A contest … and the week ahead
Posted: December 14th, 2009 | Filed under: Media | 59 Comments »
So, I’m about to announce details for a new contest — winner will get a free week at Royals fantasy camp.
Here are a few details for you to consider.
Dates: February 1 through 5.
Includes: As far as I know, it includes everything except airfare. It includes accommodations, your own personalized jerseys, all the ball you could want and all the medical treatment you will need. I did it a few years ago and it was one of the great weeks of my life.
Players: I need to get some confirmations, but I’m told George Brett, Frank White, Bret Saberhagen, John Mayberry, Paul Splittorff and numerous other all-time Royals’ greats will be there. The Royals really do this fantasy camp right … the big stars are there.
So, the idea behind this contest is to raise some awareness (and even some money) for Harvesters, Kansas City’s only food bank. I’m working hard on that part. If you are interested in entering this contest, I would suggest that you start following me on Twitter at JPosnanski. It’s not 100% necessary — I’ll post details here on the blog as well — but one thing I can say about this contest is that it will require some quick timing … and a little bit of writing as well.
OK, so hopefully that will get you pumped up. This is a huge contest giveaway — retail value is like $3,500. So, get ready.
In the meantime, blog posts coming this week, assuming I can get to them … and yes, some of these are left over:
– The 10 greatest pitchers ever.
– Holiday sports gift guide.
– The Pozman 2000s — the final segment of the longest SI Sportsman of the Year blog post ever.
– The genius of the Verizon commercials. Still doing this.
– My best Hall of Fame case and someone on the ballot who still drives me nuts.
– Thoughts about my new favorite infomercial.
– Ranking the fast food chains. Requests have come in for ranking the comfort chains — Applebee’s, Friday’s, etc. I can do that if you prefer. I put up a poll about it.
– The 10 best Bob Dylan songs from someone who is not all that crazy about Bob Dylan.
Loading ...
Circle me, Mr. Tamborine Man?
Would there be 10 songs? I’ll have to go look on youtube to see if I’ve ever heard a Bob Dylan song
I guess the winner of this contest is going to be Tangled Up In Blue.
Har, har. How do I do it?
“Top 10″ lists just beg the expert in all of us to weigh in. Starting pitchers are my specialty, so I’m hoping your roster is close to my divine dozen:
Young, Cy
Johnson, Walter
Nichols, Kid
Clemens, Roger
Alexander, Pete
Grove, Lefty
Maddux, Greg
Mathewson, Christy
Clarkson, John
Johnson, Randy
Keefe, Tim
Seaver, Tom
I already had a rather lengthy discussion about this, but “Don’t Think Twice” is Bob Dylan’s best song whether you’re a big Dylan fan or not.
As someone who is crazy about Dylan, I’m interested to see your list. And, no, Mr. Tamborine Man should not be on it.
Of course, the last line from “Positively 4th Street” is one of the best lines ever written:
“I wish, that for just one time, you could stand inside my shoes. I wish, that for just that one moment, i could be you. I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes; then you’d know what a drag it is to see you.”
As a Dylan fan, I can’t wait for the list.
Speaking of Dylan, wasn’t he originally going to write 2 or 3 volumes of Chronicles? Anyone know the status of that?
I think it’s obvious that best pitchers of all time — every last one of them — played before baseball was integrated.
So, who wins more games? The 2010 Royals as currently projected or the 2010 Royals using the former Royals that participate in Royals fantasy camp?
Like a Rolling Stone. By a long shot.
Oh, put me down for “Blowin’ in the Wind.” Sentimental favorite ever since I played in middle-school orchestra.
In no particular order…
Shelter from the Storm
Visions of Johanna
Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands
Positively 4th Street
Mr. Tambourine Man
Queen Jane Approximately
Fourth Time Around
Just Like a Woman
Boots of Spanish Leather
Like a Rolling Stone
2nd place is 2 passes to Royals Fantasy week.
3rd place of course is “you’re fired.”
Mixed emotions on the Bob Dylan thing. Bob’s songs are way better than his singing skills in later years. Are we rating his performance, or the songs themselves?
All Along the Watchtower
Is it proper for me, not really a Royals fan, to enter the contest? Back in the 70’s, I was sort of a Royal fan in the any-enemy-of-the-Yankees-is-my-friend way, and the Royals seemed to meet the Yanks in the playoffs just about every year.
