by ShagOnSports

I was thinking the other day about the time period we are living in and how this period will be viewed in the future… If you think about my lifetime alone from 1964 through today and tack on a few years before my shiny bottom hit the earth the breakthroughs in technology are incredible for both personal use items and in the medical field… I do not know much about medical so I will stick to the personal use items…

Before my time came TV which to me was the starting point of the technology boom we have gone through in the last fifty years… In my opinion the significance of TV and its impact on society will probably never be topped… I remember a little bit of the late 60’s and then into the early 70’s and how significant TV was from Sports stand point for me (even though I did not realize it at the time)…

Being able to watch the World Series (the first one I truly remember was the 1971 Series, O’s & Pirates), College Football Games (the first one I remember is Nebraska Vs Oklahoma when one Johnny Rodgers was the star), Pro Football Games (the first one I remember is the 1971 Super Bowl) and then came college basketball games… All of this was when we only had three channels and PBS… As I have grown older I appreciate radio more but TV had its impact on me early in my life…

Sometime in the early 70’s (around 73) I remember going to visit my cousin in Florida and they had Cable TV with something called HBO which showed uncut movies all day long… HBO evolved from these early days into not only a movie channel but a very innovative sports programming network… A few years after my family had cable TV and I could watch the Cubs and the Braves play every day if I chose to do so and now I can watch pretty much any game I want any time I want and with VCR’s and now DVR’s… This means that we have come along way since the production team at ABC Monday Night Football invented instant replay…

Music breakthroughs are as just unbelievable… The standard for radio was AM for many years and then came the breakthrough of FM Stereo which was a huge advancement from a sound perspective… I still prefer listening to the radio Vs watching most Sporting events on TV and now with Satellite Radio a person has that option most of the time like they do with TV and with XM radio you can buy a device that records a program that can be listened to at a persons convienance…

The mix and thing I like about TV and Music is the music channels… I am still a MTV head and MTV has made such a huge impact on society in general… You still have MTV and VH1 but if you want pure music you need digital cable which gets you MTVHD (I watched the Foo Fighters and Chili Peppers in concert on their last night), VH1 Classic, VH1 Soul, MTV Hits and MTV2,… Where would we be without that “Money for Nothing” video…

Anyone who was born after 1974 takes technology advance and Television for granted as just being there… Not because they choose to but how would they know any different if they did not experience the before… Makes me feel good about when I was born… It is kind of like the first time I went to New York City and being fascinated the entire place and then talking to a native New Yorker about how seeing The City for the first time made me feel… She said she felt robbed because she could never experience that feeling since she was born there and lived there her entire life… As she explained it was not that she could not experience new things but that she could just never experience that one thing of seeing New York for the first time…

Take time to reflect on where we are today and how significant this time period is, where we have been and where we are going… Get with the technology it is good stuff…

I still consider myself a youngster but I did business when there was no email, no spreadsheets, no databases, no fax machines, no word documents and no cell phones… This is Star Trek stuff we are seeing today… When you can drive over top Lookout mountain “Goggling” to me that is kewl stuff…

I love that I have mountains of information at my fingertips and I love how much time it saves… I never go to the bank and never hardly write a check for a bill…

A list to think about:

Eight Track Tapes
Cassette Tapes
Cassette Recorders
Boom Boxes
Walkman
VCR’s
Fax Machines
Compact Disc
Satellite Radio
Cell Phones
Personal Computers
Music on your home computer
The Internet
Email
GPS Systems
DVR’s
Digital Recorders
MP3 Players
Blue Tooths
Air Cards for Internet Access

I read the other day where the government is already starting to design the flyways and airspace that will be used for the personal hover crafts that are being developed… The article I read indicates these vehicles are about 25 to 30 years out from being produced and affordable… Beam me up Scottie!!!

