Useless Rant

February 28, 2006

Hello T-Boners. Don't get too ramped up about the title. I am not going to
drone on about one topic the whole time. Since this column's inception,
when was the last time I could write more than 2 paragraphs about only
one particular topic? Couldn't think of a time? Me neither. On we go...

The Winter Olympics are all wrapped up and the biggest stories being
reported are not valid in my opinion. So many sports journalists, being the
constant pessimists that they are, feel like the USA was a disappointment in
the Torino Games. Give me a break! We finished 2nd in overall medals to
Germany and Germany is a Winter Games stud. Where are they during
the Summer Games? Out of sight, for the most part. I think too many
journalists have become spoiled in America's dominance during the
Summer Games that they think we are the rulers of the world in the snow
as well. I'd like to echo a statement made in NBC's closing ceremony on
Sunday night: The USA finished with more medals in Torino than any other
Winter Games held away from US soil. So how can we be disappointed?

Is it because all eyes were on Lyndsey Jacobellis, Bode Miller, Johnny
Weir, and Sasha Coen to bring in gold? We have a lot to be proud of from
our Olympians and we should applaud most of them for their efforts. Yes,
the Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick situation was a mess, but hopefully that
is over with. But what do we have to be proud of? Ted Ligety came from
totally off the radar to win the men's downhill combined. Joey Cheek is
what I'd love for people to remember the Olympics by. Shaun White and
the snowboarders were dominant. Don't trash it by saying that we
dominated because we invented it. That's such BS. Be proud for once
and look at the expressions on those guys. Yeah, Shaun White has long

The other Torino non-story is the lack of viewership. Here we go again
creating pessimism. I watched at least a little of the Olympics every day.
People at my office talked about it just about every day. I realize it doesn't
have the popularity of the Summer Games. I like the Summer Games more
too just because I actually swam and I competed against a lot of the people
you see winning medals. But I still believe in the Olympic spirit and I think
many other Americans do, too. The negativity that has spawned towards
the Olympics this year is bad for all of the sports involved.

People want to comment that American Idol and Survivor beat the
Olympics in ratings. Here's a clue folks, those shows would dominate the
Summer Games, too. Those are mammoth shows that any show would be
a fool to go up against and expect to win the ratings. The Olympics don't
have that luxury to pick a time. They can only go on the days that the
events were scheduled to take place.

It's no secret that I along with fellow Rock Pile columnist Anthony Elms hate
Dan Shanoff. Ok, I don't hate him, but most of his writings are complete
crap. He makes statements and when he's right, he gloats. When he's
wrong, he ignores it like he never made any statement at all. Check out
ESPN Page 2 and read some of the bogus crap that he writes on "The
Daily Quickie." But in my book, there is another sportswriter that has
emerged as even more of a complete buffoon. That writer is none other
than Skip Bayless. Who is this guy anyway? What has he accomplished?
He's on a show, Cold Pizza, that is easily the worst sports show ever. It
makes The Best Damn Sport Show Period look like breakthrough
television. And Skip tries to get loud and angry with his points like he's
right every time and nobody who disagrees with him has any business
even talking. His columns on Page 2 are completely baseless and he acts
like they are the gospel. He's also obviously trying to spark a Conan
O'Brien/Michael Bolton type feud amongst himself and Barry Bonds.
Anything for some attention, I'm sure. Or maybe it's to gain some of the
recent attention that Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy, has gotten for his open
criticisms of Knicks GM Isiah Thomas. In case you missed out, Isiah
threatened to beat Simmons on a recent appearence of Quite Frankly
with Stephen A Smith. Bayless can only hope to reach the success of
Simmons, despite having his crapfest of a show.

What were the Grammy's thinking giving the Band of the Year award to U2.
They haven't been good in years (more like decades). How to Dismantle
an Atomic Bomb was very craptastic and I couldn't even stand listening to
it. Let's get one thing straight, I really like U2. But this album was "no
bueno." If they thought that U2 was just due for an award, give them a
lifetime achievement award before honoring them for this garbage they put
on us last year.

I was originally excited about the World Baseball Classic, a world cup of
baseball. Now, with premier players pulling out because of pressure from
their professional teams or because they are being asked to play "off"
positions, my general interest in this competition is slim. In order for it to be
successful and for a nation to be truly playing for pride, each country
should have their premiere players in the competition. As of right now,
there is no way this could happen. While I generally condemn MLB
Commissioner Bud Selig for his performance, I will give him credit for trying
to make this a viable event. But I believe the cliche of "too little, too late"
has to apply in this instance.

Dancing With The Stars is not a show

That's all from me this week. Keep on keepin' on. Go out there and give it
110%.

