My Mount Rushmore of 20th Century Music

I want to talk about Mount Rushmore today. I'm talking about Mount Rushmore the concept rather than the historic landmark. The concept is putting four people, in metaphoric stone, above all others for eternity. My friends have a Mount Rushmore of NFL coaches for example. It generally includes Vince Lombardi, Chuck Noll, and Bill Walsh with the fourth spot being hotly contested. The Mount Rushmore I'm speaking of today is for 20th century music, which, with all due respect to Beethoven, Bach, et al, is when music took off with the birth of rock and roll. The first person carved into my rock is Robert Johnson. He laid the foundation for electric blues and the other three men on my monument. He only recorded 38 songs but they are some of the most important recordings in music history. Even Eric Clapton said he'd never heard anything more soulful. The second is Muddy Waters. McKinley Morganfield was from Mississippi, like Johnson and learned the guitar while working on Stovall Plantation. He took the blues sound to Chicago and electrified it, changing his name to Muddy Waters along the way. In the movie "Crossroads" Willie Brown says "Muddy Waters discovered electricity" and he couldn't be more correct. Waters crossed over and took delta blues to new heights. Howlin' Wolf is the third member of my Mount Rushmore. Wolf was an amazing vocalist and bandleader, who along with Waters, influenced some working class kids from England, with names like Clapton, Page, Jagger, and Richards, and started a revolution called the British Invasion. The last one may raise some eyebrows because I think he's the king of rock and roll but I'm in the minority; it's Chuck Berry. Now Elvis fans are going to be upset with me but there's some logic behind my thinking. I really thin Elvis was the first "brand" entertainer. He was bigger than just a musician. He was a movie star and American icon. We still print stamps of him 30 years after his death. Chuck Berry on the other hand, was a rock star. He also had a hand in the British Invasion and laid the foundation for modern guitar rock. These four gentlemen represent the most influential and best the twentieth century has to offer.

The Death of Sports Loyalty

Today's blog is a buzzword that is thrown around in sports, LOYALTY. Older sports fans wonder what became of it and some even go as far as to say it ruined the game. Would the Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s have won four Super Bowls if there had been free agency in the NFL then? Would their star players have stayed for the championships or left for more money? On the other hand, with the current NFL salary cap Pittsburgh's management would have been forced to let players go? It seems that coaches, players, and management have free reign to go to the highest bidder. Now the average sports fan may preach loyalty, but they would have a hard time resisting the large sums of money that are offered in sports today. Even colleges have gotten in on the act, hiring big name coaches and luring coaches who are considered "hot names" from smaller schools. Coaches will also leave top schools for their "dream jobs" in what's basically a lateral move. These moves can enrage the passionate sports fan and create animosity towards teams, players, coaches, and management. Nick Saban has left multiple organizations for money and the stroking of his ego. Numerous baseball players have jumped from their teams to teams with deeper pockets. Can you really blame them as a fan? The days are gone when you knew your team would be together and your stars would always be there. Unfortunately this is what sports fans have to accept going into the future. Hired gun coaches will also be a part of it. As a fan of college athletics, this bugs me more. There won't be anymore Don Haskins, Bob Knights, or John Wooodens who spend twenty five plus years at one school and who's names are synonymous with their schools. College sports have gone the route of the pros and winning now and having the best pay at the best schools are paramount. I guess I need to get with the times too.