Sports Guy

Greetings blogger people!
One of my favorite internet columnists of all time is Bill Simmons (The Sports Guy) on ESPN’s Page 2. I really can’t get enough of his incite into not only the world of sports but he is also very well versed in all things pop culture. I mean not everybody can flow seamlessly between the Boston Celtics, The O.C., 2 Pac, and still find time to reminisce about Hollywood Hogan and the nWo in the same column. A man after my own heart. Anways, he recently posted some thoughts comparing Nirvana to Pearl Jam and The Smashing Pumpkins that I seriously felt the need to respond to… because he cares and all… NOT! (BTW, my attempt to bring Wayne’s World colloquiums back has been a complete failure)
You can read the whole article HERE if you would like…

Sports Guy Writes:
(please note that this article has been formated to fit your television screen. It has also been edited for content because it was just too damn long and this is my space dammit!)

Not only were [Nirvana] the defining band of that decade, their ceiling was higher than anyone else's ceiling at the time. But that doesn't change the fact that Cobain's death was the best possible thing that could have happened to them…

Not to mention the best thing to happen to Courtney Love!!

College radio stations started playing Nirvana's album right away because they had credibility from their first two albums, but Pearl Jam's album took nearly six months to gain any momentum. When it finally did, "Ten" was just as big as "Nevermind," with the big difference being that "Ten" was rollicking and enjoyable, whereas "Nevermind" felt like a grander achievement, like something had happened. Nirvana was like John McEnroe; Pearl Jam was Jimmy Connors. That's the best way I can describe it. Connors was great, but he was no McEnroe.
Anyway, Pearl Jam released "Vs." (their second album) in October, 1993, one month before Nirvana released "In Utero" ... and absolutely crushed Nirvana with it. Look, I was there. People were disappointed in "In Utero" at the time; everyone loved "Vs.," which sold more records, received superior reviews and had twice as many good songs. By any criteria you can come up with, Pearl Jam was the biggest rock band in the world in 1993 and 1994. Meanwhile, Nirvana was teetering along because Cobain was slowly going crazy – because of his destructive relationship with Courtney Love, his drug problem, his death wish, his aversion to fame – capped off by the mediocre "MTV Unplugged" album in December of '94, which actually made me sad when I watched it for the first time. It was like the end of an era.

Now this is where I really need to say something. I’m not sure how things were where Mr. Simmons grew up, but most everybody I knew HATED “Vs”. This was the first in a very long series of disappointments from Pearl Jam. I have to admit that I bought each and every one of their albums up to and including “No Code” (who’s idea was it to include trading cards anyway!?!?!). In my eyes there was very little redeeming about any Pearl Jam album post Ten. If anybody’s legacy could have been enhanced by the death of a lead singer it would have been Pearl Jam. Had Eddie Vedder off’d himself right after “Ten”, Pearl Jam would have been right up there with Sublime as bands that released a great first album and then never had a chance to experience the Sophomore Suck. But alas, the members of Pearl Jam had already endured the lose of Andrew Wood (their lead singer pre-Vedder when they were still called Mother Love Bone) so going two for two on lead singers just wasn’t in their fate.
Anyways, a very interesting article. Well my computer is starting to act a little wonkey so I want to post this before it deletes my article again (blogspot.com has been having some problems lately if you haven't already noticed)
Byeeeeeee