Whore of Akron

Listening to the Dan Patrick Show last summer a man named Scott Raab came on for an interview.  He was a native Clevelander, pissed off and had just finished writing his first book. A sports guy from Cleveland pissed off?  Sounds about right.  I can't remember the Browns ever being good and the Indians used to be a playoff team.  And oh yeah... the best player in the NBA took off from his hometown a year ago to leave his team with nothing but a bunch of second tier players signed for outrageous money to help him, the chosen one, win that all too elusive ring.  The latter is what this man's book is about, and after listening to him rant on the "The Whore of Akron" for 15 minutes, I knew I had to read it.

July 8, 2010. Cleveland, Ohio.  NBA superstar and free agent LeBron James hosts an hour long ESPN television special, more commonly known as "The Decision", or as Raab puts it, "an hour long ESPN smarm-fest".  James decides to spurn the city of Cleveland and take his talents to South Beach Miami, Florida.  There he will join forces with fellow free agent all stars Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, making the Miami Heat the NBA's most feared team.  Leaving his former team the Cavaliers hopeless.  Leaving the city of Cleveland, yet again, in the pit of the sports universe.  This is a problem for Scott Raab.  He's been following the Cavs and LeBron for a year now, hoping that his first book to be published will tell the tale of the Cavs first NBA Finals Championship, and how the kid who was born and raised in Ohio, finally brought it home.  LeBron's choice of Miami over Cleveland flips this idea on its head, but spawns the birth of a new book.  One that tells the familiar tale of a seemingly cursed sports city, and takes you inside the mind of a crazed fanatic who's just had his dreams of seeing the first championship brought to Cleveland in half century, crushed.  For the past twenty or so years of his life Raab has lived in Philadelphia, writing for Esquire and GQ, but grew up in Cleveland.  His parents were divorced and he grew up living with his mother and siblings in their grandparents' house.  He graduated from Cleveland State University and the University of Iowa's Writer's Workshop.  His writings have been anthologized in Best American Sports Writing and Best Food Writing (http://www.scottraab.com/about-scott-raab/).

I've read a couple of blog posts and articles written by Scott.  The writing in his book is very similar to that of his articles and blog.  He doesn't hold anything back and isn't afraid to write anything on his mind.  Strong coarse language is present in almost all of his work I've read.  The difference from his other work is the passion he's able to put into his book. That's also what separates this book from other sports columns or creative fictions.  His passion for Cleveland sports and disgust towards LeBron is beyond crazy.

This book represents a definite trend in the culture of professional athletes.  Teams have learned from LeBron's decision that athletes aren't their for the organization or the city, they are their to win and make money.  Last year teams such as the  Utah Jazz and the Denver Nuggets traded each traded franchise players  (who would become free agents at the end of the year) mid season to avoid what happened to the Cavs.  Their has been speculation of the Magic trading Dwight Howard all season long.  Teams are now trading their star's so they get more than just a goodbye and a squad of role players.  This books target audience would be any sports fan and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a fun read.  If you're a LeBron or Heat fan, you might find a couple offensive messages.

This was a great book and I'm sure Raab would consider it his best work.  I loved reading it all the way through.  His humor is smart and will make you laugh out loud at times.  His language and insults to those who have done Cleveland wrong is extremely graphic and offensive, which could be off putting to some readers.  Sean Gregory, critic for Time Entertainment, agrees that the book can go a little far stating, "some of the darts are trite," referring to the insults Raab throws at Art Modell, owner of the Browns who moved the team to Baltimore in 1996.  Gregory goes on to say that this "doesn't mean this isn't a pleasure (guilty or otherwise) to read."  Ending  the review  claiming that "after reading The Whore of Akron, you'll be hard pressed to think sports don't matter."

I've started following Raab on twitter and will definitely buy his book if he writes one.  A few of my friends hate LeBron and said they'd love to read the book.  When I started the book I thought it would be a straight bash on James the whole way through, but you soon find out its about much more than Raab tearing up James.  Its just as much about the city of Cleveland's woes and Raab trying desperately not to lose his sanity.

