What Road Are These Gentlemen From

“I know literally nothing of these bands.”

“You're kidding. You've never heard of Mumford & Sons?”

“I've heard of them. I've never heard them. I know DKM, seen them a few times. That's it though. I don't even know who else is playing.”

“So you just came to have fun?”

“Yep.”

The Gentlemen of the Road tour stopped over in Portland, Maine this past weekend. The traveling festival has only four US dates on the schedule, none of the locations being those you would expect to see on a cross-country tour with only four stops. The tour (if you can call it as much) is headlined by Brit folksters Mumford & Sons, and they are bringing around a merry bunch of musicians to entertain people in unusual locales. Saturday's show was no different, held on the side of a hill overlooking Casco Bay – and the weather couldn't have been more perfect.

“It's fucking hot out. I should have worn less clothes.”

“You'd be arrested for indecent exposure.”

“I'll be the judge of my own decency, thank you.”

We walked up the long hill of what must have been Congress Street to get to the Eastern Promenade, site of the show. This is not an area that has seen many concerts, much less the 15,000 attendees that would turn the hillside into a throbbing mass once the amps were turned on. You wouldn't have been able to tell, though. It was a pretty spectacular day, and I wish I had a more apt adjective to describe it. Alcohol was present, as lines began shortly into the first group's set (I still don't quite know who performed and when) for the local brews available under tents. I spent time praising the appropriate volume of staff until it became clear that this volume of staff was anything but appropriate once the show got fully underway. Good thing I picked up some small bottles of wine for the walk.

“You know that's illegal.”

“Yep.”

“Are you going to drink all that now?”

“No. We have a long walk ahead of us.”

“Are you going to try to sneak those in?”

“I imagine I'll be finished with them by the time we get there.”

“I'm really glad you did this.”

“I'm really glad you chose CVS.”

Two stages were set up on the hill, and though it probably would have made sense to rotate the bands on each stage, only two played on the left. The right stage hosted most of the other participants, but that didn't matter. The speakers were loud enough that you could have heard the music clearly in the Old Port. Not that it was overpowering to be close.

The overwhelming sentiment was that people were here for “Mumford.” I spoke to no one who made the trip to Maine for a supporting act, and I hadn't known that “Mumford” were this popular. One woman from Pennsylvania couldn't contain her excitement. A couple from Boston were going to see them in Providence next. There were more people from Massachusetts than Maine, or so it seemed from my admittedly limited interactions.

And the attendees were so friendly. Everyone was here to simply have a good time. No stress, man. Just enjoying the sunshine and the music and the vibes and the experience. I also noticed an odd absence of the traditional sound-enhancing mind-altering substances that pervade your usual festival scene. Not to say the scent wasn't occasionally in the air.

“Where have you been?”

“I went to get beer. And wander.”

The atmosphere lent itself to the activity. Wandering around took up a good portion of my day, as I was not there to see a specific band and was not dying to watch an entire set. It was one of the better people-watching and -interacting experiences I've had lately. I was almost surprised at how goddamn normal everyone seemed. Any notions you may have heading into these concerts should be wiped. A review that came out today reported that there were zero festival-related arrests made.

At the end of Mumford's set, they invited what seemed like every musician from the day onto the stage to perform a rendition of The Band's “The Weight” which culminated in a fantastic fireworks display shot off from the main stage. An unexpected end to a very unexpected adventure for sure.

“Where are you?”

“I'm in front of the house with people on the balcony.”

“I have no idea what house that is. I think you could be in front of any house. Come to the house with red lights outside.”

“Yeah. This one has red lights.”

“I don't think I can see you.”

“Well there are red lights. And a lot of other colored lights.”

“Those are Christmas lights.”

“Yeah. Where are you?”

“We're standing by the ambulance now.”

“You seem to have a fascination with red lights.”

“Just get here. Can you see us? We need to go to the State for the DKM afterparty.”

Talking Wrigley in Chattanooga

A while back, while sitting at a hotel bar, I found myself involved in a conversation with a middle-aged man from Chicago. He was in town working disaster recovery from the damage caused by a tornado a few weeks prior. We covered a lot of topics, but it was once we started talking about the Cubs that I decided I had to take some notes on the discussion. The following is a short list of the madness that made it into my Notepad session:

• "Wrigley's great, if you get the right tickets."
• Bleacher seats
• Halter tops
• Girls "dropping tops"
• Drinking beers
• Watching the minor leagues = more fun.
• Advertisers will never leave the Cubs
• Wrigley is always full even when the team sucks
• Why do the players need to win? They make their money regardless
• Winning more games won't make the owners more money

Trying Not To Be A Dick About It

"All his fans ever wanted in the first place was a regular goddamn Smashing Pumpkins record, and Oceania is Corgan trying not to be a dick about it for once."

