Last night as I lay down to fall asleep, the Warren Zevon song “Numb as a Statue” popped into my head. It is a great song off his final album, “The Wind”. I’m always intrigued by this album because he recorded it after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer therefore knowing it would be the last album he ever made.
That’s a pretty heavy concept… when you consciously know that you are doing something for the last time in your life, how does it affect you? When that act is writing a collection of songs, what do you write about?
Originally, my interpretation of “The Wind” was that Warren didn’t really care about death. It seemed that he acknowledged it, of course, but I read him as being generally indifferent towards both life and death. This seemed to line up with his entire career body of work, in my opinion.
Looking back on what happened, though, I think I read it all wrong. Warren was diagnosed with inoperable cancer and told he had few months to live. He refused treatment (I suppose the logic was, I’m going to die anyway, so why go through all that), instead opting to write an album with the little time he had left. In the act of performing his final task, however, he ended up living for over year. It seems to me that a person who should really only live a short period of time but instead extends that without the help of modern medicine really doesn’t want to die. He may give the appearance that he is indifferent about life or death, but somewhere deep inside him he wanted to live.
Now I interpret “The Wind” as Warren coming to grips with the fact that as much as his conscious mind wanted to believe that he didn’t give a shit about life or death, he couldn’t deny his unconscious drive to keep going. I think there was an incredible war within him over this point, both sides fighting for control of his body. And as he was writing the album, I think he realized the battle’s outcome was not what he originally predicted or even wanted to believe.
I really wish the man was still alive so I could ask him about this. But alas, his time has come and gone and that conversation will never happen. His ride on the wheel of life finally came to an end as he was crushed under the wheel on its trip around and around and around and around.
This is the fate of all of us. For some the wheel has a large circumference and the ride lasts quite a while before we find ourselves pinned between the wheel and the road. For others, the wheel is tiny and the trip short. Rest assured, though, at some point we will all be squashed.
This brings me to my own philosophy on life as told perfectly by Spinal Tap’s Viv Savage:
“Have a good time, all the time”
Life is limited and there is likely no true meaning to it at all. So you may as well have a good time as long as you are on the ride!
Hey, don’t think I’m overly shallow here. Of course doing good and leaving this place better than we found it are important as well. I’m just saying that you shouldn’t lose sight of having a good time while you’re at it. If you don’t do it now, you might find that it is too late.
That’s why after I’m done writing this I’m going to go sit on the back patio, turn on the radio, crack open a beer and stare at the sky.
You’re welcome to join me if you wish.
-David
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Draft wishes
All this talk of labor dispute in the NFL is really starting to bore me. I waffle between siding with the owners and then the players. Then I step back and think, their all filthy rich so who really gives a shit.
To take my mind off that silliness, I’ll focus on what the Steelers need to do to prepare themselves for the future via the NFL draft.
I’ll list the positions where I think the Steelers have the most need. Knowing the Steelers draft philosophy, I don’t expect them to draft people in this particular order, but as long as they walk away with most of these needs addressed I should be okay.
So, in order, here is what I think our need positions are.
1) CB: Prior to the Superbowl let down, I probably would have put OT in this spot. But that game just continued to highlight that beyond Ike Taylor, you really can’t count on any Steelers CB to perform worth a damn. I really have a secret dream that Crezdon Butler will all of a sudden become a stud #2 corner this year… but even if that were to happen we are not guaranteed to have Ike Taylor back. Things could be so dire here that I would be perfectly happy if we drafted two CBs this year. I’m not so sure we’ll get a good guy with the 31st pick, but hopefully by round 3 we’ve grabbed a guy that could play (at least nickel) in his rookie year. If not, I suspect it could be a frustrating year.
2) OT: I really do like Flozell Adams on the right side and I still hope we can keep Willie Colon. If we end up with both, we’re okay here for at least one more year. But our left side is a mess. Jonathon Scott is not good and we really have no depth behind Max Starks. And either way, all these starters are getting older so we need something to happen on the O-line. Maybe Tony Hills will step up. But just in case, I would really like to see us take a stud OL within the first three rounds.
3) NT: Casey Hampton is not getting any younger and we don’t appear to have his long term replacement on the team just yet. NT is VERY important in the 3-4 defense (some would argue the most important… see below).
4) S: I’d be okay with a strong safety or a free safety here. Polamalu is getting a bit older and he usually ends up injured at least a few games a year as it is. Ryan Clark is really starting to get older and though he’s been very durable, that will come to an end at some point. Ryan Mundy is okay, but he is only one man and we have two safeties on the field. Time to find a future stud starter.
5) DE: I’m actually really happy with the D-line and with Aaron Smith back, we should be that much better off. But, again, outside of Ziggy Hood everybody (starters and backups) are really old. We need to build for the future and this seems to be the year for stud D-Ends in the draft. Side note: Who will start at Left end next year? Hood or Smith? Smith has always been a stud but is he now a backup coming off his injury, I wonder?
