to share. If you don't - well, your comments on this forum are welcome. And remember - opinions are like old Kiss albums. Everyone has at least one, and the majority of them (mine included) can be pretty stupid.
It's not like I don't want to write - damn it, I do. And it's not as if I haven't had things to write about. It seems as if everyday I come up with at least a dozen things I want to write about but can't seem to budget the time to do so, and do to my standards. I've spent more time writing about politics than anything else in the few posts I've submitted, but I didn't begin this with the intention of politics being the emphasis. It just happens to be the major focus of today's current events, what with primary season in full swing, and I happen to care about the future of the country in which I live. At least I try to stay informed, have an opinion, and I vote, for good, bad or indifferent.
I'll try to be more varied in my selection of topics, not just because we have enough hack political bloggers (a redundant phrase) but because my interests and experiences extend beyond the realm of politics. Certainly yours do too. My ultimate goal is to keep this interesting to both of us. I've received a number of positive emails complementing my efforts to date; thanks to everyone for the kind words. Since I can't promise to keep to any sort of regular schedule, I suggest subscribing to the Atom RSS feeder linked at the bottom of this page, unless you just feel like checking in randomly.
That's all my overworked gray matter is capable of producing now. There are a lot of things to write about currently. I'll see if I can put together some thoughts in the next few days, and get back on track with this. Until then, take care and thanks for dropping by.
I haven't written anything in over two weeks. My work schedule has been a bear of late, and I haven't had the energy to focus on committing my thoughts to anything of any permanance. Trying to uphold my end of a coherent conversation has been taxing enough, but putting together something that might leave a paper, or cyber trail, as the case may be, has just been beyond my abilities. There are times when I try to write that I probably come as close to the experience of giving birth as I will ever get. And I have high standards for myself - at least for what I write - and don't want to offer anything that doesn't meet those self-imposed standards. If you find my efforts to be of some quality, even if you don't agree with my opinions, great; that's what I want to share. If you don't - well, your comments on this forum are welcome. And remember - opinions are like old Kiss albums. Everyone has at least one, and the majority of them (mine included) can be pretty stupid.
It's not like I don't want to write - damn it, I do. And it's not as if I haven't had things to write about. It seems as if everyday I come up with at least a dozen things I want to write about but can't seem to budget the time to do so, and do to my standards. I've spent more time writing about politics than anything else in the few posts I've submitted, but I didn't begin this with the intention of politics being the emphasis. It just happens to be the major focus of today's current events, what with primary season in full swing, and I happen to care about the future of the country in which I live. At least I try to stay informed, have an opinion, and I vote, for good, bad or indifferent.
I'll try to be more varied in my selection of topics, not just because we have enough hack political bloggers (a redundant phrase) but because my interests and experiences extend beyond the realm of politics. Certainly yours do too. My ultimate goal is to keep this interesting to both of us. I've received a number of positive emails complementing my efforts to date; thanks to everyone for the kind words. Since I can't promise to keep to any sort of regular schedule, I suggest subscribing to the Atom RSS feeder linked at the bottom of this page, unless you just feel like checking in randomly.
That's all my overworked gray matter is capable of producing now. There are a lot of things to write about currently. I'll see if I can put together some thoughts in the next few days, and get back on track with this. Until then, take care and thanks for dropping by.
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