That's Steven Hyden from Grantland on the new Smashing Pumpkins' cut. I haven't heard it yet, and to be honest, despite my love for the band and my recent revisiting of their early catalog, I hadn't truly intended to. Zeitgeist never gripped me, and I couldn't be bothered to pay attention to whatever Corgan has been up to since. But I think I will be listening to Oceania very soon, and hell, I might even enjoy it.

Read the rest of Hyden's take on Corgan (and what he can apparently learn from Rush) here.

Believing

Wow.

What a basketball game. There are those few games a year where it feels like something truly transcendent happens, and while you are watching those games, you can feel it. You know that it's going to change the perception of a team, of a player, and not just in the way we typically vascilate from game to game once the playoffs start. I remember feeling that way watching the Game 4 of the Boston-Cleveland series in 2010, when it finally seemed like that Celtics team was good enough to win a title, and when Rajon Rondo decided it was time for the world to take him seriously as the star of the team. I felt that way in Game 4 of the 2008 Finals, when the C's overcame a 24-point deficit in the third quarter to win on the road and take firm control of the series. Last night's game was in that vein.

It had all the makings of a perfect drama. We knew this game was going to be fought incredibly hard on both sides – that the Heat were not going to let Boston come into their building and steal one, that the Celtics were not going to let Miami and their crowd prevent them from continuing their improbable run. Neither team gave up, and in a crucial situation for each like we saw last night, that's really all we should want. We saw what may end up being the “turning point” in this 2012 Boston Celtics season, the game a champion's season-in-review DVD would use to set up all the theatrics that follow.

In a narrative sense, this was a matchup of the World's Best Player, the League's Best Closer, and the Heat's Worst Abdomen versus Grit, Grind, and Guts. In a basketball sense, this was a matchup between a Big Three (I'm including Chalmers as the third wheel here, not Bosh) and a Complete Team. In a present-as-history sense, this game was filled with moments that will be dissected for months, and while it did not decide the series, it sure felt like it has that potential. LeBron was LeBron, Wade was Wade, and the Celtics still came out on top for the third straight game.

This Celtics team finally looks like they have what it takes to win a title. This is not to mean they look unbeatable, or that they won't lose the next two games and be done for the season by the time the next workweek begins (though I don't think that will happen). But Game 5 showed us that yes, this team can take continuous punches from the world's best players, withstand the fury, and emerge victorious. It's a feeling about a team that brings to mind the same feeling many Celtics fans and NBA fans had in the 2010 playoffs, after that most recent thrashing of LeBron at the hands of men in green.

The 2010 team had its up and downs for sure, storming out of the gate, fumbling late in the regular season, and fighting through some tough matchups in the playoffs en route to their Finals appearance. This 2012 version has endured a similar rollercoaster ride, really only becoming a visible threat as the season drew to a close, and only being taken seriously after their Game 4 vctory in Boston. The big similarity between them, in my eyes, is their series-altering wins against LeBron James and his teams.

It would be wildly misplaced to assume that since their 2010 brethren made the Finals that this team is now destined for the same path. However, they stand one win away from a matchup against the Best In The West, and I like their chances, even if they lose Game 6 at home. That next series would be an even tougher battle that would require a much high level of focus and execution. Earlier in these playoffs, I had little hope that they would even reach the Finals, nevermind have a chance against the then-seemingly-unstoppable Spurs or hypertalented Thunder. Now? Anything is possible.

Getting To Know The Minutemen

The last time the MAC added a new football school to their collective, they were taking on the floundering Temple Owls, recently booted from the Big East for what amounted to failure to run a successful program. It's been seven years since then, and Temple football has performed admirably in the MAC, leading the conference in attendance and posting three consecutive winning records. Now it's 2012, and the MAC is set to take on another program in transition, the UMass Minutemen. Though UMass is moving up from the FCS rather than moving from a BCS conference like Temple was, the concerns surrounding the team that will determine the success of the move are very similar. Temple was removed from the Big East due to poor attendance, lack of competitiveness, and a dearth of support from the university. While lack of support at UMass is not very concerning, considering the institution has put a serious amount of time and energy in evaluating and encouraging the move, the other two areas certainly warrant a close look.

