Thursday, June 25, 2009

Communication Breakdown

The first time I used the internet, it was 1994, and like a lot of the world, the only portal into this exciting new medium for me was through America Online, and a couple of other ISPs that were all about controlling the way you used the internet. They were very important in that they got everyone started. But eventually people started to realize that they were being held back by the restrictions, structures, and especially the subscription fees. That led to the demise of AOL as THE internet.

This week I actually took time to contemplate on how differently people use the technology that was always there, but now completely re-packaged, and more noticeably, a million times more acceptable by society-standards. If you had told me back in 1994 that I would be able to communicate with TV and movie stars and professional athletes alike, people I stacked in my own private 'celebrities I actually care about' pile, I wouldn't have believed you. I didn't see Twitter coming. I totally missed the MySpace blow-up. I'm often lost on Facebook.

But I am able to function on the internet at least 50% of the time, and that's what leads to gems like NFL Network's Rich Eisen joking around with me via Twitter or the occasional passing remark from a player for the Miami Dolphins. It also allows me to discuss subjects I'm interested in with other interested parties I would normally never have come into contact with. This site is of no exception, and I want to applaud the regular commenters for consistently providing civil conversation about that which we hold dear, the Miami Dolphins (and the occasional brownie recipe).

So, I thought I would share with you something that I never saw coming in 1994 or in 2009 to be honest. I had the pleasure of actually being in on a discussion with an ACTUAL Miami Dolphin. I will not name him, for obvious reasons (it was in my opinion 'off the record' but rather than calling him a source, I thought it prudent to mention it was a player) but this is what he said:

Pat White will play some receiver, they have been practicing screens with him.

Sean Smith will start. He later said that it would be between Smith and Green. Later again he said it would be Smith.

Jason Allen is much-improved and will be on the roster.

Channing Crowder has been very impressive and commanding in OTAs.

He expects Patrick Turner to start.

He says Vontae Davis is coming along slowly, and that his youth makes it easy to get into his head.

He said neither Sparano, or his position coach really ever 'dig into him' but couldn't say if it wasn't their style or just that he hasn't garnered their wrath yet.

He refused to answer my question of who would make the roster Anthony Armstrong or Brandon London. Guess I can't blame him.

It's interesting to communicate with pro-athletes and/or celebs, but there's also a double-edged sword in that you forget how these people are REAL PEOPLE and that the image you see on TV may not match up with what you get in person. This can sometimes be a jarring exeperience. Sometimes you actually like the person more than the celeb and sometimes (more often than not) you find you don't like this person the way you thought you would if you ever met.

Do you guys have any experiences like that? We already discussed my run-in with Jimmy Buffet when I was a teenager, but he's not the only musician I ever had an enlightening run in with.

75 comments:

  1. The Knight who says Ni!June 26, 2009 at 8:29 AM

    It sounds like you were talking to Will Allen. He would tend to know the things you talked about. Also because he's such a pro I wouldn't think the coaches would dig into him. He's been a starter since he came into the league.

    I once got to hang out and schmooze with some of the cast of the Sapranos. I've also met quite a few musicians that aren't exactly super stars to most people but they are to me.

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  2. was it Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch?

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  3. Sounds like a WR.  Maybe Camirillo?  Stars are overrated.  They all think their shit don't stink.  Especially our own JT.  World class asshole.

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  4. Tin,

    Good read. i sent you an email hit me back.

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  5. I'm not really drawn to celebrities and the whole cult of celebrity leaves me cold. Many are over-pampered egomaniacs, a characterisitic I don't find very endearing. Clearly this is not a universal statement - Stephen Fry over here has half a million people follow him on Twitter and he is very amusing, erudite and not completely up his own a***!

