# 46 - Country Must Be Country Wide - Brantley Gilbert -  2010

This was also on my Favorites List from last year in about the same position (#49).  Songs will end up on THIS list for various reasons, and this one is simple.  This is one of the most influential songs of the past number of years.  It's a mix of a few kinds of music and that's always a challenge to do the right way.  It's very unusual that a new artist records a song this impactful.  This number one was his debut single, and it took us to a different place musically.  When many newer artists heard this song many said, "I wanna do THAT!"   This was exceedingly edgy for 2010, but this sound has become a bit more commonplace since.  Now whether that's good or bad for country overall is still up for debate, as this did and does miss with some.  But for Brantley Gilbert, it's his accepted sound as he's very popular with a whole lot of people and with WQMX listeners.  This was way outside of the box in 2010. It works for him, but not as much for imitators of this that followed.  I always thought this about this song and sound - when this song comes to your house to visit, it doesn't wipe its feet off on the mat before it walks in. 

Last Week #47

This Song #49 Favorites List - 2023

I thought one final article on the Browns was in order.  A fun season, and for the first time since about Labor Day there is no Browns game to watch.  We'll still watch this weekend with a bitter taste at times as we keep an eye on the Texans after they eliminated us handily last week. The Texans of course is the team that we are still rebuilding taking them off the scrap heap from the big trade, as last year they were 3-13-1.  And we get to watch Baker chuck the ball around the yard in Detroit against the Lions. 

Baker Mayfield will always be a polarizing figure here as his time was turbulent and that's not all his fault.  I'm no Baker apologist, but his time here I feel should be looked at honestly.  Starting with this - I was no fan at all of making him the first pick in the draft.  I was on the Josh Allen bandwagon, but we'll never know what would have happened. Tons of coaches, bad decisions on both parts and owner meddling made things very difficult for everyone.

Baker was drafted #1 by the former regime, one that was very different than the guys in charge now.  Those guys were the like the Pickup trucks of the NFL.  Football guys.  The Browns had 1 win in two years and the culture needed to be changed.  It was thought that started with the team leader, and Baker is and was a very powerful presence that's both good and bad.  Like a pickup, Baker took some lumps, and bumps, drove himself into the mud at times to get stuck, but cleaned up at other times to everyone's delight.  For a while It looked like he was here for 300,000 all wheel drive miles.

But then a new regime came to town.  They are much more refined and they wanted a Porsche.  So they parked the pick up truck, and eventually gave it away making room in the garage.  The Porsche they picked out was quite expensive, but man it was something.  Turns out it has not been overly reliable spending a great deal of time in the shop and they keep putting more money into it.  Keeping it on the road has proven tough.  But when it runs, all is right with the world.

And this year, the coach and crew had to go out and buy another very used even older pickup that was the last vehicle of any kind on the lot when the Porsche broke down again.  The title search showed this truck had a great service record, had survived the test of time and just needed a wash, tires, tuneup and an oil change.  And in a about a week, man that thing purred and went right to work and the whole team fit in the truck bed.  I never saw the coach so happy in all these years as he was with that new/old truck that they got such an amazing bargain basement deal on.  He loved that old truck and was grateful for the short, but successful drives they took together.  That truck gave all it had and now it'll make someone else happy, as it certainly will be up for auction again.  It'll be checked out thoroughly, maybe it'll end up in a warmer climate.

So over the winter the Porsche is being worked on, and the hope is come summer they'll roll it out and we will cruise all fall long, right to this very date and beyond.  In the mean time, we will miss that very old truck and hope that someone buys it again for a fair price.  Maybe it'll drive some other team to the stadium only on Sundays, as it clearly still has something left under the hood and in the tank.

As for the newer pickup truck, it's been humming smoothly all fall and now winter long, as the new owners have it cleaned up, tuned up and running on the right gasoline at 75 MPH on a smooth Florida highway.  So what do we know? Like most winters, the trucks are still running and most of the Porsche's are waiting for spring.

Training camp opens in July -  GO BROWNS!

This month we are revisting some in my Mega Star Series and this week, it's Dolly.  Dolly Parton is as big of a Mega Star as there is in entertainment in general.  And she's still going strong, as she had a birthday last week and turned 78.   Let's revisit the incredible, Dolly Parton!

Mega Star - Dolly Parton - Revisited

Let's Go To Vegas  - Faith Hill - 1995  - (Album - It Matters To Me)

Faith Hill's run through the 90's and beyond was amazing.  Starting strictly as a country singer, she developed a big pop chart following as well.  Some of her songs cut through to the pop charts, but there's a limit to that.  But early in her career Faith was really recording some great country songs, and this is one of them. This was fun and from a very good album.  I loved Faith Hill in those days, as I feel she overall recorded some of the best music of her career.  Altough Cry was an incredible song later on.  She was so easy to like early on, her image was really great and her voice was always the star.  Although, This Kiss later was simply an amazing song that changed the trajectory of her career, and was the kind of hit every artist would love to have.  But this song sort of gets lost, as does some of the early stuff from those first couple of albums.  This is my favorite Faith song, as it makes you happy and has a slick video.  This also sounded really good on the radio.  What a career, and what a song.

