Watershed Week, Friday Edition - David Martin on his 35 favorite Watershed songs.
Read More35 for 35: My Favorite Watershed Songs
Watershed and Terry Anderson and The Olympic Ass Kickin’ Team will be playing live at the Rumba Cafe Friday, Oct. 20.
Read MoreAttention World: Colin on Andymanathon Saturday Morning. Stream It!
Watershed and myself have a lonnnnnng history with the annual CD1025 Andymanathon charity for the kids. The late WWCD program director Andy Davis started the tradition 25 years ago when he would stay on air for 48 straight hours and play requests in exchange for donations for children's charities. Though sadly he has left us, his tradition remains alive though the current staff widely divide up the two day event among themselves.
With that is mind, I will be on air with Brian Phillips Saturday December 16th from 8-10am. (Or from after I drop off Owen at basketball practice until 10am.) The good thing about that time slot is that if you call in, and make a request-donation it usually goes on air very quickly. So, please tune in or even better, stream the show at www.cd1025.com and request your favorite Watershed-League Bowlers-Lonely Bones song. You will be glad you did.
Call 614 221 1025 and tell Brian and myself "hello" and play a song for the kids.
CD102.5 DJ Brian Phillips Breaks Down the NFL Playoffs.
Brian Phillips hosts the morning show on the legendary independent radio station CD1025 in Columbus, OH. Tune in early and often.
Well there it goes... another NFL season gone into the ether. Last year is already long forgotten. Only two of the six NFC teams in the field were here last year (Seattle and Green Bay). While the AFC is more stable, the defending champion Broncos will not defend their title. Such is life in the NFL. The Patriots are good and the Browns are bad and we'll see about the rest. (Though the 49ers, Jags and Rams were pretty embarrassing too.)
Saturday January 7
4:30 PM - Oakland at Houston - ABC
Sadly for Raider nation Oakland goes into their first playoff appearance in 14 years without Derek Carr at the helm. He broke his leg week 15 and Matt McGloin left their season finale with a bum shoulder. Now Oakland turns to Michigan State's Connor Cook. No rookie in the Super Bowl era has been made a first time starter in the playoffs.
There is good news though for the Raiders. The Texans have their own quarterback problems. Late in the season Houston finally pulled the plug on free agent bust Brock Osweiler for Tom Savage, only to have Savage concussed against Tennessee in their season finale. Because of Osweiler's shortcomings I'm certain Houston would love to run the ball, but Lamar Miller is far from 100 percent. This country is filled end to end with fantasy players who's season was ruined after drafting Texans wideout Deandre Hopkins in the first round. If Osweiler could just throw him the ball where he could catch it.... Probably too much to ask.
The way forward for Oakland is on the ground as well. If Houston's top ranked defense has a relative weakness, it's against the run. Oakland will have to get something from Latavius Murray in this one.
This may be close to unwatchable for all moms and wives.
Houston 13 Oakland 10
8:30 PM - Detroit at Seattle - NBC
For the Seattle Seahawks this has been a weird year. A 9-3 loss in L.A. A 6-6 tie in Arizona. A loss at New Orleans. Falling 14-5 at Tampa Bay. Nearly losing to the hapless 49ers New Year's Day. And despite all that and more Seattle traveled to New England and beat the Pats back in November. They're hard to figure.
Cheers to long suffering Lions fans for getting into the postseason after the Redskins didn't bother to show up against the Giants January 1. With that result Detroit backs in on a three game losing skid.
Despite their recent struggles, if the Lions can mount any sort of a pass rush Saturday against Seattle's putrid offensive line, they have a chance. The Seahawks couldn't even protect Russell Wilson at San Francisco, nor could they get much of a running game going. Detroit will have to dial up the pressure early and often and look to make big plays on defense. If Seattle's Thomas Rawls struggles to run again it could be another long day.
For Seattle this game turns on their defense as well. Matthew Stafford needs to be harried and harassed all night. Zach Zenner gave Detroit's punchless running game a bit of teeth the final two games. They'll need some production from him again here.
Home field and that Seattle defense should be enough to get the Seahawks through this round. (The Lions are 0-10 life time in road playoff games).
Seattle 20 Detroit 13
Sunday January 8th
1:00 PM - Dolphins @ Steelers - CBS
Can you name the Dolphins starting running back week 1? It was Arien Foster and he's retired now. Against Pittsburgh in week 6 the Dolphins found their running game in Jay Ajayi who abused the Steelers 204 yards. With temps in the lower 20s Sunday and Miami a ten point dog it's a pretty simple formula. Look for Ajayi to get at least 30 carries. Quarterback Matt Moore gets the nod as Ryan Tannehill's balky knee isn't ready. I don't see this as much of an issue. Tannehill isn't that good, and Moore is one of the more capable number twos in the league.
