View My Seats

At the Intersection of Sports and Culture

Photo Credit for Header: Alex Foucre-Stimes

High Five w/ Larry Brown (the Blogger not the Coach)

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As Jerry Seinfeld once said: “Slapping hands is the lowest form of male primate ritual.” We here at VMS fully support the high five and believe it has a clear and important place in this world.  In our latest set of 5 questions, we asked Larry Brown, editor in chief of larrybrownsports.com, what he thinks about the UCLA Bruins and the business of blogging in general.

VMS: You have the same name as the legendary basketball coach who once led one of your favorite teams the UCLA Bruins to the Final Four. So tell us, are you two really just the same person?

LBS: I’m his father. You haven’t seen the Jr. suffix in his name? Actually, despite being a carpetbagger, the other LB doesn’t get the credit he deserves for being as good of a coach as he is. Did anyone take a less talented team to an NBA title than Brown did with the Pistons?

VMS: Who wins a three point shooting contest: Don MacLean, Tracy Murray, or Kevin Love?

LBS: How about Jason Kapono? He and Reggie Miller have to be the best shooters to come out of UCLA. But Kevin Love would win between those three, who knew he had that in his game?

VMS: The term “blogger” continues to carry such negative connotations. At what point do you think sports bloggers will separate themselves from the other miscreants of American society?

LBS: I don’t think bloggers are thought of as being as dirty as they were 2-3 years ago. I really just think people categorize sites. Do they enjoy them or not? Do they find the site respectable? If the answer to those two questions is “yes,” then I don’t think people care whether or not the writer is categorized as a “blogger” or not.

VMS: How often do you find yourself following or writing about a story that you may have very little interest in but that you know your readers are going to want to hear more about?

LBS: Pretty infrequently. We cover stuff that we enjoy writing about or following, for the most part.

VMS: Hypothetically speaking, what’s the one sports story that you would love to break?

LBS: The story of the first sports blog to be bought out for an eight-figure price.

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Thanks to Larry Brown for taking the time out of his busy blogging schedule to answer a few of our menial questions and please wish him well as he pursues that eight-figure payday.

view of Pauley Pavilion courtesy of @wahooslim

A Seattle High Five with The Boz (No not that one)

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As Jerry Seinfeld once said: “Slapping hands is the lowest form of male primate ritual.” We here at VMS fully support the high five and believe it has a clear and important place in this world.  In our latest set of 5 questions, we asked close personal friend, and Seattle native, Ben aka “The Boz” what he thinks about his Seahawks and their glorious run to second round of the NFC playoffs.

VMS: On a scale of Nirvana “Nevermind” down to Mudhoney “Superfuzz Biggmuff”, where does the Seahawks playoff victory over the Saints rank on your all time list of Seattle memories?

The Boz: Really high.  I honestly think this was a solid Pearl Jam “Ten”.  Ten was a seminal, accessible album for the Seattle sound, and is a real classic – plus it was during Vedder’s pre-soapbox years, so that’s an immediate plus.  Saturday’s moment wasn’t quite “Nevermind” (doesn’t yet have the depth of 2005, 1983, 1995 Mariners), but still an epic moment which everyone outside of New Orleans loved, and it will be remembered for a long time by ‘Hawk fans.  Far above Superfuzz Bigmuff – but I’ve only heard that album once.

VMS: Did it take much to convince your wife to name your next child “Marshawn”?

The Boz: I think she was so excited to get me off of “John Cougar” that “Marshawn” was a relatively easy sell.

VMS: Tell the truth, part of you is kind of hoping Charlie Whitehurst has another opportunity to “resurrect” the Seattle offense.

The Boz: No way. Not this season, and maybe never.  Clipboard Jesus may be the next great ‘Hawks QB, but I kind of don’t think so.  He managed the Rams game semi-competently, but anyone can look like Joe Montana when they actually go to their checkdown instead of floating balls into double coverage, which was Hasselbeck’s M.O. for the 10 weeks preceding Saturday’s unconscious performance.

Either way (and this may not be a popular opinion right now), I think it’s time the ‘Hawks pull a Dave Krieg on Hasselbeck and let him walk before the wheels start coming off the bus.  It sucked to see Krieg in a Chiefs uniform in the early-90s, but we had to pull the band-aid off.  It feels like we’re getting there with Hasselbeck.  I’m hoping that by some miracle we can land Andrew Luck in the 2012 draft.

VMS: If the Seahawks lose to the Bears this Sunday, does their playoff run still take some of the sting out of the SuperSonics departure to Oklahoma City in 2008?

The Boz: No. I can’t go too far down this road because it’s still really soon, but suffice it to say that losing Seattle’s longest-tenured professional sports franchise was a bitter pill.  I refuse to acknowledge the existence of the Oklahoma City team, and I barely acknowledge the existence of Oklahoma City itself.