Last Weeks Selection

My Full Profile On Mega Star Faith Hill

Well, it's been a couple days since the Browns were shown the door in the playoffs, and we can look back on the loss with a clearer head.  Understanding it's too soon for some, but I think it's time to be honest and straightforward about this team and its future.  Last week I wrote an article, The Measuring Stick, and today we can see where we are against the rest of the upper teams in the NFL.

The Measuring Stick Article

The Browns were beaten by the Texans in every way you can be, 45-14, is no fluke.  They were out prepared, out-coached, out played, out physical-ed, out hustled, and out smarted by a great young coach, his staff and a team we helped rebuild from the Watson trade.  And that trade has totally re-energized an awful Texans team (3-13-1 last year)  and has handcuffed (so far) the Browns and has one more draft to go.  This game was lost on the field, in the meeting rooms and the front office.  And it was another game where for some reason, the very star players you need to play their very best and get you the win -  were no shows.  

Also, the Browns out of caution gave most star players the week off against the Bengals last week, while the Texans pretty much started the playoffs last week in a must game.  I thought it was a bad decision then and I still do now.   You can't plan scared at this level and the Browns did.  I think this in the preseason is wrong too, there's a way to do it, figure it out.  Saturday you faced a team that was lazer focused, battle tested and ready to go. They were in their regular rhythm, and man did that show. 

Social Media was lighting up over a couple of officiating miscues, and the "It's fixed" stuff came up. And the "It's is against the world," sentiments were rampant.  Officiating league wide is awful, and yes there were a couple of problems Saturday, but the Texans left no doubt who was better. Sure, we have injuries, but so does every team and even though it seems worse for us to some, it's not.  Now what for the Browns?  This was a game that I quite frankly was surprised on how badly we played.  I thought the Browns had their hands full, but they would figure out a way to win it and move on.  I thought we were ahead of the Texans as an organization, I was wrong, we are not. 

There is much work to do.  And most of it has to do with rising to the level of the game.  The Browns had a few really great wins this season. Beating the 49ers was amazing.  The Ravens too on the road, and always good to beat the Steelers.  Those were their best wins of the year by far, and were highly, highly impressive.  But many wins looking back, we have to be honest with ourselves as fans.  The Bengals (Hobbled Burrow) , Titans, Jets (No Rodgers) , Colts, Texans (without Stroud) Jags (Lawrence hurting) all wins and that's great. But as time has revealed most of those teams overall were not very good, or were highly compromised when we played them.  Sure, you need to beat those guys, but those wins may have inflated our sense of how good we really are.

Their losses are all consistent.  The Steelers, Seahawks, Ravens (at home), Rams, Broncos, are all organizations with great football people.  Mike Tomlin, Pete Carroll (at the time), John Harbaugh, Sean McVay, and Sean Payton are all great coaches most going to the Hall Of Fame.  We just are not in that air yet.  These guys and organizations are just better than we are. I know this is hard to hear and it's harder to say, but as good as we can be, you've got to be able to beat these kind of guys if you want it all. There's no way around that.  And the Browns do want it all, so that's clearly the next hurdle.

So here are the goals this off season.  Learn how to beat the best, and the beat them when it matters.  And I have written this for years here.  The Browns need to start beating the Steelers twice a year if they really want to go places. Win those games, win the division, get playoff games at home and be the team to chase in the division.  Beating the Steelers in week two -  and they should have  -  would have made the entire season different and probably given us the division, or be in a place to win it.

Sure there are off season moves to be made, there will be additions, and guys back from injuries next year. But there will be defections too and new injuries that all teams will face, not just us.  This is an organizational thing, admit mistakes and find some players that WILL NOT let you lose big games. And find the formula before games against better football men than you -  that put you in that same atmosphere, because that's how you win the really big games.  And winning big games is what matters.

As many good players as we have we are not there - not yet.

GO BROWNS!

