Its 5:37

23 to 6 might be a more appropriate way to say it since thats whats happening in LeBronland right now. He has confirmed that he will be changing his number from 23 to 6 for next season, apparently to honor Michael Jordan.

Someone might need to get LeBron a set of Basketball History tapes that date back before the he was born because 6 is just as important of a number for two reasons; Bill Russell and Julius Erving. But not too wax too nostalgic for a couple of legends, I'll take the time to speculate what this switch might mean.

Theory 1: He is going to channel Dr. J and grow out a 'fro and participate in the dunk contest. Likelihood: 3%

Theory 2: He wants to win as many titles as Russell and thinks that having the number will help him. Likelihood: 5%

Theory 3: He is going to play for the Miami Heat next year and the number 23 is retired there (Michael Jordan). Likelihood: 15% (he could have whatever number he wanted upon changing teams)

Follow-Up Theory A: He is going to play for the Chicago Bulls (MJ), Atlanta Hawks (Lou Hudson), Boston Celtics (Frank Ramsey), Houston Rockets (Calvin Murphy), or New Jersey Nets (John Williamson). All have the number 23 retired. Likelihood: 25% (again, he could have whatever number he wanted upon changing teams)

Theory 4: He is sending a message that he will hot be playing for the following teams that have the number 6 retired; Boston (Russell), Orlando (their fans), Philly (Dr. J), Phoenix (Walter Davis), Sacramento (their fans). Likelihood: 10% (again, he could have whatever number he wanted upon changing teams...and we already know he won't be playing for any of those teams)

Theory 5: LeBron secretly wants to be Kobe (though nobody can figure out why) and has decided that he is staying in Cleveland and wants to give his career a re-start a la Kobe Bryant when he went from 8 to 24. Likelihood: 50%

Theory 6: Back to the Kobe Envy Theory from above, he saw that Kobe changing his number made Kobe's jersey the highest selling jersey. LeBron wants to have the highest selling jersey so he is switching his number. Likelihood: 60%

Theory 7: Number 6 is LeBron's Team USA number and he wants to recreate Team USA in New York with Wade and Bosh. This is the first step. Likelihood: 45% (Bosh and Wade could just change their numbers upon switching teams)

Theory 8: LeBron is tired of Shaq getting all the media attention with his thumb surgery. Likelihood: 80% (LeBron is an attention hog, this story puts him on the front page and gets people talking about him)

Theory 9: He actually wants to honor Air Jordan. Likelihood: 65% (never take anything at face value)

Theory 10: Nobody really knows, not even LeBron himself. Likelihood: 95%

The Charlotte Scrap Heap

This is what happens when you take trade advice from your main man Ahmad Rashad and Spike Lee.

Trips to the Island of Misfit Players this season: 1

The only way we could think to describe the Charlotte Bobcats at the start of the season was as a scrap heap made up of players from the Island of Misfit Players. With the addition of Stephen Jackson (6 teams in 10 years) and Acie Law (3 teams in 3 years) the scrap heap just got bigger. It is a shame that they had to send of Raja Bell, but he is the ubiquitous "throw in guy" in the NBA the last several years. Needless to say there is still room for improvement in the scrap pile.

Fueling The Fire

Apparently LeBron James thinks Michael Jordan is the basketball equivalent to Jackie Robinson.

I've got a different theory on the whole thing. It is widely known that the Miami Heat don't have much of a franchise history. To their defense, there is more of a history than some of the other teams that joined the league with them. That aside, the numbers hanging in the rafters are 23, 13, 33, and 10. Jordan, Marino, Mourning and Hardaway. The latter two make sense, the other two? Not hardly. Now that we have established that Miami has retired the number 23, lets bring Mr. James back into the picture and add this theory to the long list of "Where will LeBron go in 2010" theories.

LeBron won't be able to have #23 when he goes to Miami next season. If he can't have it then nobody can. Nobody.

910 Conversation - Southeast Division

Atlanta Hawks

Every season starts with plenty of expectations that cloud our view of reality. As a fan, your team is always going to win about 10 more games than they actually do and you never expect them to do worse than they did the year before. (Trust me, I talked myself into the Heat making a run at the playoffs about 5 different times during their incredible 15 win season.) Inflated expectations are a tough thing to manage throughout the season but they at least can give you hope before you finally succumb to reality. Lets be clear, overachievers do not have to worry about expectations. Its the achievers that have more and more to live up to each year (see: James, LeBron)
There was a heavy debate between Spike and myself about this Hawks team. They took a huge step in managing the expectations following their coming out party against the eventual champion Celtics two years ago by making it to the second round. Now their expectations have been raised so high that they will have to equal the greatest Hawks team (the one lead by the Human Highlight Film himself Dominique Wilkins) and make it to the Conference Finals.
So will this Hawks team live up to expectations or will they weight be too much to bear? Will a team that keeps adding interesting pieces (Jamal Crawford) and continues to retain vital ones (Mike Bibby) continue their climb into the Eastern Conference elite? Or will this just be another ho-hum Hawks team in the vein of those led by Adam Keefe?
Only time (and us) will tell...expectations vs reality...Adam Keefe or Dominique.

