Blue Jackets, Monsters and the Browns NFL draft – WFNY Podcast – 2015-04-28
April 28, 2015Joe Thomas: Manziel’s behavior “night and day” from last year
April 29, 2015Let me begin with a quick well wish to WFNY’s Andrew Schnitkey, who woke up yesterday with a nasty case of the flu that precluded him from writing in this space. All the best, Rock. Get back soon or goons like me will be running this place full-time.
Happy Wednesday, Blawg Pound. I hope it’s a happy one, anyway. Things are a little morose around town since the news that Kevin Love is likely out for the rest of the playoffs. J.R. Smith’s suspension isn’t great, either (although I think and hope and believe that all of this adversity will bring the Cavs closer together).
The Cavs’ issues are only exacerbated by the Indians’ struggles, and I mean S-T-R-U-G-G-L-E-S struggles. I thought they were just having a tough go of it out of the gate, but it turns out they’re off to their worst start in in over 20 years.
The 6-13 start will be the worst for the Indians since 1992, via @baseball_ref. pic.twitter.com/QHOTiBXCFd
— Jacob L. Rosen (@JacobLRosen) April 29, 2015
That means it’s all up to the Browns’ performance in the draft to make things all better in Cleveland.
Crap. We really are in a dark stretch.
How about a little art, then, to brighten the mood? Every now and again, the graphic designers of the world create some neat crossover pieces, and the Cavaliers were featured in a few this week.
The first is brought to us via Reddit by James Politi (a self-described “unemployed graphic designer”) and his colleague Luke Daly, and it seems appropriate given the intra-city battle for sporting fandom that Kirk described last week. If you struggle to choose which Cleveland team to root for, or believe that one is deserving of more attention than another at any given moment, why not mix a couple together? Time is money and all that. Behold, the Cavs as a football helmet:
It’s rather Tampa Bay Buccaneerish, as is noted in the “rationale” section, and emphasizes the team’s gold much more than its wine or blue. I’m not a huge fan of this one — the Toronto Raptors concept might be my favorite — but it’s a neat idea that is executed very well. As one who dabbles in Photoshop on an amateur level, I can’t imagine how much time or how many keystrokes it took to get everything just so: the glare, the shadows, the curves. It’s impressive stuff.
I might prefer a helmet modeled after the Cavs navy jerseys, with the wine and gold popping against a dark blue base, but I’ll save my criticism for when I can do it myself. As my folks said when I complained about whatever was on the dinner table when I was little, if you don’t like dinner tonight, you can make it tomorrow. I never did call that bluff.
The next Cavs-related graphic is part of a series done by Stargazer Media, and sees the team expressed as though it was a house in HBO’s blockbuster drama Game of Thrones. You needn’t watch the show to grasp the concept here. To put it over-simply, Thrones is set in a sort of medieval (although wholly fictional) world in which different houses battle for power and glory and land and all sorts of other things. The houses have banners, and the banners bear sigils.
It’s a simple concept, and one for which the Cavs logo works nicely. The sword matches quite naturally with a shield, and the color distribution here is more in line with the navy unis described above. One only needs a little imagination to envision a championship parade set hundreds of years ago led by a king on horseback — a King James, perhaps — flanked by bannermen brandishing this design.
Clippers-Spurs was awesome last night. It also finished at nearly two in the morning, and odds are that you have responsibilities dissuading you from staying up that late to watch a ballgame. That’s alright; just catch the highlights or find a recording of the fourth quarter or something. It’s worth seeking out.
Tim Duncan has aged better than the Mona Lisa. Note the time and score, and then watch what the 39-year-old does.
Beautiful basketball between these teams last night. The ending was sullied a bit by DeAndre Jordan committing offensive basket interference on what would have been a go-ahead shot by Blake Griffin with four seconds to play, but it was a superb game all around.
These NBA playoffs have been fantastic, especially in the West. Watch all you can. That is all.
Some music tidbits:
► The Odeon is set to re-open in the Flats after closing down nine years ago. I never took in a show at the Odeon in its previous incarnation, so I can’t speak to the character of the place, but more music venues in town can only be a good thing.
► There have been conflicting reports regarding the health of Joni Mitchell. A friend of Mitchell’s said that the folk singer was in a coma and non-responsive, but a statement on Mitchell’s official website says that while she is in the hospital, she is alert and a full recovery is expected. Mitchell has never meant too much to me personally, but she’s an important figure in music nonetheless.
► Jack Ely, the lead singer of the Kingsmen, passed away Tuesday; You may know Ely as the voice behind “Louie, Louie.” The rhythm and blues classic was written and first recorded by Richard Berry, but it was Ely and the Kingsmen who made it a hit in 1963. Unbeknownst to me until today, the song was so popular that the Feds took notice. Per the BBC:
Its popularity brought it to the attention of the FBI, which worried that Mr Ely’s peculiar vocal style might be masking lyrics that broke federal obscenity laws.