    Often, money changes people. Be they lottery winners, sports stars or actors. Their view of reality becomes distorted by their fame and all the trappings it brings and they lose touch with common people. In extreme cases, the fame and spotlight can destroy the victim caught in it. History is littered with examples and only yesterday, Jacko was added to that list. I don't know about the US, but over here, it seems like the media likes to buiild them up just to knock them down. I am not a religious person, but for celebrity to replace religion in society is a step backwards imho. There are plenty of celebs who make good role models, but there are plenty more who set extremely bad examples for our young people.

    One of the things I think all Dolfans like about Sparano is he is so normal!

    My preference is to leave the stars on the field or the screen, judge them on the merit of their performance and move on, ignoring all the PR and spin. In these times of 24-7 "internet" news, anything that a celeb says can get reported in minutes (see above!!!), so most of what comes out of their mouths are vanilla generalisations and trite, scripted PC responses. As you said, celebs are real people and not necessarily anywhere near as fascinating as their publicists would have us bleieve. Your bubble will get burst much less frequently if you aren't tempted by dark side! lol.

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  6. Now I'm off my soapbox, I'm going to put some Leonard Cohen on! :-D

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  7. My take on this celebrity thing is a bit different.  I have encountered some in my life, but have never approached anyone.  I am very shy in my real life, believe it or not, or at least I used to be.  Also, I am friends with what would be considered 'local celebrities' in the little fishbowl I live in.  Even my husband is recognized by people we really don't know, and we have had many conversations interrupted at a bad time, or eaten cold dinners because people come up to talk and never leave.  Its always nice things they say, but still an intrusion.

    I think I have the Wizard of Oz take on it, I just don't want to see on the other side of the curtain.  It might be disappointing.

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  8. ..."the Wizard of Oz take on it" herdfan

    ...sweet ...have to remember that line :)

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  9. I love me some Stephen Fry.  I wish we got QI over here.  And he was brilliant in Blackadder Goes Forth. 

    For thos so interested in my musical tastes, I also love Leonard Cohen, lol.

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  10. What is your husband the meteorologist or something? ;)

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  11. oh, UK, what if Sparano isn't like that in reality?  Maybe he's down to earth and grounded in front of a crowd and really obnoxious at home....

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  12. Alex, come on, did you really think I would tell?  I will give you a clue though, this player was a starter in 2008.

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  13. TIn,

    You know i had to try lol. i still think you should tell me.  tell me postion cause im down to ether reciever or db. or joey porter.

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  14. QI is indeed brilliant. Can you see it on the webiste from the US? It's possible Sporano is different in privtae to his public persona, but I would believe this muich more easily of Satan (although I would imagine he was even buttoned up in bed with Mrs. Satan?) than I would of Sparano. The old Lotus 1-2-3 WYSIWIG acronym applies here I would suggest. I share with Herd a measure of fascination for "man-watching" and my gut is Sparano is pretty genuine and has not time for BS.

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  15. No, but that's funny.

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  16. Btw Tin, I've just started reading the Sleeping Doll by Jeffrey Deaver. It's set in Cal and Sacamento got a mention. No Tinshakers featured yet though.

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  17. When I was a teen (many years ago) I lived with a lady who I worked with in the restaurant where I washed dishes after running away from home (been on my own since 15) anyway I rented a room from this lady. One day I came "home" with groceries and on my second trip from the car I found this fat old balding dude eating my groceries. I walked into the living room to ask Patty (the lady I rented from) who the fat slob eating my groceries was and she introduced me to her brother-in-law. David Crosby (Crosby, Stills & Nash) Well, I loved his music and was sooo exited to meet him, but wound up being crushed that he was just a guy. And a pretty rude guy at that. In the 9 or so months that I lived with Patty I met(and partied with) several "rock stars" and celebrities, including Edger Winter, Johnny Winter, George Hamilton, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, all the local DJ's Etc. What I found to be true in that environment was they are just people. Very few were pretentious, although just like everyone else some were dicks. The Biggest ass of a celeb I ever met was Bruce Willis, who I met a the grand opening of Planet Hollywood Coconut Grove (I was the project manager for the electrical contractor who built it) He came up to me, asked who I was and 1/2 way through telling him he interupted me and told me to run and get him a drink. Run, RUN! I told him to go F*ck himself. He didn't take that so well and tried to get me tossed. I couldn't be tossed out though because I was monitoring the fire alarm panel (which had not been signed off by the fire marshal before the grand opening, so had to be manned) and If I got tossed EVERYONE had to leave. Per the fire marshal. Nasty man. Bottom line is we all wipe our arses the same way and celebrity is only in your mind.