The biggest obstacle to overcome for the UMass Minutemen, if they are to have a successful transition to the FBS and to the MAC, is attendance. As the NCAA requires an average attendance of 15,000 for home games for FBS teams, UMass would have had to almost sell out their home stadium in Amherst, MA, every game. Seeing as how their most recent sellout was in 2006, and assuming that some games would draw less than 15,000 fans, this would be a tough goal to accomplish in an area that is not as heavily populated as other locations. This drove the move to Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots. Like Temple, the Minutemen will be playing in a full-size NFL stadium, and with Gillette positioned in the populous and alumni-heavy market of Greater Boston, the team should be able to draw a greater base of support. UMass has played two games in Foxboro over the last two years, both against FCS rival New Hampshire. The games drew 32,848 and 24,022, suggesting two things: 1) UMass students are willing to travel to games despite the distance from campus, and 2) locals are willing to buy tickets to the games. However, the significant drop in game attendance from 2010 to 2011 is not to be overlooked. Did the novelty of college football in the Patriots' Palace wear off? Did the Boston-based fans decide to catch only one game and chose the match at Boston College instead? Could fans sense the team was not going to have a great year, and backed off? Or, since the team was ineligible for the postseason due to the FBS move, did many simply lose interest, waiting for 2012? These are questions that will have to be answered this season.

UMass' attendance at football games in the past has been consistently solid, considering the level of play, the size of the stadium, and the location of campus. In the past five years, average attendance at McGuirk Stadium in Amherst has never crept much higher than 13,000, yet has also never dipped below 10,000. The fans consistently fill 60-80% of the venue, and speaking as an alum myself, tailgating has always been very popular. With a bigger venue, better location, free student busses to and from the stadium, and bigger opponents, I am confident that we will see that attendance number move upwards over time. Of course, this is dependent on the team remaining fairly competitive, scheduling solid non-conference opponents to draw additional fans, developing rivalries with MAC schools, and generally making Saturday games at Gillette a fun experience.

Sports fans are a fickle bunch, this we know. If the team begins to mire in mediocrity, fans will stop showing up; to what degree is the question. During the Minutemen's run to the FCS National Championship in 2006, attendance during the season hovered around the average stated above. However, when UNH came into town for a home playoff game, McGuirk sold out early. The fans of the Minutemen are real and are willing to support a winning club, so the degree to which UMass can produce that will go far to prove they belong in FBS football. And they certainly proved they were a consistently talented team in the FCS. Though their prior coach finished one game below .500 over three seasons, Massachusetts has enjoyed 22 conference titles, 3 National Championship appearances, and one National Title over the previous five decades. This is not a team that is foreign to success, and new coach Charlie Molnar will be tasked with both returning the program to that success and making the transition to FBS as smooth and successful as possible.

The team has played recently played very well against FBS opponents. Though they have not won in these interdivisional games since 1984 (against Ball State, of all teams), they have played tough. Beginning in 2005, they played Army, Navy, Boston College twice, Texas Tech, and Michigan, only letting two of those games get out of hand, including the game against AP #11 Texas Tech. In 2010, the Minutemen faced AP #20 Michigan on the road. One fumble in the red zone cost UMass, as they ended up losing by 5 in a shootout against Denard Robinson and the lethal Michigan offense. This team can compete at the FBS level, and it's up to Molnar and his recruiting staff to ensure that continues.

While we're on the topic of Michigan, UMass has agreed to go back to the Big House in 2012, highlighting what ended up becoming a very impressive and very strong non-conference schedule for their first year in FBS. Opening the season on the road against former arch-rival UConn, the team then hosts Indiana in their first official home game as a member of the MAC before traveling to Michigan and Vanderbilt later in the season. The Vanderbilt game is part of a four-game home-and-home series over the next four years, and the Indiana series is a two-gamer. The university is also working with Boston College to set up a potential bi-annual rivalry game, and has agreed to visit Florida in 2016. Less than a year after making their announcement of the move, the university has proven it is committed to scheduling games against talented schools. This should only help to aid both local support in the form of ticket sales as well as recruiting. However, the two biggest names are each only one-game series, and will both be on the road. The issue may end up being trying to find top-tier teams to come to Gillette in order to boost the average attendance number and prestige. This is not to overlook MAC opponents by any stretch. UMass is moving into foreign territory, and will be playing a majority of their schedule against teams with whom they have little if any shared history. Rivalries are the lifeblood of college football, and the Minutemen and their fans will be looking to develop some fast. The two most logical candidates are Temple and Buffalo, both geographically and historically. UMass and Temple have a long history in basketball, both being members of the Atlantic 10 Conference and experiencing many emotional and intense moments over the years. While the basketball rivalry has died down recently due to UMass slipping into years of under-performance, many fans still harbor these feelings. Buffalo and UMass went through a stretch in the 1990s where they faced off against each year in football until UB moved up to then-Division I-A. While these games did not produce the kind of passion that typical rivalries might, routine encounters do encourage resentment and enthusiasm amongst both fans and teams alike. It is impossible to predict who will become entangled in this type of situation with the Minutemen, as sports have a way of organically producing these environments, but it is something to keep an eye out for.

