Put On Your Red Shoes and Dance The Blues; An Ode to Lightnin’ Hopkins)

We’re dancin’ today. Figuratively of course I’m a terrible dancer. The liquor has hit me and I feel like I could get up from my writing table and show some rhythm. I should start off saying thank you to the readers for having patience; my goodness we are working on rewarding you with more articles as we speak.

Hell, I’m even writing this watching the Seton Hall/North Carolina State NCAA Tournament 1st round match-up with a score difference of 6 points with only a minute left. The Pirates look to win this game but as the 1st day of the Big Dance has told us so far it ain’t over until it’s over, unless you are up 20 points or so at this point but this is an 8 vs. 9 seed not Duke vs. Iona.

This first day of the tournament has not let us down with close games coming down to the wire, including the first game to start the tourney going into overtime with Rhode Island pulling ahead over Oklahoma, good for the smallest state in America, regarding area. The fighting Emmylou Harris’s of North Carolina-Greensboro blew a game against Gonzaga earlier today but fought as a heavy underdog holding the lead under a minute.

I was a good American today and took off work early to delve into March Madness. Hell I’m a sports writer I’ve got expectations to manage from you and the fellow staff. I’m behind on writing an article. No Super Bowl post. No Winter Olympics post. I’m looking forward to the day where this blog is able to fund me attending these events and really getting into the action.

Could you imagine me in South Korea rooting on our mustache clad curling team defeating Canada for a gold medal? Okay maybe that’s a stretch, but man I could smoke a big doobie with the skiiers and snowboarders like Lindsey Vonn and Sean White. What’s the dope laws in South Korea? Better than the north obviously! I’m glad ya’ll didn’t send me there I would have found my way to the edge of the Koreas and yelled profanities at who knows what, most likely not people but water or forest. I should do more research.

This article is becoming very haphazard with no purpose but putting out an article because when I’m writing with no regard; it’s like a drug shooting through my veins. But seriously help send me to the next Summer Olympics or the Super Bowl become a patreon supporter. Hell, please send me to the damn NCAA tournament in California, Washington, or Colorado next year it would not disappoint. I’m thinking this article is going to get cut in half by the editors but it wouldn’t make any damn sense would it?

Alright here’s the deal. There’s talks of a fishing trip from Drock. I’m thinking trout fishin’ on the White River or Mirror Lake, some big ass steaks, good bourbon, and everybody bringing their instruments and kick it by a fire. If you listen to Lightnin’ Hopkins, especially the Complete Aladdin Sessions that I’ve been jamming to for the last few days you get the feeling too. The country blues master gets your feet stompin’ and your head bobbin’. It’s hard to believe any blues player nowadays for some reason that they really feel it; maybe it’s all the pedals at their disposal for their guitars, but Lightnin’s words about avoiding a mule and telling it to get the hell on the way, or not working in the candy kitchen and not selling chewing gum.

His “Drinkin’ Woman” is about not wanting a woman that he has to buy liquor for all the time, we can all relate right? “Everytime you see her she’s lit up like a neon sign. Everytime I see her she’s got a bottle in her hand. She’s standin’ on the corner talking to another man.”

Yes I got off the NCAA Tournament talk and I have a good reason. This is 4 days removed from the Arkansas Razorback disappointing exit from the big dance in the 1st round and I’m still soured. I avoided writing soon after because it would become a local sports writing piece and that’s no fun for anyone. However, the big dance did provide some craziness while stuffing myself, frying chicken wings twice in the same day, and downing them with lagers.

Loyola Chicago, an 11 seed, is in the Sweet 16 looking for their 2nd national championship and the first since 1963. #16 seed University of Maryland-Baltimore County provided the biggest upset of all time beating the number 1 overall seed Virginia, who always disappoints in the tournament but got the hopes and expectations up of so many believers the poor bastards. I did not bet on these games and I didn’t make no scratch from some of the best moments of this tournament. “I said goodbye, goodbye now baby, my train is almost ready to go, you know I hate I didn’t have no scratch and I had to lay down on the floor.” Next time I might talk baseball and “tell you why poor Sam can’t drink whiskey like everybody else.”

Editors Note: This photo is a Creative Commons licensed photo from Wikimedia Commons.