The Future of this Blog

I know that I’ve been pretty terrible at updating this blog with new posts over the better part of the last year. No rants about player/fan/coach/franchise behavior, no living and dying with my favorite teams. At times it seeming as if I’m oblivious to the world of sports going on beyond my face.

At this stage, I don’t know if I’m going to continue with this as a sports blog, or if I’ll focus on a single team/sport, or if I’ll just turn it into a random thought blog. Needless to say in regards to sports, this past year has been one frought with disappointments across the sporting spectrum for me. From the lackluster performances day in and day out by Newcastle United last season, to the Oakland Raiders and Detroit Pistons during their seasons. From the promising but disappointing ways the season ended for both the Detroit Red Wings and Oklahoma Sooners, to the current plummeting of the Chicago White Sox from contention to a 3rd place finish provided they wake up enough to remain ahead of KC/Cleveland. To a degree, I feel a bit emotionally drained from this past year, not only from sports, but from personal losses in my family over that period of time.

I guess we’ll see what the future holds, and what I decided to do with this blog from there.

Scott

As if one needed more reasons to hate ClearChannel

Earlier this week, ClearChannel pulled the plug on the local on air talent at WDFN 1130-AM. Shows that had been on the air for a very long time such as Stoney & Wojo (14 years), and It Is What It Is (6 years) were just gone in a moment as part of ClearChannel’s “cost cutting” methods that resulted in over 1800 jobs nationwide being pink slipped, primarily in their sales departments. Situations like this really should make a 90 day no compete clause null and void.

My first grievance with ClearChannel is that well, their programming on music stations sucks in the first place. And their proclivity to change format on a station multiple times within a 5 year span is borderline ridiculous. People dislike the product that ClearChannel provides because if the product was any more generic and sterile it would be wrapped in medical packaging and opened at a doctor’s office. Continually killing any life and flavor a station may have in a certain market might make some sort of twisted “financial sense”, but a sense of the community in which the station broadcasts should come into play.

It’s no mistake that a majority of the quality talent in the radio market has been making a transition to putting their shows exclusively on Satellite radio. The mere existance of ClearChannel is akin to CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, and PBS all being bought out by one conglomorate and showing essentially the same programming around the clock. Why would anyone watch network TV if “Lost” was going to be on every station at some point during the week? Where would the creativity for new shows come from if it became bland genericness for broadcasting standards?

Personally, I think the biggest insult is not only did ClearChannel basically kill what was a fun Sports Talk station, but they replaced that programming with the mental abortions that Fox passes off as Sports radio. Seriously, if you are going to kill our market, at least give us programming that we don’t get locally. I’d rather have someone find a way to pipe in Chicago’s ESPN-1000 than to listen to this tripe that Fox considers entertainment on the radio.

Well I know I’ve been remiss, but it’s time to get caught up

Ok, it’s been awhile since I’ve blogged anything. And I don’t need to go into the details other than to say there have been personal issues at home. Regardless, it’s about time to get things wound back up as many of my favorite sports are in full swing right now. So, the above posts will be set up individually with long term summaries regarding each sport. So, enjoy.

Sox Add Ken Griffey Jr.

In a move that would have been superb in 2005, the Chicago White Sox acquired Ken Griffey Jr. from the Cincinnati Reds for pitcher Nick Masset and IF Danny Richar. The question on Griffey at this point is primarily centered around his health, and whether or not he can play center field. So far, the answer to the health question is in the avenue of him not missing many games this season. As for center field, he’s done a decent enough job of it so far with the White Sox. However, unfortunately as I write this the Sox have lost the lead in the AL Central to those pesky Minnesota Twins that never seem to go away year after year. Hopefully this team has enough in the tank to get to the postseason. However, their record against potential playoff opponents this year isn’t all that good, but being a fan is about keeping the faith.