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  18. I have been able to see a few episodes here and there. I think I saw all of
    the 'f' series...I actually watched the first series while living in the
    UK. So I've missed quite a few episodes. I used to download his podcasts
    too, incredible story-teller, but he stopped updating regularly so I dropped
    it.

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  19. That's funny, my wife is reading all of his books. I think they are all set
    in Nor-Cal. I've never read him. I like John Connolly, personally.

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  20. Tin,

    Just how sure are you this was a Fins player and not another case of identity theft?

    Also please try to balance us fan's curiousity and desire to know everything with the need to keep some things private.  I would rather that other teams are surprised sometimes (things like PW lining up at WR for example).  And don't doubt that other teams (we know of at least one in our division that doesn't have a problem bending the rules or ethics) have spies that read blogs like this.

    Other than that, good job.

    Regards.

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  21. Wood, no insult meant to Tin, but I doubt very much the Pat's or Jets are monitoring his blog. LOL

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  22. The Lincoln Rhyme (the Bone collector was the first) series are set in the N.E., but he introduced a new main character in the last Rhyme novel and she resides in Cal. He's written lots of others, but I haven't tracked them all down yet. Haven't checked JC out recently (think I might have read one of his a long time ago), but I'll give him another try based on your recommendation.

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  23. Wood,
    Based on the different things Henning did with our offense last year, I can't imagine any head coaches are going to be surprised if White gets some slash responsibilities?!?

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  24. What were George Lucas and Steven Spielberg doing at Patty's house?
    I think that Crosby story tops my Jimmy Buffett. LOL.
    I met Nicholas Cage once at a bar, he was very subdued, not drawing
    attention to himself. If I didn't know who he was I wouldn't have noticed
    him.
    Back in the day I used to go backstage at a lot of concerts, and at one the
    lead singer grabbed me and kissed me on the lips (it was a guy so I wasn't
    particularly excited), and at another I met a firedancer who I wanted to
    take home and the 'rock star' totally swept in after I was talking to her
    for an hour and 'poof' she was gone. I was a huge fan at the time, but
    after that I stopped buying his albums, lol.
    My biggest 'celeb' meeting however was when I was 2, I had pneumonia and by
    pure coincidence the hospital/monastery I was staying in was visited by the
    Pope. He came right to my bed and prayed over me (there were about 20
    people surrounding us) and put his hand on my forehead like a witch doctor
    and I ended up getting better. I remember meeting the queen outside the
    same building a few years later...

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  25. It's beer time - the warm brown variety. Have a great weekend all. Cheers.

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  26. info.
    To be honest, nothing I printed is a secret. And once training camp opens,
    the media, fans, and Pats A/V department will be able to see it on their
    own.

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  27. Who half my comment got deleted, maybe it went up Rockphin's avatar's bum!

    I was trying to say that while the Jets/Pats may not be monitoring the blog directly, I do know that the NFL front office is, and that means the info may be funneled directly to the Pats.

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  28. Wood, I compared the ID photo to the player and they matched. ;)

    Seriously though, I know very well what the players look like.  He was who he said he was.

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  29. The Knight who says Ni!June 26, 2009 at 10:59 AM

    Uh... No!  *DONT_KNOW*

    Think jazz, fusion and progressive rock guitarists.

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  30. you met Hendrix?!?!?!?! =-O

    Seriously though, like John McLaughlin?

