#deadpsin

A few weeks ago, we had a chance to ask GQ/Deadspin columnist/novelist/delectable food lover/Chopped champion Drew Magary a few questions, mostly about music and sports, and the intersection of music AND sports (planet explosion noise). Drew is also a D.C.-area resident, and has already been three sheets to the wind/a walking sauna at The Anthem. He’s one of the good guys in this town. You can read Drew’s GQ columns here, his Deadspin columns here, and purchase his novel, The Hike, here. Let’s go! With the recent passing of Hüsker Dü drummer Grant Hart, you tweeted some sympathies – I know you grew up in Minnesota. Care to give a brief idea as to what it was like coming up in/around that music scene? And, perhaps you could give some general thoughts about your early experiences getting into music. Well I grew up in the suburbs, so I wasn’t really near the scene, at least not spiritually. Where I was, the REALLY huge local acts were, like, The Jets, and Limited Warranty, and (as always) Prince. I only really learned about the punk scene well after I’d left. In 1988 or whatever, I was much more into Metallica and Guns and Def Leppard and the whole mainstream metal scene. All that shit is still formative to me. Def Leppard isn’t on Spotify and it KILLS me, especially if I’m liquored up and wanna hear me some Pyromania deep cuts.

You’ve spent some time with and interviewed the likes of Kid Rock, Scott Stapp, and even Guy Fieri - is there a certain defining characteristic, personality-wise, that is shared by all of these big entertainers?

It’s hard to say, if only because I’m there explicitly for GQ and a lot of guys will be on their best behavior. I would say that the guys I’ve profiled and admired are the ones who really, truly care about the people they’re doing the work FOR, you know? Like, Kid Rock really does love his fans as much as they love him. I know he’s pandering with a lot of that music, but I never saw him treat anyone on that cruise with contempt, you know? It’s really easy to become successful and turn into an absolute shit who hates his audience and thinks he’s too good for them. Tommy Lee still likes going out there and doing “Kickstart My Heart” for the bazillionth time. That’s nice, you know? I’d want my band to give a shit. Is there any art left in the MLB walk-up song? I seem to remember it being a bigger deal when I was younger. Does anyone care? Have you thought about what music you’d select as you prepare to hit them dingers? I just think there’s so much ambient bullshit at your standard ballpark or arena that most people just glaze right past it. I know I would. Even if a guy chose some coolass band like Metz as his leadoff music, it’s still only a five second snippet. I’d barely be able to recognize it in time. I’ll tell you what’s still cool, though. The bullpen music. If I were coming out of the pen, I’d queue up Uncle Acid and walk out there in a black robe. I know you are a Queens of the Stone Age guy, and in a recent Eagles of Death Metal interview, Jesse Hughes brought up the idea that Josh Homme was “meant to lead men” given his 6’5” frame and pristine Nordic/Viking genetics. Do you think QOTSA would be as potent/recognized of a rock band if Homme was just some random schlub?  Damn, maybe not?  I mean, the look and style DO matter, on some level. I love The Struts and one of the reasons why is that they put real effort into the presentation (again, because they care). So yeah, I’m definitely still a little 12-year-old who wants my rock stars to be shitkicking giants who take what they want.  Homme has serious PRESENCE, and that’s a big part of it. But I also think it can be a learned thing, too. Like, Thom Yorke was a painfully shy guy. But if you go see that band live, he’s fucking confident. He’ll own you.  Do you think that NFL owners like Jerry Jones/Robert Kraft/Dan Snyder actually listen to music for enjoyment? Outside of perhaps Irsay (which is a whooole other thing), it seems like music might be an afterthought to these dudes. Well you know Kraft loves himself some Bon Jovi. He’s all about the Jovi. But yeah, in general I think those bazillionaires aren’t exactly going home and poring over vinyl collections. They have private orgies to tend to.  You’ve made mention of the emotional potency of recent Disney movies. I have a young daughter and movies like The Good Dinosaur and Moana have messed me up a little bit. Did our parents have these big, life-questioning feelings with older Disney/animated films? I don’t think my Dad was reflecting on his mortality and purpose in life when Ariel was trying to be “Part of That World,” but maybe I’m wrong? He probably hid it well! You know it’s not even that the movies make me think sentimental thoughts. They just make me REACT. I get emotional for emotions sake. I may as well be cutting an onion. They’re just calibrated to hit your skull in such a way that the tears come gushing out whether you want them to or not, and they’re even more effective than movies of the past. They’ve nailed the formula.  I’ve heard guys like Brian Slagel (of Metal Blade Records) and Jamey Jasta say that when we’re in the midst of tumultuous political times, the quality of heavy music increases. Are we about to get an influx of quality heavy shit? I am skeptical of this theory, but curious as to your thoughts. 

Things are admittedly a little slow over at Deadspin. It’s a sports blog, but, as they point out in this article about Asian carp — er, boomerangs, rather, with baseball being the only sport on television right now (and it being the All-Star Break to boot) they got a little desperate and decided to take a closer look at boomerangs. Sure. Why not?

The result of their YouTube adventure is this analysis of a man trying to “hunt” silver carp with a boomerang and largely failing miserably if the goal is to actually collect a fish you’ve captured or killed.

I’ll let Deadspin take it from here:

This video is of a man trying to catch Asian carp with a boomerang. Asian carp jump out of the water, and so if you’re in a boat on a river that contains Asian carp—which you should not want to catch (because they taste like butt)—you can, in theory, catch them with a net, or your hands, or a spear, or almost anything, really. My man in the video, however, uses a boomerang. It doesn’t work well.

Manti Te’o’s deceased girlfriend being fake has been the story of the day and will continue to be so for some weeks to come I’m sure. It’s sure to escalate and once again paint the picture of college sports being a cauldron of corruption and its practices being open to conjecture and much maligning. These stories have come from the usual suspects like Miami or some of the more revered groups like Penn State but few are as bizarre as the Manti Te’o saga. This has to be the first time someone has faked having a girlfriend. Especially for a college athlete, these guys should have no issue finding suitable women.

The quixotic nature of the scenario got even more peculiar when Notre Dame called for a press conference to address what the article said. Notre Dame put its athletic director out there for the entire world so he could defend his player and and answer questions. This isn’t a figurehead or a scapegoat, it was the athletic director. That is a man with a lot to lose and they put him out there for millions of people nearly 3 hours after the story was made public. 

Notre Dame is considered the standard for all that is right in sports. That designation has come with justified scrutiny especially considering the infractions of Lou Holtz’s tenure with the team and the terrifying story of Lizzy Seeberg (http://www.thenation.com/blog/172042/notre-dame-and-penn-state-two-rape-scandals-only-one-cry-justice). When discussing those claims with my father he said that it was nothing more than journalists trying to slander Notre Dame following their great season and embarrassing BCS defeat last week. I disagree with him quite vehemently considering that Notre Dame did nothing in a situation where they clearly needed to take action. On the contrary though, my father’s words point to the fact that no matter where you look there is corruption. In any situation if you dig deep enough you will find an organization didn’t do as they should. This has been a major issue in college sports because these universities are places of tradition, higher education, and are places that are supposed to mold us into the people we want to become. People of standing and virtue.