The station with a moniker I will never be one of.

If that subject makes any sense, then kudos. You can read bad grammar Adam. But I will elaborate. It has been since Monday, but I have finally had some time to dwell on it, listen to some shows, and give me ultimate opinion. On Monday, my favorite radio station in the world, the one I listened to, at some points, pretty much all day from Jagger in the mornings until Big Dick Hunter at night, has flipped formats to an all sports theme. Now don't get me wrong, as most of you know, I am a rabid sports fan, in fact, one of the biggest I know. I not only love to watch sports, but I love to learn the history, hear the stories and love the mythical nature it can bring in normal people. But the whole concept of listening to sports all day is just asinine. Plus the concept of how you will listen to it is the same. It is 105.3 The Fan, which they say is a caller driven concept.

First of all, who cares what other fans think about your sports. Yeah, sometimes you will get an okay opinion and maybe a caller who has an IQ above his shoe size, but 9 times out of ten it is some good ol' boy Bubba who has little else to say besides "Hey man, that Tony Romo sucks man." I honestly don't care to listen to it, nor will I partake in it. From time to time it is okay, as it has been done on the station before. Sometimes an hour or so devoted to sports talk, and that is about all that I can handle, and that is only if it is about the Cowboys. If it is Mavericks, Stars or worse, the Rangers, I could care less, and I did tune out in those times. But now I am tuning out for good. If I wanted sports, I would rather a long-time sports writer whose opinion I respect give me news and commentary on sports, even if I don't agree, it is usually a well thought out opinion. That is why I listen to Pardon the Interruption, Around the Horn and Football Today. Three shows that are all podcast from ESPN with reputable people hosting them, not Bubba who thinks Jessica Simpson is hexing the Cowboys.

More than anything, I feel betrayed that even though some shows have said they will not change, have. No matter how much you say that they have not, they have. Whether it is Jagger with his hour long discussion on Marion Barber and Jerry Jones, or Ben and Skin talking Mavs ad naseum, I just will no longer listen. Plus they got rid of the best show on the lineup, Big Dick Hunter's Wild Ass Circus. It is not only humorous, but gives a real newsworthy edge most shows could never get, and probably want really. I was already very upset they let Pugs and Kelly go, but I stuck around because I loved Ben and Skin, but now, my 3 year long relationship is over. I guess it is a good thing that I did not ask it to marry me, that would have been a bad divorce, but now we will just go our seperate ways, looking back on what could have been.

Epic Fail: OSU vs. UT

It began with a fraud and now will continue that fraud to this day. While you may be thinking of why Texas didn’t get the chance at the Big 12 title and thus not the national title, I am not. I still think we got hosed on that one and will very much think that when Oklahoma gets demolished by Florida as it has in the BCS the last two years. It is funny how close we actually came to a rematch of that game, which would have been wild. Anyhow, I am more upset with another BCS selection, and it goes to the core of how the BCS was created and how it is screwing other legitimate teams to this day. It started in the early 90’s with the Bowl Coalition, or whatever it was called when it the big, now so called BCS, conferences Norte Dame wanted a way to decide a national champion. They purposely put a rule in that excluded smaller conferences from competing in the title game. This was tweaked a few times in the case that the Rose Bowl was initially left out of this and it lead two a few splits in the final polls in the 90’s. However even with it, in 2003 Oklahoma got blasted by #2 LSU in the national title after LOSING the Big 12 title game, they still maintained their #1 seed and #3 USC got a the AP vote for #1, thus a BCS #1 and an AP#1 split. But the point is this, from the beginning of any tie-in with traditional bowls, the small schools have been screwed again and again. Never mind that BYU proved in 1984 a small, non BCS school could win a national title, and never mind that Oklahoma was upset by Boise State in 2006 in maybe the greatest college football game ever and finished undefeated and did not get a chance to play for a national title. This is the point of my argument, Boise State, while going undefeated for the 2nd time in 3 years will not get to show off what they got at a big school like Texas. Instead, Texas will play Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl, the site of the great Boise St. victory of Oklahoma. Where usually I am cautiously optimistic at a bowl game, or any big game for my teams really, I am not too concerned at all on this one, as I know Texas will just demolish Ohio State in this one. I mean, they got destroyed by USC and lost to a Penn State team that lost to Iowa, so I mean, come on, really? Texas won’t just crush OSU? I don’t even see this being close. Some are saying that if Texas wins convincingly

over Ohio State as the last two BCS National title games for OSU will indicate and if Florida just squeaks by Oklahoma, or possible even the other way around, we could have another split title with Texas getting the AP #1. But because of the big money involved for these BCS games and how the big conferences rule it, of course undefeated Boise State doesn’t get the chance. I am glad Utah did and they deserve it, but so does Boise State. Some thought Boise State didn’t deserve it two years ago and we saw how that ended up. I will just say this, I’d much rather lose to Boise State as a Texas fan than beat a horrible, undeserving Ohio State team. So thanks again BCS, not only did you screw my team, you screwed a small conference out of millions so you could continue to perpetuate the undeserved myth of the big conferences, ESPECIALLY the horrible Big 10.

