Omaha: Somewhere in Middle America

Posted: August 27th, 2009 | Filed under: Baseball, Pop Culture | 40 Comments »

A Counting Crows song in the headline? Really?

Well, hey, I kind of like the Counting Crows. This once led to a horrendous argument with a friend of mine, who gave me about 700 solid reasons why the Counting Crows are a musical atrocity. My response was to sing “Mr. Jones and Me, stumbling through Barrio/Yeah, we stare at the beautiful women!” At some point, here, I’m going to put down the 10 songs I’m embarrassed to like. There will probably be a Counting Crows song on there.

Point is, I’m heading to Omaha to write a Sunday column for the Kansas City Star … probably my last official trip as an official columnist for the official newspaper. Of course, unofficially, I will continue to write an unofficial column for the Star. So … I don’t really know what’s changing.

All I need to say about the column itself is one word: Disco. And yes, it’s pretty astonishing that it took me this long to write about a smart side-arming reliever who writes a blog post with the headline: “Ouch, My Babip.”

I still hope to get a post up tonight — maybe late tonight from a hotel room in Omaha — about why this is the worst Royals team I’ve ever seen (believe it or not, it’s sort of a hopeful post), and I’ve got a couple more DVD Extras for The Machine, which is sweeping the nation*. And the Top 10 songs I am embarrassed to like. And, yes, a Snuggies update. How did I fall so far behind?

*Up to No. 491 on Barnes & Noble! And no, it’s not healthy at all for me to be checking those numbers.

40 Comments on “Omaha: Somewhere in Middle America”

  1. 1: Breaker said at 9:30 am on August 27th, 2009:

    That Disco piece is fantastic. He’s a bit off the deep end, but I hope that he represents the next generation of players that actually look at stats outside of the norm. The next step is getting those players through their careers and into the broadcast booth so that those advanced statistics actually get some airtime.

    Still first? Circle me Bert.

  2. 2: Ryan said at 9:31 am on August 27th, 2009:

    Say hi to my hometown for me.

  3. 3: Josh said at 9:37 am on August 27th, 2009:

    Can’t wait for the Disco Hayes column. Glad you got to it before leaving.

  4. 4: Ber said at 9:53 am on August 27th, 2009:

    Wow. Disco’s posts are longer than yours.

  5. 5: Jim Snell said at 9:54 am on August 27th, 2009:

    Gotta agree w/you on Counting Crows Mr. Jones. I like to stick it on playlists in combo with Me & Mrs. Jones, which is by some guy I probably should know whose first name, I’m pretty sure, is Billy.

    Looking forward to reading your Disco bit.

  6. 6: Mike said at 10:00 am on August 27th, 2009:

    Counting Crows may be one of the best bands to see live because they play a set of predictably good songs. There is almost no song that you hear and complain about but there’s no song they leave off the set list that you were dying to hear.

    A band of consistent singles hitters.

  7. 7: Spud said at 10:04 am on August 27th, 2009:

    Better them than Hootie and the Blowfish.

  8. 8: B.E. Earl said at 10:07 am on August 27th, 2009:

    Disco rocks in so many way!

  9. 9: Moe said at 10:20 am on August 27th, 2009:

    I’ve always really enjoyed Counting Crows. Not revolutionary but very solid.

    Course there’s some very strong feelings about a particular girl and a particular place which always helps….

  10. 10: Marmot said at 10:32 am on August 27th, 2009:

    LOVE that town!

    Was wondering why the trip thinking maybe it was an “is this the end of Alex Gordon” thing.

    Never would have guessed it’s on a folk hero non-prospect. At least he makes for good copy as they say.

  11. 11: Bellwether Johnson said at 10:32 am on August 27th, 2009:

    Please allow me to channel my inner-Tom Hanks from the “Sabra Price is Right” SNL sketch:

    *ahem*

    “Disco-Disco!! Good-Good!!
    Disco-Disco!! Good-Good!!”

    http://snltranscripts.jt.org/91/91ssabra.phtml

  12. 12: Jacob said at 10:55 am on August 27th, 2009:

    Hey, I like the Counting Crows too. Their only album I’ve heard is August and Everything After. It’s not Never Mind the Bollocks…, but it’s still a good listen.

  13. 13: Red said at 11:09 am on August 27th, 2009:

    Count me as a Counting Crows fan.