VMS: Last question, Seattle weather….bad as advertised?

The Boz: I don’t believe so.  Rainy winters, but the summers are nothing short of glorious.  Just got back from a 10-day trip to the Emerald City, and there was measurable precip 7 out of 10 days, Dec. 20-30.  So there’s your objective metric.  Not too bad, but definitely not sunny and nice either.

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There you have it.  Thanks to the Boz for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions.  He has promised VMS a free month of fresh/hot hand delivered coffee if the Seahawks pull off another miracle and beat the Bears this weekend. Go ‘Hawks!!!

Share your views.

view of the Jon M. Hunstman Arena courtesy of @erikzeiner

An Interview With a Tree

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Ben Cortes is living a double life.  By day, Ben is an unassuming Stanford University senior who enjoys international travel and playing the drums. But at night, he likes to dress up. As a tree. That’s right, Ben Cortes is the Stanford Band mascot. A few weeks back, Viewmyseats was fortunate enough to ask The Tree a few questions. What follows is not official Stanford University dogma.  Our “fireside chat” is meant only to show sports fans around the country that mascots are real people too.

view of Maples Pavilion courtesy of @zoedunning

VMS: You did a lot of crazy stuff to earn the right to be the Stanford Tree. Tell us, how many other jobs would you be willing to draw blood for?

Tree: Any job that pays. Cash rules everything around us, right? But I’d prefer something that also entails a steady stream of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll.

VMS: Does your view from the game allow you to enjoy the action on the field/court or are you too busy shooting t shirts from a cannon?

Tree: I’m actually in a primo position to watch the games. One member of my protection detail (T.P.S. – Tree Protection Service) caught an overthrown football when we played U.S.C. And the Stanford administration doesn’t even trust me with a beer when I’ve got the costume on – they’d never let me anywhere near a cannon.

VMS: The Stanford football team is preparing to play Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl on January 3rd. Tell us, what’s your strategy heading into the big game?

Tree: My conditioning mostly consists of tanning beds and watching Scarface on repeat. For game day, I’m going to upgrade the costume with something that should bring the best of Bay Area culture to Miami. I have no idea what the team’s strategy is going to be.

VMS: What advice would you give to high school students who one day aspire to become a college mascot?

Tree: Study hard and get used to sweating. And you’d better like kids, because they’ll freaking love you.

VMS: More intimidating Pac-10 mascot: Puddles the Oregon Duck or Traveler the USC Horse?

Tree: Well I hate both of those creatures so damn much, I’ll have to rephrase the comparison in the negative: Puddles is such an astoundingly unassuming opponent that he somehow manages to be less intimidating than Traveler, a mascot so stupid that it still walks on four legs and poops in public.

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Thanks again to Ben for being such a willing participant. Good luck to Stanford in the Orange Bowl. Hopefully The Tree won’t get lost in all the debauchery on South Beach. Remember, Tony Montana is NOT a real person.

A Fan’s Eye View: St. Louis Blues – A Baseball Town with a Hockey Problem

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Admittedly, I know very little about either St. Louis or the Blues. The previous extent of my St. Louis Blues knowledge was formed while playing an unhealthy amount of NHL ’94 on my old Sega Genesis. (Al MacInnis had an absolute rocket for a slapshot.) So for this post, I had to enlist the help of Dan who is from “the Lou” and a hardcore fan of his hometown hockey team. He was nice enough to share an insider’s view of the Blues and their fans.  He even helped me remember that Wayne Gretzky was once a member of the team.  Below is an edited version of our email exchange. Thanks for all the great help Dan. This one’s for you Jon Hamm!!

View My Seats: How would you describe a typical St. Louis Blues fan?

Dan: You have to remember St. Louis is a baseball town and the Cardinals are by far and away the #1 team and passion of the city.  The Blues fan base is definitely made up of your core hockey fans.  They are knowledgeable and passionate, but don’t have the same lewdness and craze that you would see from Rangers, Flyers or Wings fan.  STL fans were spoiled for so many years because the team always made the playoffs.  The streak of 25+ years was finally broken in 2004 or 2005.  Attendance took a big hit when the team started rebuilding because they lacked a big name without Pronger, MacInnis, or Hull.  Fans have finally started coming back this year with teams strong start.  Nearly all of the home games have been sellouts.  However, I did notice when we at the game last week that it was much more of a family crowd than I remember.  As a result the building lacked a lot of buzz, energy and rowdiness for a Saturday night game against a rival.  (They played Dallas and it was the second night of a home and home).  I was a little disappointed since I had been reading about how great attendance was this year.

VMS: What would an outsider say about the typical Blues fan?

Dan: An outsider attending the game I saw would probably have been disappointed by the fans.   However, core Blues fans are great.  Its just tough being that fan in a baseball town.

VMS: Do fans show up and support their team regardless of their record? [Read more…]