You said I was gayer than the beach volleyball scene from Top Gun!

I will post more no this, but I had to take a short lunch. I just wanted to post the video and then how I feel about prop 8 and how bogus it is.

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

For those of you that know me, you probably know my position on gay issues. I have written a paper that I wish I still had, where I basically just outlined why the bible doesn't explicitly state it is against it, it is a violation of our inalienable rights and that it would mean more money for states. I am glad that this issue is not quite done as it is being challenged in the courts in California and I won't really joke about the issue as I had planned, because the video kind of shows the absurdity of the ban. And I think Keith Olbermann made a great point on this show where he uses a lot of the stances I use, and even more moving was that he says that he is not one of the people that say they have a gay friend or something that lets him know the issue, because he says he is not really close to a gay person. I guess he forgot Rachel Maddow, but it was important to note because it is not a personal issue, it is civil rights issue. The point that I always try to make is that gays are the just about the last bastion, last acceptable group of people to subjugate. People would be up in arms if the same proposition say, outlawed blacks or any other minority group to get married. I won't get on a soap box to say that straight people don't respect marriage because of the divorce rate, or that many gay people have been together for years and love each other as much because that is not a valid argument. A valid argument is that we breeders have THE RIGHT to do it, whereas gays DO NOT. Say what you will about god or religion, that doesn't matter for the fact that we have a separation of church and state in this country of ours. So why not let them have the right? As a liberal, bleeding heart at that, I am very disappointed in Barack Obama's stance on it. He agrees with civil unions, which is basically the same thing except the title, but that is not good enough for me. Why are people so afraid of gay marriage? It will not devalue my marriage, because i will love my wife just as much as I do now. It wont lead to us marrying animals as some suggest. It is a human and human, not man and dog. That is ridiculous that anyone would think we would devolve to that. I think what hurt me more and I know it wasn't the end all be all that let the proposition first pass, was that while it was a record black turnout in most, if not all states this election. And Blacks voted against prop 8 in far greater numbers than any other race. They were only around 10% of the electorate, but that made somewhat of a difference. Actually, Rachel Maddow said that virtually all minorities voted more for prop 8 than whites. The largest amount of voting groups for prop 8 were (big surprise) Evangelicals, Republicans and the poor/poorly educated in that order, I think it was 85%, 80% and 73% respectively, but these numbers were stripped of race and just used other criteria. I think that liberals are trying to thwart the notion that minorities were responsible for this passing, but in all actuality, I really think minorities who did vote more for it than whites were at least partially responsible. That being said, I hope that it is repealed and the courts rule it out even though it is a constitutional change. It will be tougher now, but let us hope that all people in the state of California and eventually the US get the same, equal rights we all enjoy.

In closing, I leave you with this thought: if you believe that god made us in his image, than you need to know that god loves gays because he made gays (and rainbows), so sholdnt you love them as well?

Can we get five tickets to see Terrance and Phillip?!? NO!!!!!!

Most of you read my personal blog, but this is the story that got me thinking that I wanted to start writing about my thoughts on topics that I hear and read about. I hear them mostly on the radio, which I listen to vigorously, of course Ben and Skin, but also the NPR shows Fresh Air, Day to Day and The World. I like these NPR shows because they give you the actual news in a digestible, open and non-opinionated matter. When I want to listen to the slant I enjoy I go to Keith Olberman’s Countdown and The Rachel Maddow show. Both of which, really all of which are podcasted. Check iTunes for all of these, and the Live 105.3 website for Ben and Skin, which is more of an indulgence for me, because it is what I listen to escape the work day and laugh. But all of these shows get my mind working and get my very opinionated mind juices flowing. The kicker yesterday was the program director for Ben and Skin, Gavin “yeaaa/naaa” Spittle was really irking me. Then two of the sports show I watch or podcast daily, PTI and Around the Horn talked about the issue as well. The Sean Avery issue, if most of you haven’t heard it, was really a non-issue, but still got the sports news media in a tizzy.