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  31. I grew up in Weston during the late 80s and 90s and a couple of my friends lived in Windmill Ranches (where Dan the man had his 1st Weston home).

    Anyway, obvously being a dolfan for as long as I can remeber I love the guy. But he was ass in person. He made all the kids in the neighborhood call him Mr. Marino, which I guess is cool if you want a normal life but come on I was like 9, and he was DAN MARINO!!!

    Anyway, he hooked it up with KING sized M&Ms on Halloween so the guy still pretty cool I guess.

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  32. The Knight who says Ni!June 26, 2009 at 11:21 AM

    LOL, no Jimi died when I was like 5 or something.  :(

    I'm a big fan of John McLaughlin, I saw him a few times years ago. Once with Al Dimeola and Paco Delucia with Steve Morse opening up for them, then joining them for a few tunes. That is enough to make you quit playing guitar right then and there.  :-E

    Then I saw the new version of Mahavishnu Orchestra in the 80s. That was very cool.

    I've met and talked with Pat Metheny, Alan Holdsworth and John Petrucci.

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  33. well then, I'll be more careful with what I say.  :-D

    BTW, this has nothing to do with any of this, but since lunch and food seems to be a common topic, I had to share.  Very funny, IMO.  I have no idea if this is real or made up though.

    http://www.digitalcity.com/2009/06/25/burger-kings-dirty-super-seven-incher-plus-paris-hiltons-cupca/

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  34. The short answer is "a lot of Coke" LOL but no George Lucas was helping David Crosby with is biography, I don't know why Steven was there. Maybe he just wanted to meet David? To be honest with you I didn't even know who most of them were when I was hanging out.  Patty would have parties every weekend and the place would be over run with people partying until morning. My worst interaction with a "Celeb" was one of the local "Famous" DJ's banged my girlfriend in my bed at one of the parties.  Huge Bummer.  I wanted to kill him at the time. But I was like 16 and couldn't have weighed more than 130lbs.  (I didn't get my growth spurt until my early 20's when I grew 4 inches and put on 40lbs) So I just broke up with her.  She was a waitress at the restaurant and friends with Patty so she was always comming to the parties after and it sucked big time.

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  35. Ugh, it's not even my life/girlfriend and I can feel the distaste in my
    mouth. I would hate to have to re-live that over and over again.
    Is this in California? How'd you become a Dolphin fan....I suspect you
    moved since you said you were working in Florida.

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  36. WOW Tin, The POPE? That beats the hell (oops) out of my David Crosby story.  wanna trade?

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  37. "Nothing" goes up her bum.  She's not that kind of avatar! LOL

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  38. Well nothing other than those little boyshorts.

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  39. Didn't Crosby just die recently? The Pope (John Paul 2) has been dead for
    years. not sure I want to trade the holy relic that is his skeleton for a
    half decomposed David Crosby...

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  40. Wow again Tin, I missed the part about meeting the Queen. THAT is some high security kind of shyte! Did you actually get to speek to her?

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  41. The Knight who says Ni!June 26, 2009 at 12:07 PM

    Is he the gas station attendant at the lone gas station in your town?  :-D

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  42. The Knight who says Ni!June 26, 2009 at 12:12 PM

    What band, who was the lead singer?

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  43. The Knight who says Ni!June 26, 2009 at 12:23 PM

    Did the Pope drool on you?  >:o

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  44. I was about 6 years old, and it was a walk-by handshake. I remember my Dad
    holding me up on his shoulders at one point. That was about it. Except for
    the part where she slept with my then-girlfriend...

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  45. Hey, I shared the story, you really think I want to tell you all about the
    guy I kissed in my younger days? That would sound REALLY gay. Not that
    there's anything wrong with that...