Charlotte Bobcats

Look at this roster. Is there any actual direction to the addition or subtraction to players on this team? When I try and figure out how this team came to be all I can picture is MJ, and whoever else has been involved, taking a boat out to the Island of Misfit Hoopsters and loading up on whatever was on sale at the time. Boris Diaw, Tyson Chandler, Larry Brown, Vladimir Radmanovic, the list goes on. The Bobcats are as close to a scrap heap as you will find. The only thing we find remotely interesting about this team is the looming possibility of another trip to the Island of Misfit Hoopsters. Stay tuned.

Miami Heat

As a longtime fan of the Miami Heat, I will be following their every move. Every twitpic of Michael Beasley, every 2010 rumor, every Dwyane Wade 50 point game to put away a team they should beat without Wade. And I will comment as I see fit, with no rhyme or reason other than this is the team I am interested in.

Orlando Magic

Would the Nets have traded Vince Carter to the Magic for Hedo Turkoglu straight up at any point during last season? Yes. Would the Magic? Doubtful. So what makes Vince Carter so appealing to the Magic fresh off a run to the Finals? We are not sure. They guy has shown up to a grand total of one dunk contest, a few college games and one Olympic Games. (on a side note, I wish Carter and Gary Payton would bring back the mini-afros they grew that summer) Other than that he has racked up quite the postage bill mailing in performances from around the globe.
We have all heard how he will be extra motivated because he will get to live in the house he owns just down the road from Tiger Woods, but nobody really believes he will actually show up for every game of the season. He will mail some in. Its just that simple. So we have decided to track the postage bill that he accumulates during the year. For example, first class postage for a 12 oz package from Oklahoma City to Orlando? $3.09. Maybe he just sends a postcard from Minnesota, $0.28. How he choses to send his "mailed in" performance depends on how big of an envelope he needs to pass the stink bomb onto the hometown fans. If he crack $20.00 worth of postage, Magic fans might want to start looking for a paper sack and some matches.

Washington Wizards

The Wizards have failed to live up to expectations since they tried to distance themselves from the the name Bullets and DC/Baltimore area crime. The reason they haven't lived up to those expectations is because of injuries, injuries and more injuries. They have yet to play any real big stretch of games with all their guys healthy on the court. Some call it bad luck, but we know different. You can try and leave a life of crime but it just won't let you. We call this The Curse of the Baltimore Bullets. The bullets, and injures, are going to keep flying until the Wiz make amends. Many professional analysts have the Wiz making a return to prominence and the playoffs. We've got them dealing with more injuries.

Public Displays of Fan-spression

One of the best parts about summer is seeing fellow sports fans out and about with a chance to show off their summer bodies and their loyalty to their favorite teams. Sports jerseys are a funny thing. I loved them in Jr. High, but gave up on them going into high school when I realized I was the only one who knew who Russell #6 was for Boston.
In the era of wild free agency, purchasing a jersey is like playing roulette. You are better off with anything that only sports the team logo, which is why baseball caps are so popular. As much as I like seeing jerseys, I like trying to figure out the story behind why it was being worn. Here are a few from the summer thus far.

#34 Milwaukee Bucks Ray Allen
Way to stick with it, but of course you had to because you bought the $200 dollar authentic jersey. And its purple. I would guessing you think He Got Game is the best movie of this year. Just count your lucky stars they were out of Big Dog Robinson jerseys when you made your purchase.

#9 USA Michael Jordan
A pretty good choice but only the second best jordan jersey in my opinion. The best is the one with Chicago written in cursive letters, also known as the one from THE Dunk Contest.

#32 Phoenix Suns Shaquille O'Neal
I thought Steve Kerr would be the last one to stop wearing his Shaq Suns jersey. Side note: Another authentic error.

#8 Black Lakers Kobe Bryant
Not really sure what to think here. It made me mad at first, then I realized he probably spent close to $200 on it, then spent another $30 on black Dickies shorts to match. Good call on the white socks though.
I am not the loser on this one.

If the playoffs started today...Vol V

First of all, if the playoffs started today nobody would notice because they are all to busy filling out sweet 16 brackets, debating whether or not UConn is as good as they have played or how far Blake Griffin will carry Oklahoma. And they are also over using the word chalk.

