Today's Guff

New Link
Gra-gra, a.k.a. 'Jeronimus' is now penning a weblog. It's called 'Thoughts From An Ownerless Mind'. I have added a link in the right column.

I don't know what exactly he's going to write about, but it started off when we were having an e-mail discussion about rightwing nutbar pundits and the seemingly endless platforms they get to voice their unhelpful opinions, inflicting their hateful thoughts on people. So I suggested he start his own weblog rather than write letters to these pundits because, it would be impossible to change their minds on anything. The result is the weblog you see when you click that link.

It's very mysterious so far. :)

The Who Hit The Road Once More


Here's the article.

The legendary British rock band which came to prominence in the early 1960s with songs about youthful rebellion and alienation has only two of its original members -- singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend.

Two other members of the original band -- drummer Keith Moon and bassist John Entwistle -- died in drug-related incidents.

The gray-bearded Townshend, 61, periodically pumped up the capacity crowd at South Philadelphia's Wachovia Center with his classic arm-twirling power-chord style while Daltrey, 62, looking younger in jeans and a plain blue T-shirt, belted out the lyrics of The Who's extensive back catalog.

The band, also consisting of Townshend's brother Simon on guitar, Ringo Starr's son Zak Starkey on drums, Pino Palladino on bass and John Bundrick on keyboards -- fluently delivered many crowd-pleasing anthems including "Won't Get Fooled Again," "My Generation," "Baba O'Riley" and "Behind Blue Eyes."

But they were less confident playing material from the forthcoming "Endless Wire" album, their first since 1982. They were clearly unhappy with a seven-song "mini-opera" from the album, and apologized several times for what they saw as less-than-perfect renditions of that and other new songs.

"Thank you for putting up with it. I know it's tough to hear new music," Townshend told the crowd.

The new material, such as the Dylanesque "Man in a Purple Dress" suggested a departure from the classic Who style and the concert featured two duets with just Townshend and Daltrey, providing a contrast to the high-volume rock that some critics see as a precursor to the punk rock of the late 1970s.

Despite forays into the 21st century, The Who seemed firmly rooted in the 1960s, an impression strengthened by nostalgic black-and-white videos of 1960s memorabilia and rock icons including Jimi Hendrix and Elvis Presley.

The band's focus on their classic songs seemed to please the crowd, some of whom came to relive their college days. Bob Paul, 51, a lawyer, said he had first seen The Who in 1973 when he was a freshman in college, and stayed up all night to get tickets.

This is bad taste, but then all of rock is bad taste. I don't know how to defend this, let alone get behind it. I guess it is simply just what it is.

The Big Thurman Musnon Debate


The folks at BTF hace devised domething called the Hall of Merit, where people vote for who should be remembered 'on merit' as opposed to fame, which is suspect to media influence.
Thurman Munson is eligible for the vote and is ccausing this stink. Here's a nicely reasoned entry at post 14:

Well, the lack of career value is due to extenuating circumstances: namely, his death. I can understand that some voters don't give out extra credit to guys who died. No problem. But it's pretty insulting to then penalize the same player for a short career, as several have suggested doing. Who wrote "he had a short career, even for a catcher"? Of course Munson had a short career. But it wasn't because he quit. And it wasn't because of a drastic decline in skills. It was because he died.

Now, most of us are going to judge Munson solely by what he accomplished in the time he had. That's all I'm suggesting we do. But look at Dr. Chaleeko's post #13. Munson dominated AL catchers of the 1970s the same way that Bill Freehan dominated AL catchers of the 1960s. And he was the only dominant catcher in the AL between Freehan and Rodriguez. Now, there are some flaws with that argument. When Freehan was dominating AL catchers during the '60s, he was coming pretty close to dominating MLB catchers as only one of his top contemporaries was in the other league (Torre). And many would say that Freehan was better than Torre. When Munson was dominating AL catchers during the '70s, he wasn't dominating MLB catchers as the other league had at least one superior catcher (Bench) and sometimes two (Carter). So Freehan's dominance may stand out more than Munson's. Also, the gap between Munson and Rodriguez can be explained by the AL having more than one quality catcher. Neither Simmons nor Parrish could dominate the league for that length of time because they were playing at the same time as the other. And I'm sure Fisk had some good years during that same decade. So I see some flaws in Dr. Chaleeko's pro-Munson argument.

However, I'm left with this impression: Munson's prime is every bit as good as Freehan's, or as Elston Howard's. If they're HoMers, then so is Munson. He's not a slam dunk candidate. He's not Johnny Bench or Yogi Berra or Ivan Rodriguez. And he probably won't make my ballot this cycle (Freehan and Howard are just off as well). But he is worthy of consideration. And he shouldn't be dismissed too easily because of "a short career."

Taking the negative side are predictably Red Sox fans who want to pimp for Carlton Fisk; except Carlton Fisk isn't eligible yet.

I guess the 1978 'Boston Massacre' and the Bucky Dent homerun and all that has scarred many a Boston Red Sox fan for life. Now they want their petty little own back by saying "He wasn't good as our guy Carlton Fisk; it was a hair's margin but really a hair that separates true greatness and utter failure". I guess it's a pain that keeps on giving for them, because it's a joy that I have never really lost when I reflect upon 1978.

Thurman Munson probably does not belong in any Hall of Merit - He belongs in the "Hall of Great Yankees Who Made The Lives of Boston Fans Truly Miserable."
Now that's a Hall I can get behind.