Tuesday, December 20, 2005
The End of an Era
There were a couple huge developments since I last wrote last week. Two eras ended rather profoundly. First, Howard Stern retired from terrestrial radio. Second, Kyle Orton was forced to retire from starting quarterback. It's easy to say that my life won't ever be the same because of these events.
For the longest time, I thought Howard Stern was a moron and jerk. Now I realize he's a moron, a jerk, and a genius. I can understand why people don't like him. The problem is that a lot of the people who don't like him have never actually listened to him. Sure, he talks about farts and has strippers doing unmentionable acts on the air. But the truth of the matter is that Howard Stern is the single biggest proponent of free speech in my lifetime.
I didn't really start listening to Howard Stern until 9/11. I remember the shock of what had happened. I turned on Stern to hear what he had to say since he was broadcasting right from New York. Of course, he was pre-empted by Dan Rather for some odd reason. It's a shame too because I've heard that that morning's broadcast was one of the best of his career. Every morning after that, I tuned into Stern to hear what he had to say about what was going on this country. His honesty became too much for me. I couldn't turn him off.
And now he's headed for Sirius Satellite Radio, which is a pay service. I'd love to follow him because I'm curious what he's going to do without the restrictions that the FCC placed on him. Since I'm unemployed, it's hard to justify paying $12 a month to listen to Howard Stern have a midget take fart on a stripper. But it's broadcasting like that which will no doubt make me pay that $12 a month at some point in the near future.
For the longest time, I thought Kyle Orton was a moron and a jerk. Now I realize, he's a moron, a jerk, and a terrible quarterback. I can understand why people don't like him. The problem is that he sucks. Sure, he throws the ball away a lot and rarely throws an interception. But the truth of the matter is that Kyle Orton is the single worst quarterback on the Bears this year.
Okay, that's about as far as my comparison to Howard Stern goes. Kyle Orton was terrible this year. He had flashes of brilliance. But let's be honest, we all have flashes of brilliance. That doesn't mean that we should be QB-ing the Bears to their first Super Bowl appearance in 20 years.
It seems strange that (a) I won't be able to listen to Howard Stern in the morning and (b) the Bears might actually score more than 13 points in a game this season. But with Stern on satellite and Orton on the bench, both are distinct possibilities.
For the longest time, I thought Howard Stern was a moron and jerk. Now I realize he's a moron, a jerk, and a genius. I can understand why people don't like him. The problem is that a lot of the people who don't like him have never actually listened to him. Sure, he talks about farts and has strippers doing unmentionable acts on the air. But the truth of the matter is that Howard Stern is the single biggest proponent of free speech in my lifetime.
I didn't really start listening to Howard Stern until 9/11. I remember the shock of what had happened. I turned on Stern to hear what he had to say since he was broadcasting right from New York. Of course, he was pre-empted by Dan Rather for some odd reason. It's a shame too because I've heard that that morning's broadcast was one of the best of his career. Every morning after that, I tuned into Stern to hear what he had to say about what was going on this country. His honesty became too much for me. I couldn't turn him off.
And now he's headed for Sirius Satellite Radio, which is a pay service. I'd love to follow him because I'm curious what he's going to do without the restrictions that the FCC placed on him. Since I'm unemployed, it's hard to justify paying $12 a month to listen to Howard Stern have a midget take fart on a stripper. But it's broadcasting like that which will no doubt make me pay that $12 a month at some point in the near future.
For the longest time, I thought Kyle Orton was a moron and a jerk. Now I realize, he's a moron, a jerk, and a terrible quarterback. I can understand why people don't like him. The problem is that he sucks. Sure, he throws the ball away a lot and rarely throws an interception. But the truth of the matter is that Kyle Orton is the single worst quarterback on the Bears this year.
Okay, that's about as far as my comparison to Howard Stern goes. Kyle Orton was terrible this year. He had flashes of brilliance. But let's be honest, we all have flashes of brilliance. That doesn't mean that we should be QB-ing the Bears to their first Super Bowl appearance in 20 years.
It seems strange that (a) I won't be able to listen to Howard Stern in the morning and (b) the Bears might actually score more than 13 points in a game this season. But with Stern on satellite and Orton on the bench, both are distinct possibilities.