The Dwyane Wade Stimulus Package vs. 4 centers, 3 midseason pick-ups, 2 rookies and a brand new coach
Wade has been the leading scorer for the Heat in 61 of 70 games. They are 36-25 in those games. 2-7 in games where anybody else steps up. He averages more than twice as many points as the next player (O'Neal) on the roster. He is obviously leading the team in minutes per game, assists, steals and is second in blocks. The Heat haven't had a losing streak longer than 3 games. Thats something neither Boston, Utah, Philadelphia, Detroit, Atlanta, New Orleans, nor Dallas can say. (those are of the current playoff teams. 8th seed in the East doesn't count.)
That said, its easy to see that the Stimulus Package is working, but thats about all thats working, and who knows for how long.
As Heat blogger Ira Winderman said "When Dwyane Wade looks at the rest of this roster, what is compelling enough to make him say, "This is a place where I want to stay"?"

Utah Jazz vs Houston Rockets
This is the inevitable first round match up (see the last two years) and they are also playing tonight. So if the Playoffs started today the Jazz would be playing the Rockets.

Jordan's manliness vs his softer side when watching his babies
Yes he shed a tear when his son won the state championship. But did he cry when the older brother lost in the first round to Wisconsin? And will he cry when the team he generally manages actually does something of note? (i.e. make the playoffs) Or do the tears only come with being the last team unbeaten?

Trade-In-Cheek Chatter

The Mothership is reporting all kinds of trades. And by all kinds I mean any possible scenario to get you to click around on the website. But the question is, are any of them true? Can anybody confirm or deny the veracity?

Here are a couple that we are getting reports that are all but done according to sources.

POSTED Feb 19 at 11:05 MST

The Source reports that the Nets are going to send Jay-Z to the Wizards in exchange for Arenas. Reports say the Wizards are interested in bringing HOVA on to perform at half time the rest of the season in an attempt to sell tickets. It also works out for Nets co-owner Bruce Ratner who is looking for a personal chef. Hibachi has no real value on the court at this point so we have to assume the reports are true.

POSTED Feb 19 at 11:09 MST

A three-way trade is reported between the Phoenix Suns, Chicago Bulls and Charlotte Bobcats. In the trade the Bulls would land Bobcats GM Michael Jordan and Suns GM Steve Kerr, the Suns would receive Joe Johnson and Shawn Marion back somehow and the Bobcats would "just be happy to have anyone else as their GM".


The following reports are highly probable according to The Black Converse insiders.

POSTED Feb 19 at 10:54 MST

In an attempt to dispel the circulating rumors about his still mysterious trips to the Dominican Republic in 2001 with pal A-Rod, LeBron James will switch from Tic-Tacs to Mentos. He will also erase A-Rod's Cousin's number from his cell phone.

POSTED Feb 19 at 11:14 MST

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Carlos Boozer will trade the remaining season and the rest of next season to the Jazz in exchange for wearing suits and giving high-fives during games. The deal is contingent on Boozer being excused from attending any team practices and press conferences.


The following reports are long-shots according to TBC insiders.

POSTED Feb 19 at 10:44 MST

The Houston Rockets had been shopping teeMAK to Darfur in exchange for anything...anything. Trades have since broken down now that more light has been shed on TmaK's injury. Rockets owner Daryl Morey will now finish off that bottle of scotch and turn Nick Drake back on. Rockets PR declined our attempts to contact him only responding with "Mr. Morey requested that Sally, hold all his calls."

The Gaslight Anthem

I gave blog/emusic faves The Gaslight Anthem my first listen this morning. I had to ask Charlie T:

Are The Gaslight Anthem the poor man's Hold Steady or the rich man's Goo Goo Dolls?

To which Charlie T replied:

In that scenario, if Jordan is Springsteen, the Gaslight Anthem are Harold Miner.



In 10 years, will copies of The '59 Sound be like Harold Miner jerseys? Signs of premature hype purchase? For the sake of Baby Springsteen, I hope not.

Congratulations Mr. Bryant

You scored 61 points against the Knicks.

That is like me dunking the ball on a 7 foot hoop.
Or a lion picking off the sick one in a herd of zebras.

Or you scoring 81 on the Raptors.
Or me beating you in a video game and then telling you that you suck at basketball.
Or Lloyd Christmas selling the parakeet to Billy in 4C.


When Jordan dropped 55 he didn't have Wilson "Who" Chandler guarding him all game.
When Jordan dropped 55 the Knicks were tough, physical and defensive minded.
When Jordan dropped 55 he had just come back from playing baseball for two years, on his fifth game back.

Scoring 61 on these Knicks is like scoring 61 against the Reno Bighorns...because thats where most of this current team will be playing out the rest of there careers.