6) QB: Dixon may or may not be an NFL caliber starter, but regardless, we’re not going to be able to keep him after his rookie contract ends. And since we don’t need a long term replacement for Big Ben just yet, it’s coming to the time where we need to throw this fish back in the ocean and get a new one. We could probably wait another year on this if we plan to keep Leftwich over Batch as the #3 QB this year, but it might be a nice grab if we can find a good guy in round 5 through 7.
7) LB, LB, LB: As always, you’ll never see me complain if we pick up another LB or two. It is the most critical piece of a 3-4 offense (well, I suppose you could argue the NT might be as well and maybe it is really a combo….). We’re in pretty good shape with our starters, and I like our depth with Fox in the middle and Worlids on the outside. I imagine Sylvester will fit in there as well. So really, we could skip LB this year if we wanted to.
What I do NOT want to see is us drafting a WR or RB in this draft. I think we have plenty of good, young depth at both positions. I also think we can pass on OG, but I suppose I wouldn’t be pissed if we picked one. I could see a scenario where we draft a TE or K, but I’m sort of hoping we don’t because I think we have greater needs than that.
What will happen? My guess is in the first round we either draft a DL or OL with pick #31 or we trade up a few spots and grab a CB if one we really love happens to slip into the 20s. By the end of round 3, I presume we’ll have a DL, CB, and maybe an OL. I also wouldn’t put it past us to grab 2 of one of those positions in the first 3 rounds and save the third position for later in the draft.
But you never know. The draft is so dynamic, that really anything can happen.
-David
To take my mind off that silliness, I’ll focus on what the Steelers need to do to prepare themselves for the future via the NFL draft.
I’ll list the positions where I think the Steelers have the most need. Knowing the Steelers draft philosophy, I don’t expect them to draft people in this particular order, but as long as they walk away with most of these needs addressed I should be okay.
So, in order, here is what I think our need positions are.
1) CB: Prior to the Superbowl let down, I probably would have put OT in this spot. But that game just continued to highlight that beyond Ike Taylor, you really can’t count on any Steelers CB to perform worth a damn. I really have a secret dream that Crezdon Butler will all of a sudden become a stud #2 corner this year… but even if that were to happen we are not guaranteed to have Ike Taylor back. Things could be so dire here that I would be perfectly happy if we drafted two CBs this year. I’m not so sure we’ll get a good guy with the 31st pick, but hopefully by round 3 we’ve grabbed a guy that could play (at least nickel) in his rookie year. If not, I suspect it could be a frustrating year.
2) OT: I really do like Flozell Adams on the right side and I still hope we can keep Willie Colon. If we end up with both, we’re okay here for at least one more year. But our left side is a mess. Jonathon Scott is not good and we really have no depth behind Max Starks. And either way, all these starters are getting older so we need something to happen on the O-line. Maybe Tony Hills will step up. But just in case, I would really like to see us take a stud OL within the first three rounds.
3) NT: Casey Hampton is not getting any younger and we don’t appear to have his long term replacement on the team just yet. NT is VERY important in the 3-4 defense (some would argue the most important… see below).
4) S: I’d be okay with a strong safety or a free safety here. Polamalu is getting a bit older and he usually ends up injured at least a few games a year as it is. Ryan Clark is really starting to get older and though he’s been very durable, that will come to an end at some point. Ryan Mundy is okay, but he is only one man and we have two safeties on the field. Time to find a future stud starter.
5) DE: I’m actually really happy with the D-line and with Aaron Smith back, we should be that much better off. But, again, outside of Ziggy Hood everybody (starters and backups) are really old. We need to build for the future and this seems to be the year for stud D-Ends in the draft. Side note: Who will start at Left end next year? Hood or Smith? Smith has always been a stud but is he now a backup coming off his injury, I wonder?
6) QB: Dixon may or may not be an NFL caliber starter, but regardless, we’re not going to be able to keep him after his rookie contract ends. And since we don’t need a long term replacement for Big Ben just yet, it’s coming to the time where we need to throw this fish back in the ocean and get a new one. We could probably wait another year on this if we plan to keep Leftwich over Batch as the #3 QB this year, but it might be a nice grab if we can find a good guy in round 5 through 7.
7) LB, LB, LB: As always, you’ll never see me complain if we pick up another LB or two. It is the most critical piece of a 3-4 offense (well, I suppose you could argue the NT might be as well and maybe it is really a combo….). We’re in pretty good shape with our starters, and I like our depth with Fox in the middle and Worlids on the outside. I imagine Sylvester will fit in there as well. So really, we could skip LB this year if we wanted to.
What I do NOT want to see is us drafting a WR or RB in this draft. I think we have plenty of good, young depth at both positions. I also think we can pass on OG, but I suppose I wouldn’t be pissed if we picked one. I could see a scenario where we draft a TE or K, but I’m sort of hoping we don’t because I think we have greater needs than that.
What will happen? My guess is in the first round we either draft a DL or OL with pick #31 or we trade up a few spots and grab a CB if one we really love happens to slip into the 20s. By the end of round 3, I presume we’ll have a DL, CB, and maybe an OL. I also wouldn’t put it past us to grab 2 of one of those positions in the first 3 rounds and save the third position for later in the draft.
But you never know. The draft is so dynamic, that really anything can happen.
-David
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