What a Week So Far

This has been one heck of a Country Radio Seminar, especially with music. Yesterday, we had the fortune of seeing Universal Music Group's entire roster perform, at least, one song on stage - Easton Corbin, Mallary Hope, Ryan Bingham (up for Oscar for song from "Crazy Heart"), David Nail, Lee Ann Womack, Gary Allan, Billy Currington, Vince Gill(!)and Sugarland. George Strait and Shania were the only no-shows. David Nail was awesome and what a thrill to see Vince Gill. Then., I had the chance to sit with Jason Aldean in an intimate setting in his suite with just a few folks. He is the next superstar for sure. Today, at lunch, Danny Gokey gave me a preview of what we will see at Eagle Winterblast 2010 on March 21st at Hampton Coliseum. You won't want to miss him. (BTW - He will perform on next Thursday night's American Idol show). Following Danny?....Alan Jackson who played for a good half hour including a new cut off his forthcoming album about the working man - typical AJ, of course!
Then, tonight, we were on the General Jackson for a show put on by the Sony Music folks. Brad Paisley, Kellie Pickler, Josh Thompson, Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood performed...then Brooks and Dunn got on stage and were joined by 80's superstar Bryan Adams for "Summer of '69". Then Bryan did a solo of his hit "Run To You". He and Carrie Underwood sang his hit "It's Only Love" and, finally, Brad Paisley jumped onstage for "Cuts Like a Knife". Another great night.
We also found out that Brad's concert at the Virginia Beach Amphitheater will have a "water" theme with some water "events" around the venue. Also, on the show will be Josh Thompson, Darius Rucker and Justin Moore. WOW!!!
More to come tomorrow night.

FIRST NIGHT IN NASHVILLE

Tonight I had the opportunity to attend the Country Radio Hall of Fame dinner honoring some DJ's, radio managers and Brooks & Dunn for Career Achievement. Two big momemts - Taylor Swift came onstage to intro one of the DJ's (no, not Jimmy Ray!). The second was Dierks Bentley performing with the bluegrass band, The McCoury's, and doing a blue grass version of "Red Dirt Road". Really cool rendition and you can tell that Dierks really likes the bluegrass thing. Don't be surprised if he hits town with this band and does a bluegrass show some time soon.
Big disappointment? Brooks and Dunn came on to accept their award and didn't even do a song, acoustically. Would have really enjoyed that considering every Career Achievement winner prior to this year has performed, at least, one song. Quite underwhelming just to hear them speak.
Biggest news so far is that Ronnie and Kix are BOTH working on solo projects to come out later this year or early next year. Lots of neat stuff tomorrow as the seminar really gets rolling.

WAS HE SINCERE OR NOT? SHOULD WE CARE?

I was one of the millions, obviously, who watched Tiger Woods' televised apology yesterday and, like others, I watched again a couple of more times just to see if my first reaction would stick....and it did. I know it was somewhat orchestrated and very controlled. I know it was Tiger reading from a piece of paper. I know there were to be no questions. So I listened and watched. And I listened and watched....AND I listened and watched. Three times. Same reaction. The man did what he needed to do for us, the viewing and listening public. He has no responsibility to us beyond that. He apologized;he took full blame and responsibility;he knows that he let everyone down. I'm satisfied with that. And we ALL should be. What drove me crazy (and being in the media, it was somewhat embarassing to watch and hear) were all the "reactions" and "analysis" of what each "expert" thought of this. Enough! Let's now move on and pray that the man can get his life straight, turn himself around and, most of all, become that family man he said he wants to be. What happens now is between Tiger, his wife and the rest of his family. It is no one else's business. How about we nake sure our own live's are headed in the right direction?

SPEAKING OF FURLOUGHS AND PAY CUTS.........

Our schools in the Hampton Roads area are living through a bit of paranoia this week after our new Governor's announcement of some massive budget cuts in the state, particularly in education. My wife is a state employees who works within a school system here and has relayed to me how stressful the week has been for teachers, administrators, and other school staff members. It led me to wonder, first of all, how many of THESE people are actually responsible for the state's high deficit. I am going to guess barely 0.5%, if that. Yes, it's the state government, who set these past budgets and did the actual spending who gets away, somewhat, scott-free! The same applies, obviously, to our federal government. Have we seen ANY senators or congressman taking pay cuts or unpaid holdays ("furloughs" as they are called)? If there is one, please tell me. These folks are the ones responsible for our government's budget being in the state it is yet we (and especially educators) are the ones who suffer. I think we would all be able to handle this situation in a more positive sense, if we saw our own lawmakers sacrificing as we are. Somehow, I don't feel this is a team effort. Let's hope we don't permanently debilitate our education system with these cuts.

Is the Big Game Really Super?

