Cleveland Browns dysfunction, Cavs, and much more – WFNY Podcast – 2015-02-09
February 9, 2015Grantland names LeBron James the second-best trade asset in the NBA; Kyrie Irving 26th and Kevin Love 52nd
February 10, 2015Happy Tuesday WFNY!
While Weâre Waiting is the place you guys come in the morning for some early sports talk to get the day going. So lets start by talking about Kanye West and the Grammys.
Scott Sargent touched on the Grammys in his WWW yesterday, but I wanted to say a few words about Kanyeâs disgraceful and tiresome act. For anyone who missed it, the album of the year award somewhat surprisingly went to Beckâs âMorning Phaseâ. I say âsomewhatâ surprising because, in all honesty, the Beck win really isnât that surprising at all when you look at how the Grammy award for album of the year typically goes. Safe, predictable, boring music for white people is what always wins, and this year was no exception. Lets look at some previous yearsâ winners:
- 2014 – Daft Punk, âRandom Access Memoriesâ
- 2013 – Mumford & Sons, âBabelâ
- 2012 – Adele, â21â
- 2011 – Arcade Fire, âThe Suburbsâ
- 2010 – Taylor Swift, âFearlessâ
- 2009 – Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, âRaising Sandâ
- 2008 – Herbie Hancock, âRiver: The Joni Lettersâ
- 2007 – Dixie Chicks, âTaking the Long Wayâ
- 2006 – U2, âHow to Dismantle an Atomic Bombâ
Like I said, nothing too edgy, innovative, or colorful in that list. Safe, predictable, boring music for white people. It wasnât always this way. In years prior to this list the likes of Ray Charles, OutKast, Lauryn Hill, Santana, and Norah Jones had won the previous three awards. Perhaps not necessarily shocking artistry there either, but at least it shows that racial diversity was once possible at the Grammys.
Which brings us back to Kanye. Does Kanye have a point? After the awards were over, Kanye said the following about Beck winning the award:
I just know that the Grammys, if they want real artists to keep coming back, they need to stop playing with us. We ainât gonna play with them no more. âFlawless,â BeyoncĂ© video. And Beck needs to respect artistry and he should have given his award to BeyoncĂ© and at this point, we tired of it. Because what happens is when you keep on diminishing art and not respecting the craft and smacking people in the face after they deliver monumental feats of music, youâre disrespectful to inspiration. And we as musicians have to inspire people who go to work every day. And they listen to that BeyoncĂ© album and they feel like it takes them to another place. Then they do this whole promotional event, that, you know, theyâll run the music over somebodyâs speech, the artist, because they want a commercial advertising. Like no, we not playing with them no more. And by the way, I got my wife, I got my daughter, and I got my clothing line so Iâm not going to do nothing to put my daughter at risk â but I am here to fight for creativity. Thatâs the reason why I didnât say anything tonight. But yâall know what it meant when âYe walked on the stage.
You might think from the tone of my earlier comments that I agree with Kanye. But I donât. Not one bit. Acting like a petulant child all the time is getting old. Kanye West isnât being endearing or funny in a sort of âThere goes Kanye againâ kind of way. Heâs embarrassing himself and his so called artistry by being so disrespectful of others.
The first time Kanye pulled this stunt was to protest Taylor Swift winning over Beyonce. Now he protests Beck winning over Beyonce. Iâm not sure who elected Kanye to be spokesperson for Beyonce, but just look at the artists he has offended and slighted. Take a look sometime at the writing credits for Taylor Swiftâs albums. She gets a few helping hands here and there from Max Martin and Shellback, but the majority of her songs are written by Taylor Swift. Now go look at the writing credits for Beyonceâs album. Itâs stacked with industry insiders and other pop stars like Pharrell and Justin Timberlake earning writing credits.
Thatâs not to put down Beyonce. Sheâs an incredible performer and a lot of people really loved her album, âBeyonceâ. There is artistry in what Beyonce does. But look at Beck. Beck is a guy who grew up in freaking Andy Warholâs factory. The guy knows a thing or two about artistry. How many instruments does he play? Pretty much every one he can get his hands on. Beck once released an âalbumâ that was nothing more than a book of sheet music for 20 songs and a ton of artwork. The idea was the end user could then perform the album on their own by playing along with the sheet music. And Kanye wants us to think that Beck doesnât respect true artistry? Give me a break.
Itâs funny that Kanye cited his family and his clothing line as the reason he didnât say this stuff on stage. No mention of his music, I guess. Maybe real artistry transcends music in a way none of us could understand, because none of us are on Kanyeâs level of genius.
Or maybe Kanye is just missing the point. The real truth here is that the Grammys are a joke. It doesnât mean anything. At all. Music is subjective. Itâs like having an award ceremony every year to honor the best colors. Orange is pretty upset with Red winning Color of the Year for sure. I think Pearl Jamâs Eddie Vedder once said it best:
And heâs right. How can anyone proclaim any one album to be universally better than the rest? It makes no sense. If you like country music, rap music, rock music, or whatever your taste happens to be, youâre going to disagree with things outside your genre being named the âbestâ.
