IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH HAVING AN OPINION?

Just need to get something off my chest this morning. I happen to work with some opinionated folks. For those who listen to 97.3 The Eagle, you know that one of them is Jimmy Ray on the Eagle morning show. Very opinionated, yes......nasty? No! He's all about hearing the other side. He may disagree with you but he encorages discussion from you. It has become hard for me to understand the venom that comes from some folks who disagree with him or anyone else with an opposing opinion.
Mark McKay, our Eagle afternoon personality, usually keeps his opinions and personal thoughts to himself. One day, on the air, he mentioned that he was keeping an eye on the Ft. Hood tragedy with MSNBC. Don't you know someone called him and berated him for watching that "liberal" channel and said they would never listen to him again! Amazing!!!!
Since when have opinions and various media preferences been off limits? Last I checked, we lived in one of the few free countries in the world where you can say what you want, when you want, how you want. We all support our troops who are deployed to protect us but do we realize what they are protecting? Of course, our basic right to be free. Without that, we lose everything for which we live. So, the next time you hear an opinion that you disagree with, by all means, disagree but respect that person's right to disagree with you and express his or her opinion. If we have no respect for our fellow Americans, we might as well be a Third World country.

THE CMA AWARDS SHOW;POST-AWARDS PARTIES AND THE RETURN HOME

I don't know if you had a chance to watch Wednesday night's CMA Awards show but I thought it's the best I've seen. It, honestly, didn't seem like a 3-hour show. It moved along very well. Best performance? Carrie Underwood with Lady Antebellum a close second. Worst? I'm afraid to say Taylor Swift's opening number. That was just a tad weird. As far as the awards, we had predicted on our broadcast that Lady A would beat Rascal Flatts for vocal group. I was surprised by their win for "I Run To You". Wasn't surprised by Taylor winning Entertainer of the Year but her female vocalist award was a big shocker to me. I thought Carrie Underwood had a stronghold on that one. I picked Darius Rucker to win the new artist award. 3 #1's will do that for you.
After the show, we hit the Capitol party and ran into Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Emily West and, of course, the big stars - Keith Urban (with wife Nicole Kidman), Charles, Hillary and Dave from Lady A and Darius who was most gracious to the Eagle as where the folks from Lady A. At the Big Machine party Reba and Taylor were hanging out when we got there. Taylor's eye caught me and she came over to give me a huge hug and thank the Eagle for being in her corner since day one. She is now bona-fide star and you wouldn't know it. One of the most well-grounded teens I have ever met.
Now for the trip home......of course, we watched from afar, what the Weather Channel called the "Atlantic Assault". I had no idea when, or if, we would get home. We left Nashville Thursday morning in bright sunshine and arrived in the rain in Baltimore. Our flight to Norfolk?....they tried twice.....up.....no good...and then back to Baltimore....we land...we wait...we take off again.....try to land in Norfolk again.....no good....then back to Baltimore. 4 hours in the air in part of what felt like a bad amusement park ride. Pretty scary in spots. So, we spent the night in Baltimore finally got in here this morning. The drive home was surreal. Looked like Isabel all over again. It was good to be home but , in just a few days, we'll really find out how bad this 3-day "assault" was. I do hope you are safe and dry.

Day 2 at the CMA Awards in Nashville

Well, things were fast and furious a the live broadcast. Taylor Swift came by in early in the day. She was supposed to be on vocal rest but she wanted to talk to her "radio family" as she told us. She's still the same Taylor, recognizing us by name right away and she's still somewhat that innocent, yet savvy, teen we had in our conference room 3 years ago almost to the day.
The other big highlight of the day was having the chance to talk with Reba McEntire. With all of the accolades, awards and years in this business, she still took the time to talk with us and was as gracious and friendly as ever.
We did find out from the Zac Brown Band that they won't be playing any of their hits for their show performance but they will be play a concert crowd favorite - The Devil Went Down To Georgia. If you've ever seen them perform this, you know how good this is.
The day was capped off by a special, private acoustic performance by, now, red-headed, Kellie Pickler. Just as scattered and funny as ever but you can hear the improvement in her voice. She did an outstanding version of Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man". After that, a few of us had the opportunity to have dinner with Kellie. Believe me, what you see on camera is what you get off camera. Funny, thoughtful, scattered and very friendly. She told us that she still isn't sure if she likes her new hair color. Interesting side note - the outfit she had on had a rhinestone barcode on the backside. Interesting to say the least.
Tonight is awards' night and the parties afterward. I'll be sure to fill you in right here.

Day One at the CMA Awards Week

What a first day! Check out all the videos on the Eagle web site (www.eagle97.com) and the interviews plus we've got some pictures we are putting up today and I'll post some on our Facebook page.
Got to see a bunch of people yesterday but the biggest and best of the day was literally "hanging" with Martina McBride and her husband at a local neighborhood pub watching the football game. There were only about 8 of us so I felt extremely honored to be there. What a great lady!! And her husband, John, is a funny guy and also one of the best sound men in the country. Martina told us that she was going to do a special tribute to a legend on the CMA Awards and that she sings it with a surprise guest.
She also mentioned that, with the tour with Trace Adkins, the show will feature her flying....over the crowd.....and she'll be here in mid-Spring so there's something to look forward to. She is a class act, totally!
Today, lots of big artists dropping by (check for the videos and interviews) and tonight we have a couple of neat places to go and I'll fill you in on those tomorrow.

IN NASHVILLE FOR CMA AWARDS WEEK

Arrived here in Nashville yesterday (Sunday) for CMA Awards week. We are here for the Mark McKay live broadcast (3-7pm) today through Wednesday at Awards Headquarters. Lots of artists scheduled to come by today including Justin Moore, Love and Theft, Rodney Atkins, Craig Morgan and lots more, of course. I'll be there with camera AND Flip Video camera in hand so we hope to bring as much of this back to you as quickly as possible on our Facebook page and our web site (www.eagle97.com). I'll also be at some of the parties, showcases and events throughout the week PLUS I'll be filling you in on who we saw where and with whom. Tis video camera may come in very handy...:)
Last night, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood showed up at our orientation meeting for the broadcast. We were there to find out tha Brad's "Welcome to the Future" was knocked out of the #1 spot by Carrie's "Cowboy Casanova". Also found out that Carrie thinks she'll have NINE costum changes before, during and after the awards. Brad planned on wearing the same thing all night, of course.
Shoul be a fun week. Hopefully, we'll be able to get you closer than you have been in the past.