So congratulations Mr. Bryant. You beat a deaf kid in a name that tune contest.
Score 61 on the Celtics Thursday and then we'll talk.

Fitting Timing by Mr. Ryan Adams

"maybe we will play again sometime and maybe i will work my way back into some kind of music situation, but this is the time for me to step back now, to reel it in and i wish everyone peace and happiness." -Ryan Adams

In another bid to align himself with (or totally parrot) the greats and to perpetuate his string of stabs at crossing over into as many genres as humanly possible, singer-songwriter Ryan Adams announced his retirement from music 10 years to the day that Michael Jordan announced his (first) retirement from basketball. Where did he announce this? The United Center? The Ryman Auditorium? His blog, of course.




We've seen Ryan- that's what I call him, that's what all his inner circle like me call him- do roots rock, country, alt country, 80s rock, depressing rock, hippie rock, and more. Who knew he had jock rock in him?

So what can we learn here?

Well, Ryan Adams, as has been thoroughly discussed on this very blog, is in a school of candidates for the Next Dylan, which is the musical version of the Next Jordan. Adams is not the Next Dylan or the Next Jordan, but some of these parallels have legs.

-Michael Jordan retired thrice, once for baseball once after the famous Bryon Russell pushoff (How Russell got away with such documented cheating is beyond me.), and once after his so-so stint with the Wizards. Ryan is on his first. But I wouldn't bet against a guy as prolific as Ryan easily breaking this particular Jordan record.

-Michael Jordan also unretired more than once. Ryan'll be back. A lifer (and a good one, at that) can't stay away for long. Will he be MJ on the Bulls? Or will he be MJ on the Wizards? Will he be Favre on the Jets? Will he be (trying to think of example of a non-Bulls-Jordan unretired jock who succeeded....still trying...give me a second...ok...just fill in your own great idea here)?

-Jordan toyed with baseball. Ryan's baseball is, um, writing books and "soul poetry." I hope his batting average is better than MJ's. But I wouldn't bet my pocket change on it.

-Michael Jordan never blogged. Ryan Adams is giving up blogging. The influence is becoming crystal clear. If I see Ryan Adams back his bike into a hotel concierge while talking to Michael about Hanes, I'm calling foul.

-Michael Jordan, with a Christopher-Guest-in-The-Princess-Bride-Handful of Championship Rings, had no worries about his legacy. Ryan is worried and says so. OK, so that is the anti-parallel. But perhaps he's worried about his legacy precisely because Jordan's was cemented.

-If you ask me, it sounds like he's using this as a way to dissemble the Cardinals. And I think Jordan wanted to prove to Scottie that he was a legitimate second banana.

The Next Dylan

WILL THE NEXT DYLAN PLEASE STAND UP?

Spike Woolridge: First point of clarification: Are we talking about the NEW Dylan or the NEXT Dylan? And is there a difference? Whichever way we go, we need to define the term.

Charlie T. Hustle: How about who is the heir to the Dylan throne, whether they are there or well on their way, yeah?
Spike Woolridge: Right, but what’s “the Dylan throne”?

Charlie T. Hustle: Good question
Spike Woolridge: I guess what i think we need to clarify is "what does it mean to be heir to the Dylan throne?" or "if there's a next Dylan, what does it mean to be Dylan in the first place?"
Charlie T. Hustle: right

Spike Woolridge: And, yes, as "I'm Not There" proved, there's no one way to pin the guy down. so we just need to set a basic, broad criteria and run with it.

CRITERIA:

1. Legendary Songwriter – best of his/her era and an all-time great.
2. Legendary Streak of Albums (two albums is no streak)
3. All Time Get Out Of Jail Free Passes – issued on volume, prolificity, legacy of great work
4. Voice of a Generation – the quintessential Dylan tag
5. Re-Invention – has to have a drastic change in style, a "Newport" is preferred.
6. Steeped in Tradition but also Creates the Tradition
7. Cultural Relevance / Political Presence with more weight on the cultural than the political.

THE NAME GAME:
Dylan Dylan Bo Bylan Banana Fana Faux Cobain?
aka
Some Candidates

Spike Woolridge: Now let’s toss out a list of some people who have been called The New/Next Dylan, just for reference. They may or may not be actual contenders, but they have been, at one point, tagged as such. Or are on our minds as possibilities
Charlie T. Hustle: Jeff Tweedy (Wilco)

Spike Woolridge: Bruce Springsteen

Charlie T. Hustle: Ryan Adams? (large body of work)

Spike Woolridge: Steve Forbert is one of the first to have his career destroyed by the premature New Dylan tag.
Charlie T. Hustle: Josh Ritter