Of course, it does not matter where UMass plays, against what teams, and for what purpose, if they cannot win games. Fans will not continue to attend games for a team that routinely finishes in the bottom of the league, at least not in numbers that they would if the team was winning. And for this experiment to work, they need these fans to attend. This leads us to recruitment. The Northeast is not exactly a hotbed for college football; there are now only three FBS schools in the six New England states, the same amount that play in New York alone. And with the increased talent level, UMass will have to compete much more directly with BC and UConn if they hope to win the region's best talent. The Minutemen have never strictly recruited from New England, however, and with Charlie Molnar taking over the program, it would not be unreasonable to expect this to continue to be the case. The 2012 recruiting class for UMass is ranked around the Internet to be the 11th- to 14th-best class in the MAC, and it will most likely remain around that level for the first couple years in the conference. However, we are already seeing the program profile rising; this year, two alumni (Victor Cruz and James Ihedigbo) participated in the Super Bowl, and having the team play their games in a world-class venue like Gillette Stadium, home of the three-time champion Patriots, should only help the recruitment effort. It will be interesting to see how this evolves over the course of the next five seasons.

UMass is positioned very well to succeed in the next level of college football, though it will certainly take some time and effort to see this through. Like anything, there will most likely be some growing pains, and the hope is that the region and university are patient. Us UMass fans have to hope the team will compete early, continue to bring big games and good football to Gillette Stadium against MAC and non-conference schools, and that Molnar and his staff have what it takes to build a successful program from nearly the ground up. I do have confidence, and I'm more than looking forward to this upcoming season and what twists and turns it will bring. Go UMass!

UMass and College Football Realignment

Could Texas A&M's purported move to the SEC lay the groundwork for UMass being invited to a BCS conference?

I'll be perfectly honest. I love the amount of realignment talk going on in college football. I don't care if the Big 12 ceases to exist, which is looking more likely by the day, and I'm excited at the possibility of superconferences, even if those feelings are fairly selfish. I went to UMass, and would love to see them join a conference such as the Big East. Every time talks of realignment come up, I think about the possibility of the Big East either deciding to add teams to get to the 12 required for a conference title game (and the payday that comes with televising it), or having their hands forced as teams are lured out by bigger, more lucrative opportunities. The discussion has come up again, so I decided to look into what moves would likely have to be made in order to present conditions that might facilitate a BCS conference invitation extended to UMass.

The latest rumors have begun to swirl as Texas A&M is reportedly entertaining the idea of moving to the SEC. Coupled with the reports that the SEC is exploring an addition of Virginia Tech as well, this would bump the conference up to 14 teams and most likely set in motion a chain reaction that could doom the Big 12. With Texas A&M gone, the two Oklahoma schools would be encouraged to seriously consider the moves they have been exploring, namely joining the Pac 12. Texas would then be faced with an interesting choice: joining Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in the Pac 12, or becoming independent, as the Big 12 will not survive once these moves begin. While I could foresee them becoming independent a la Notre Dame, and preserving the Long Horn Network partnership they've begun with ESPN, I would not be surprised if they instead choose to remain conference foes with Oklahoma and ensure the continuation of the Red River Rivalry.

Either way, once A&M and the Oklahoma teams bolt the Big 12, the conference as we know it is over. Texas Tech is sure to follow Oklahoma into the Pac 12, if that is where they end up. If Texas chooses to go the independent route, I could see the Pac 12 then moving to add either Boise State or BYU to get to the magic number of 16 teams, making them the first superconference and really forcing the other conferences to make similar moves in order to remain competitive financially. If Texas follows OU, OSU, and Tech, that gives them 16 without the risks associated with the other smaller programs.

If Virginia Tech does in fact leave the ACC for the SEC, that drops the number of ACC teams below the threshold for a conference championship game. The logical move for the ACC in this case would be to conduct a bit of a raid on the Big East, luring Pitt and West Virginia as the most likely options as they are two of the more successful Big East programs and already have a strong rivalry in place. Pulling in a third new team (Syracuse and Rutgers are the popular throw-ins at this point) would give the conference 14 football teams as well as bolstering their standing in basketball as well, depending on what schools they could bring in.

