Let’s Not Get Carried Away, Butler Fans

The other day, I saw someone wearing a Syracuse sweatshirt (It’s still a little cool here in Minnesota).

“I hate to tell you this,” I said. “I grew up down the road from Butler University.”

This isn’t exactly true, unless you consider a three hour drive to Evansville “down the road.” That’s how much I've been caught up in the recent “Butler Fever” that is sweeping the country. People are going nuts over the Bulldogs, and for good reason. For as many “fans” who buy Duke and Michigan State t-shirts, there are just as many people who love the underdog.

However, the ones who are getting carried away more than anyone is a small portion of Butler diehards who have made a variation of this comment in the Indianapolis Star.

“Butler has now surpassed IU as the best basketball program in the state of Indiana.”

*Deep breath. Sigh.*

So this is now my open letter to the few Butler fans who are, shall we say, a little over excited.

Dear Bulldog Extremists:

First off, congratulations on a truly extraordinary season. There is much to celebrate with your team’s success. As with many people who are from Indiana, we are hoping that you take care of Michigan State, and dispatch either Duke of West Virginia in the NCAA Championship game. You have come a long way from being the easy win for the University of Evansville back in their MCC days.

I know that some of you think that Butler is now the top program in Indiana. While it is true that Butler has certainly been the best team in Indiana in the last five years, it’s a long drive to be Indiana’s best.

Making the National Semis is a very impressive thing to do, and not many schools can make that claim. But remember, you’ve made one Final Four. So has Notre Dame. So has Purdue. Hell, even Indiana State did it. While it looks great on the résumé, it’s not the end all be all.

As a younger sibling, I know how important it is to step out of the shadow of a larger than life big brother. It’s true that the last time Indiana won the National Championship, none of the Butler players were born, and Coach Brad Stevens was in swaddling clothes. However, Indiana is one of only five schools to make the Final Four in the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s (the others are Kansas, Duke, UNC and UCLA).

Indiana’s efforts to return to its former glory isn’t a rebuilding project, it’s major reconstruction. The Cream and Crimson will be down for the next couple of years, but they will be back.

A five to 10 year run doesn’t make a program. Ask Oklahoma. Ask DePaul. Ask Seton Hall. Glory can vanish in a heartbeat.

I don’t want to take anything away from the wonderful accomplishment that BU has earned, but let’s exercise a little perspective. It takes a long time to build a top flight program, and Butler just isn’t there yet. I hope that one day they are held with the same reverence as UK, Duke, Kansas, and UNC. Until then, enjoy the Final Four and hopefully a National Championship.

GO DOGS,

Ian Shane

Week 4 Review, Week 5 Tonight at Erick's

Last week, an Ace/Queen off suit beat my pair of 10s (pulled an Ace on the flop), which was good enough for me to finish 6th for the night. Tonight, I will do my best to protect my point lead in the Minnesota Poker League WSOP, Tuesday night game. Half way through, I am the only one to make the final table every night. I have a 166 point lead of the second place player. Here are the standings so far…

1 IAN SHANE 572
2 Wanda 406
3 Wyn 392
4 Allen 369
5 Tom 368
6 Pete 328
7 Dan 314

Let's Make It Two Years in a Row

It’s no joke. On April 1st, I will once again compete in the Script Frenzy Challenge. This year’s project will be the screenplay adaptation (sort of) of my unfinished second novel, Rachel and Rob Request the Honor of Your Presence. It’s the story of a couple navigating their relationship through a minefield of their friends, family, the Roman Catholic Church and the wedding industry to realize their desire to get married.

The Script Frenzy Challenge dares screenwriters to write either 100 pages of a screenplay, stage play or teleplay in 30 days. Winners receive no monetary award; just the greater glory of finishing the chaotic process on deadline, and bragging rights for 365 days that they are a Script Frenzy Winner.

Last year, I completed a sci-fi adventure feature titled Foo Fighter. It is the story of Danny Shepherd, a documentary film maker who stumbles onto a UFO crash site 12 miles off the cost of Long Beach. The story starts at the controversial Battle of Los Angeles, and then moves to modern day Southern California. Shepherd (a UFO skeptic), his best friend and partner, and a tabloid reporter are hunted by Naval Intelligence, the guardians of this secret since World War II.

This year, you can follow my progress exclusively on my Facebook fan page and Twitter Feed. It all starts on Thursday. I’m looking forward to this challenge!

Almost...There...

It's not much of a secret that I have never liked any of the layouts on Blogger. So, until I can come up with one of my own, this is just going to have to do for the time being. This backgroung is in celebration of my Butler like run in the Minnesota Poker League.

I Heard the News Today, Oh Boy – WOXY Off the Air

Just days after SXSW ended in Austin, the radio station that aired a lot of the bands who got their start at that music festival signed off. WOXY was generally regarded as the first commercially viable alternative station, and the first “X” on the air. Its origins started, in all places, Oxford, Ohio—home of the Miami University (Ohio). “The Future of Rock N Roll” signed on 97.7 FM in September 1983, the first song being U2’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday”.

The station would go on to great success, commercially and critically. The station got a shout out in Rain Man, and received multiple national media awards. It was one of the first commercial stations to play a Seattle based band named Nirvana.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise that WOXY woud be one of the first stations to branch out on the internet. The live stream launched in 1998. The website got hits from around the world and, and message boards quickly grew making WOXY.com the first online music community.

When the owners of the station, Doug and Linda Balogh, decided to retire and sell the station, they refused to sell the music collection and the station image to the new owners. Instead WOXY.com would continue to broadcast with the current staff running the operation.

Like most online only radio stations, WOXY.com struggled to stay on the air. It briefly signed off, only to be resurrected by Lala.com in 2006. The station was sold again last year when Future Sounds Inc. purchased it from Lala. The station moved operations later that year to Austin, TX, which has now become the capital of independent music.

At 9:13 CDT, WOXY ceased operation. It was 27. Hopefully someone will step in and revive the station, but the future doesn’t look good.

As for me, I will always remember a job interview I had at WOXY. Obviously, I didn’t get the job, but I got to meet the owners, and had the chance to snoop around the station. The studio was an awe inspiring Valhalla of music. Even in 2000 (while other radio stations were installing automated computer systems with mp3s of songs), WOXY had a turntable and a huge collection of vinyl stacked on shelves. On that day, I learned that the station had almost 10,000 songs in active rotation. WOXY was the inspiration for Erik Randal’s “The Plan” in my book Radio Radio. I continued to listen to that station. It’s where I first became acquainted with Black 47 (which “Funky Ceili” on Anthology 6 references my tour of 97X), the Decembrists, and the Fratellis.