Spike Woolridge: Jakob Dylan has the most literal, genetic claim to the title. If anyone’s the New Dylan, I guess he is.
Charlie T. Hustle: Maybe Glen Hansard (The Frames)
Spike Woolridge: Dan Bern. Donovan got the tag.
Charlie T. Hustle: yep
Spike Woolridge: Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) sure gets it. Steve Earle has gotten it. How about some females: Joni Mitchell was too close to Bob’s time (and sucked later), but Tracy Chapman and Ani Difranco got the tag.
Charlie T. Hustle: I‘ve heard Jack White (White Stripes, Raconteurs)
Spike Woolridge: Elvis Costello, Kurt Cobain (Nirvana), Beck. And then i have a few ideas that I’ll save for later. Just to keep a little something for the honeymoon.
Spike Woolridge: Obviously most of these are going to fit, in some way, the songwriting criteria or else they wouldn't make our list. They have proven themselves, at least to us, in that realm.

Charlie T. Hustle: Yeah, it always starts with the songsmithing.

Spike Woolridge: How many of them can live up to the other criteria?
Charlie T. Hustle: Most have had missteps aside from maybe Ritter and Tweedy, but, like Dylan, the missteps get passed over because of "pantheonic" work.

Spike Woolridge: In terms of the String of Records, i think the ones with the strongest cases are probably Springsteen (Born To Run up to Born In The USA) and Tweedy (Being There to now). Ritter is good, but maybe has too few albums (hypocritical, given my Don’t Disparage Them For Their Youth policy).

Charlie T. Hustle: Is Springsteen the voice of a generation?
Charlie T. Hustle: Tweedy has the "reinventiveness," but probably lacks the “voice of a generation.”
Spike Woolridge: Tweedy definitely has the reinventiveness. If you go back to Uncle Tupelo and to the Mermaid Ave stuff, you hear most directly how he gets a lot of the “steeped in tradition” part. And then, listening to the last handful of albums, how he has also evolved as a writer (words ampersand music) with his audience. Wilco gets the dad rock title somewhat deservedly. He's writing songs about the kids he and his audience are having, about the concerns of middle age, all that. So there's at least a twinge of speaking for a generation there, albeit on a scale far diminished from Dylan's.

Spike Woolridge: Before we forget, this guy should also get some consideration for the New Dylan.



Charlie T. Hustle: That’s him! The next Michael Jordan!

Spike Woolridge: The next Jordan thing is an intriguing and not unrelated tangent. Vince Carter, Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway and everyone else all failed to live up to the billing. Kobe and LeBron, despite their dominating talents, aren't. The lesson was this: We were looking for the New Jordan in the wrong place. The New Jordan is Tiger Woods. He's the closest thing to Jordan we've seen.

Spike Woolridge: On that note, i have a few candidates who aren’t exactly in the traditional singer/songwriter Dylan mold, who might fit in with that “Looking In The Wrong Place” theme.

Spike Woolridge: Madonna. Look at the popularity, cultural impact and ubiquity, constant reinvention, consistent presence, toying with the media, flirtation with Hollywood, occasional career resurrection, even religious conversion.

Spike Woolridge: Jay-Z or Kanye West, who fulfill the Voice of a Generation better than most and certainly have the broad popularity. Jay Z gets points for his connections to the Beatles, Danger Mouse, Linkin Park, The Roots, etc. Dylan wasn’t afraid to mix it up, singing with Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, Kurtis Blow, The Grateful Dead, The Wilburys, etc.

Charlie T. Hustle: Can you get points for mixing it up with Linkin Park?
Spike Woolridge: Kanye dared to say that the President hates black people and bring Jesus back to pop radio. Dylan had a born again period and certainly was politically outspoken, famously calling out members of the Civil Liberties Committee when they gave him an award. Kanye is also probably the hip hopper with the most potential and ambition to cross over

DYLAN GOES PUNK & MAC USERS WRITE A BOOK
or, MORE NAME GAME

Spike Woolridge: And how about some wild cards? JK Rowling (Too commercial? Not heady enough?), author

Spike Woolridge: Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day); Tony Hawk, pro skater; Steve Jobs, Apple magnate; Jon Stewart, talk show host; Maya Angelou, poet

Spike Woolridge: And, lastly, in some ways I see literature as the new folk music, made for people with the patience for a story, the literati, the educated, and like folk music, cultivating more snobbishness than it reasonably ought to. Guys like Vonnegut and Hunter S. Thompson are great. Klosterman, Vidal, and Chabon too. But in the same way Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby spoke for that era and Kerouac's On The Road spoke for that era, I think Dave Eggers' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius resonates with this generation, at least those who read it. His other books and social involvement and McSweeneys and so on give him a respectable run at being the voice of our generation. He’s certainly younger than the other authors, so has a better shot at the “string of relevant works.”

