Welcome to Doug's Place

(crossposted from DougMorris.net)

This may be the closest you’ll ever come to having a cup of coffee with a member of Aerosmith. Drummer Joey Kramer has developed the Rockin’ and Roastin’ Arabica coffee. The website for the coffee notes Rockin’ and Roastin’ is forest friendly and farmer friendly. The coffee uses organic and free trade beans from Guatemala, Ethiopia and Sumatra.

Now, we weren’t kidding about having a cup of joe with Kramer. (Get it? Joe? Kramer? Nevermind.) Hidden inside one of the bags is a golden ticket – worth a chance to meet Kramer and tickets to an Aerosmith concert.

Details at the website below.

www.rockinandroastin.com

(crossposted from DougMorris.net)

Joe Smith, former president of Capitol Records, will donate his collection of interviews with rock legends to the Library of Congress. Smith compiled more than 200 hours of interviews on tape for his book Off The Record, released in the late 1980s.

Among the recordings: An interview with Mickey Hart, who opened up about his father ripping off The Grateful Dead, and David Bowie, who talked about creating ad campaigns for raincoats. Other interviewees include Sir Paul McCartney, Billy Joel and Bob Dylan. The recordings will be accessible in the library’s reading room; some will be streamed at the library’s website, which we’ve listed below.

http://www.loc.gov

Over the last few weeks on RockTrax and Rock 104, we’ve been following the likelihood Axl Rose was not going to show up at this past weekend’s induction of Guns ‘n’ Roses into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Now, before this goes any further, I should note I’ve never been a particularly big fan of G’n’R. They’re an acquired taste – and it’s taken awhile for me to acquire a taste for the reasons the band’s now in the Rock Hall.

While that may be a jeer, a tip of the cap is in order to Rose for hosting a documentary on Queen, which coincided with the release of what proved to be the last Queen album released in Freddie Mercury’s lifetime. Rose did an amazingly great job hosting that program.

But back to last weekend. As expected, Rose was a no-show. The San Francisco Chronicle reported Rose didn’t want to attend because he believed it “doesn’t appear to be somewhere I’m actually wanted or respected.” Further, it’s not much of a secret there was a lot of bickering within the band.

Bottom line: All past and present members should’ve been there. Disagreements should’ve been left at the door and the hatchet should’ve been buried just long enough to thank those who got them in the Rock Hall.

When Larry Eustachy came to Hattiesburg, he was in search of a comeback.

We all know he was fraternizing with students and drinking in what proved to be his last days at Iowa State. Less said the better.

He later defeated alcoholism and went on to lead our Southern Miss men’s basketball team for the next eight seasons. The last of which was a memorable one.

Twenty-five wins, a big win against Memphis at home among them and a berth in the NCAA’s big dance. As a native of Wichita, I promise I renounced any vestige of Kansas citizenship prior to the game against Kansas State.

Today, official word came our loss in Larry Eustachy will be Colorado State’s gain. All of us at Doug’s Place wish Coach Eustachy good luck in the next chapter of his career.

Well – that is until the Golden Eagles play against the Rams on the hard court.

I’m quickly becoming a fan of the Robin Craig show on RobinCraigDirect.com. Her husband passed away the same year Cindy and I tied the knot (2005). Recall Cindy passed away unexpectedly just days into 2007.

Robin’s show focuses on issues for those who are in the club no one wants to join (widowhood, in layman’s terms; it’s mainly geared for the ladies — but the men can learn just as much). It’s streamed live from her home in Houston, Texas, every Tuesday night. And the next Tuesday (tomorrow) just happens to be Valentine’s Day.

She blogged the following: “Let me encourage EVERYONE to please remember the widowed and grieving on Valentine’s Day. A simple card, email, phone call or gift will mean so much! You don’t have to spend a lot of money…it truly is the thought that counts. We all need to feel special and loved!”

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Covering rock ‘n’ roll news on Rock 104’s RockTrax provided some great moments. For example, Meat Loaf’s run on Celebrity Apprentice, where he earned more than $204,000 for his favorite charity before getting the boot. Along the way, there were some unfortunate stories – including the passing of Warrant’s Jani Lane.

It was difficult to narrow everything down to a top five list of stories that define the year we’re about to wrap up. So here goes.
Continue reading “Top Five RockTrax NewsNotes of 2011”

From the “Gee, That Didn’t Take Long” department, word came today CBS News is revamping The Early Show yet again. The announced plans come not quite one full year since the most recent revamp, which came not long after we rang in 2011.

The proposed plans include a change in title of the program as well as the addition of anchors Charlie Rose and Gayle King. One you probably know from a long running PBS program; the other you probably know as Oprah’s best friend.

To borrow a line from the game show host character in the video arcade game Smash TV, “Good luck. You’ll need it.”

Now’s a good time to revisit the take of a TV critic in Florida. Tom Jicha opined CBS had much better luck with Captain Kangaroo in the morning.

The captain’s track record of success lasted more than a quarter of a century – until the news division meddled with his time slot. Later, the kiddie show was relegated to weekends only.

Ever since CBS News took over for the captain, there have been numerous changes in anchors, styles in presentation and titles of the program.

I stand behind my previous take. A network that has a reimagined Hawaii Five-0 and a revived Let’s Make A Deal on its air schedule should give up the ghost on morning news and replaced it with a revived/reimagined Captain Kangaroo.

When I came back from a vacation, getting the following news felt like a kick to the stomach.

Pat Summitt has disclosed a diagnosis of early onset dementia.

Doug’s Place Flashback: As noted earlier, my father taught Air Force ROTC at the University of Tennessee. His office was at the Stokely Athletic Center — one floor above the basketball court and the offices of the coaches. (Read: This was well before the days of Thompson–Boling Arena.)

Thanks in part to that relatively close proximity from office to office, the Morris family got to know a then very young Pat Head. How young, you ask? In her first few seasons, the age difference between the head coach (unintended pun, I promise) and any of her players was minimal at best.

Her turnaround from humble beginnings to legendary status is truly a remarkable story. The record from there speaks for itself: More than 1000 victories at UT, eight NCAA titles, an Olympic Gold medal in 1984 as coach and Silver in 1976 as a player (yes, while still Lady Vols coach).

All the while, none of us had any reason to bet against Coach Summitt. Even with this stunning news, we’re not betting against her now.

Coach, keep the faith. We’re thinking of and praying for you.

Today was a day I knew was coming. Today was a day I’ve dreaded for sometime. All the while, with this particular omega, it’s leading to a new alpha.

I’m speaking of Mitchell Williams – who is leaving my TV family at WDAM to become area director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

If you know Mitch or have watched him these many years, you knew all along he’s a Christian. He’s spoken to many a Christian group throughout his time at WDAM (full disclosure: I was in the audience of one of those groups before becoming a colleague).

When this door with the FCA opened, it was certainly a logical step for him to take. While we’re losing one of the longest serving employees of WDAM, we know we still have a friend in Mitch.

Thankfully, he’s staying in our neighborhoods. Whenever he’s putting together a major FCA event, he knows who to call when it comes time to seek publicity.

Mitch, thanks for everything. Sports Journal will not be the same without you. Thanks for giving us the chance to smile at least once during the news.