I just try to remember a few things. Music is Art. Art is Resistance. Resistance is Futile. The Grammys donât have the first thing to do with artistry. Itâs a bunch of rich industry insiders getting together and putting a bunch of self importance onto a made up game show. And Kanye can resist it all he wants, but itâs not going to change. If you really care about music and art, the best thing you can do is just ignore the Grammys. Iâd much rather spend those hours listening to my personal favorite albums than listen to a corporate committee tell me what is the best.
*****
And now, some sports
Again, I apologize for spending over 1000 words on the Grammys, but music and art is important to me and I had to share my thoughts on the ridiculousness of Kanyeâs comments. But I do also care about sports, and I care about the Cleveland Cavaliers.
And just as it seems like pointless drama canât be avoided at the Grammyâs, so too does pointless drama follow around the Cavaliers. This whole LeBron James tweet thing comes at a really curious time. Will Gibson has more on the tweet thing itself today on WFNY, but I want to focus on the strange timing of it.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are one of the NBAâs absolute hottest teams. In January 13, 2015, the Cavaliers lost their sixth straight game to fall to 19-20 on the season. From there, the team won 12 in a row and have now won 13 of their last 14 games. They are playing excellent team basketball. In the games since they ended their losing streak, Kevin Love has been averaging 15.4 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. And heâs doing this as the third option on the team. And heâs done it without complaining about it whatsoever. As humble and quiet as ever, Kevin Love has just tried to be himself and help the team in any way he can. He has sacrificed more of his game than anyone else on the team has.
So why now? Why is LeBron James now questioning Loveâs ability to fit in with the team? From the outside looking in, I donât get it. Maybe thereâs more stuff going on behind the scenes that we donât see. Actually, there has to be. I hope there is. Because otherwise, I donât understand LeBron choosing this moment in time to publicly question and embarrass Kevin Love. The team is playing great, Love has been very good lately, and things on their surface seem better than ever.
So either the timing is bizarre, or maybe this whole story is overblown. The NBA season is long. It has its ups and downs. Things happen, playersâ moods change. Itâs part of being a team. So Iâm not going to get too worked up over this latest crazy incident. Itâs just the Cavs being the Cavs. The important thing is that the players are coming together on the court and the team is getting better and better. Thatâs something worth paying attention to.
*****
Thatâs all I have for this Tuesday. I promise, next week Iâll focus more on the sports again.
40 Comments
Eddie Vedder said it well, but the Simpsons said it best
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf9V0hwJ6qk
Simpsons did it!
“Boring” is also subjective.
Exactly. That’s my point. Everything about music is subjective.
http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/popcrush.com/files/2013/05/stop-it.gif
The Grammys could use more Pearl Jam and less Kanye.
How skinny was Mike McCready in that clip? Guessing it was his drug abuse days.
Well, not to quibble too much (because I honestly don’t care about Beck, Kanye, or the Grammys – though I do love Mumford and his sons), but . . .
If this is true (that everything about music is subjective), then the statement “safe, predictable, boring music for white people is what always wins, and this year was no exception” is factually incorrect. I actually agree with your point about the subjectivity of music. My comment was just an observation about argument, word usage, etc. Maybe it was your intent, but I always find it interesting that it truly is impossible to ever avoid subjectivity, even when trying to be objective.
It’s because we’re trying to use words to define something like music. So we try our best to describe the feeling of the music, but a lot gets lost in translation.
Here’s Pearl Jam on the Grammys, take two.
http://youtu.be/UQNlStUrysc?t=1m40s
http://www.arcticblubber.com/gallery/d/727-1/images.jpg
and, to keep it even, the Simpson’s take on the Grammys, take two
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B4GePpuCQAAsidH.jpg:large
I’m amazed that the other artists allow him to get away with this crap. Maybe it’s because they’re just in shock, or that they’re too polite, but it would be IMPOSSIBLE for me to at least not rip him apart in my acceptance speech. Indeed, the minute I found out I was nominated, I would begin preparing some sort of anticipatory, Churchillian take down of Kanye as part of the acceptance. I’m sure I would immediately regret it afterward, and for weeks later due to the attention it would get, but it sure would be fun in the moment.
http://data1.whicdn.com/images/36403884/original.jpg
When will I learn? You can never one-up or out do the Simpsons.
https://localtvwghp.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/zrvymq.gif?w=370&h=204&crop=1
I really like Beck and think he has been one of the few bright spots over the last 20 years of rock and pop music (in addition to Radiohead). I was thrilled to find out he won the grammy. He has changed his sound on pretty much every album, which I really respect. His music is complex, with rich arrangement. And yes, he sings and plays many, many instruments, which I also highly respect. I admit I don’t know much about Kanye West other than he married a person that I can’t believe anyone would marry and he has a popular song about being a gold digger that’s really distasteful and has about the simplelist hook possible. If he defines musical artistry, then I certainly have not idea what it is.