Charlie T. Hustle: I could see Klosterman and Eggers, but I don't know if books have the impact that music does. Sure, golf didn't have impact either, but Woods gave it impact. (I haven't read AHWOSG and wonder if I could find five people who have) I think to be truly impacting, the writer would have to bring literature to the forefront…make it something of a phenomenon.

Spike Woolridge: JK Rowling, anyone? Impact is tougher to come by today with so many more outlets for entertainment-- internet, gaming, movies, dvds, amusement parks, texting, IM, iPods, etc
Charlie T. Hustle: Right. That’s why maybe Steve Jobs, Jay Z, Madonna simply have to stay in the mix. Billie Joe Armstrong, though very intriguing, had a shot but hasn't done anything since American Idiot.

Spike Woolridge: American Idiot was protest pop that spoke to people in a mass way, from the kids on up.
Spike Woolridge: I think the cultural impact thing is impossible nowadays--everything's so fractured and, even in music, people are so specifically niched. “Impact” might very well be the hardest of our criteria for someone to crack. To be the New Dylan, you have to be more transcendent.

Charlie T. Hustle: Right...but music was niched then too.
Spike Woolridge: Yes, music was niched, but it was WAY WAY WAY harder to get ahold of. Access was more difficult and there was a lot less of it. Sure, there were folk fans and rock fans and pop fans, but it's so ridiculously subdivided now that somebody can be a HUGE fan of the most obscure little niche subgenre to the exclusion of anything else. Look at the blogs, they hype little bands that will probably never leave the basement as if they were the New Resurrection of Genius.

Spike Woolridge: There has never been SO MUCH music available, which is why, i think we're actually agreeing, a guy like Jay Z or Steve Jobs or Madonna might have the best case.
Charlie T. Hustle: Yeah, to be a persona like Dylan nowdays, you have to be a truly larger than life persona.
Spike Woolridge: And I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss Billie Joe, because with Dookie he was talking to teenage punk slackers and college kids alike. The breakthrough tells that story. And they’ve had a string of albums that sold well and resonated with a generation that needed something to shout at. Plus the eyeliner.

Charlie T. Hustle: Yeah he was arguably the strongest voice out of the later punk scene where as Dylan was the strongest voice out of the (later) folk scene. (Apologies to Greg Gaffin, Ian MacKaye and so on).
Spike Woolridge: (Strummer, too, is a notable omission, but the fade and his untimely death didn't help him. Or us.)
Spike Woolridge: Green Day’s next record will settle this, though.
Charlie T. Hustle: Yeah, he needs one more album, and maybe a bit of a reinvention and if he can give his fans a total middle finger (though maybe Warning or Nimrod was just that) then he has a decent shot.
Spike Woolridge: We agree on Billie Joe then: He's a contender, but he has to make his next punch.

ROUND ONE SURVIVORS:

I'LL TAKE A PUNCHER'S CHANCE WITH A SIDE OF TALENT

Spike Woolridge: So, the survivors of this round, it seems, would be:
Madonna, Jay-Z, Steve Jobs, Springsteen, Tweedy, and honorable mentions to Klosterman, Eggers, and Billie Joe Armstrong?
Charlie T. Hustle: We never discussed Ryan Adams. I think he’s a wild card here
Charlie T. Hustle: Only misstep = Rock N Roll

Charlie T. Hustle: Got a backing band reinvention with The Cardinals
Spike Woolridge: Right. He has all the prolificity, love/hate relationship with his audience and the media, confidence, quality etc.
Charlie T. Hustle: Prolific, a definite character, a blogger. Not sure if he can be the voice of a generation...but maybe this generation can’t have a unified voice

Spike Woolridge: His inability to self-edit is a weakness, but not overpoweringly so. And he may be TOO steeped in his influences
Charlie T. Hustle: But claims his influences are heavy metal and rap.
Spike Woolridge: There may be some truth to that, but he's not writing songs that go that direction in the least bit.
Charlie T. Hustle: He refuses the label...look at this year’s shenanigans at Telluride.
Spike Woolridge: Yes. Telluride was very punk rock. But, like so many things Ryan Adams does, it was a spot-on impersonation. In this case, an impersonation of Dylan, minus the cultural impact and relevance. Dylan, on the other hand, stopped impersonating Woody pretty early on.