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  46. Yeah, that's it.  How did you guess.  ;)  

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  47. I smoked a Marley with Bradley Nowell (Sublime) at Lalapalooza then got to hear him and others jam acoustically drum circle style and ended up saving Ali Campbell's (from UB40) ass after a drunk bum smashed a bottle over his head and threatened to slice his throat.  A nice shot from my bottle ended his evening and I got to party with the band for the 3 days they were in town.  All in all the Bradley experience was alot more interesting.  He was supremely talented.  The UB40 guys were kind of a drag.  Very bitchy. 

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  48. The Knight who says Ni!June 26, 2009 at 12:43 PM

    Because I have that kind of mind.  :-P

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  49. The Knight who says Ni!June 26, 2009 at 12:45 PM

    I've had male musicians do the same to me in a joking way in the attempt to embarrass me. It's not like you were a groupie and gave the guy a BJ.  =-O

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  50. The Knight who says Ni!June 26, 2009 at 12:46 PM

    <span style="">"Except for 
    the part where she slept with my then-girlfriend..."</span>

    Huh?

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  51. No, it was here in Florida.  Plantation is the name of the city.  West of Ft. Lauderdale. I've been here sinse '69 when my mom moved me down from Montreal. YES I am canadian.  No my head doesn't hinge like on South Park! I've been going to games sinse I was old enough to buy tickets myself. (Dad was a Giants fan and couldn't stand the Dolphins)

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  52. LOL the Queen of England banged Tin's ex girlfriend!!! man now that is a story!

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  53. i meet dan marino back when i was about 15 so that was bout 6 years ago. i met him in miami and i asked him to authgraph my picture. Now i was with my dad at the time and no lye my dad looks almost just like him. so they were talking and of course im like in shock cause i can not believe i am meeting the legend. he signed my picture after they got done talking so i thought he was awesome. but the funny thing is i take my pic to school to show my teachers and my Rotc teacher had met him and was telling me how he wouldnt talk to a group of kids and blah blah. lol So i guess it might depend on the day you catch him.

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  54. We live in pt st lucie where the Mets play spring ball.  We have met a few of them some are jerks some not.  2 that we met and had interaction was Bobby Bonia spelled wrong and Mike Piazza.  Mike is a fool, he came into where our daughter worked at a sports store and asked for a discount.  Our daughter acting as MOD that day told him she could extend him a discount if he gave her tickets to a mets game in NY.  He turned her down and he didn't get a discount.

    Bobby Bo we saw at Miller's draft house and he was real joy be around, very likeable contrary to what most people thought at that time. 

    As for the internet.  Look for MS to go the same way as AOL, they are falling behind as we speak.  Lenux is going to put them under with there Ubuntu open source OS.  There are no charges for anything over there.  They do upgrades every 6 months for free and every up grade is better than the past one.  Plus I run no anti virus program with them it's not needed and the chance of getting hacked into is nearly impossable.  Micro soft is in trouble and losing market share everyday to Ubuntu.

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  55. I fish in that stuff, snook love it

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  56. I'm with the Knight, HUH?  Splain yourself a bit more please.

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  57. No, that came much much later...lol

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  58. The Knight who says Ni!June 26, 2009 at 1:42 PM

    Oh my! LOL

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  59. How do you know they were joking?  :*

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  60. The Knight who says Ni!June 26, 2009 at 3:13 PM

    That's how some of us silly musician types roll.  8-)

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  61. The Knight who says Ni!June 26, 2009 at 4:04 PM

    How does a woman BANG another woman?  :-E

    Your avatar is still distracting in a cool sort of way.  :-D

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  62. You never saw the episode of south park where Garison and the "chief
    Persian" go at it? I think they call it "scissors"
    Martin Pare

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  63. FANG,was it you that posted the special Brownie recipe??

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  64. WOWWW TIN,that's cool!!
    I didn't realize we could double click the avitars to see every post ever posted by said contributor..

    PW has to purchase TWO helmets,One with,One w'out A GREEN DOT!!