I mean, I’d love to win and hang out with those 70’s Royals players you mentioned, but it would probably be more special to someone who really was a Royals fan growing up.
What the ethics on this anyway?
Nate
Top Ten Pitchers Combine with Bob Dylan songs
1
1-Satchel Paige – Forever Young
2-RickAnkiel-I threw it all away
3-Bruce Chen-I shall be released
4-Kyle Davies – One more cup of coffee
5-Wimpy Quinn(1941)-the Mighty Quinn
6-Jeremy Affeldt-Just like tom thmbs blues
7-Stu Miller-Blowin in the Wind
8-Brian bannister-Not Dark yet
9-Juan Crus-Going going gone
10-David Wells-Ballad of a thin man
MrCasual:
How bout “Just like Tom (thumb) Seaver’s blues?
Generally my favorite Dylan song is whatever one I listened to last. I can never get enough. I’m SO glad he’s been opening up the vaults. Tell-Tale Signs is one of my absolute favorite albums by anyone ever. 99.9% of musicians would kill to do an album that good in their entire life, and to think it’s 2 discs comprised solely of outtakes and unreleased stuff, and only from post-1989, when he was nearly 30 years into his career. The man is beyond incredible.
I’d put Dignity, off the early 90’s mtv cd in my Dylan top 10.
Circle me Just Like a Woman, Joe, because I’m going to win your contest.
Not a Bob Dylan fan so I hope there is statstical analysis to support your choices. And no cheating by using counting stas like Total Lyrics, or Chord Changes, but something really helpful like CCpL : Chord Changes pre Lyric. And if we’re to really take this seriously, it needs to by adjusted by era and home studio. Put that all together and make sure around 100 = an exactly average song.
Ok, maybe this would have been funnier if I used the Fast Food rankings. Someone get on that please?
Thanks
Joe, maybe I’m selfish, but I’d like to read a post on fast-food chains and comfort chains. The survey needs a “both” answer!
Can we get the cash equivalent? I could use $3500. I could not use a week at Royals Fantasy Camp.
OK, I’ll bite. What the hell is the difference between a “fast food chain” and a “comfort food chain”? Bad food is bad food. Do you get to fart at the table at a comfort food chain?
@#14 Mike – Where are the steak knives?
Favorite Dylan Song? “Stuck in the middle with you” — I keed, I keed!
By the way, why does everyone refer to 2012 in regards to the Royals? Did Dayton Moore make a quote related to that date
(trust the process!), or are all Royals fans just anticipating the sweet release that the end of the world would provide?
The best Bob Dylan songs, while written by him, are all performed by other people.
@#5 Gene, I take it you saw last week’s episode of Friday Night Lights.
If not, seek it out.
I love the idea of trying to combine the top ten Dylan songs with the top ten pitchers list. What a challenge.
For example, my favorite Dylan song really is Tangled Up In Blue; I love the sense of being on a journey, of being older and wiser than when you started, and still looking back on it all with some wonder. And knowing what we know about Satchel Paige, it is SO EASY for me to hear him in that song.
So I nominate Satch and Tangled Up In Blue as a pairing. Nine more to go, if you dare.
Good luck with trying to rank Dylan songs. I’ve found he’s an artist impossible to rank in a traditional way. His genius never was with producing singles, but with the whole feeling of an entire album.
And he’s simply astounding at crafting albums. Aside from his I-found-Jesus era music, it’s high art all the way through.
It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) – One of the most powerful songs ever written. Ever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoq8X3D31DE
…”Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn
Suicide remarks are torn
From the fool’s gold mouthpiece
The hollow horn plays wasted words
Proves to warn
That he not busy being born
Is busy dying”…
http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs/its-alright-ma-im-only-bleeding
“The 10 greatest pitchers ever.”
Is Greinke number 1?
You love Springsteen but not a Dylan fan??
Greatest pitchers ever… Tough one, Greinke will hopefully be on there someday, but as he points out he’s got some more wins to get.
Now anyone care to explain the latest Phillies rumors? Trading for Halladay and trading Lee? I understand getting Halladay but why would you trade away a cheap (baseball pitching economics wise) #1 / #2 pitcher? Especially when it looks like you’re trying to go for it all?