Spike Woolridge: I think the biggest knock against Adams, for me, is how many GREAT albums does he have? Heartbreaker, Pneumonia, Gold is great.
Charlie T. Hustle: Other than Rock N Roll he had a good string. Maybe not quite great like Dylan’s albums.
Spike Woolridge: They’re good and have incredible moments. but i don't think any of them are pantheon, top to bottom. Hold them up against the solidness of Animal Years or The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, and the detours on 29 or Cold Roses can get a little weak.
Charlie T. Hustle: See, I think Cold Roses is one of his strongest.
Charlie T. Hustle: But, for example, is Green Day's string greater than Ryan's? Come on. Nimrod? Insomniac? Warning?
Spike Woolridge: Be nice. Warning is good pop
Charlie T. Hustle: I know they are “good”...but pantheon?
Spike Woolridge: You win. I can’t stand behind those Green Day records as a whole, especially in the glaring light of this discussion. Point: Charlie T. So you would say Cold Roses is as solid- consistent to itself- as Blonde On Blonde or even just The Joshua Tree?
Charlie T. Hustle: Not really but maybe as consistent in the change of style as Highway 61 Revisited. Cold Roses could be Ryan’s Highway 61: got a band, went Grateful Dead style, lost some fans, gained others…

Spike Woolridge: Fill in the blank. Highway 61 was emulating _____ as Cold Roses was emulating The Grateful Dead

Charlie T. Hustle: The Stones?
Spike Woolridge: Really? I don't think he was going for the Stones.
Charlie T. Hustle: Maybe not
Spike Woolridge: I'm just trying to get a picture of what the parallel is there
Charlie T. Hustle: Can you think of what he was going for?
Spike Woolridge: I’m not sure either. Who knows?
Charlie T. Hustle: It’s irrelevant, really, because I’m not talking about the emulation part but the change of sound, addition of a band, alienation of fans, lack of care for what the fans thought.

Spike Woolridge: Sure. i can buy that. I think Highway 61 was more of a departure/risk for Dylan than Cold Roses was for Adams, and maybe less obviously derivative, but i can concede Adams as a strong candidate.
Charlie T. Hustle: Okay. So Ryan Adams makes the cut with Madonna, Jay Z, Steve Jobs, Springsteen, Tweedy, Klosterman, Eggers, Billie Joe, Ryan Adams, Ritter?
Spike Woolridge: Ritter has snuck back in. We are both probably suffering from recency and homerism, but i'll keep him..

Charlie T. Hustle: I was just going back through the transcript and you were using him as an example of strong top-to-bottom records, so I figured he was still in.
Charlie T. Hustle: He’s from small town, goes to the city for success

Spike Woolridge: Critical acclaim, that string of albums
Charlie T. Hustle: Is he as big after 5 albums as Dylan was after 5 albums (Bringing It All Back Home was Dylan's fifth)?
Spike Woolridge: Ritter’s case is most weakened by his relative lack of popularity. Most of these will be, though, when contrasted with Dylan But his case is especially tough because Ritter may never be as big as Dylan was at his smallest. Or at least his low periods.
Charlie T. Hustle: Ritter just played with the Boston Pops (sold out).
Spike Woolridge: But isn't Boston his adopted hometown?
Charlie T. Hustle: Yeah it is, AND he hasn't had his "Newport Folk Festival"
Spike Woolridge: He can stay in the conversation, but we both know that, at the end of the day, his achilles heels are his lesser popularity and the fact that he's easily the most green on our list. Though he DOES have great Dylanesque hair.

Charlie T. Hustle: Yeah.
Spike Woolridge: Klosterman and Eggers probably fall next, as much as I'd like to believe that the book can compete. They would speak to a generation if the generation knew how to read.
Charlie T. Hustle: Yep. Could Bill Simmons (ESPN.com writer and The Black Converse favorite) be Dylan?

Spike Woolridge: Simmons is too cult. Ask somebody "have you heard of Bill Simmons?"

Spike Woolridge: crickets
Charlie T. Hustle: He might be “too cult” but he fits the blogging/internet voice of a generation.
Spike Woolridge: Voice of a market, voice of Boston. I just don't think he's even close to the conversation.
Charlie T. Hustle: The same could be said for Chuck Klosterman, David eggers, Josh Ritter, less so for Ryan Adams and Wilco

Spike Woolridge: Eggers is less provincial-born in Boston, grew up in Illinois, moved to San Francisco.

Charlie T. Hustle: Yeah...but to be honest, a year ago I wouldn't have known who Eggers is. But thats the reading aspect again. Since I started reading more I know.
Spike Woolridge: Way to step up to the literacy plate.
Spike Woolridge: I admit Eggers is out (but not more than Simmons is and not without a fight from me-- the fact that he's on Beck and Aimee Mann records is not smalltime. The fact that he has his own volunteer centers across the country is no small deal.)
Charlie T. Hustle: No, that’s true.

Spike Woolridge: That he FOUNDED McSweeney's is huge and that he has organized amazing concerts that draw top drawer acts…
Spike Woolridge: He’s at the bottom of this heavy hitter list, but he has some significance
Charlie T. Hustle: He can stay in...everyone has their hole. It’s going to come down to who's holes are the least important

4th street or E-Street?

