As promised, this is Desert Island Songs Week here on the 10 O’Clock and 2 O’Clock. Over the course of the next five days — 10 blog posts — I will feature the 10 songs I would want to have on an iPod if, somehow, I should end up on a desert island with, uh, nothing but my iPod and a Speedo. OK, perhaps board shorts. And headphones would help. Do not ask me where I’m going to get power from. Those are ridiculous details, people! Ridiculous!
I look forward to hearing from you about your own Desert Island Songs. Feel free to post comments here or email me at jmcdonald@theprovince.com. I’ll try to keep it to 10; not easy, since my current list of must-haves stands somewhere around 25. And it was a painful process to get to 25 from the original 100 or so. Darn you, desert island! Why just 10?
OK, we start the week with a dark horse, a song that I rarely hear but when I do, I am blown away by its magnificence. When you normally hear the British band Frankie Goes to Hollywood, you hear Relax. That was Frankie’s big hit, and nearly 30 years later it still gets all the attention. But about three weeks ago, I was with friends at a dinner party and, post-dinner, the music was getting louder. And on it came: The Power of Love. The third single off Welcome to the Pleasuredome, The Power of Love isn’t anything like Relax. It’s a ballad, and I’ve always been partial to the ballad. It’s a longer song, and I’ve always loved the longer songs, which you’ll see in future installments of Desert Island Songs. Holly Johnson, Frankie’s lead singer, once said, “I always felt like The Power of Love was the record that would save me in this life. There is a biblical aspect to its spirituality and passion; the fact that love is the only thing that matters in the end.”
I’m down with that. It’s a mesmerizing piece. And here’s a trivia bit: It spent one week as No. 1 on the UK charts replaced by … a rather monster hit called Do They Know It’s Christmas? Here’s The Power of Love — the first download for Desert Island Songs Week.
Hmmmm, intriguing video.
And on to the 10 O’Clock we go. And we start with the Iron Bowl, the annual battle between Alabama’s two greatest football teams. Reeves Wiedeman of the New Yorker couldn’t help but get caught up in the spirit of the game between Alabama and Auburn. Not familiar with what happened? He writes (and thanks to Torben Rolfsen of The Province’s Live at 5 for pointing it out): “Among the handful of good reasons to make a point of watching live sports is the hope of seeing something you’ve never seen before; that happens only rarely, but this game, which Auburn won, 34-28, provided perhaps the most remarkable sequence in recent major sports memory. Here’s what happened in the final minute alone: An Auburn touchdown that perhaps shouldn’t have been; An Alabama player landing out of bounds with, at most, one-fifth of a second left to play; A subsequent fifty-seven-yard field goal attempt, by Alabama, which landed short and in the arms of a player from Auburn, who returned it a hundred and nine yards for a game-winning touchdown. Everyone immediately agreed that they’d never seen anything like it, and within minutes, so many undergraduates rushed from the stands that you couldn’t see the field at all.”
Among the handful of good reasons to make a point of watching live sports is the hope of seeing something you’ve never seen before; that happens only rarely, but this game, which Auburn won, 34-28, provided perhaps the most remarkable sequence in recent major sports memory. Here’s what happened in the final minute alone: An Auburn touchdown that perhaps shouldn’t have been; An Alabama player landing out of bounds with, at most, one-fifth of a second left to play; A subsequent fifty-seven-yard field goal attempt, by Alabama, which landed short and in the arms of a player from Auburn, who returned it a hundred and nine yards for a game-winning touchdown. Everyone immediately agreed that they’d never seen anything like it, and within minutes, so many undergraduates rushed from the stands that you couldn’t see the field at all.”
Here’s how the ending looked:
This collection of fan reactions to the winning/losing touchdown? Fabulous.
HIT THE DECKER, HERE COME THE BRONCOS!
Certainly Auburn fans are happy today. But so are Denver Broncos fans, who got an unexpected, four-touchdown performance from Eric Decker in Sunday’s win over the Kansas City Chiefs. Decker, it should be pointed out, is not the No. 1 option for Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, but that’s never stopped Manning from thinking outside the box. Jeffri Chadiha of ESPN writes: “The box score will say that Decker had eight receptions for career highs in yards (174) and touchdowns (four). What’s harder to track is how many times he broke the Chiefs’ spirits with game-turning plays on a day when his team needed them most.” Decker is perhaps better known for his reality-TV show called Eric & Jessie: Game On, which features Decker snuggling with singer Jessie James. As a result, his accomplishment Sunday got the usual attention, plus the extra attention due to his extra-curricular activities.
MONDAY MORNING QB’S, THIS IS FOR YOU
Peter King’s Monday Morning Quarterback column is a must-read, as always. It’s written in such a great, conversational way and is a good lesson for anyone who wants to know how to write. Best advice? If you’re a storyteller, just tell the story. Be yourself. That’s what King does, and it’s entertaining. He also serves up a sneak peek at a series he’s going to begin midweek, which focuses on him spending a week basically embedded with an NFL officiating crew.
WE HEAR THERE’S A BIG GAME IN SEATTLE TONIGHT
It seems that in recent years, the NFL’s marquee game has been the Sunday night affair. Well, not this week. I’d have to say that the 10-1 Seattle Seahawks hosting the 9-2 New Orleans Saints would probably be the best thing in recent memory. And so Seattle is abuzz. B.C.’s many Seahawks fans are already crowding the Peace Arch, anxious to get down to Seattle for the pre-game tailgate. And on the surface, the game is must-see. But there are juicy subplots. One that I like: Saints quarterback Drew Brees is one of Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson’s heroes. Wilson has been keeping an eye on Brees since he was a pre-teen. He’s read his motivational book twice. He’s watched his every move, on and off the field. And as Larry Stone of the Seattle Times reports, there is definitely mutual admiration between the two. The Seahawks and Saints meeting again — the winner could well earn NFC home-field advantage through the playoffs — rekindles memories for many. The Seattle Times’ Jerry Brewer remembers the playoff game in January 2011. And the incredible run by Marshawn Lynch that led to the Seahawks’ upset win.
Did you see that straight-arm?
AV, ROCKING THE LUNDQVIST BOAT IN MANHATTAN
They call him King Henrik, but right now, Henrik Lundqvist is being treated in New York like he’s the king’s bastard child. Seriously. This guy is a living, breathing, playing Rangers legend, except young Cam Talbot was the one who played against the Canucks on Saturday and there’s a definite sense that something is amiss at Madison Square Garden. As Larry Brooks of the New York Post writes, there doesn’t even appear to be progress on a new contract for Lundqvist. Remember, this is a five-time Vezina Trophy nominee who won the thing in 2012. He’s one of the faces of the franchise. And if he was going to sit tonight vs. the Winnipeg Jets, that would be the first time in nearly three seasons that Lundqvist had been on the bench for consecutive games. Breaking news out of New York: Lundqvist will start. Trouble averted? Maybe, maybe not. Talbot’s 6-0 with a 1.48 GAA in his past six starts …
AND FINALLY …
The 2014 FIFA World Cup draw takes place on Friday in Brazil. Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl has plenty of insight on how it could go down. And manages to deliver a fabulous shot at FIFA boss Sepp Blatter, one of the world’s easiest targets.
We’ll see you this afternoon, at the 2 O’Clock. I’ll continue Desert Island Songs Week, serving up another British band.
