Bernstein: This board is crawling with atavistic and tribalistic twerps who self-identify as B&B "ass-lickers." What is your reaction to this type of fan? While I'm sure it's flattering to have a core of dedicated followers, doesn't their mindless adulation offend you given your stated affinity for independent and rational thought? Or do you believe that these meatballs are ground from the highest quality beef imaginable since, after all, they regard you as a deity?

Midget,

I don't know enough about the people you describe to comment. I'm happy some enjoy the show.

]Bernstein: In your early days as a Score reporter and host, you helped redefine the Chicago sports zeitgeist by formulating a critique of Wannstedt--which later gained currency among many local sports media members--that exposed him as a coach who sought only to win the next game rather than a championship. In doing so, you established yourself as a kind of sports watchdog aligned with the average fan and against the Chicago sports elite. Over the past decade, though, your broadcasting style has become decidedly less populist, more frequently concerning itself with the culture and behavior of ordinary--or in your idiom, "blue collar" or "meatball"--fans than the structural forces and key players shaping Chicago's sports environment. In some ways, your show has become more of a talk show about the culture of sports and sports fandom than it is a talk show about sports per se. What accounts for this shift in focus? Do you believe it can be accurately described as a transition from populism to elitism? Why or why not? Further, isn't your aestheticization of humiliation (ie, your preoccupation with ridiculing "meatball" callers) conceptually aligned with what you call the "lowest-common-denominator" brand of entertainment known as reality television? Doesn't your obsession with humiliating "the stupid" undermine the quality of your show? Why do you choose to focus so much of your time and energy on your intellectual "inferiors" when you are free to ignore them like so many other talk show hosts do? Do you think your ritual humiliations of "the stupid" reveal an unconscious need for constant self-reaffirmation? Why or why not? Do you secretly feel inferior to your friends, relatives, neighbors, etc. since you attended Duke when it was still a second- or third-tier university (in contrast to its current elite status) and you do not possess an advanced degree (like your parents and/or siblings)?

Midget,

I don't know what to make of that. I just go to work and talk when the red light goes on. When it goes off, I go home to my family. I'll leave it to you to draw grander conclusions about my career and my motivations. And I disagree, somewhat, with your characterization of Duke in 1987. Not Yale or Princeton at the time, sure, but equivalent to a mid-Ivy in those days.

Or in other words, why are you obsessed with humiliating "the stupid?" Do you believe that demonstrating you're smarter than a root vegetable makes you intelligent?

Yeah, he really went out of his way to say nothing. Quite the contrast to his show when he can dominate by cutting off callers.

This goes out to my former employer who recently sent me this letter....



Here was my reply which states everything very clearly I feel -

Dear Mr. D'Generato:

At this point, I feel I must respond to this scandalous charge. I question how much you guys actually thought of me and really wish you would be clear as to just what your thoughts were with regard to me.

I will heed your request and give my two week notice at this time. In two weeks, I will inform you of when I plan to stop coming to work. I really wanted to deal with situation privately and posted 4 messages on the bulletin board to your attention in an attempt to resolve it. You did not reply. I assume you know that.

I now realize that this job is not a place for nice guys. I take this job personally. I know that. And even though I don't want to work here, I feel I should still come by and see what is going on and if anything happened while I was gone. But I will stop as you requested.

However, please be aware that Jim in shipping heard me say "I don't like tacos" in the cafeteria once and that in no way means that I hate Mexicans. And if Jim feels that way, even though he's never said or implied anything of that nature, he's a fuck face.

This will be the last letter that I send you today. I really don't want to leave this job but, since I don't work here anymore, I really see no other option. There are many people I enjoy working with here but you, Mr. D'Generato, are also a fuck face. I will remember your name as though it were my own for all time.

So have a great weekend and hope to talk to you all sometime down the road.

Sincerely,

Dave

thanks, IB. as their reward it looks like they draw the dynasty from a couple counties over- 11 state titles in the last 18 years.....

FIXED

Have the team watch some game film of Idaho and follow their lead.