After a week off the Steelers firm of Ben, Brown, and Bell are back. It's not a mystery as to what Pittsburgh wants to do here. Le'Veon Bell will get all the touches he wants as Miami's run defense was near the bottom of the league this year. The big plays will be there in the passing game for Pittsburgh once Bell gets established. I don't see this as much of a contest.
Pittsburgh 31 Miami 16
4:40pm - New York Giants at Green Bay - Fox
This is the toughest game of the lot to pick, but with the Packers winning six in a row to take another North title it's hard to doubt them. Aaron Rodgers was a cold blooded killer during that run and Jordy Nelson was all world. The mystery is Davante Adams. The kid can play, but has been plagued by a case of the drops. Ty Montgomery gave Green Bay a running threat they had been struggling until late in the season to find, but the Giants have been very stingy against the run (and not terribly giving against the pass for that matter). This game will ride on Aaron Rodgers, which isn't such a bad deal for the Pack.
Though they found a bit of a ground game of their own late in the year with Paul Perkins (a kid with a ton of potential) the way forward against the Packers is clearly through the air. That will be a huge challenge for the G-Men, especially with temps in the teens at kick off. Only the Texans averaged fewer points per game among the playoff entrants. If the Giants can pull of the upset they'll need Odell Beckham Junior to go off for something like 10/120 and two touchdowns. Eli Manning has been pedestrian all season, but don't sleep on the two time Super Bowl champ in January.
Green Bay 24 NY Giants 17
Grading the First PromoWest Fest - by Colin G.
There has been much buzz both online and in the coffee shop about the initial PromoWest Fest held last weekend in McFerson Commons. Since I have no dog in the fight, I figured it couldn't hurt to weigh in with my two cents as an impartial observer. Keep in mind that I only attended the opening day of the festival and I'm really no expert on anything except Cheap Trick. And......begin.
The Concept: There seem to be festivals popping up all over and if a local company with the clout of PromoWest wants to throw one in our hometown I say, "Why the hell not?" I'm a music fan and I'm all for anything that brings more music to Columbus. It was also a way to feature many of the bands the CD1025 has championed through the years. Grade: A
The Branding: Seems like most festivals have a snappy name like Bonnaroo or Lollapalooza or something to get the kids excited while distracting them from their parent's credit cards they are loading up. PromoWest Fest is fine I suppose but they may have left some easy merchandise money on the table. Grade: B
The Line-Up: No matter how you feel about the actual company that is PromoWest, even the biggest cynic would be hard pressed to find fault with this year's music line-up. This is the upside that PromoWest brings to the table. Ryan Adams, Snoop Dog, Modest Mouse and The Flaming Lips along with some local acts like Red Wanting Blue and Nick D, just to name a few. Great line-up. Grade A+
Ticket Prices: Not sure I could plunk down the 3-day pass cash but overall it was a reasonable value. Grade B
VIP Experience: While I wasn't a VIP, the sections they had access to were better than most VIP sections I have experienced. On the downside, some performers were bummed about a big empty swash of green grass right in front of the stage, harshing their groove. Maybe split the difference next year? Grade: B
The Third Stage Being Cancelled: There seemed to be some hubbub about this online but I couldn't really follow what was happening. I didn't miss the third stage while I was there. I can't even imagine where they would have put it. Grade: Incomplete
Lots of green, excellent stages at both ends on McFerson Commons
The Venue: McFerson Commons was much bigger than I remembered. The grass was lush and green and the buildings provided plenty of shade. Once again, I was only there on Friday, but there was plenty of space if you wanted but it was easy to join a crowd if getting in the mix was/is your thing. Grade A+
Vendors/Bathrooms/Stuff: After talking to vendors and patrons I have two suggestions to improve the festival next year. 1) The craft beer garden is a nifty idea, but once people discovered it, they had to walk 200 yards the other direction to load up money on the wristbands and then return. Some vendors felt all that effort was hurting sales as people just got tired and surrendered to Miller Lite, which had a choice location right next to the load up station. Next year, put an additional cash spot closer to the craft beer garden. So people could see beer, buy beer, with minimal effort. 2) Some patrons seemed to have trouble finding the water station so maybe set that up closer to the gate so everybody lays eyes on it right from the get go. However, these are minor tweaks, I thought overall there were plenty of good food/drink choices and I never saw a line at the restrooms. Grade: B+
Production: The park had stages set up on each end and both were totally pro. Great sound and lights. I liked the big screen placement so you could watch the band from a distance if you wanted to maintain a little green space. I was there primarily to see Noel Gallagher & the High Flying Birds and the whole show was excellent. The bands started right on time and having zero downtime between the acts was a plus. Grade: A
Set Length: I fancy myself more of a punk than a hippie, so overall, I prefer a one hour set time and a rigid schedule than some rambling jamfest that drags on until dawn. Don't bore us, get to the chorus. Having said that, I talked to a number of Flaming Lips fans that were disappointed that they had spent good money and the band only played 40 minutes and ended rather abruptly while headlining Friday night. In the future, PromoWest may want to budget in a little flex time at the end of the night so the headliners don't get squeezed. Grade on Overall Schedule B+ / Grade on Hard Closing Time 11 pm C-
Those Crazy Wristbands Part 1: Okay, this seems to be the big bone of contention. I got hipped to the whole no-cash/credit/wristband thing a day before attending so I was mentally prepared to bend over and take it in style. Sure, a $2.00 "activation fee" combined with a $3.50 "termination fee" was a shameless money grab but aren't we all used to that by now? The bottom line about any for-profit music festival is always the bottom line. Even those peace- loving hippies who set up Woodstock would gouge out your eyeballs with a one-hitter for an extra nickel. It's a rock n roll tradition.
