High Horse – Regular Guy

Caring by Not Caring

brian — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 19:27:25 +0000

My career as a full-time journalist ended almost 22 years ago. I last wrote something for a newspaper about 7 years ago. My identity is no longer wrapped up in that profession. I haven’t felt that way for a long time. However, I am immensely grateful especially right now for one of the lessons I learned in the decade where newspapers ruled every aspect of my life.

I have an incredible ability to not give a shit about the minutiae around sports because I had to write about the minutia around sports all the time.

Spending so much time as a full-time sports writer made me gain an incredible appreciation for sports on their own. I didn’t need to argue every finer point or take a position on every drama. I learned that I could just sit back and watch a game to appreciate the skills of the people involved and the chaos that can come from any competition.

In the end, I realize that none of it matters. Maybe a few things do, but they only matter to the people involved. That’s why I ask you sports talk radio or punditry because they really are just exercises in useless conversation.

Fast forward to this week when the college wrestling community, especially on Twitter, lost their collective minds over an injustice that some worry will destroy the sport as we know it for all eternity. The crime that will bring about this ruin? Some wrestlers decided to not compete in the final match of their conference tournament instead of risking injury or an embarrassing loss two weeks before the NCAA championship tournament.

Pretty much all of these guys were guaranteed a spot in the national tournament when they decided to take what is known in the sport as a medical forfeit. The extent of their injuries was not always clear, but the rigors of a collegiate wrestling season catch up to everyone by this time of the year.

That is the worst insult grown-ass men watching on television could ever imagine. I could not believe how people lost their minds. Well, I guess I should because as I sit back in my hobby chair of enjoyment, I have seen lots of idiots going crazy over things that matter very little in the scheme of things. But this was beyond the pale.

One guy even traced back to a match in December when one wrestler decided not to compete in a dual meet against another highly ranked opponent. He said that decision was part of a season-long scheme to game the system in order to have a better road to the finals match at the national tournament. Somehow, this kid and his coach knew how every other match in his weight class would end up back in December so he could enact his master plan in March. Diabolical!

These points often come from people who are sad that they never achieved what they wanted to and need to insult other athletes in order to overcome their weaknesses. One of my problems with the wrestling community, like other niche communities I am part of, is the people involved. They can ruin it with their myopia and selfishness.

But I won’t let that get to me. I intend to sit in front of the television watching all three days of the NCAA tournament and loving every second of it because sports, when it comes down to it, are awesome. I can just do without the fans.

No Turning Back

brian — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 16:08:03 +0000

I have spent years with one philosophy – cable TV is not the devil. Some people I knew would brag about how few channels they had, and I would point out all that they had missed. I defended cable prices by saying that we got value for what we paid.

But over the past couple of years, I started to see things in a different light. First of all, my daughter, like a lot of teens, found her entertainment in places other than the cable box. Secondly, streams of shows on network sites or places like Hulu made the DVR almost obsolete for me. Lastly, some companies started to find new ways to offer cable channels.

That’s how we found ourselves downgrading our cable package to the lowest possible level – a level I used to mock – recently. We only get local channels and a few shopping networks. I had kind of wanted to go even further and ditch cable altogether, but my wife’s PBS habit and the knowledge that Comcast would jack up our Internet rate killed that idea.

So we now get our cable through Playstation Vue, which costs just half of the money we have saved by downgrading our cable (and getting rid of the DVR and the sports package). I can only think of one or two channels we don’t get that I wished we still had, but we will survive.

The experience has been great so far. I have had a couple of instances where the network cut out or the Roku box we use reset, but the disruptions have been minimal. I can use my PS Vue credentials to sign into a number of TV apps, including Watch ESPN so I get the full experience.

I do miss having a TV guide (we use the Roku, which doesn’t have that feature) or being able to channel surf easily, but those are small disruptions. I have had no problem watching sports via the Roku, which provides a solid stream.

We chose Vue because of the price and selection of channels. Sling TV just didn’t have enough and limited each subscription to one stream at a time, which just wasn’t going to cut it. But I am eager to see what other options come available. Being able to cancel one and start another without delay or penalty could be interesting in the next year or so.