Have you noticed all of the advertising that refers to the Super Bowl as "The Big Game"? The NFL has certain restrictions on the use of the name "Super Bowl" since they have it trademarked. They don't permit anyone using the name for any type of financial gain UNLESS, of course, you are a Super Bowl sponsor - meaning you're willing to shell out the millions it costs to be one.n That's okay, of course!
Let's be real here! Does it really make that big of a difference if a local TV store sells their TV's for "The Big Game" or the "Super Bowl"? We all know what the "Big game" is (unless we've been under a rock for the past month). Heck, this event is so big that someone in Congress has even brought up the consideration of making the following Monday a holiday. The Super Bowl IS an American event so why should we not be able to capitalize on it. We do for Valentine's Day, Mothers' Day, Fathers' Day, etc. So, if somebody decided to trademark Valentine's Day and follow the same restrictions as the NFL, would advertisers have to refer to that day as "Your Day of Love" in lieu of the trademarked name? Ridiculous.
So, I'm having a Super Bowl party during which I'll be playing various "games" that require participants to drop a small amount of cash into a "kitty". Since there is possible financial gain there, is the NFL coming to my house on Sunday to present a "cease and desist" order? Or YOUR house? If so, they better get busy printing up about a million! Of course they won't. How can they police it if we all just decide how ridiculous this trademark is and just call the "Big Game" what it is - THE SUPER BOWL!!! Enjoy your Super Sunday.
(BTW - I'll take the Saints!)

One Sad Observation

My 11-year old is not into sports. She claims if she has to sweat, that isn't good. So, our definite "girly-girl" has become a cheerleader. (Between you and I, I won't tell her that you sweat twice as much and work twice as hard doing this!). Because of her decision, my wife and I get to see her cheering at weekly basketball games and we get to see the games from a very different perspective. We get to see how some parents really can be an encouraging force in a young child's life and how some can be a definite negative influence, too. It's the latter that makes me write this today. Last night, we had the "misfortune" of sitting next to a man who thought he was Dean Smith and John Wooden all rolled into one. (For those who don't know, they are Hall of Fame, retired college basketball coaches.) This man had two 11-year olds playing in this game and, throughout the game, he persisted in chastising each of the boys for not "going to to ball" or "hustling down the court". At one point, when one of the boys had an open shot as the ref blew his whistle for a foul on the other side of the court, he turned and said. "He wouldn't have made it anyhow". We withstood his frustrating grunts and groans throughout the game and I watched as the boys would look over at him on the court with both fear and embarrassment. I watched two other sets of parents constantly encourage their children whether it be for something good or for some on court mistake. It didn't matter to them. They were just happy to see their sons having fun playing a game. The man next to us, though, was treating this game as if it were the NCAA Championship. Little did I know that the worst was yet to come. After the game had ended and everyone was filing out to their respective transportation, here was this man berating the two boys for their play on the court. The boys were tired, frustrated and, you can tell, once again, embarrassed by his display. As they walked away, I could hear him say that this was "constructive criticism". I did all I could to stay away. All I could do was leave with a sad feeling as to how this night will affect those boys in future games and in the future, in general.
Let this be a lesson to all of us who are parents. Let's remember to allow our children to make mistakes and learn from them. Let's allow our children to be what they are, children. Let 'em have some fun before they really grow up.

HOW PROMINENT WAS THIS STORY?

Okay, so we hear, day in and day out, about this athlete or that athlete blatantly breaking the law or doing something else that sheds a negative light on them. Of course, those stories are PLASTERED all over the paper and our TV screens. Well, here's a story that merited 3 paragraphs in the paper and not ONE mention on ESPN News this morning.
Did you see what Hampton Roads' native (and former NBA Star) Alonzo Mourning has done to help the Haitians? He and current NBA star Dewayne Wade established The Haitian Earthquake Relief Fund and, with the help of a number of athletes, raised $800,000 in a matter of a weekend. NBA stars Lebron James, Chris Paul and Wade all donated $100,000 or more. They, along with Alonzo are known for their philanthropy, but now check out the other names on the list: Gilbert Arenas of the NBA's Washington Wizards (for those who don't know, he's the NBA player who brought unloaded guns into his team's locker room recently); Donte Stallworth (Remember him? The NFL suspended him for the year for a DUI accident that killed a pedestrian); Michael Vick (Need I say more here!); Patriots' Receiver Randy Moss (Never considered a saint by anyone), Buffalo Bills' receiver Terrell Owens (he's the one who has a habit of wearing out his welcome everywhere he plays)and many more from both the NBA and the NFL. Okay, so some of the athletes, I have mentioned, are not angels BUT here's living proof that they are actual human beings who believe in improving the human condition but, since it wasn't negative news, we'll have to search to find it and that, to me, speaks volumes. So, let's cut these athletes a break and give them SOME credit for having a heart. This is one media guy who wants the world to know.