Spike Woolridge: The time has come to cut through the crap.
Charlie T. Hustle: Top 3
Spike Woolridge: These honorable mentions are sort of interesting to discuss, but we have to cut.
Charlie T. Hustle: Billie Joe has been the most interesting but hasn't done anything in a few years
Spike Woolridge: Yeah. He’s had more widespread relevance than many.
Spike Woolridge: My Top 3: Springsteen, Jay Z, Madonna. Steve Jobs is #4, interesting for the sake of argument and gets wicked creative/innovation points
Charlie T. Hustle: Springsteen...might be "bigger" than Dylan. Steve Jobs gets the Tiger Woods Factor, the falling apart publicly and storming back a la Time Out Of Mind.
Spike Woolridge: Yeah, and the RABID Apple fans. Imagine the outcry if Jobs pulled a Newport.
Charlie T. Hustle: My 3: Jobs, Springsteen, Jay Z, but none of them have a "Newport." And isn't that part of what makes Dylan Dylan?
Spike Woolridge: Yeah. So Madonna and Jobs stay in there for the time being. Let's talk Springsteen and the HOVA.
Spike Woolridge: Here's why i think Springsteen gets the nod:
Charlie T. Hustle: Okay, shoot. I've got some ammo against but I want to hear your argument
Spike Woolridge: - discovered by the same talent scout (John Hammond) as Dylan was.
- played the Village like it was his home
- talkie, rambly singing in early career
- storyteller first, he's a pantheon writer
- commercial success over a prolonged period of time
- rabid, loyal, time tested fans
- resurrections (can't count him out)
- carries on a tradition, but adds his own thing to it
- speaks for people (in his case, mostly the blue collar world)
- his string of records is indisputably impressive:
meaning The Wild, The Innocent & The E-Street Shuffle-->Born To Run-->Darkness on the Edge of Town-->The River-->Nebraska-->Born In The USA is a formidable run, even for a guy like me who is admittedly not the biggest Boss fan
Charlie T. Hustle: (Born In The USA = 15x platinum, wow. FIFTEEN TIMES.)
Spike Woolridge: :: then the late 80s/early90s gave us Tunnel of Love/Human Touch/Lucky Town/Streets of Philadelphia/Secret Garden era, which has highpoints in spite of some critical backlash
:: and then finally he has Ghost of Tom Joad (which is amazing by any definition)>The Rising (topical, political, of the day)>Devils & Dust (ditto)>The Seeger Sessions (basically Bruce's version of Bob's World Gone Wrong/Good As I Been To You covers records)> and now Magic
Charlie T. Hustle: That is a very similar parallel
Spike Woolridge: There’s more.
Charlie T. Hustle: Can't forget the politicalness of Born In The USA
Spike Woolridge: Exactly
- his refusal to be a political cog---calling out Reagan for misappropriating Born In The USA and then pushing Mondale away when he wanted to capitalize on it.
Charlie T. Hustle: You brought in some things I would have missed.
Spike Woolridge: - but he also showed a sincere willingness to be involved, lending “No Surrender” to John Kerry, pushing the Vote for Change tour, and being involved with Amnesty, Viet Nam protests, the list rolls on.
Charlie T. Hustle: - he is also, like Bob, on the cover of almost every album.
Spike Woolridge: - he laces in lyrics that can be topical, references to current events, political, (admittedly less humorous than Dylan), and is prolific enough
- he passes the songwriter test
- he only really falls short with the Reinvention thing
Charlie T. Hustle: YEAH. And he doesn't have a Newport. And is he a mythical personality?
Spike Woolridge: The Boss is larger than life for sure. He also tours in ways that would be respectable to Dylan's, with a legendary live show that would shake up night-to-night with less reliance on stock setlist.
Spike Woolridge: The question is: who has a Newport? Who else has middle fingered their core audience like that?
Charlie T. Hustle: I don't know...I guess nobody else has really had that and come back from it in the way Dylan did.
Spike Woolridge: The Beatles did smaller evolutions with Rubber Soul, Revolver and Sgt Pepper’s. Radiohead followed OK Computer with Kid A, which may be the closest. The Dixie Chicks sort of alienated country too with the Bush comment. Chris Gaines? My Morning Jacket’s new record?
Charlie T. Hustle: Yeah, aside from the whole "Newport" clause, he has basically paralleled Dylan without being a copycat.
Spike Woolridge: Even a lot of the same influences, just a decade later.
Charlie T. Hustle: Definitely more mainstream, more palatable because he spoke for the working man. But it seems like though Springsteen was the Dylan of the 70’s-80’s…he isn’t the Dylan of today.