Now back in my more idealistic days of my youth I would have bashed this statement for being completely sexist. And if you view it as such, I can agree. Hell, I pretty much stopped listening to a radio show because of one stupid comment someone made and made me want to punch her in the face every time I listened to her voice, so I get it. And I think that it could be construed as sexist. But beyond that, sexism is something we can mock and avoid a person for, not suspend them for it. I know the rules are different for sports and the media and the normal people like you and I. Meaning if I had said that at work in front of my entire office, I’d probably get a stern talking to and at the most extreme fired. But also the difference is I am not in the public eye, and the general public doesn’t pay my salary. That kind of goes to the core of stern belief of mine that words are words and you can only get offended as much as you let them. Now in my case with the radio personality I now hate, I was more disappointed in how ignorant said person was, not that what she said. I guess I thought more of her and the show, but I was wrong, and I made my voice heard by turning off the radio and not supporting their views anymore, the same reason I don’t watch Dog The Bounty Hunter anymore. You can be against what he said, and if you are, then write the team and say you will not support them as long as he is there and follow through with that by not being tickets or merchandise. But don’t support a league decision to suspend the player over a non-threatening, non-vulgar statement, especially in a league that values, hell, prides itself on thuggish and violent behavior on the ice. The same ice that many of the kids that they say are most “traumatized” by Avery’s statement. This basically goes to one of our countries many dichotomies, and that is violence is completely acceptable, but words are not. And in this case, not even vulgar words. That is an argument that has not been made more clear (and funny) than South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, so I won’t add to it. I just think that the league should try to sanitize its league more by cleaning up its violent image before it begins its war on words.

And you thought Chemistry was boring.

My wife, best friend Ben and I got had some fun last week at Duke's Roadhouse in Bedford where I was screwed out of a $50 gift card when I got third place, well tied for it anyway, in Turkey Bowling. A steep bar tab later, I did get a consolation prize of tickets to a screening of Nobel Son and a crappy hat. I heard Ben & Skin talk about it earlier in the day, so I was enticed and wanted to see it. Well that screening was today, and I have to say it was worth the wait. Maybe not worth the disappointment of the lost gift card, but close enough.

It is a smart movie for starters. I mean, it centers around a man who wins a Nobel Prize in Chemistry if that says anything. I felt I lacked the IQ at times because it had some themes that were far beyond my comprehension. Especially with poetry and big words. Having my low intelligence, however, didn't hinder me or Ben from enjoying it. Aside from an almost perfect cast. Eliza Dushku didn't really sell me as far as performance, though if that her ass in the movie, then it is perfect, plus you also get some side/top boob action. Pretty much any movie with Alan Rickman will suck me in, but this is the best performance I have seen him in, even better than Snape you (fellow) Harry Potter nerds. His son in the film, whoever the actor is, takes the movie's best performance. From excitement, ecstasy, sheer terror and madness, he really runs the gamut of human emotions and does it with the ease and calculation of an Anthony Hopkins. I was really impressed with him and the film in general really. It was very stylishly directed, but that didn't dominate the film and the Paul Okenfold soundtrack really kept the heartbeat throughout the movie, enhanced the emotions and progressed it along nicely. I relly think anyone who likes smart comedies, action/adventure and real mind trip would love this movie. I will say it was an even better movie than Burn After Reading and is probably in the running for the best movie I have seen this year. I would really have to go back, but this movie was seriously fantastic and is what is what is right and good about independent movies. So take that Ben, you and your stripmall!

Ben & Skin + Lazer = Genius song

So for my first post, I just want to put the show that kind of inspired me to write this blog. I will try to update everyday at least, usually during lunch. This works twofold, gives me a reason to eat here with my own lunch to save money as well. But I just wanted to put my thoughts out there, since you know, I am very opinionated, even if it is a HORRIBLE stance. But listening to this show, the greatest show on radio gave me the drive to do it. So, I want to give props to Ben and Skin. Listen to their show and you won't be sorry. It is wacky and comical, but not in a Dingo and the Baby sort of way, but leaves you in stitches everyday. If you like, pop culture, some sports, Big Tex, pranks and comedy in general, you will love it.

B&S Links

http://www.benandskin.com/

http://www.live1053.com/

http://www.mysapce.com/benandskin

http://www.live1053.com/pages/2773371.php?

http://www.quickdfw.com/sharedcontent/dws/quick/columnists/benskin/vitindex.html