The Big East would be forced at this point to make a few additions of their own in order to retain their status as automatic qualifiers to the BCS as well as adding a championship game if they could bring in enough teams. With the Big 12 having only five teams remaining, adding these would be the obvious move. The Big East have made inquiries into adding Kansas and Kansas State in the past, and pulling in Iowa State, Missouri, and Baylor would certainly improve the national brand and prominence of the conference. However, this again would leave the conference with an odd number of teams, and one fewer than required for the title game. This is where UMass could potentially come into play. If Notre Dame, the logical 12th team as they are already a member of the conference in other sports, chooses to preserve its independence, the Big East would be left choosing between a few options: wooing a service academy in Army or Navy, coupling the recent addition of TCU with SMU from Conference USA, expanding out to the Rocky Mountains and really stretching the conference geography, or looking to a school like Massachusetts. While 2012 is to be UMass' first as a member of the FBS, the Big East has experience with schools making the transition, as UConn completed the move less than 10 years ago. UMass would make sense in terms of balancing the conferences between the East Coast and the newly-added Midwest schools. They also have a dormant rivalry with UConn that, in my opinion, has the potential to become a legitimate draw and the premier game in New England. The two state universities played each other yearly for much of their history until UConn made the move up to what was then Division 1-A, and the contests were always some of the most anticipated of their respective seasons. Likewise, a renewal of the basketball rivalry could prove lucrative for both schools, as that is the sport both are known for, and a major-conference affiliation for Minutemen basketball certainly would not hurt their recruiting efforts.

With the Big 12 gone, the only conference that looks as if it would hold off on making moves would be the Big 10, currently holding 12 teams and a TV deal that runs through 2016. As the Big 10 most likely would not participate in conference expansion until around the time that deal is to be renegotiated, it could end up being the future home to teams such as Boise State, BYU, Nevada, even Notre Dame. The possibilities are numerous, and change is exciting. However, in terms of how this could affect UMass, a lot of dominoes would have to fall in the right direction in order for them to seize an opportunity to move to a big-time, BCS power conference. The possibility does exist, however, and the next few weeks could get the ball rolling in that direction, as we all wait on Texas A&M.

The Familiarity of the Unknown

As I write this, I have Saul Williams yelling, rather, speaking passionately in my ear. Through headphones, as I'm not fortunate enough to be on personal speaking terms with the poet, rapper, author, Renaissance man. I first discovered Williams' music right in the middle of the first decade of the twenty-first century. He was opening for Nine Inch Nails on their spring tour, which happened to race right through my town and university, close enough where I was able to walk to the venue from my dorm room. Hip hop was not my preferred genre of music to put on, but as I listened to Williams' lyrics and beats and genuine music behind his words, I identified with him. Of course, we have completely different upbringings, coming from entirely different American worlds. But our passions were similar, and I appreciated the methods and style in which he projected his point of view and thoughts. That's what lies at the heart of why anyone likes any type of music: they are able to identify with it in some way that makes the artist or the song personal. I found that in Saul Williams.

Knowing what is important to you and fighting for what you believe is right has always been a noble quality in a person. Williams embodies this. He fights through his music, the same way so many musicians did in the era surrounding the conflict in Vietnam. In a world where so much is taken for granted, where so much is kept from those in need, where greed is considered a positive quality, his voice may be of the minority. At least, that's what those at the top want people to think.

I used to think that I was in the majority, that most people truly wanted a different world than the one we live in. That they want a better world. I may have just surrounded myself with people who share this viewpoint, and life circumstances brought me to a separate, more cynical collection of individuals. I have become more cynical, less hopeful, more worried about the future we are inheriting and inhabiting. Maybe that's a good thing. Maybe that's the natural progression. Maybe that is the conundrum that Saul Williams found himself in, when he started getting serious about his writing and performing. If so, then I should be happy.

I should be happy because I envy Williams' ability to corral his anger and passion and excitement and fear and express those emotions and hopes in a positive manner. A productive manner. One that inspires people and attacks those who do wrong. I want to be a positive force in the world. I don't want to waste away performing others' minutiae and dirty work. I want to own my life and do with it as I wish. I know that I am not alone in that desire, and that it is a tougher life to lead than to follow the path of what has been done before and experienced already. I just can't find my life satisfying if my accomplishments mean the rich get richer.

I think too many people have fallen victim to settling. I include myself in that allegation. This world of mine is currently at a crossroads, yet there are not two paths, but many. Which one to take, I am still working on figuring out. This is a time in which the income gap is spreading to shameful levels, a time when it is becoming a sign of weakness to help those less fortunate, and one in which there seems to be almost no level of compassion towards one another. Every man for himself is becoming the norm, the expected. Whatever happened to the highest ideals of manhood? Whatever happened to working together to create a better society and a better planet? Whatever happened to leaving the world in better shape than when you arrived?