30 Rock Talk

30 Rock is a sitcom currently in its sixth season and airs on NBC, but I caught a rerun of a season five episode titled "Operation Righteous Cowboy Lightening," which aired on Comedy Central at 7p.m. last Monday night.  In this episode Liz Lemon (Tina Fey), head writer for the fictional NBC sketch comedy show TGS, is faced with an all too familiar problem... the star the her show ,Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan), is not in the mood to rehearse.  Meanwhile, head executive Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin), is coming up with another scheme to achieve what all in the television industry strive for, higher ratings.  30 Rock is known for its witty ways of plugging ads into their show, but in this episode the only ads were through commercials and Comedy Central filling the bottom left corner of the screen with "New Tosh.0 tomorrow at 10," and a pop-up ad for the network premier of "The Goods: Live Hard/Sell Hard."  The commercial ads were pretty basic.  A lot of movie ads such as the DVD release of "Drive," and the new "Ghost Rider" film... both of these ads came up multiple times.  Hotwire.com, Quiznos, and Sleep Number were a few of the others.

30 Rocks comedy targets an educated, young adult to middle age audience.  Its almost impossible to catch all of the political jokes, artistic/literary allusions, and musical references if you aren't well caught up with today's society.  30 Rock also relates to its audience with many guest star cameos... maybe a little bit of a cheesy way to get you to watch the show, but hey, when you have the connections Baldwin, Fey and Morgan have, why not throw a little De Niro, Damon, and Ghostface Killah in the mix?  The show is set inside the GE building at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City.  It gives you a behind the scenes look at the making and filming of "TGS."  Scenes are mostly set in the writers room, Mr. Donaghy's executive office, and in the dressing rooms of TGS' stars, Tracy Jordan and Jenna Moroney (Jane Krakowski).  30 Rock is a show within a show.  You see actors acting as actors, and see a show put together for a live audience that's not really a live audience.  This is one way 30 Rock separates itself from other sitcoms.  However, its satirical style comedy is very similar to many sitcoms on TV right now.

This show is ALL about stereotypes.  From top to bottom, done it all, near perfect man Jack Donaghy, to the sultry blonde writers secretary Cerie, every character is perfectly over the top.  The most noticeable and over the top have to be the stars of TGS, Tracy and Jenna.  Both are narcissistic actors who have zero grasp on reality.  Before TGS, Tracy starred in many feature films including, "Fat Bitch", "Who Dat Ninja?" and "Black Cop White Cop," just to name a few.  These films are the stereotypical to black comedian actors.  To get a better idea check out the movie posters here.  Then there's Jenna.  The  stereotypical variety show actress.  She can sing, dance and sleep around with the best of 'em.  Conceited? Her
boyfriend's career is performing as a Jenna Moroney in a drag show.  30 Rock stereotypes their actors as being egotistical loonies.  If I were a foreign visitor I would say in US culture, famous people are dicks.

STRENGTHS:  It would be easy to say the writing is what makes 30 Rock so successful, but it would be unfair to look past the cast.  If you don't feel like analyzing every wisecrack you hear, you can always laugh at anything that comes out of Tracy's mouth, or read Frank's (Judah Friedlander) hat.  The cast makes it possible for anyone to enjoy the show by their solid acting and all around natural funniness.
WEAKNESSES:  Many may find the show to go a little over the top too often.  I could see the older audience being off-put with Tracy's slapstick comedy and constant immaturity.

I'm a big fan of the show for both the cast and the writing.  I find all the jokes and stereotypes funny and even a little crude, but never to the point of being turned off or upset.  I know this is a highly critically acclaimed show, but surprisingly I'm the only one out of all my friends and family who watches on a regular basis.  This review, written in 2008 by Alessandra Stanley for The New York Times, still had not been received well by a large audience even after the show had won "many Emmy's."

What I really learned most about 30 Rock after doing this assignment is that they have a really awesome and interactive fan site.  I would strongly recommend checking the show out when you get a chance.  The new season's on NBC every Thursday night at 8 and you can catch reruns on Comedy Central every week night.  Watch it, its funny!