Desolation Row
PhilM @4: Really? Maddux, Clemens, Johnson but no Pedro?
@Matt (#38) – It gets back to that omnipresent conundrum: peak vs. career. I try to assess career value, so Pedro is my #15, though he should overtake Gaylord Perry for #14 in 2010. (Spahn is #13.) I suppose a peak list would have Koufax, Pedro, Smokey Joe Wood, and my personal favorite Ron Guidry on it. WWJD? (What will Joe do?)
Best Dylan song: Baby Let Me Follow You Down, especially the version he does with The Band on The Last Waltz.
And this: “3-Bruce Chen-I shall be released” is simply genius
Idiot Wind
Awesome, and he successfully sued when “I Only Wanna Be With You” by Hootie and the Blowfish ripped off the lyrics from that song.
Appalling? Scary? Awesome? You’re *that* thoroughly versed in the, um, menus of all those places? Fast and comfort? Way too much time on the road, Joe. Way, way too much.
My top 10 Dylan songs (in no particular order)
1. Like A Rolling Stone (the “Play Fuckin’ Loud!” version from the Royal Albert Hall bootleg)
2. Hurricane (even though everything I’ve read seems to indicate that Rubin Carter really WAS guilty, it’s still a scathing indictment of the legal/judicial system)
3. When I Paint My Masterpiece.
4. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again.
5. Day Of The Locusts.
6. Idiot Wind.
7. Shelter From The Storm.
8. A Hard Rains A-Gonna Fall.
9. Blowin’ In The Wind.
10. Subterranean Homesick Blues.
10. The Ballad Of Frankie Lee And Judas Priest.
10. Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues.
10. Isis.
10. She’s Your Lover Now.
10. Masters Of War.
I just couldn’t stop at ten!
@ Marty #16: Winner!
@#40
I’m not sure that Hootie’s use of those lyrics count as “ripping off.” In the song, they specifically cite Dylan.
I’m getting The Machine for Christmas. I’m looking forward to reading it as I’m a huge fan of 1970’s MLB…I’ll be comparing it against October Men and 1964. I think it will stand up favorably, but if it doesn’t do I get a refund?
Favorite Dylan song: Hurricane
PhilM @ 4
No offense to John Clarkson and Tim Keefe, but if we were include great underhanded pitchers in our list, we might as well add Kat Osterman and Jenny Finch.
I would replace in your list with the aforementioned Pedro and Warren Spahn.
The contest has been cancelled? What happened?! NOOOOO!!!!!!! Can’t we get some stimulus dollars to fix it?
Slapshots ring out in the October night
Enter the head coach from the player’s bench
Sees the goaltender sittin’ in a pool of red light
Calls out, “Get the backup in there now!”
Here comes the story of the Hurricanes
The ones the media have come to blame
For all those games they never won
Sittin’ in the box when they coulda been
The champions of the world…
Meanwhile, far away in another part of town
Erik Cole and a couple of friends are drivin’ around
A top contender for the Eastern Conference crown
Then they dropped the puck and the losses started comin’ down
Refs whistlin’ them for all those bogus calls
Just like the time before and the time before that
In Carolina that’s just the way things go
You might as well not even show up on the scoresheet
‘Less you wanna draw the heat
Jim Rutherford built this team from scratch
Got him some defensmen and a couple of scorers
Said his goalie was one of the best that there was
But the team kept gettin’ worse and he had to face the reporters
He said “All my guys are hurt and they’re on the IR
Ain’t gonna fire my coach or bench my star
We’ve just gotta have a little time
Get our team into a little climb
Just last year we won two playoff rounds!”
Two months later and the Hurricanes are still dead-last
Bloggers sayin’, “Hey, isn’t this the new NHL?
Everyone’s above .500 now, how can this pass?
We’re looking like the ‘75 Capitals!”
This is the story of the Hurricanes
Out of the playoff race by Christmastime
They’ve gotta hope the ping-pongs run
So they can at least draft #1
But they could’ve been champions of the world!
nightfly #49 — Well played, sir.