I just love that video. Shows that Fickell still has it. Low center of gravity; weight over the knees; good lateral shuffle; keeps the feet moving; moves into the point of attack. The hit is a little high, but he finishes the tackle.
[By the way, I see you’re getting into draft form – but pace yourself. You want to peak at the right time with these gifs.]
Beck’s supposedly boring music for white people, as opposed to Beyonce’s excitingly crappy music for white and black people? OK. If we are there, sounds like a wash.
That was actually associate director of strength and conditioning Anthony Schlegel.
I’m still feeling the effects from last years draft debacle. But, I’ll be there when it’s crunch time. đ
Was it really? Well, Schlegel still has it, too.
i gave an uptick, but after RGB’s assessment, I had to remove it.
That hurts. Really cuts deep.
well i gave you one for your redemptive post.
I was surprised Beck won but only because
1) I thought he was dead
2) I didn’t know he had made any music at all since Odelay.
I’m a Mellow Gold guy.
Almost forgot…has anyone caught “Better Call Saul”?
Brilliant!
Just read this and didn’t know where to post, so here I go. I thought this was a really thoughtful blue print for “How to fix the Browns by September”. The title is overly simplified and addresses mostly players and coaching (management needs some fixin’ too). I love this approach this takes, and would like some opinions from you guys. Here is the link to the article: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000469225/article/how-to-fix-the-browns-by-september, but here is the gist:
1. 3 Pronged QB approach (similar to what Seahawks did a few years ago with Flynn, RusWil, and Tavaris Jackson):
– Go after Mallet (big, strong, upside, some experience)
– Keep Manziel (promise nothing, he is just one of three to get snaps)
– Mid round draft of guy with tools you like (Brett Hundley?)
2. Plan for life w/o Gordon.
– Don’t cut him, but don’t wait for him to save the day
– Draft a WR high if you can
– Re-sign Miles
– Go after Maclin/Torrey Smith/Cobb
3. Keep zone blocking
4. Re-sign Skrine, and add run stuffers (draft). Possibly go after Antonio Cromartie (Pettine guy)
5. Patience with Pettine at all costs. Apparently, Haden had some GLOWING things to say about Pet at the Pro Bowl.
I love this plan, and seems doable – especially with the cap space and picks the Browns have.
I’m on board with that but i also think you go after one of the top DL/LB free agents, too. the Browns have a ton of money and the NEED to spend it or they’ll lose it.
agree completely. I find Kanye to be pretty darn talented, but I can’t understand why he would call out Beck as un-artisitc, when Beck has basically defined himself as an artistic musician. And who made his opinion the only one that matters? He is a jerk and I’d love to see him try and pull that stunt at the Country Music Awards.
Midnite Vultures all day long. And Debra!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL_9zWmDcjs
…queues up Midnite Vultures…
Yes! I love it. I love that it has some of the same hints of flavor as Breaking Bad, but it’s clearly its own creation. Saul . . . er . . . Jim is such a complex character and I’m loving how this is being developed. I only wish I was late to the game so I could binge watch it like I did BB.
We were laughing out loud when he was “negotiating” the broken legs.
As clever as any single scene in Breaking Bad, in my opinion. The way he played on Tuco’s “psychology,” the way you could see “the conversion of Saul” taking place right there in the sun . . . it was brilliant. And Odenkirk is a great actor. I see an Emmy in his future.
I love that Mike is in this. He was my favorite character from BB.
I really hope there’s a very tiny, insignificant cameo at some point with Walt, or Skyler, or Hank – like them shopping in the same aisle at the grocery store or something. No lines. Not even a passing glance or eye contact. Just their presence in a scene, as random human beings passing like ships in the night, for like 2 seconds. That’s it. Would be the greatest cameo in the history of TV.
Or Jesse. How could I forget Jesse?
I will never stop snickering to myself when I think of that song. “I wanna get with you… and your sister… I think her name’s Debra?”
Let’s not pretend Taylor Swift writes or produces her own music because her name is on there…
you think that she has some unnamed benefactor who is kindly writing/producing her music who doesn’t want/need the recognition or the legal ramifications of the money owed by having those rights on the music?
“The real truth here is that the Grammys are a joke. It doesnât mean anything. At all. Music is subjective. Itâs like having an award ceremony every year to honor the best colors. Orange is pretty upset with Red winning Color of the Year for sure.”
“If you really care about music and art, the best thing you can do is just ignore the Grammys. Iâd much rather spend those hours listening to my personal favorite albums than listen to a corporate committee tell me what is the best.”
PURE GOLD
I care a lot about music. I don;t watch the Grammys, or even know many of the acts. Part of the reason is my age (53). But I don’t disrespect it. People can watch any reality TV they want. I watch sports, and will always be tuned into what these days is called “classic rock.”
I don’t even watch the Super Bowl halftime shows. I can always catch up with a recording, if something like dancing sharks happens to enter the public discussion.
But it’s always been funny to me how we are all beholden to what we’re told is worthy of being listened to (myself included). There are obscure acts that are really great. If they were promoted, they;d be a much bigger deal.
My $0.02.