It seems like many very serious bloggers have taken to penning open letters to express one concern or another. Driving in to work today, I was reminded of an incident that I need to atone for, and I can think of no better way than via the use of the open letter. And so I follow suit.

Back in the late 1970s/early 1980s (I can’t remember which), my father took me and a couple of my friends to Monday night wrestling at the Memphis Mid-South Coliseum. Electricity was in the air. You could smell the excitement. And the rank body odor of the proletariat who joined us in the cheap seats.

There were a few things we knew about that night.

One of those things was that, by the end of the evening, the ring would be spattered with the blood and sweat of heated competition, each combatant eager for victory, willing to do whatever it took to emerge triumphant. Another was that some fearsome evildoer would try to take the Southern Heavyweight Title from our hero and champion of all things good, Jerry “The King” Lawler. The last thing we knew was that someone would be shot in the Coliseum parking lot after the event, so we should get out of there quickly.

However, one thing we didn’t anticipate was that the promoters would have a country music mini-concert before the matches. Considering that the Monday night crowd was usually majority black, and, generally speaking, not into country music, this seemed an odd choice. The headliner that night? Country music legend Bobby Bare, Sr.

I don’t know if it was the sound, the musicianship or Bare’s own performance, but I remember that the show was an all out sonic assault on the ears and an affront to musicians everywhere. We joined in with the rest of the rabble in calling for an end to the concert as soon as possible. I’m still not sure if any objects were thrown at the band because we were too high up in the cheap seats, but it wouldn’t surprise me.

Still, we shouted unflattering slogans, which, in retrospect, was probably unnecessary. By the time Bare Sr. got to his hit, I Wanna Go Home, the crowd was in full agreement and made it perfectly clear by shouting, “Well go the hell home, then!”

So, to Bobby Bare Sr, I apologize for joining in the chorus of negative feedback that night. If I’d been a more responsible audience member, I would have clapped politely after each number and been more supportive as that would have likely improved yours and your band’s performance.

UPDATE:

Other Republican bloggers supporting this open letter:

 

UPDATE:

Other Insufferable Pricks supporting this open letter:

Vinnie

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 7th, 2007 at 10:31 am and is filed under Bloggery, Cavalcade of Whimsy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.