Kentucky Vs Louisville

It is not Red Sox Vs the Yankees, Auburn Vs Alabama or Ohio State Vs Michigan but it is as good a rivalry game as there is in college basketball… I wish it had the class of Army Vs Navy but we are in Kentucky so that will never happen and both sides have fans to blame for this…

I passed up two chances to go to the game at Freedom Hall this Saturday… Why??? Because I like both of the people who invited me and I do not want to put them in a bad position when someone pops off to me one to many times and I do something stupid… So I sparred them the pain and watched the game at home…

To me fan etiquette for people that show up in your team’s house to watch a game should be welcomed by the opposing fan… Two Saturday’s at IU and UK I shook the guys hand that sat beside me and welcomed him to Rupp Arena… That is fan etiquette… Vicious attacks on someone who is just there to support his team are senseless acts and happen everywhere… As a fan I dislike Indiana but I do not hate Indiana fans…

I remember the first UK vs. U of L game… I was in boot camp in Orlando, Florida and missed the game but I did accurately predict the margin of score and outcome of the game in a letter to my parents… I did get to see the next U of L and UK game when Sam Bowie made his triumphant return to college basketball… I have the SI at home with his picture on the cover from that game in my fabled sports collection…

The game I remember the most is the late in 1986 game between U of L and UK due to when in it occurred and the other things going on in my life at the time… The day before this game I was discharged from the Navy and made the long drive from Norfolk, Virginia to Henderson… New life and new experiences were ready to start…

When I arrived in Henderson that night I dropped all of my stuff off at my house (mother’s house) visited with my family and then started the adventure that I am living today… I had high expectations for this adventure and new lease on life and to this point I would say expectations have been met… Timing is always important and when I walked into the local watering hole my timing was perfect… Standing at the bar were three of my best friends who had just walked in the door before me… Shots of bourbon and celebration were the order of the night from that point forward…

That night is a blur but I do remember at the end of the night walking to one of those friend’s houses who lived closed by and crashing… I also remember my friend Sam Nation showing up with 97 Krystal Burgers ready for a feast that I was glad the next day that I did not participate in… I know the next day that Sam wished he would not have gone to Krystals but that is a story for another day...

Anyway after feasting on barbecue at Peak Brothers for lunch that Saturday (Peak brothers became a Saturday tradition for the years I lived in Hendo) we watched Rex Chapman scorch Louisville for 27 points in the game that started Denny Crum’s downfall (Denny refused to embrace the new three point line and never recovered from this mistake)… It was a great day for UK for but there was a dark cloud looming that would bust open a year later (pardon the pun again if you remember the Overnight package busting open with the cash in it to Chris Mills)…

To the game…

I believe the home team should always win rivalry games but of course that is not always the case…

I thought the game set up well for UK because of their experience and their defensive efforts the last two weeks… A blowout by either team was just not in the cards (pardon the pun)… I had watched U of L play UMASS and I could not believe how bad they shot the ball and how bad the team played defense so I liked UK’s chances to stay in the game but as I said the home team should win…

Billy Packer and Vern Lundquist were surprised by Wookash Orbzut, but not me… Woo can play!!! He has great hands, runs the floor well, shoots well and plays good defense… Joe Crawford continued his horrific play but Jodie Meeks stepped up and shot the ball well (play Meeks more)… UK played good defense and was helped out by the horrible shooting exhibition put on by the Ville (I do not think I have seen a team miss so many open shots)… I did not know that breathing on an opposing player was a foul but Randolph M o r r i s got two fouls for this… A foul by rule is when a player’s action gives him an advantage over the opposing player and breathing does not give said advantage… Nice to see the Cats respond in a tough environment with Bobby Perry and Randolph M o r r i s scoring two points between them…

The game was competitive… U of L led most of the first half but never threatened to pull away… UK played a pretty solid second half and had a chance to blow the game open and win by a bunch but had shooting woes also… She Ray Thomas made a big jumper down the stretch (good for him), Bradley made a key three and Derrick Jasper is a star in the making… Jasper’s stat line was not great but I like his effort…

So with a victory what position does this put the Tubby naysayers in and the group who wants Ricky P back at Kentucky… I say “F” Rick Pitino… Tubby has now won three straight against tricky Ricky and four of six since Rick came to U of L… Since Rick has been at Louisville he has only lost five times in the month of December and four of those losses are to Tubby… You cannot like Tubby if you want but there is no way in hell that Tricky Ricky is coming back to UK… Why would want him back now anyway???

