The Yard has always had rock and roll underpinnings since our first charter. Yard youth went to see Led Zeppelin at the Forum in 1971 at age 14. It was an incentive offer from Bill Seber for a diffident Yard and his schoolwork. This Yardling indicated to Billy Bob Seber that he would be incentivized by going to a Led Zeppelin concert. Senior Seber figured a concert is a concert. The Yard hit the mark and the tickets were purchased. To say that Mr. & Mrs. Seber were a bit shocked at the Forum that August night would be as understated as UCLA football successes. Daddio was in a suit and mom was in a stole. The people behind us, and there were not many with the ticket’s pops secured, were smoking copious amounts of weed. Jimmy, Robert, John Paul and Bonzo rocked the house for three hours and forever changed my world. Rock and roll would be a driving force that would lead nowhere but we listened to a bunch of great music and checked out the weed thing a bit.
John Bonzo Bonham succumbed to his rock persona and drowned in his own puke after slamming back 40 shots of vodka in a twelve-hour period in September 1980. Zeppelin crashed after that and was discontinued as a band. For all of Jimmy Page and Robert Plant’s brilliance, their songs were not lyrical masterpieces. Really, what is a bustle in your hedgerow? There were lots of Tolkienesque references and other mysticism. Music got very poppy in the 80’s with Madonna, Michael Jackson and George Michael dominating the charts and the airwaves. No one rose with the power riff dominance of Led Z. until the summer of 1991. Over a period of 45 days, three upstart bands from Seattle released seminal albums that would forever change rock again just like the Beatles, Stones and Zeppelin did two decades earlier. Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam would release breakthrough albums that became legendary. With hard riffs and simple, real world biting lyrics, these boys said something, and it exploded. Nirvana led by the late Kurt Cobain, Soundgarden led by the late Chris Cornell and Pearl Jam was led by the very much still alive Eddie Vedder. They stripped away the flamboyant excesses of rock stars and sang stark songs of disillusionment, isolation and loss with big guitar riffs that still resonate with youth today. Nirvana’s Nevermind would rise to #1 on the US Billboard Top 40 replacing Michael Jackson’s Dangerous. Nevermind would average 300,000 LP/week in sales eventually selling 30 million albums and still pressing.
So that is some Yard history and our journey to whatever this is. It was not a straight line or necessarily well planned but we are still hopscotching to the beat. The beat this time of year is all about college football and major league baseball. The NFL garners some of our attention and the Raiders are our next story. But college has always been our favorite football. UCLA did what we thought they would do after upsetting LSU in a stunner. They would get upset by Fresno State as 11-point favorites two weeks later with a bye in between to prepare for mighty Bulldogs. The Bruins took a lead with 45 seconds left and appeared to stave off the upset. But alas the gutty little QB at Fresno State limped down the field in five plays to steal the victory and my Sunday morning. The bloody game kicked at 7:45 PM on a Saturday night. So, I saved my joyful rendition for Sunday AM, note to self.
The Yard’s laser focus is on major league baseball. We scoffed at the Giants in April. We gave them some Yard cred in July. In September, we are still waiting for their wheels to come unhinged, but they keep winning improbably many nights. Their aging veterans are having career years. Their pitching staff has been great. The Dodgers have the 2nd best record in baseball just one game behind the surprising Giants. Dodger fans are hoping the Dodgers can spurt past these pumpkin posers in the closing weeks. This Dodger team is better than last year’s edition except for Cody Bellinger. Cody has been struggling all season to find that swing and stay healthy. He has accomplished neither. Andrew Friedman has worked his magic all season. The pieces are starting to congeal into a potential champion.
When the Dodgers lost Trevor Bauer on administrative leave after his rough sex encounters, it made the clubhouse better. Bauer has always been a weird one and known to alienate teammates. With the family environment of Chavez Ravine, having a $30 million/year sexual miscreant is bad optics at any level. Max Scherzer was the biggest midseason acquisition. He is undefeated since joining the rotation and he will be nails in the playoffs if the Dodgers make it to the main pool. Mad Max is 7-0 with 79 K’s in his seven starts. Kershaw is well rested and rounding into championship form. Buehler and Urias have been solid all season. Jansen is much better than last year. The Dodgers have the best pitching in the MLB and will be a tough out.
When the Dodgers acquired Albert Pujols after the Angels had released him in the final year of that mammoth contract, it seemed like a nice thing not a great thing. King Albert has been a great addition to the clubhouse. Flushing out Bauer and bringing in Pujols had an accretive positive impact. The young Dodgers look up to the future HOF player and feed off his presence. Albert has responded with more production than he has in years. He is batting .261 since joining the team with 12 home runs. He was batting .198 with 5 homeruns when the Angels released him. One of the greatest baseball moments in recent regular season history was when Pujols returned to Saint Louis for the second time since leaving after the 2011 season. Albert is beloved in STL to this day, and he received a 40 second ovation when he came to bat in the first inning. Pujols rewarded the faithful by homering in that at bat. The faithful cheered their legendary superstar even though he led the Dodgers to a slamming victory over the Cards.
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays clinched their third consecutive trip to the playoffs. The Rays were in the World Series last year against the Dodgers. They battled and were a quick hook of Blake Snell away from winning. Currently, they are leading the rugged AL East by 6.5 games over Boston and 8.5 over the Yankees. Before Tommy Brady and the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl LY, the Rays were the most successful sports franchise in Florida not playing hockey. You read that correctly. For all the Rays success, they are averaging 8,900 butts in the seats most nights. The Rays have been to two WS without success but that is more success than the Bucs have had since John Gruden was coaching the team. The Tampa Bay Lighting are a hockey team in Florida that averages over 18,000 a game. The Buccaneers have always drawn 50,000+ on Sundays. Baseball has been a tough sell in the Sunshine State. The playoff games will be packed but the attendance is why the Rays’ payroll is $63 million. That is Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton’s combined salary.
Just win, baby and the Raidahs are baby. Al would have been proud of this John Gruden coached edition. The Yard was given a tour of Allegiant this week. It is remarkable and pays homage to Al Davis in many ways, most notably the Al Davis torch. The Raiders have responded by opening 2-0 against Baltimore at home and the Steelers in Pitt. They were underdogs in both games and won convincingly home and away. It could be an exciting season and the Yard has cake on Raiders winning 8 or more games. This is a playoff team and more at least in September. The Yard has signed on for a month-to-month subscription on the Raider bandwagon. The AFC West is rugged as much as the AL East, but the Raiders will be in the mix. The Stones will be at Allegiant in November and rock the house before the final stretch drive. It is only Rock and Roll and we love it.
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