Obviously nobody enjoys having their hard-earned money nicked in the name of convenience, but don't give me the babe in the woods routine, Karen (Goodfellas). We all knew the rules going in, The Man was going to get your $$ one way or another so deal with it, bitch a little about it, and then move on and enjoy the music. Grade: C
Why I Hate Those Crazy Wristbands: Okay, NOW I've got a problem. I showed up with my 12- year old son at 4:30 on Friday afternoon. We walked up to the venue with our tickets and were told we cannot enter the venue unless we first have our wristbands. I asked, "We aren't planning on buying anything, can't we just enter?" "Nope. Got to have the wristband." He then pointed across the street to the Nationwide box office where a line a quarter mile long was standing in the sun. And not moving.
So now Owen and I are standing in a huge line that isn't moving, directly across from the festival where nobody is entering. Holding our tickets. Meanwhile, Red Wanting Blue has ended and X Ambassadors are starting. Thankfully, I was mostly concerned with seeing Noel Gallagher so I wasn't too stressed (yet) but people around me in line who bought tickets and were fans of X were understandably upset. By 6 pm, we have only moved 20 yards or so and Owen is asking, "Should we just go home?" At that point people just began blowing up social media, myself included, hoping to draw attention to what was happening outside the venue.
Just before we were ready to bail on the whole thing, people emerged from the box office and began handing out wristbands to anybody who had a ticket. Geez, that wasn't so hard. After waiting with our tickets for about 90 minutes, we got into the festival with 15 minutes to spare.
So in the future, if my ticket does not gain entry to the show, it needs to say on the ticket (in big letters) - THIS TICKET IS NOT GOOD FOR ENTRY - because normal folks like me just assume I can at least enter the show and then get my wristband. I am assuming this policy was changed for Saturday & Sunday. Once in the venue, the line to load up the wristbands was long but mostly because the entire line of 300 ticket holder flooded in at the same time. I heard the rest of the weekend was smooth. Grade: F
For the record, I put $20 on a wristband. With activation fee that gave me $18.00. I bought one beer and one Sprite leaving me $5.00 I didn't use. The fee for "unused" money was $3.50 so I should be getting a tidy $1.50 back on my credit card. If just 1,000 people did this each day of the festival that's $16,500 in fees. Like picking free money up off of the ground. Pretty crafty indeed. Well played.
Social Media: Sure, the interwebs are crawling with haters but here is an idea, next year PromoWest Fest should put somebody in charge of handling the complaints through social media. People who are paying good money to attend a festival have a right to their opinion, both good and bad. In fact, many of these ideas will help you improve the festival in the future. Hell, if not for social media, I'd still be standing in line with my son waiting for a wristband.
So instead of trying to shut people up, how about, "We appreciate your concerns and are working hard trying to improve the situation in the future. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and have a great PromoWest Fest." See, that's not so hard. You can use it next year. You're Welcome. I would think of all companies, PromoWest would understand that people having feedback about the festival isn't personal, it's just business. Grade D
But to be clear, my over all impression of the first PromoWest Fest is very positive and I look forward to attending again in 2017. Considering how many things can go wrong when planning an event of this magnitude, they got most everything right. Hats off to PromoWest Fest. It's a welcome addition to the Columbus social calendar and it has real upside to become something special in the future.
Overall Grade: B+
Colin Gawel plays in the band Watershed. Read all about him in the book Hitless Wonder. He is also a member of the band Why Isn't Cheap Trick in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?. And the League Bowlers. and The Lonely Bones.
Below: Noel Gallagher and the High Flying Birds showing why the first PromoWest Fest was a success. It's the music stupid.