    When I was 12 in 71 Peter Tork(Monkees Guitarist)was in my Dad's band,and he gave me a lesson.. Same fun-luvin guy as on the Monkees Comedy hour in the 60s,except that he's very intelligent..
    Chris Hayes was my Dads guitarist in the mid70s b/4 he joined Huey Lewis,and I've played lots of pool w'HLewis' Sax player(Johnny Colo)..Done lots-a partying w'even more famous musicians(Willie/Waylon,BeachBoys who are as advertised),but had actual relationships w'the above..
    I miserably attempted every musical instrument there is,but excelled/preferred all sports,(Pops was an athlete prior to musician)..

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  65. I've had some pretty good talks with some stars of yester year when I worked in room service at Caesars Tahoe during their celebrity golf tournament.  My favorite I hate to say was Joe Namath, we talked about Miami his career and his drinking (he said he'd been on the wagon for over 10 yrs), others include the late George Carlin (he also was a favorite), Mike Schmidt, Curly Neal, Jason Kidd (he asked if I wanted tickets to the golf tournament and I stupidly said I get in free from the beach), David Copperfield, Riddick Bowe, Steve Spurrior, Rick Neuheisal, Pete Rose (what an ass he was, I was dealing cards and when I went to the game he was playing he said, after looking at me, I don't think so and left.  I've seen him in Vegas several times at his sports card shop signing autographs, and have wanted to tell him what I think of him.).  Saw Marino, and Jordan, but never got a chance to speak to them.  Also when I worked in room service I took an order up to Jose Canseco's suite, talked with him for about 10 minutes, then this half dressed hot blonde (not his wife, he was married at the time) comes out of the bedroom.  too many others to name.

    My mom lived across the street from William Judson back in the '80s, she introduced me to him, we had about a half hour talk in the street.  He got me tickets for a Fins game in San Diego in '84, if you remember  it was our first loss that yr game 11 I think.

    I was on stage during a taping of the Don Shula, one of about 8 guests.  Got to meet Shula and Tony Nathan.  I also met Shula at church in Miami Lakes, his son (David) went to my school at Immaculate Conception, but he was 4 yrs ahead of me, so I never got a chance to talk to him.

    After I moved to LA I flew back to Miami and took in a Monday night game, the next day I flew back and was sitting in first class, behind me was Howard Cosell and Sparky Anderson.  I talked to them briefly. 

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  66. USA USA USA,GREAT final 3 games in the confederates cup,(even w'the Championship loss to Brazil) !!
     I like US National Team(reasonably flopless soccer)!!
    Can't stand FLOPPERS(even those on my own team)!! 

    MY favorite  FIN CHEERLEADER is Meghan(she's a 3 gap type w'quick hips),Fabiola is a deep penetration threat,Lily has two excellent blockers in front of her well constructed audible devise..
    I also like all-around sexy CRASH(Ashton),longstrider Lynn,and petite scat-back Genisis...

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  67. Hi Tin,

    I REALLY hope you were punked by Lambo_Weezy. That is NOT the real Davone Bess. You can follow all the investigations here: http://finstache.blogspot.com/

    He had a lot of us fooled, but Twitternation rose up and brought him down. And now he is on the run, changing names and everything. And since you mentioned stuff about Brandon London and Sean Smith, the only REAL Dolphins players on Twitter that I know of, I have a feeling you were referring to the FAKE Davone Bess.

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  68. OOps, sorry, I meant to say WERENT PUNKED, Not WERE... Sorry.

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  69. Tin, I sure hope it wasn't Davone Bess you were talking to becuase according to SI.com's Dolphins link there is an imposter Davone Bess going around twittering and giving a bunch of false information. I am not saying this was who you were talking to but I assume it to be a reciever you were talking to by the information that was passed along.

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  70. Oops, I'm sorry I didn't see Finstache's comment. I know he was mentioned in the article as well.

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  71. Tin,

    I love the site.  I've been here a few times but this is my first comment.  It's nice to have a place where true fans can discuss the Phins.  Could you do something to change the font-color on the right column.  The black text on dark green background is very hard to see.  Site looks great.   

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