*dusts self off*

I'm just going to write without rhyme or reason. I'm really bored right now.

-Been watching the No Direction Home Bob Dylan documentary (which I got at the U of M art museum gift store as a prize for winning some writing contest... and it only took me about 5 years to fully watch it) over the past few days, and it's pretty excellent... although kind of morbid knowing that a lot of the interviewees have since died (although it's explainable, since apparently the interviews were conducted up to 10 years before its 2005 release).

I don't really know if it made me appreciate his music any more, but it definitely made me like him a lot more. I mean, I'm going to like anyone who spurns his "voice of a generation" label and association with the protest music scene just because he wanted to do his own thing and explore new ideas, and that's pretty much what the documentary is about.



Also, it allowed me to come to the conclusion that the above is--in my opinion, of course--Mr. Zimmerman's best work.

I've gone back and forth trying to determine whether his version or The Byrds' version is better. A couple weeks ago it might as well been The Byrds', but now it's leaning towards Dylan's. Not that it matters much anyway, since both are transcendent in their own way. The Byrds' version is this ethereal, perfect slice of pop that also essentially invents the 12-string guitar sound. But Dylan's is this mystical, hazy ride through the unknown--with that warm guitar melody complementing Dylan's acoustic strumming perfectly, as if it's the source of comfort through this journey. It's pretty wonderful.

-So the New Orleans Saints were exposed as the dirty bounty hunters that I'm pretty sure a lot of people already assumed they were. (In all honesty, when I read the headline for this story, my first thought was "wait, they just realized this?" The 2009 NFC Championship game might turn out to hurt just as much as 1998 game.)

This story has made me realize that growing up watching professional wrestling has skewed my perception of sports for good.

Cause really, I should be thinking about how disgusting this conduct is, where a whole team has basically tossed aside all principles of good sportsmanship--all just to perhaps get a leg up on the opponent by purposefully injuring them in an already dangerous sport. And, to a degree, that has been part of my thought process. (Honestly, if Pete Rose can get banned from his sport for life for betting on his own team, then Gregg Williams should not get off any better for encouraging intent to harm (although I also believe he's not the first to do this, nor is he the only one still practicing it.))

But really, all I'm thinking about is how this'll make the Saints a threat to the Patriots as the biggest villains in the NFL, and how they essentially stole from pro wresting's playbook in order to do that.

I don't think it really happens a lot in pro wrestling nowadays, but back in the 80's putting a bounty on a wrestler's head was an easy way to make the person instituting the bounty, as well as the person collecting the bounty, instantly hated. I know that the famous Andy Kaufman/Jerry Lawler feud involved one, but the best example I can find that is also available on YouTube is the Harley Race/Ric Flair feud. And if you watch the next video, imagine that it's Gregg Williams speaking, and substitute Ric Flair's name for Brett Favre--it kind of seems like something Williams would say to fire up his players.



Of course, this occurred back when a decent amount of the fans still perceived wrestling to be legitimate, so the reason why it riled people up so was that they couldn't believe such a thing as a bounty would be allowed to occur in a "legitimate" sport. But such a thing did occur in the biggest sport in America... and now the Saints are bigger heels than even the Patriots. Well--maybe. If Gregg Williams was still part of the Saints' coaching staff, then I think the Saints would be more despised as an entity. But since he's moved on to the Rams (for the time being), it seems it has split the venom between both Williams and the Saints organization, when it would seem much stronger if the two were still connected together.

I don't remember where I was going with this. But anyway, I wouldn't be thinking about any of this were it not for pro wrestling and all of its attempts to portray itself as a sport while also engaging in over-the-top villainy.

Oh, and in terms of real life sports mimicking pro wrestling, nothing is ever going to beat LeBron James leaving the Cavs to join the Heat correlating to Hulk Hogan turning his back on all his fans after 15 years to join the NWO. There was even a video that was produced combining the two.



In any case, now you know I'm a dork.