One of my long time evilopinion traditions is to list my favorite records of the year. I am still old school, I buy CDs and then load them onto my iPod. Redundant? Sure, but I like having a physical object just in case something happens.
Also old school, is my list. I looked at the top record lists of media people like Greg Kot, and Pitchfork Music Festival and a couple of others, and only on the longer lists were there records and artists that I had even heard of. The sing-songy crap from bands like Cage The Elephant have taken over what is the “rock” radio stations and end of the year lists; the pop artists either sound like they are trying to win “The Voice” by singing in the style of Mariah Carey.
I hope to fill in the gap between those trying to still be hip and the kids by celebrating the records by older artists still out there plying their trade making the occasional record in a world where there are no record companies much less record stores.
My criteria is simple – what records did I play the most. I did purchase 40 records this year, a pretty respectable number considering that I learn about new releases in a haphazard fashion. I have not included box set rereleases (like The Replacements, Ramones and Beatles sets with extra stuff on them). I will admit that this year’s list has records by more people whom I actually know than ever before, but I will tell you that the records made this list on merit; they were damn good records, I just happen to know or have met them.
Let’s get on with it:
10 (tie). WHO – The Who. My favorite band of all time released their first record in 16 years, and overall, the band, specifically Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey sounds rejuvenated. To the positive, the start of the record “All This Music Must Fade,” “Ball and Chain” and the rest of the first six songs lay a terrific groundwork. Unfortunately, the last few songs on the record turn into maudlin soft rock/smooth jazz. A stronger end would have caused a higher result. I’m very happy that Townshend loves his wife. I’m not sure I care that much.
10 (tie). More Songs About Time – Tommi Zender. Tommi is a friend who used to be my guitar teacher at Old Town School of Folk Music. That said, this is a fine record of rock tunes. “Your Time Is More Important,” ”Learn to Be Alone,” and “Getting Personal” are some of my favorites. Check it out if you can!
9. Western Stars – Bruce Springsteen. Springsteen definitely mined the sprit of the Eagles, the Beach Boys and other Southern California bands in coming up with an interesting set of songs. I don’t think this stands up to his stronger work, but it was an interesting disc while we wait for a new E Street Band record and tour.
8 (tie). Hyperspace – Beck. Another late CD in 2019, this melodic disc produced with Pharrell Williams is ear candy in the best way. I suddenly woke up to realize that I have every Beck record, some I’ve enjoyed more than others, but I like all of them. This is another record that I’ve been playing a lot since it came out just before Thanksgiving.
8 (tie). Summer of Sorcery – Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul. Little Steven makes his third annual appearance on this list. Two years ago, Soulfire ranked as a joyous record of covers; last year’s “Soulfire Live” was the most uplifting rock record I’ve heard in years. It was number two on my list. This year, the E Street Band guitarist broke out his first new songs in decades, and the songs were fine and the spirit of rock and roll rebellion albeit with a fair dose of nostalgia remains.
7. Ode to Joy – Wilco. I would have liked to hear a sampling of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, but other than the title of the record, that’s it. Jeff Tweedy can spin songs with hooks all day and this record, a bit more drum oriented at times sounds like the other members of the band were recording in the next room, barely heard. Still, a solid record but not up to the stronger records.
6. An Obelisk – Titus Andronicus. The band’s next to last record, the ambitious two disc set – The Most Lamentable Tragedy was my favorite record of 2015. It is punk/rock with hooks. This year’s An Obelisk is more straight forward, but it still rocks harder than a lot of the dull music being released today.
5. Shady Grove – The Figgs. Sometime backup band for Graham Parker, the Figgs are a fine band when doing their own material. I have met them a few times with GP and they are very nice and incredibly talented. This two-record set is chock full of little pop masterpieces. This is a truly great record.
4. Sinematic – Robbie Robertson. In keeping with a new documentary on The Band and participating on old friend Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman movie, Robbie Robertson released his first disc since 2011. The result is the strongest record of the former Band leader since the great Storyville and self titled first solo record in 1987 and 1991. I listened a lot to this record and it gave me a bigger appreciation for his last two records before this.
3. Sunshine Rock – Bob Mould. While the former Husker Du/Sugar/solo star is not known for happy songs, there is a slightly more upbreak lyrical vibe to this year’s collection. Still consistent is the heavy, guitar driven power that we have come to expect and appreciate from Mould. Another strong effort.
2. Fool – Joe Jackson. A set of new songs from Joe Jackson is always welcome and the new album had a few more interesting chord changes and sequences than recent discs, but Jackson, always mashing up jazz and pop and rock, pulls it off successfully here. I admit that I am a big JJ fan, and this was another fine addition to the Jackson canon.
1. Squeezing Out Sparks: 40th Anniversary (Solo Acoustic) – Graham Parker. Yes, GP is a friend, and for the second year in a row, he tops my list. You may claim favoritism, especially since this are just solo recordings of the songs that comprise GP’s most popular album (and one of Rolling Stone Magazine’s 500 best records of all time). However, this really deserves notice on its own. Decades of playing concerts alone has given Parker the opportunity to refine the songs (the version of “Waiting on the UFOs” is sublime), and these performances are equal to and in some cases better than the originals.
So, that’s my list of what I listened to the most in 2019. I can’t wait for 2020.