Tubby deserves this year and next to straighten out the program… We gave Rich Brooks one more year so let’s do the same for Tubby and see where he takes this team in March and next year… Like Brooksy, I think that next season is going to tell the future of Tubby…

For U of L fans… Three years ago when Tricky Rick came to Rupp and upset a highly ranked Kentucky Team after beating a number one ranked Kentucky Team the year before UK fans thought the apocalypse was upon them… I remember one of the U of L fans I work with told me to get ready because that was going to be what happened almost every year??? He was wrong…

Remember the blowouts that U of L experienced the last year that Denny was there before you jump on Rick’s back…

It is hard for any coach to follow a legend or a highly successful coach at any school… Look at what happened at UCLA after Wooden left, Eddie Sutton after Joe B, Mike Davis at IU, Whoever followed John Thompson at Georgetown and Matt Doherty at UNC just to name a few… Joe B Hall was not truly appreciated by the fan base after he took over for Rupp and the same goes for Tubby after taking over for Rick… Now Rick is in those shoes…

Rick is fine but he has been called Larry Brown on training wheels… Rick to the Knicks at the end of the year??? Not as the coach but as part owner and President… Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…

UK Vs Santa Clara

Joe Crawford Sucks!!! I am going to start a band that is going to be the name of the band… His shots are not even close to going in… If I had his size and quickness I would have played in the NBA… This guy is a joke and needs to be on the pine!!! Can anyone say Roderick Rhodes!!!

Bobby Perry has now gone two games in a row with zero points… Why did Orbzut not play more in the second half??? I believe the more Woo plays the better he gets!!! What a nice jump shot he has and he runs the floor well, sets great screens and plays good defense… Come on Tubby!!!

The freshmen are the up tick on this team… All four of them look solid and I think that all four will be there for four years… The fifth freshmen needs to be red shirted!!! He is the mystery recruit who is now eligible and hope Tubby puts the red shirt on him so he has four complete years…

I cannot wait until the first week of April to see how this team ends up!!!

Tonight I am heading up to see the Cats play UMASS…


Barrett State Flash PS2 Football

I have kicked off the new season on PS2 with mine and my nephews Matt’s teams… My Barrett State Flash Team is 7 and 0 out of the gate beating Ohio State in a barn burner the last game… Now that I have learned how to play the computer I have toned my team down a bit so the games are more competitive (I have been blowing teams out)…

My team is running the Navy Spread Offense which is a mix of run and passes with allots of option plays, curl routes and quick slants… On defense I am running allot of nickel packages and Four/Four (four down linemen and four linebackers) with allot of blitzing… Once I am done with this season I am going to switch the team to the Dynasty Mode that will have recruiting, etc…

Matt’s team (Henderson City College Pioneers) runs the Texas offense and to this point his team is 5 and 1 after getting upset at North Carolina… The computer is simulating all of his games… His starting QB had thrown eleven interceptions through five games so I benched him and the new starter came in and threw for a bundle… Our teams meet in the final regular season game of the season in week twelve… My team is currently ranked eighth in the polls and eight in the BCS with and visits #3 Florida State next game…

Next week Matt is going to be spending the week with us so I am going to teach him how to play defense and when to call certain packages on defense based on downs and yards to go… He could be coach in the making… I have never been one who likes having kids play video games but from a sports standpoint I could see how you could teach a kid who likes to play football what all of the formations mean and when/why you use them… How many people know what a nickel or dime defense is or understands a zone blitz, cover 2, cover 3 robber, mad blitz, man zone or what quarterback contain means… I read that college teams are using these football games for teaching there new players how there offense and defense works (even Joe Pa is doing this)…