Should've Been A Cowboy  - Toby Keith - 1993  

Hard to think this was over 30 years ago, but it was.  This song still gets played on stations all over the country every day and you still love it.  That's why this song is so important. First, this #1 launched the career of Toby Keith, and was his first big song -  and man was it.  This was THE MOST PLAYED SONG IN COUNTRY OF THE 1990'S.  That is simply remarkable, considering lots of gigantic songs by huge artists had about a 3 year head start on it.  To be the most played song, during country's biggest decade is just insane.  This is a simple song really, nothing overly flashy here, just a song with a resonating theme targeted directly at the core listener, delivered by a future Mega Star. This song possesses something quite frankly most songs don't - Staying Power.  This Keith written song is timeless, clear with a clean sound, and it has never really gone away.  And for some reason, you have never tired of it.  It simply is one of the best and most important songs recorded in country in the last half century. This song in the 1990's was played on the radio over 3 MILLION times, or nearly 1,200 times a day -  every single day  -  after its release for the balance of the decade.  BTW Toby returns again on my list later on, I'm sure there is no surprise there.

Last Week - #48

Mega Star Series - Toby Keith

Winter time is big breakfast time and the fact that I love eggs is no secret.  If you are always on a journey to make the best eggs imaginable, this link is for YOU!!

Eggs, Just The Way You Want Them!!

In case you missed some of my articles this week from WQMX.com , here's a recap to get you caught up!  Thanks for listening and reading everyday!

I appreciate you!

Browns - Not Yet

50 Most Important Country Songs 1980 - Today #48

Forgotten Jukebox - M-40

CMML - The Mega Star Series - Vince Gill

Wynn At The Movies And More

Browns - Pickups And Porshe's

Box Office Results -  #1 -  Mean Girls

#2 - The Beekeeper

#3 - Wonka

New This Week -  I.S.S / The End We Start From  / Distant /  Which Brings Me To You  / Founders Day

There - Is a sequel to Five Nights At Freddies being filmed right now

The Emmys - Hit a new low in the ratings. Monday night’s ceremony on Fox scored only 4.3 million viewers

Elton John - The 19th person to complete an EGOT with his Emmy / Grammy / Oscar / Tony Awards

Lindsay Lohan - $500,000 for an afternoons work on the new Mean Girls movie

Bill & Ted 4 - Is apparently in development

This Weekend – Check out my Country Music Memory Lane  (Link)

Also - The 50 Most Important Country Songs 1980 - Today  #48  (Link)

Our Browns begin their post season today in Houston with the Texans in the NFL's first post season game this year.  Browns a slight favorite -  about 2.5 points.  In a few hours we will know whether we are going on or home.  The Browns are overall better and should win this game as they have grown up immeasurably since acquiring Joe Flacco.

Winning post season games is tough. I know, many franchises make it look easy as they win all the time, but for many teams the post season is a treat and something to be enjoyed and cherished as a player and fan.  As you listen to the talking heads spewing on ESPN about these games it all kind of runs together.  We are knowledgeable fans here and we know what you can and can't do in most any football game to win or lose, let alone post season games, so we're not going there here.  Of course you can't turn it over,  blah blah blah...

Post season football is way more than that.  Teams are good and have earned their way in, no argue there.  What post season play does very well in the NFL is this.  It tells you categorically where you are as a team and organization.  This is not September 30, you're not playing some decent team in week 4 at home on a sunny day as you joke around with the opposing team pregame.  You are playing good teams that fought the exact same fight you have, and now it's a single game scenario.  And if you answer it, the next week you get another chance and so on. 

There's no hiding your problems or weaknesses anymore, we are way beyond that.  Many teams over many years steamrolled into the post season and have come up empty in January after being the talk of the town in October.  Today the Browns storm into Houston with a great defense that's been the touted all year as being the NFL's best.  Well today they get to prove it on the road against a good young team that we helped rebuild - quickly.  And we'll find out where the Texans are too.  Are they good, or are they just a nice story this year?

If the Browns play well and move on, we can safely say this team is on the right track, and we'll get another crack at it next week in the final 8 and see if we can play in the post season against the real elite teams.  Also, to win these kind of games, your great players have to play great right now.  The Browns have played quite well all year and they have to find another great game and play it today.  They overall, have been solid especially on defense.

This season has been one the Browns have been waiting for.  Even though the injuries have been painful and plentiful, good fortune has found the Browns, some of it serendipitous.  Some officiating breaks have gone our way in big moments.  We saw the Bengals twice basically "Burrowless".  Aaron Rodgers crippled the Jets, the Jags had a hurt Trevor Lawrence, and the Titans turned out to be really bad.  Some teams have missed their own opportunities to beat us, and we had a lot of big games against really good teams at home. Hey, some good luck is part of any teams run.  Oh, and Joe Flacco is HERE!  His presence has evened a lot of things out.  If he weren't here, neither would we be.

To dream you are a Superbowl contender, you must answer the bell against the best teams.  A loss today, and we wonder what can be better next season to take us further.  Post season is final and is the ultimate learning experience for your entire franchise.  It's THE measuring stick, as it's you against the best from top to bottom   -   Coaches, players, schemes, conditioning, organizational and roster decisions made now and six months ago.

GO BROWNS!

Read  - LAST WEEK - I'm With Joe!