Hank Williams


I’ve never been much of a Hank Williams Jr. fan.  Sure, he had a couple of tunes that gave me happy feet, but that was about it.  Don’t get me wrong—I have no grief with his music, and I like lots of Country & Western—just not a big Hank fan, OK?

Not that much into the current NFL either.  There was a time, but for me, that time is past.  The last time I actually looked forward to and watched a Monday Night Football game, it was still on ABC.  Actually, I don’t watch much ABC anymore either.  Not that I’ve got anything against ABC either…..The last time I actually remember tuning in to a Monday Night Football game, the hosts were Howard Cosell, Frank Gifford, and Dandy Don.  Now THAT was a broadcast team.

What brings up this remembrance is this: 
ESPN now runs (or owns—whatever) Monday Night Football.  Hank Williams has the signature tune for Monday Night Football—you know the one.  It contains the phrase “Are you ready for some football?!!”.  Yep, that one.  It’s been part of Monday Night Football since the 1980’s, give or take.  So, if you like the NFL, and Monday Night Football, then you’re familiar with their signature tune.

Then, Hank Williams Jr., did the unthinkable and exercised his free speech rights.  Right again—he criticized Obama in public.  Not just in public, but while being interviewed on Fox News. Oops.

ESPN, whose first sporting event broadcast in the 1970’s was a professional slow-pitch softball game, dropped the hammer immediately.  Hank and the signature song are gone.

Lesson learned—Free Speech and High Definition don’t mix. 

A final note here—just because your name is ESPN, is doesn’t mean you’ve got ESP.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Very Simple Request

In the late 1970s (that would be during the Carter administration and THAT gas crisis), I drove a Datsun 1200 for a while.   It was a good, small, simple car, and I could afford it even though I had virtually no money. As I recall, it had 12 or 13 inch wheels, no power anything, a four cylinder engine, and a four speed manual transmission.   It was light weight with no amenities.   None.   It had an AM only radio and a tinny little speaker.   No air conditioning either—can you imagine?   No AIR??   On the freeway, when larger cars would pass, the jet wash would buffet the car slightly after the larger car passed.   It was orange, and it routinely got 35 to 50 MPG.   40 to 50 on the freeway and 35 to 45 around town.   When the tires wore out, it was about as expensive as putting new tires on your bicycle.   If it needed brakes, it was about as expensive as putting brakes on your bicycle.   Did I just repeat myself? Here's w...
Read more

Karma

I see that the Marlin's Scott Cousins has been placed on the 15 day disabled list with a "lower back strain", and has been replaced on their active roster by Hanley Ramirez.  And that the Marlins are 3-18 since leaving San Francisco. Karma's a bitch.
Read more

For Love of the Game

  OK then. Baseball is finally over for my beloved Giants. Thank goodness. This leadership pair of Farhan Zaidi and Gabe Kapler has created a baseball team and method that’s just pitiful. It’s painful to watch. And boring. Tedious. A struggle. Never knowing from day to day who is going to be on the club as players or where they might be in the batting order or what positions they might play. No stars. The way Kapler handles pitchers makes it even worse. One result of the inconstancy in player positions is that the Giants lead all of baseball in errors committed in an era of lower error rates in baseball. I can’t be the only one who sees the problem and the source of said problem. It’s no puzzle why the Giants find it impossible to sign truly first rate talent. I’m a big fan of Mike Yastrzemski and Brandon Crawford, but, other than that…….Who would want to subject themselves to that nonsense, anyhow? It’s no wonder that the ballpark is habitually empty, or nearly so. ...
Read more