Random Thoughts

- Paul Horning is whining because Tomlinson broke his single season scoring record for points in an NFL season… Horning’s gripe is that he set this record in twelve games and now the NFL plays sixteen (It took LT fourteen games)… He has a point has said as far he is concerned he is still the record holder!!! Should there be twelve game records, fourteen game records and sixteen game records in Pro Football??? Should baseball have 154 game records as well as 162 game records??? Should college football have twelve game regular season records and eleven game records??? I would like to see all the leagues do this as it adds history to the game that will otherwise be forgotten years down the road… This way names like George Sisler, Paul Horning and Jim Brown live on forever… It is the right thing to do for the history of the sports!!!

- It makes me want to puke when I look at the UK bench and the assistant coaches that nobody wants… Kick Reggie Hanson, David Hobbs and Sean Finney to the curb and bring in Johnny P to coach the offense and groom him for the head coaching job… He would take the job tomorrow if you guaranteed him to be Tubby’s successor!!!

- The fight in the NBA last weekend was bad… I am not sure what the league needs to do but they are losing a demographic that I think they need to continue to grow the game globally… I blame the early out from college for part of the problem… Players have issues with discipline and maturity and it seems that this is getting worse and the media calls them all “thugs” which makes it worse… Players do not seem to understand the concept of team play and that is why the Europeans and South American teams have caught and passed the USA teams…

- Look at Iverson right now… Does anyone care he is not playing??? Did you know that the Sixers are paying him to set at home until they can find someone to make a trade??? Do you care??? AI in Denver!!! That is going to work out well!!! AI thinks he is to good to practice ala his quote of “We are talking about practice”…

- What if Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Ted Williams, Wade Boggs, Albert Puljos or Peyton Manning thought they were to good to practice??? Teddy Ballgame used to take offense to someone calling him a natural hitter because of how hard he worked before and during the season on hitting…

- Baseball has kids play this early but they have to earn their trip to the big leagues through a minor league system which promotes teamwork and high levels of individual responsibility… Baseball also has fights so the fights in the NBA is really not the issue it is the general attitudes and other behavior of both NBA players… The current media attacks on the NBA are racist in nature whether you want to admit it or not… I do not here anyone calling baseball players thugs when they have bench clearing brawls… Why is that???

- I still am not one who has an issue with Ricky P being at Louisville… My wife predicted that would happen long before it did so I saw it coming long before most people… I lost some respect for Ricky P when he let one Marvin Stone attend U of L… I thought he stabbed Tubby in the back by allowing this to happen but Rick I think, “Loves me some me” also… Where is Marvin Stone(d) now???

- The Lexington Paper quoted Orbzut as saying to his teammates at halftime of the U of L game, “This is our state!!!” That a boy Woo… I like that attitude…

- I have a double play coming next weekend… We are going to the bowl game on Friday and then will head to Lexington on Saturday watch the Cats and EKU…

ShagOnMusic

You are here because you want the real thing… Let’s bring on Bob Segar and the Silver Bullet Band Live!!!

Our friend Terri took me to see Bob Segar… Bob put on quite a show… I am not so much a Bob Segar fan now but during the summer that I was fourteen years old I fell in love with the Album “Live Bullet”… It had such great songs as Tavel’n Man, Nutbush City Limit, Get Out of Denver, Little Queenie, Turn the Page and many others… It was our cassette tape of choice for several years… Most of my memories come from listening to this music while riding around in a friend’s Gremlin in the rocky and dusty roads in the river bottoms of horse shoe bend with no air conditioning just jamming…

The sax player in Bob’s band was awesome!!! He stole the show…
It was a great time… I need to attend more concerts!!!