I know what you’re thinking, but no, Mick McCall was fired, so no more piling on him. No, this piece is about the man who makes the biggest paychecks while doing the worst job in sports: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
For a league that is so focused on its image, Goodell fumbles P.R. like a running back carrying a greased football in a rainstorm, especially for a league that is 70% comprised of African-Americans. First, there is the flap over Michael Vick being honorary Pro Bowl captain. Vick if you’ll remember, was convicted of dogfighting in 2007 and dog lovers have posted a petition that has reached one million signers demanding that the league rescind its invitation.
Goodell came out last week announcing that Vick will be one of the captains despite the petition. Honestly, I think that the league could have avoided this by not inviting Vick OR, use it to make a point that in the case of black men, society never really gives them a second chance. What Vick did was reprehensible, but he hasn’t (to anyone’s knowledge) harmed any dogs since. What happened to paying your debt to society then moving on? Local newspapers have been publishing stories about an unrepentant priest who is getting parole after 17 years in prison. I’m much more scared of him than Michael Vick. The priest is an older white man, while Michael Vick is a black man and in many ways the archetype of the best quarterbacks in the game today: Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Russell Wilson and Deshaun Watson.
In the biggest racial fiasco in the history of the NFL, the league says that it has “moved on” from Colin Kaepernick. After putting on a sham workout that Kaepernick read through, changing the location of the workout and having it filmed for posterity, the league stands as a disreputable organization. With so many quarterbacks playing each week who are no where as good as Kaepernick, the league continues to blackball the QB for taking a knee during the national anthem.
The league wanted to have a private workout, proclaim that Kaepernick’s skills had deteriorated, and then the story would be done. Instead, the league and its ownership shows its blatant racism by no one being willing to sign Kaepernick solely because it would inflame the already sensitive white supremacists and bigots who make up a large portion of the league’s fan base.
Goodell could have had a mutual press conference with Kaepernick months ago announcing that Kaepernick will no longer do his pregame protest (which he has agreed to do) and that the league was officially prepared to welcome him back in the league. Then the commissioner should have applied pressure (a tricky proposition for an employee) for some team to sign him, preferably not in the South. I’m sure that after 2-3 weeks, the storm would pass except for the fans with the very reddest of necks.
The other part of all of this is that if Vick or Kaepernick had beat up their girlfriends, or taken illegal drugs, they’d still be playing. Or maybe they could have received pardons from the outgoing governor of Kentucky?

I never got around to addressing this story from last week because I was just crazy busy. Once again, the New England Patriots are under investigation for cheating. This time, a film crew from the team was found to be filming the field during the Bengals’ December 7th game against the Browns. Needless to say that after Spygate a few years ago, the Patriots are likely to get little sympathy this time.
What did happen is that a film crew was granted access to the game even though neither the league nor the Bengals were notified officially that there would be any New England employees at the game other than the regular scouting staff. The team says that the crew was filming a story about the scouting staff, but when approached, the crew offered to just delete the tape, a weird suggestion if you have nothing to hide.
Also, why does a 10-3 team need to get extra footage of a 1-13 team? As expected, the Patriots soundly defeated Cincinnati 34-13 although the Bengals did lead 13-7 and 13-10 at times in the first half. I realize that it seems that Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft’s team will go lengths to win, even illegal ones. Perhaps the Patriots know that this is perhaps the weakest 11-3 team in the league? The defense has played very well, which is to be expected for a Belichick coached team. However, the offense, led by aging future Hall of Famer Tom Brady is not scary like it used to be. Perhaps the retirement of TE Ron Gronkowski had a greater influence on the offense than even football pundits could have guessed? Brady still gets the job done, but it no longer feels as though he is invulnerable anymore. Good teams have come up with schemes to beat the Patriots, and a lot of New England’s record this year is based on beating up on the AFC East. The Jets and Dolphins will be drafting very early in this year’s talent showcase. The Pats defeated the Bills in their first meeting, but the 10-4 Bills go into Foxboro this weekend with the division title at stake, a position the Patriots haven’t been in a over a decade.
One would think that after getting caught and being fined $250,000 and a draft choice the first time they were caught, they would have been much more careful to be open and aboveboard in the future. All the time in my line of work, we go out of our way to avoid even the appearance of conflicts of interest. One would think that everyone in the Patriots organization would have that posted everywhere in the teams’ buildings and offices.

A brief one while we’re talking about the Patriots. A few weeks ago, when the Patriots hosted the Chiefs, star QB Patrick Mahomes’ girlfriend and brother had to be moved to a different place in Gillette Stadium because of the taunting of the fans nearby. Brittany Matthews, Mahomes’ high school sweetheart tweeted her discomfort, including being heckled for standing up and cheering. It didn’t help that the Chiefs beat New England 23-16 and at times, fans were booing the home team. The pair were relocated to a different place during the game (although one has to wonder why they were in the stands anyway – they should have been in one of the suites).
This is one reason, besides the dynastic winning of New England, the cheating, Bob Kraft’s sex worker incidents, that people hate New England.

