The End of an Era?

On Thursday, April 14th, ABC announced that they are ending the soaps All My Children and One Life to Live. AMC has been on since 1970, OLTL since 1968.

I don't think people realize how much a part of people's "being" involves soaps, or that they existed before television!! In 2009, CBS axed Guiding Light which actually got its start in the 1930s on the radio. Then a few months later they ended As The World Turns. AMC will end is September and One Life to Live in January. With their loss there will only be FOUR left.

The one thing that you could always count on, even if your life got too busy and you stopped watching for a few years, was to tune in and be welcomed in by familiar faces... sometimes older or MUCH older than they were before. Every single day a constant. During the summer when home from school, I remember planning days around their air times (before VCR widespread use, and of course DVR). In college my final year I actually remember scheduling classes around them too. Man, this post isn't worthy of my thoughts, it is just really upsetting and I feel horrible for all the people who have been watching both since day one (don't even get me started what it must have been like for the Guiding Light fans).

I have to admit, All My Children has been hit and miss the past few months and at one point I deleted about a month of shows without watching to save room on my Tivo. But I always expected them to be around! You have to give it up to ABC for moving them out to LA last year to try and save money... but they could have done more! They could have given us more warning that they were in trouble of not being renewed so we could have shown that there is a big group of society who still wants soaps on the air. Did they even take DVR recording into account?

I find it interesting that my last two posts are about soap operas... I guess that is because they move me so much. Sure they can be campy and ridiculous, but they are a part of my family and a part of my daily life. My sisters introduced me to soaps, and I met some really great people because of a soap message board. I never would have met them in another life.

So guess what I did Friday... I decided to record the four current soaps that I don't currently watch. Since it is a dying breed, I need to soak up as much as I can.

Dear Alice

I hope Frances Reid is enjoying some donuts... okay maybe she didn't like donuts but for a woman who portrayed a character for over 4 decades, Frances Reid will always be remembered as Alice Horton (and she made some mean donuts, damnit). From everything I've read over the years, she was a wonderful woman whom never had kids and felt as if the Days cast were members of her family. Well for millions of viewers, Alice... thus Frances, was a member of ours. She was on the soap from Day 1. We hadn't seen her for a couple of years, but that didn't mean she wasn't far from our thoughts. I hoped beyond hope we'd see an appearance on the annual x-mas episode this year. No such luck.

I just wanted to mark this occasion. She touched many lives over the years, and was almost like a grandmother figure to a lot of us.

RIP Frances. 95 years. If only everyone could have the impact on others lives that she did, this world would be a better place.

Integrity in Sports

There sure is a lack of it ... and also accountability. I have two sports related events to comment on.

1. Seahawks fire Mora

Never was too impressed with the guy, he never really had a chance and came about the job in a very awkward and unconventional way. However, the way the Seahawks handled his dumping was bottom of the barrel wrong. It does not surprise me coming from an organization run by such a spineless asshole as Paul Allen. Karma, baby... finally people are starting to see you for who you really are. You don't give a shit who you hurt. Never have, and never will. Maybe there is a reason your cancer has come back. There may be truth to the saying that what you send out comes back at you. Mora said in his press conference yesterday that the decision came down from you. I remember back at the first game you came striding out onto the field at the Kingdome, after "saving" the franchise. Everyone was screaming for joy. I remember yelling "FUCK YOU!". Nice to see that people are starting to get an idea of the real person you are, instead of your public persona.

Mora deserved better than what he got, and you brought in a dude who has proven nothing in the NFL. He's a .500 coach. The pros are a whole new ballgame. You don't get the cream of the crop, the NFL is all about parity... unlike college where you can stack the deck with the best in the nation. I'll give him a couple of years... it just pisses me off.

2. McGwire admits to using Steroids

Dude, too little, too late. Not to mention the fact that everybody already knew. The fact that you admit to using it for a period of over 10 years doesn't help either. This is like Clay Aiken admitting he was gay. No shit, Sherlock.

I can't help but think back to 1998 when practically the entire country was bowing down to McGwire and Sosa. Everyone says now that they "knew" he was juicing... but that's bullshit. Absolute bullshit, and you know it. Most people got caught up in the hype. I knew the truth, which is why I have NEVER recognized his stats in the record books. Maris is still the Season HR Leader, followed by Ruth. Aaron is still the career HR leader.

MLB knew the truth... but they tried to bury it because they were still trying to recover from aftermath of the 1994 strike. Well you know what, Selig, by ignoring it you only made it worse, and your legacy will be that you let Steroids ruin the integrity of the greatest game there is. It pisses me off that we still have to talk about this shit, we never should have had to. It shouldn't have been an issue. And now we wait for the next guy to come clean and we have to through everything again.

It sickens me that Shoeless Joe can't be put into the HOF but people like McGwire, Bonds, Sosa, and A-Rod can. Hold these cheaters accountable. Ban them from baseball, steroids has hurt the game way for far too long. Restore integrity to the game.

And get rid of that damn video replay while you're at it...

Hmm...

Anyone else notice how often A-Roid was wiping his nose or playing with his nose after he hit that homer the other day? Could it be that A-Roid switched from Steroids to Cocaine? I wouldn't put it past that fucking egomaniac.

Obama wins Peace Prize?

Are you fucking kidding me? The dude has done absolutely nothing in his first year as "President". He has done nothing for this country, so how can he have had such an impact on the World? I read that he was nominated only two weeks after becoming President. This is the most insane thing i have ever heard, an absolute head scratcher! The legitimacy of all past winners is now in question. What a joke.