    Loved the Disco Hayes blog, although I do have one complaint. He should have used TPJ in the following sentence:

    “Look recently at the difference between .424 and .290 and we can go from Mauer to Mendoza pretty quickly. “

  14. 14: Chuck said at 11:17 am on August 27th, 2009:

    For all of you just discovering Disco’s blog, start here as it has links to his best entries:
    http://discohayes.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/07/best_blog_post_of_all_time.html. My vote goes to Poopsticks…

  15. 15: Dr. Smoooth said at 11:20 am on August 27th, 2009:

    There’s nothing wrong with liking the Counting Crows, Pos!

    Though the last CC concert I had the pleasure of attending looked like there was a fire at the Bananna Republic and everyone just walked over to Sandstone.

  16. 16: Mojo said at 11:30 am on August 27th, 2009:

    For some reason, I always get Counting Crows and Hootie & The Blowfish mixed up. But I think I like both of them.

  17. 17: Logan said at 12:11 pm on August 27th, 2009:

    A Snuggies update? Is this going to be about the new Designer Snuggies (www.designersnuggies.com) commercials I’ve been seeing? The luxurious new leopard and zebra prints?

  18. 18: Kermit said at 12:13 pm on August 27th, 2009:

    Ugh, your friend was right.

    The Counting Crows are an affront to the music gods.

  19. 19: Daniel said at 12:35 pm on August 27th, 2009:

    Booo to Spud (#7). I love Hootie and the Blowfish (and I’m not embarrassed about it!). Cracked Rear View was the first cd I ever owned. It has a special place in my heart.

    I am embarrassed to say that I enjoy several Jefferson Starship songs (Sarah, We Built This City, Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now).

  20. 20: per14 said at 12:36 pm on August 27th, 2009:

    Counting Crows are great and I’ve never met anyone who actually listened to their albums who didn’t like them. And I could argue they, along with the Gin Blossoms, were somewhat revolutionary. (Although much of what spun off in that mini-revolution was plain bad.)

  21. 21: Mark W said at 12:53 pm on August 27th, 2009:

    Disco Dan Ford….

    Why?

    Because I can…Thanks Joe!

  22. 22: Ant Bham said at 12:57 pm on August 27th, 2009:

    ["... about why this is the worst Royals team I’ve ever seen (believe it or not, it’s sort of a hopeful post)"] The only way it could be hopeful is if it presents information that David Glass is selling the team and that, therefore, Dayton Moore and Trey Hillman will be long gone come Spring.

  23. 23: Mike said at 1:25 pm on August 27th, 2009:

    I am 28 years old, and have often said that Adam Duritz of Counting Crows is the greatest songwriter of the generation I belong to. So I’d absolutely welcome a paragraph or two on these 700 reasons, because I’m willing to be wrong.

  24. 24: Chuck said at 1:41 pm on August 27th, 2009:

    How many words are in “Accidentally in Love?” That’s the only Counting Crows song I can think of that deserves any crap, though I guess a few songs could be considered a bit trite. Also, if you like to go to live shows and hear the songs played exactly as they sound on the album then you will certainly hate the Crows. I’m a fan of their ability and willingness to reinvent/reinterpret their songs…

  25. 25: Craig said at 1:43 pm on August 27th, 2009:

    My blog worlds are colliding – Disco Hayes and Joe Poz! What’s next, flying cars?

  26. 26: Neil said at 2:48 pm on August 27th, 2009:

    Your friend is emphatically wrong. And Adam Duritz is one of the top ten lead singers of the past 15 years. You may be able to take issue with my opinion on Duritz, but as a band… your friend is wrong. Counting Crows are very good.

  27. 27: TjMac said at 2:56 pm on August 27th, 2009:

    Any group influenced by Van Morrison and The Band can’t be all bad…and they’ve written some gems. They don’t break much musical ground, but give me strong songwriting over sonic revolution any day. Einstein on the Beach (For an Eggman) gets my vote as their best.

  28. 28: Andrew said at 3:10 pm on August 27th, 2009:

    I had the misfortune of seeing the Counting Crows at an outdoor beach venue in Virginia Beach a few years ago. Regardless of how you like their sound in the studio, they are perhaps the lowest-energy band in the universe when playing live; indeed, they were about halfway through “Mr. Jones” before any of us recognized what the hell they were playing. Imagine Steven Wright doing a semi-spoken-word cover of an entire Tori Amos album at Zbigniew Brzezinski’s funeral, and you’ve kinda got the gist of it.