Perry #21 — I know what you mean. “Tell Tale Signs” is currently my all-time favorite Dylan album (that rating will change over time as my brain rearranges the ordering, again). Really, now — his “throw-aways” or “leftovers” include “Most of the Time”, 2 versions of “Mississippi”, “Huck’s Tune”, and a live version of “Lonesome Day Blues” (among others)?! Good grief!
ByeByeBalboni #34 — You took the words right out of my mouth. Joe P is not the first person I have encountered with this “disorder” (is there any other appropriate word for it?). How in the world can you like Springsteen and NOT like Dylan? Especially since the Boss himself said his goal was to produce like Phil Spector, sing like Roy Orbison, and write like Bob Dylan.
Darren Rasmussen #42 — Minor quibble, but it’s “Play IT fucking loud!” Sure shut the “Judas” guy up pretty good, huh?
Gotta like your list since you appear to be the only one here (besides me) who votes for “Memphis Blues Again”. “Frankie Lee” is another good one.
For my own list:
1. All Along the Watchtower
2. Like a Rolling Stone
3. Idiot Wind
4. Isis
5. Gotta Serve Somebody
6. Love Minus Zero/No Limit
7. It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
8. Not Dark Yet
9. Visions of Johanna
10. Mr. Tambourine Man (just to piss off some folks)
There should be a contest for the worst Dylan songs. The man has written 400-500 great songs but I bet there is a 100 or so bad ones.
Worst Dylan songs! What a crazy idea. And I wonder just how many songs on that ‘Bottom 10′ list would be duplicated on someone elses ‘Top 10′ list! Such is the complexity of Bob Dylan…
@50. David in NYC – why would Tambourine Man piss people off? It’s beautiful, spellbinding, timeless, romantic, and more that I can’t express… the way the arrangements change over time and the emotions remain… I don’t know.
Let’s let the listeners decide:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4xiUrigMIc
Mr. Tambourine Man would sure make my top 10.
Take me for a trip upon your magic, swirling ship,
My senses have been stripped,
My hands can’t feel to grip,
My toes too numb to step,
Wait only for my boot heels to be wandering.
I’m ready to go anywhere,
I’m ready for to fade
Into my own parade.
Cast your dancing spell my way,
I promise to go under it.
Though you might hear laughing spinning, swinging madly across the sun,
It’s not aimed at anyone,
It’s just escaping on the run,
And but for the sky there are no fences facing.
And if you hear vague traces of skipping reels of rhyme,
To your tambourine in time,
I wouldn’t pay it any mind,
It’s just a ragged clown behind,
It’s just a shadow you’re seeing that he’s chasing.
Then take me disappearing down the smoke rings of my mind,
Down the foggy ruins of time,
Far past the frozen leaves,
The haunted, frightened trees,
Out to the windy beach,
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow.
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky,
With one hand waving free,
Silhouetted by the sea,
Circled by the circus sands,
With all memory and fate,
Driven deep beneath the waves,
Let me forget about today until tomorrow.
Works for me.
Before this gets too far, let’s get some rationality here; “Don’t Think Twice” is a cool song, but not amongst Dylan’s ten best, much less his pinnacle moment.
And “Mr. Tambourine Man” IS one of his 10 best…it even survived the Shatner treatment.
#49 Nightfly I like your style
Bobby A #53 –
That was for Brian #6, who seems to be of an opinion contrary to yours and mine (and most listeners, I would bet). Sorry the snark wasn’t obvious.
I agree with Perry #54; it is an astonishing work of poetry alone, never mind the music (which is also outstanding). Not to mention that the Byrds’ cover is one of the seminal 45s in R&R history.
I can’t believe no one’s mentioned my favorite Dylan song that I can’t get sick of: “Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts.” I have no idea what it’s about, but God, I love it.
For the Dylan lovers who can’t understand Joe’s positions on Springsteen and Dylan, I would think about it this way. Comparing Dylan to Springsteen is an exercise in futility. While Bruce is a fine songwriter, his calling card is performance. For every Springsteen fan I know (myself included), the passion is centered on seeing him live. Dylan, in his career has been, at best, a mixed liver performer –reasonably strong at times, remarkably weak during other periods. He is, however, one of the finest songwriters of any period.
At the end of the day, comparing Dylan to Springsteen is like comparing Irving Berlin to Sinatra — a composer to a performer.