The law enforcement agents reportedly concluded, in a lengthy investigative report, that the song was “unintelligible at any speed”.
Despite hundreds of covers by artists including Otis Redding, the Beach Boys, and the Sonics, the Kingsmens’ version of Louie Louie remains the definitive recording.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlwMBRP0JaE
That’s all for today, gang. Be nice. Stay safe. Send your best to Baltimore.
35 Comments
Fixed.
http://www.arcticblubber.com/gallery/d/736-1/Cavs-thrones.jpg
“but I’ll save my criticism for when I can do it myself.”
Then what the hell you doin’ on the internet?!
The Odeon seriously had one of the best runs of a mid-sized concert venue out there. ….the Nine Inch Nails “secret show”, Weezer’s first tour, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Stabbing Westward, Bjork, Rabbit in the Moon and Lords of Acid were just some of the concerts I can remember seeing there in the 90’s.
Rest in Peace Jack, I’m a big fan of his Home Depot commercials.
(I’m fully prepared to be the only one who gets this joke)
Playoff games in the West that don’t start until AFTER 11? Puuhlease!
TJ is here now though?
They booked some good shows, but I never thought much of it as a venue.
I loved it.
Open floor space, balcony in the back, no frills… just get dirty and see a show.
The majority of my shows were at Richfield Coliseum and the Music Hall.
I’d put it behind the old Grog, the Agora, and the new Grog. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s definitely on the good side of the sine curve. Hope they can book enough quality shows to survive.
Peabody’s Down Under was good too.
Eh, I never cared for it. I had bad experiences there. I think I missed it’s heyday though. A lot of people I know who were only four or five years older than me loved it.
I dont think I can compare those three easily because of the size differences.
The old Grog Shop was significantly smaller and more intimate venue; still booking huge artists before they “made it” like Nirvana and Oasis.
The Agora was for the artists that had “made it” due to capacity.
The Odeon just always seemed to be the in-between of those two venues and it’s own good little nitche.
And yes, I am really hopeful for them to put up a good fight against HOB because that place is the worst.
I drive passed the field on which the Coliseum stood every day on the way to my office and still marvel at what once took place there.
Yes, that’s all true. I actually don’t mind the Cleveland HOB as a venue, LN drink prices and general Disneyification aside. Looks like LN will be doing ticketing for the Odeon.
I owe any hearing problems I have to many, many, deafening evenings spent in that building.
That makes me sad. The Coliseum was the best. I hate how arenas no longer have a walkway in the performance area. I’m sure there’s a million reasons why, but I still think it stinks.
Nice. Also for those receivers crossing late over the middle, remember:
“Disneyification”…excellent.
Man, I would have jumped all over that “you don’t like dinner?” threat as a kid! I’m assuming you’d get to pick the menu? If so, Sugar Smacks cereal and ice cream for everyone!
Needs a dyre wolf
While the typical Browns season is indeed dire, I changed it to a bull mastiff to keep with the Browns theme…
Depends on which incarnation RGB is referring to.
Obviously I was too young to have been to the original spot in Cleveland Heights, but my dad tells me it was hot spot.
The Flats location I thought was a good spot for discovering local/regional and fledgling national acts.
I remember seeing the greatest “90’s One Hit Wonder” show there in like 1995 with Nada Surf and Superdrag.
I didn’t care for it when it moved up to CSU. Though I was getting old by that point with not much time or interest in scoping out random shows on a Tuesday.
haha, yes, very clever. Although the bull mastiff and dyre wolf share a common ancestor (canus lupus).
I suppose Johnny’s actions during the Redskins game last year would make him our “Little Finger”.
This thread could explode if we continue down the Browns/Game of Thrones path…
Who’s Theon Greyjoy?
I didn’t even like the Odeon much from an acoustics standpoint, but I saw some incredible shows there. Deftones did a tour warmup show in 2003 when they blew the roof off the place with Minerva. I saw another tour warmup show there with A Perfect Circle. Death Cab for Cutie played there. Mudvayne was another great show. Despite me not loving that club, I saw some amazing shows there.
Ummm, 88ish to 92ish.
George Kokinis?
Depends. Wait til the draft is over.
I don’t know, but Carson Palmer reminds me of Ramsay Snow for some reason….
That would be the second incarnation in the Flats. I have good memories there for sure.
Chud? Shurmurerer? So many options from which to choose.
http://i.imgur.com/4f0EIIl.gif
haha, Chud was more Ned Stark: getting his head chopped off in season 1.
Shurmur may be Tomen: a decent human being promoted far beyond his intellectual/leadership capacities who is essentially the public face for a power structure run by other elites.
Ultimately, Theon is perhaps the most appropriate symbol not only for the franchise, but also for the fan base. How disturbing is that?
I can’t listen to “Louie, Louie” without singing, “THE M-V-P of the AFC”