I have already inspired at least one friend to do the same. Even if you love your cable service, check out Vue or Sling or keep an eye on the service Hulu plans to roll out next year. You might save some money without missing a beat in your viewing habits.

Bragging About Nothing

brian — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 13:04:29 +0000

I have to admit, I used to do this. I still might do it on occasion, but I try to avoid this particular annoyance as much as possible these days. Partially because I realize it doesn’t matter, but mostly because I have realized how stupid it sounds.

People have to stop bragging about not doing things.

I’m not talking about the not doing things that I admire, like spending a whole day on your couch in sweats watching TV for no good reason. That is admirable and should be shared with the world. I’m talking about the kind of not doing things that annoying sports business writer Darren Rovell tweeted about over the weekend.

Realize it’s not what majority want to do, but it’s my 8th year of not filling out a bracket. Don’t think I will ever go back.

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) March 15, 2015

This one got me for a couple of reasons. First of all, I love March Madness and fill out brackets like they are going out of style. I have done this forever so the fact that not filling out a bracket is some sort of badge of honor just makes me roll my eyes. Second, it was from Rovell, who is a twit.

But this isn’t just about March Madness brackets. We see it with any cultural phenomenon. People like to brag that they don’t care about the Super Bowl or Super Bowl commercials or the Oscars (I have been guilty of that) or pretty much any sports or pop culture event that brings people together.

I like some of those things and don’t like others, but why should I or anyone else feel compelled to puff our chest out when we aren’t interested in something a lot of other people like? Twitter and Facebook, that’s why.

I love social networks like those, but that’s pretty much the whole reason for this. People who love these events talk about them a lot, and those who are not included feel like they need to join the conversation if only to say they don’t want to join the conversation. It’s the ultimate “look at me move.”

Which is why the ultimate “look at me” guy Darren Rovell was the one that kind of set me over the edge. As I said, I am sure I have done this, usually with the Oscars and Grammys. I think I have learned my lesson. If you want credit for not doing something, you’re probably the kind of guy people don’t want joining them while they enjoy their favorite things. So just shut up.

Change the Focus

brian — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 13:18:19 +0000

I have a complicated relationship with pop culture. I really enjoy pretty much all forms of entertainment and am fascinated by the people that can do those sorts of things. But I hate the attendant drooling over every single aspect of these people’s lives, especially when people start getting obsessed with bad things that happen to bad people.

Amanda Bynes is self-destructive. Then stop giving her the attention. Kim and Kanye gave their baby a weird name. Why does that matter? Paula Deen is racist. We get it. Move on, let her career fall apart and stop picking it apart.

This last one bugs me the most because, at the same time, a true leader in entertainment died and gets a sliver of the attention. Part of this is because Gary David Goldberg didn’t want the spotlight, but when you hear what happened when he randomly struck up a conversation with actor Ike Barinholtz (Morgan from “The Mindy Project), you should realize that he deserved attention for simply being a good human being. Oh, and he created “Family Ties” and “Spin City” and won numerous writing awards.

Why do we celebrate those who bring out the worst in themselves? I know I will never get an answer and people will tell me how much fun it is to watch a trainwreck. Yeah, it can be entertaining, but what do you accomplish by standing alongside the smoldering wreckage and continuing to talk about the trainwreck while ignoring those people who didn’t crash?

So instead of posting or commenting on or sharing that horrific, but insipid, video of Paul Deen being the racist we know she is, take some time to read this tribute to Gary David Goldberg from Ken Levine, another television comedy legend.

He took advantage of his leverage at Paramount to create a day care center for working parents. Not a palatial office (his office was small and dark – his second cave?), not use of the corporate jet. A day care center for below-the-line studio employees who didn’t have the luxury of hot and cold running nannies. No studio up until that time even considered it. Paramount’s day care center is still operational today.

Personally, I prefer learning about those people who do good and trying to find a way to weave that into my life in stead of wringing every last bit of schadenfreude out of finding our the details of how bad someone we already didn’t like it.