I don’t pretend to be a reporter here on Evilopinion; I don’t usually do interviews; however, I had an opportunity to speak with someone who intrigued me. I was at the Youngest Indignant Daughter’s Gymnastics class and there was a gentleman sitting in front of me with a Mitch Trubisky jersey. It was a couple of hours before the Bear/Packer game yesterday and I have never seen an adult wearing a Trubisky jersey. I’ve seen kids wearing them and there was a story earlier this year that a kid took abuse from other people when he wore the jersey (I think that’s lame).
There is no more divisive player on the Bears than the quarterback. When your all time best QB retired in 1950 (Sid Luckman), you know there’s been a draught at the position. Other than the Super Bowl Shuffle, Jim McMahon led Bears, the team has had more also rans and never-wases than any other team in football. Trubisky is the current holder of the position and his inconsistent play along with GM Ryan Pace trading up one spot to take him while overlooking Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson has left lots of fans on the “dump Mitch” bandwagon. (While I am also not happy that the Bears chose Trubisky over the two stars, I am skeptical that the franchise and the fan base would warm up to a quarterback of color – of course, wins make people much happier.)
Following in that spirit, the gentleman told me that, as one would expect, people’s reactions to his jersey are mixed. Some people ridicule the Bear QB; others still have hope. My interview subject had the same feeling with his Bears cap on his head and leather Bears jacket draped over the back of his seat. “I think he has potential and I like his arm strength.”
He was a nice man and as I left him, I admit that I still have cautious optimism for Trubisky too, but time is getting short, especially after losing to the Packers and being eliminated from the playoffs after going 12-4 last season. Hope springs eternal.

In the winter, my harbinger of spring is the pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training. When it’s coldest, I think of the number of days to this marker. However, I probably should think about the Baseball Hall of Fame announcements. They come a couple of weeks before the camps open.
For 2020, the announcement comes on January 21st, and lots of people should be excited with the potential of being added to the Hall. The only true “lock” is Derek Jeter; others expected to make a real run in the balloting include racist idiot Curt Schilling and the “Steroid Boys,” Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds. I was not ready for the announcement from the veterans’ committee, which happened over the weekend. As surprised as I was by the fact there was an announcement so early in the cycle, the biggest shock was to come.
Marvin Miller, the union leader who revolutionized baseball by heading the end of the dreaded “reserve Clause” that allowed teams to keep player forever and thereby empowering players to become free agents, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame along with former St. Louis Cardinals catcher Ted Simmons (who is also deserving showing that the BBWA is often wrong).
By permitting free agency, Miller’s work permitted players to negotiate better contracts including many for millions of dollars and to play for teams of their own choosing. Miller, who died at age 95 in 2012, led the Major League Baseball Players Association from 1966 to 1982, a time when players gained the right to free agency after six seasons of big-league service, to salary arbitration and to grievance arbitration. He led the union through five work stoppages and was an adviser during three more after he retired. Next to Curt Flood who sued and failed to end the Reserve Clause, I would argue that Miller is the most influential man in baseball of the second half of the 20th Century. Miller was certainly not a favorite of the owners of the teams, which is why I thought his election would never happen. He fell short in his seven times on veterans committee ballots, and after some of those losses, Miller had asked not to be considered for the Hall, calling the process “a farce.” This year, Miller received 12 of 16 votes from this year’s 16-man modern committee, exactly the 75% required. Simmons was on 13 ballots, and former Boston outfielder Dwight Evans was third with eight.
Now, I wonder what will happen on enshrinement weekend. Miller asked his children not to participate, but every player who played after the 1975 Seitz Decision in arbitration should thank Marvin Miller. This summer, with some owners PO’d and many rolling in their graves, Miller will be enshrined.

With all of the impeachment talk and the headlines of the past three years concerning Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election (and surety that they will do it again next year), one must wonder what is on Vladimir Putin’s mind? The collapse of the Soviet Union wasn’t because some country interfered, it collapsed under the weight of the continually spiraling Cold War weapons spending and the inherent problems with the system.
However, Putin continues with the old game plan, especially concerning sports. With a “win at all costs” mentality to “prove” Russian superiority, it has been proven that a full-fledged doping plan has been in full force which got them banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
The World Anti-Doping Agency imposed a four-year ban on Russia using its flag, anthem and team names at Olympic and other major sports events. Like 2018, the ban means Russia will be unable to formally compete in next summer’s Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo and the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. Other major events that fall during the four-year period include world championships and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
WADA’s executive committee voted in Lausanne, Switzerland and concluded that officials in a Moscow anti-doping laboratory had tampered with data. The tampering — before and while the data was being forensically copied by WADA — included planting fake evidence and deleting files linked to positive doping tests that could have helped identify drug cheats. System messages were also fabricated in an effort to hamper the work of WADA investigators. An agency spokesperson said that the executive committee’s vote to punish Russia with a ban was unanimous. Like Pyeongchang the ban permits clean Russian athletes to compete at major international sporting events without their flag or anthem.
Will leaders ever learn that when it comes to cheating, the truth does eventually come out?