Until then, throw up a "T" for...

T-BONE!

U2 is an Irish rock band featuring
Bono (Paul David Hewson) on vocals,
guitar and harmonica, The Edge
(David Howell Evans) on guitar,
keyboards and vocals, Adam Clayton
on bass, and Larry Mullen, Jr. on
drums.

U2 is one of the most popular rock
bands in the world and has been so
since the 1980s. According to the
RIAA, they have sold approximately
50.5 million albums in the U.S. and
over 150 million worldwide, had six #1
albums in the US and nine #1 albums
in UK and are widely considered one
of the most successful groups of all
time. The band has won 22 Grammy
awards, second only to Stevie Wonder
among pop artists. The band is also
very politically active in human rights
causes, such as the Make Poverty
History campaign as well as the
campaign spearheaded by Bono,
DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade in Africa).

U2 promoted How to Dismantle an
Atomic Bomb heavily. They made
appearances on TV shows like CD:UK
and Friday Night with Jonathan Ross in
Britain and Saturday Night Live in
America. The band also made a video
for the second North American single,
"All Because Of You", while riding on
a flatbed truck through the streets of
Manhattan on November 22. They
then played a free concert at a park
beneath the Brooklyn Bridge,
attracting over 30,000 fans who had
learned of the show on various U2 fan
websites.

In another first, the band entered an
extensive cross-promotion campaign
with Apple Computer: the band
allowed the single "Vertigo" to be used
in a widely aired television
commercial for the iPod music player
-- though the band did not receive any
royalties for the use of the song, due to
the commercial the song was well
known even before the release of the
album. This move shocked some fans
who remember U2's previous staunch
refusal to get involved in any product
promotion. The band also licensed a
special version of the iPod with a U2
design (black faceplate with red click
wheel, echoing the color scheme for
the new album) and facsimiles of the
bandmembers' signatures etched on
the back plate. The partnership also
led Apple's iTunes Music Store to
feature a collection known as The
Complete U2. The digital box set
features each U2 album in its entirety,
as well as every single and B-side ever
released, rare live sets, and previously
unreleased songs from recording
sessions of All That You Can't Leave
Behind and How to Dismantle an
Atomic Bomb. Owners of the U2
Edition iPod were able to purchase
this collection at a discount.

In Europe, the next single released
from the album - "Sometimes You
Can't Make It On Your Own" - once
again featured a Bono/Pavarotti
performance on the B-side. The
performance is a Jacknife Lee remix of
"Ave Maria" sung by Bono with
Luciano Pavarotti. The third single
from the album, "City of Blinding
Lights", entered the UK singles chart at
#2 on June 12.

In April 2004, Rolling Stone magazine
placed U2 in its 50 "greatest rock & roll
artists of all time". On March 14, 2005,
U2 was inducted into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of
eligibility. They were inducted by their
good friend Bruce Springsteen.

The first leg of the Vertigo Tour began
in the United States, with the band
performing 26 sold-out shows. The first
leg started off in March in San Diego,
California and finished in May in
Boston, Massachusetts. The band
performed well-known hits, songs from
the current album, and early rarities.
The second leg was a European
stadium tour, which started on June 10
in Brussels and finished on August 14
in Lisbon. They played in a number of
venues including Paris, Amsterdam,
London, Dublin, Rome and Oslo. The
band then returned to the United
States and finished up on December
19 in Portland, Oregon. Their featured
stop in Chicago, Illinois was filmed
over two nights in May, 2005 for the
live DVD U2 - Vertigo 2005 // Live
From Chicago. The DVD marks their
third live film since their 2001
Elevation Tour. U2 have smashed Irish
box office records with ticket sales for
their 2005 Croke Park, Dublin concerts,
after more than 240,000 tickets were
sold in record time. They performed
alongside Coldplay, Paul McCartney,
and Pink Floyd, among others, in the
Live 8 concert in London on July 2nd,
2005.

On December 18, 2005, Time
magazine awarded its prestigious
"Person of the Year" honor to Bono as
well as philanthropists Bill and
Melinda Gates [3].

On February 8, 2006, U2 won five
Grammy Awards, including the
prestigious 'Album of the Year' for
"How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb".
They also won 'Song of the Year' for
"Sometimes You Can't Make It On
Your Own", 'Best Rock Album' for
"Atomic Bomb," 'Best Rock
Performance By A Duo or Group' for
"Sometimes..." and 'Best Rock Song'
for "City of Blinding Lights." "If you
think this is going to go to our head, it's
too late," said Bono as he accepted
the award for 'Song of the Year.'






	Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everybody agrees that it is old enough to know better.