Flak Magazine Letters
Jan-Apr 2005
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4-29-05
To: Bob Cook
Re: Kick Out the Sports!
Bob,
Just read your recent article on Reggie Miller, and it mentions a record 23 4-point plays — great statistic! I've been trying to locate a few other hard to find facts on Miller, and thought you might know: How many buzzer-beaters/late game-tying or go-ahead shots (aka clutch shots) has he hit (regular season and/or playoffs)?? And do you know how many career 30-point playoff games has he had?
A final, telling statistic for Reggie would be where his increase from regular season PPG to playoff PPG compares all-time. I'd love any other juicy figures you have on him, as I consider Reggie to be one of the most underrated players of our generation (5 all-stars, 2 All-NBA teams), and constantly look for new ways to illuminate his unique value and brilliance.
Thanks,
Ben Taylor
4-18-05
To: James Norton
Re: Weekly Shredder 36
Dear Jim,
Once again I appreciate your perspective and accuracy.
While laid up this weekend, for a deluded, perhaps feverish moment I thought to turn on the Sunday morning news programs. Fortunately I resisted that self flagellation impulse and listened to Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges, Josh Workman and Kim Nalley instead. However, during the prior week, I had watched and listened to some of the news programs. This may have added to my illness.
Navely, I am still astonished to find news broadcast or written in the style of a deaf secretary recounting meeting minutes. Journalism has become a profession of missing the point. There has been little mainstream analysis of the consequences of privatizing social security only a delineation of who says what about it. Every news account I heard had a talking head saying things like "Democrats questioned Bolton...." and "Republicans questioned Democrats' motives for questioning Bolton...."
Shouldn't the questions be about whether or not Bolton is qualified? Shouldn't Brian Williams spend time laying out what privatization actually does? Isn't it the fourth estate's job to question and investigate not only process, but the people participating in that process? Incomplete analysis passes for objectivity.
I am asking larger questions, I know. I am asking that journalists inquire and investigate rather than regurgitate statements, that analysis be separated from opinion. I am asking that Tim Russert listen to what his panelists say and pursue a line of questioning. I am asking that 60 Minutes get out of the pockets of those they interview and press for answers. I am asking that someone, somewhere on mainstream media, mention that "pro-life" Ralph Reed and Randall Terry advocate bombing abortion clinics and harassing and killing clinic staff. The press has legitimized and defined these men as worthy participants in public discussion and presented them for public office as if their hands are clean and their morals tidy.
My concern expanded when I came upon Keith Olbermann, who I quite like except when he gets snarky, imitating Howard Beale from the movie, Network. Deconstructing this will only make one's head hurt. As entertaining as that episode was, either Mr. Olbermann has snapped or tv news is so far from reality that it is merely mimicking itself.
Thanks for not being one of the mimes.
Mary C. McFadden
San Francisco, CA
4-14-05
To: Bob Cook
Re: Kick Out The Sports!
"Nothing is more frustrating when watching an auto race on television than realizing something exciting happened — like a change of lead, a near-fatal crash or a bouncy fist-pump from a driver's hot wife — while you had to sit through 30 more beer ads."
Yeah, and in New York, the telecast of the New York City Marathon has a yearly tradition: The producer tries to guess the exact moment when the male runner who will eventually win pulls out to the lead — and cuts to a commercial! On returning, the announcers, however frustrated, still don't apologize for taking us away from the climax of the race.
As for the proliferation of commercials, how do books escape ads in their midst? Oh, I forgot. By dint of their exorbitant prices.
Great article, Bob.
Yours,
Russ Wellen
Sleepy Hollow, NY
2-17-05
To: Bob Cook
Re: Kick Out The Sports!
Bob,
I was googling The Sports Guy when I came across your article on him. A few things...
1) Simmons writes for ESPN. You write for Flak Magazine.
2) You are writing articles about his articles. He probably doesn't even know who you are.
3) His following probably supercedes your by about 4,000,000.
4) Pretty much you couldn't hold his jock strap and your article made me "throw up in my mouth"
Sincerely,
Matt LeBlanc [ed: could it be him?]
1-20-05
To: James Norton
Re: Weekly Shredder 29
mr. norton,
"But Condi Rice isn't just some soulless Ayn Rand disciple fresh off the U. of Chicago campus."
hahahahahahaha....that's a fantastic line! but, to whom do you refer? Wolfowitz? Ashcroft? I don't think either of them were "disciples" of Ayn Rand as much as they are minions of Leo Strauss.
Alan Greenspan, on the other hand, IS a soulless disciple of Ayn Rand, though he didn't ever go to the U of C. But what better trait to have as King of the Capitalists?
regards,
neil bouhanbianco research, llc
3-2-05
To: James Norton
Re: Jerry Orbach: In Memoriam
Jim,
Thanks for the excellent obit of Jerry Orbach. He was, indeed, a class act. He paid his dues on (and off) Broadway, as well as in movies and TV. (Remember him as the not-so-ethical PI in "Murder, She Wrote"?) Musicals were his real love. He was in the original cast (1960) of "The Fantasticks," "42nd Street," "Carnival," and "Promises, Promises." He had a fun part in the animated "Beauty and the Beast," which some have called an Yves Montand imitation.
I discovered that the iTunes Music Store has several songs with Jerry, including probably the best rendition of "Try to Remember" from the Fantasticks that I've heard. Many singers go way over the top with what is at heart a very simple song. (Jim Nabors's rendition is a good example of this tendency.) Jerry NEVER went over the top: he was always understated and, thus, very real.
I'll miss him.
George Slusher
Eugene, OR
PS--The song is available on what may be the only solo album Orbach did, "Off Broadway." You can find it on Amazon's music site by doing a search on Jerry Orbach.
3-6-05
To: Bob Cook
Re: Kick Out the Sports!
Hello Mr. Cook,
Just now read your article on HOOSIERS, and wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed reading it, and how appreciative I am that you took the time and trouble to track down the actors that played the Huskers in the film. I was very sorry to hear about Kent Poole's suicide — of course I never knew him personally, but did like the character he played in the movie, and hate it whenever I hear of the kind of tragic end suffered by him. That 1300 people showed up for his service is an obvious tribute to the effect he had on so many others.
MGM has re-released the DVD version of HOOSIERS and there is some commentary from Gene Hackman, Dennis Hopper, Maris Valainis and the Director and Producer — but the comments you were able to elicit from the others, sadly, were missing from this re-release. Too bad.
Thanks again for that great article. I love that movie and could watch it again and again.
Sincerely,
Steve Bochan
3-6-05
To: Joey Rubin
Re: Blind Justice
I recently read your article about the new ABC cop show "Blind Justice" in Flak Magazine. I enjoyed it.
I completely agree with you that perhaps a new cop show is not exactly what we need in this particular TV landscape. However to further strengthen that point, I must point out that the idea behind the show is not exactly as original as you might think, as it reminds me a great deal of the comic book hero Daredevil. While there are slight differences between the characters, notably that Daredevil/Matt Murdock is a lawyer who wears a superhero costume and Dunbar is a police detective, there are too many similarities (solving crimes with heightened senses, the kung-fu moves, the convoluted social life and simple general appearance) for me to believe that it is altogether coincidental.
Perhaps the show will take a slant away from the very Daredevil-like premise, but I'm not entirely convinced, especially if the entire focus is on the main character rather than on the crimes or an ensemble. We'll just have to see, or perhaps hear, smell, taste and touch, what happens.
Matt Wilson
