Archive for Thursday, July, 24, 2008

Is This A Show or Just Sour Grapes???

Thursday, July, 24, 2008 by Mel Phillips.

Reaction to the imminent merger approval of XM and Sirius is swift and in the case of Dennis Wharton’s take - vociferous.  Which begs the question - is Dennis putting on a show for the 8,300 radio and television stations that the NAB represents or is it just a case of sour grapes.  In either case Dennis is acting like the manager of a baseball team defending his underachieving players.  Sound familiar, baseball fans ???

Dennis calls the merger “a sweetheart deal for Wall Street speculators premised on a promise that a monopoly will provide consumers with lower prices, better service and more programming formats.  Only members of the Flat Earth Society would buy into such specious nonsense.”  It gets better.  The entire text of his statement can be viewed can clicking on the NAB website.  It can also be found on anything with print on it including the papers you put under your puppy…

My favorite line is “historians will view this satellite radio giveaway as an irrational departure from 118 years of antitrust law.”  That would be baseball Dennis not the imminent satellite merger…

No one is probably asking but here’s my take on the merger.  Getting more competition is always healthy.  It makes you work harder and gets the adrenaline up.  Even disgruntled baseball managers would agree with that…

10 Timeline Memories:

  1. 1956] Curtains: Following a performance at the Copa, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis  split up after a partnership that began 10 years earlier on July 24, 1946. They made their 1st appearance as a team at the 500 Club in Atlantic City…1965] At the age of 75 and nursing a broken hip, Casey Stengel calls it quits as manager of the New York Mets…1978] A tearful Billy Martin  gives his famous “One is a born liar, the other a convict” speech. The liar was Reggie Jackson, the convict - George Steinbrenner. With that statement made, Billy Martin “retired” as Yankee manager…
  2. 2002] Guilty as charged: The U.S. House expels Rep. James Traficant, D-Ohio, who had been convicted of bribery, racketeering, tax evasion and stealing paper clips…
  3. 1969] Splashdown: The Apollo 11 astronauts (Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins) splash down safely in the Pacific Ocean after their historic walk on the moon…
  4. 1974] Supremes Rule: The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rules that Richard Nixon must turn over subpoenaed White House tapes to the Watergate special prosecutor…
  5. 1983] The Pine Tar game: A George Brett home run is taken away from him for using too much pine tar on his bat. The score reverts back to 4-3 Yankees. AL President Lee MacPhail overrules the umpires and the home run counts. The game is resumed on August 18th with KC winning the game 5-4 after the Yankees fail to score in the 9th inning…
  6. 1990] Gulf War prelude: Iraq  masses tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks along its border with Kuwait…
  7. 1998] Wacko whacks 2: Madman Russell Eugene Weston Jr. bursts into the U.S. Capitol and opens fire killing two police officers. He is later ruled incompetent to stand trial…
  8. 2001] A new owner for WTC: Larry A. Silverstein signs a $3.2 billion, 99-year lease on the World Trade Center proving timing is everything…
  9. 2003] Snapped: The U.S. releases photos of Odai and Qusai Hussein  to prove that they now sleep with the fishes…
  10. 2005] Lucky Seven: Lance Armstrong  closes out his cycling career with a seventh consecutive Tour de France victory…

Music Memories:

“Happy Birthday…happy birthday“:
Kristin Chenoweth (40), Jennifer Lopez (39), Barry Bonds (44), Lynda Carter (57), Michael Richards (59), Dan Hedaya (68) and Ruth Buzzi (72)…

Timeline Countdown: 3 days until MLB HOF induction, 3 days until all NFL training camps are open, 9 days until NFL HOF induction and 15 days until the Summer Olympics…

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