    The only way the people around me survived the concert was by calling out random upbeat songs we wanted to hear the Counting Crows perform instead of the two-hour-long dirge we were getting. So picture a few dozen slightly inebriated, slightly annoyed beachgoers shouting “Play ‘Shiny Happy People!”, “Do ‘Summer of ’69!”, “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLAY ‘THE BANANA BOAT SONG!’”

    Had they actually *played* The Banana Boat Song, I would be on here defending them for you, Joe. Six foot, seven foot, eight foot bunch, indeed.

  29. 29: JasonL said at 3:33 pm on August 27th, 2009:

    I agree with the person who said they didn’t know anyone who’d actually listened and didn’t like them. And think about it…

    They have a good track record of influence you can actually hear (Dylan, The Band, Springsteen, Richard Thompson) without it sounding like they are outright imitating.

    Adam Duritz is a FANTASTIC lyricist. Seriously, go look as some of the lyrics to those songs, they are really, really good.

    Everyone in that band can play, but they don’t show off. They remind me of The Band a lot that way. It feels all loose and whatnot, but if they were really that loose, they’d screw up all the time, but they don’t.

    Also, I’ve seen them live with plenty of energy, so might have just caught them on a bad night, Andrew.

    I think, really, the reason people don’t like them is that the first album was just a little too successful. People tend to react negatively to anything that it is impossible to escape, and for a while, in the mid-90s, you could not escape the Counting Crows.

    End rant.

  30. 30: Mikey said at 3:46 pm on August 27th, 2009:

    Adam Duritz is a huge, reverential Big Star fan, so I find it hard to hold anything against him. He’s okay by me.

  31. 31: Andy L said at 4:25 pm on August 27th, 2009:

    I would like to hear some of those 700 reasons. Counting Crows is a legitimately great band that need not be liked ironically.

  32. 32: Eric Ferguson said at 6:25 pm on August 27th, 2009:

    Just giving props for the Sabra Price Is Right reference.

    Toshiba guts!

  33. 33: JasonL said at 6:29 pm on August 27th, 2009:

    Andy L,

    I gave 3 pretty good ones. I don’t know about 700, but, you know, hyperbole and all.

  34. 34: Marshall said at 7:32 pm on August 27th, 2009:

    I’m 27, and the Counting Crows are one of the very few bands from my generation that I like (I generally prefer classic rock).

    Counting Crows songs I love:
    Sullivan street
    Anna begins
    Murder of One
    Rain King
    Omaha
    Another Horsedreamer’s blues
    Mercury
    Recovering the Satelites
    Colorblind
    I wish I was a girl
    St. Robinson’s cadillac dream
    Hard Candy
    Butterfly in reverse
    Miami
    Up all night

  35. 35: BillG said at 8:38 pm on August 27th, 2009:

    @34: Marshall: Great list. Have to add “A Long December” though. A great tune if you are having a strange holiday season.

  36. 36: Mike S. said at 9:16 pm on August 27th, 2009:

    Go to BrewBurgers. As a former born and raised Omaha boy. It is awesome

  37. 37: mike in MN said at 8:19 am on August 28th, 2009:

    Great blog by the Disco dude. Pat Neshak has a similar outlook on pitching and looking at actual stats. Is there something about submarine pitchers and being smart?

  38. 38: Michele said at 9:47 am on August 28th, 2009:

    Not sure why Counting Crows get so much crap all the time. They’ve written some great, radio-friendly singles, but their albums are also full of gems. Duritz is a fantastic lyricist and vocalist. I’ve seen them live 6 or 7 times in the past 3 years, and have never, ever left disappointed. In fact, I just saw their latest tour on Tuesday night in NYC and it was one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen. They’re playing with Spearhead and Augustana and the result is pure joy on stage.

  39. 39: Shark said at 12:33 pm on August 28th, 2009:

    It was Billy PAUL that did Me and Mrs. Jones. Hall and Oates did a killer live version of that song too.

  40. 40: Denny said at 1:37 pm on August 29th, 2009:

    Hey Joe,

    One note. As Adam Duritz would tell you (as he did to at least one radio station DJ, live, on the air, in a pretty pissed-off tone), it’s actually just ‘Counting Crows,’ not ‘The Counting Crows.’ FYI. –denny, http://www.tracychapstick.com

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