Rest In Peace, Gil Scott-Heron

Gil Scott-Heron, one of my fave poets, musicians, 'bluesologist' and authors of the 70's and 80's died yesterday in New York at age 62 after becoming ill after returning from a European trip..

Scott-Heron is considered the 'Godfather of Rap' by some and many of the themes he explored in his music and poetry were expounded on later by Talib Kweli and Common   

In addition to his music which included songs such as Home Is Where The Hatred Is', 'Johannesburg', 'Angel Dust', 'Shut 'Um Down', 'We Almost Lost Detroit', 'Space Shuttle', 'Re-Ron',and 'B-Movie', he's best known for his 1970 spoken word piece 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised'.



He broke down what he was talking about when he said 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised' in a 1991 interview:.

"What that was all about, 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,' was that the first change that takes place is in your mind. You have to change your mind before you can change the way you live and the way you move. 

So, when we said that 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,' we were saying it like--that the thing that's going to change people is something that no one will ever be able to capture on film. It'll just be something that you see and all the sudden you'll realize: 'I'm on the wrong page,' or 'I'm on the right page but I'm on the wrong note--and I've got to get in synch with everyone else to understand what's happening in this country."

As you can tell by the song titles 'Re-Ron' and 'B-Movie', Scott-Heron was not a fan of Ronald Reagan or his conservafool policies.   He had his battles with drug addiction and the legal trouble it spawned over the last  two decades.   In February 2010 he released his first new studio album in sixteen entitled I'm New Here to critical acclaim.    

But there is no denying that Gil Scott Heron's work influenced rap and neo soul artists and even a certain trans blogger from H-town.       

Rest in power and peace brother Gil.   You will be missed.

This Time It's For The C-USA Title

The UH and Rice campuses are several miles apart and when we're not trash talking each other about our respective campuses, we have heated rivalries in whatever sport we're competing against each other in.

While UH has dominated the sporting rivalry on the football, and basketball side, when it comes to baseball, the Owls are the team to beat.

The Owls captured the 2003 CWS title, have dominated baseball since joining Conference USA in 2005, and won a share of the 2011 C-USA regular season title.   They are a regular fixture in the C-USA tournament championship game, having played in it four times in the last five years.   

And to the consternation of Cougar fans the Silver Glove Trophy, which has been since 1998 awarded to the school that wins the season baseball series between Rice and UH has been owned by them for 11 straight years.   Rice has beaten UH 14 straight times, including five times this season and 19 of the last 20 since 2008.

We've also had to endure the ribbing from Rice fans that for the first time in two decades swept the mens  major sports in the regular season of an academic year.

Case Keenum coming back for a medical redshirt year will take care of that football issue and the Bayou Bucket will reside on Cullen Blvd.where it belongs once again.

2008 was the last time UH won the C-USA tournament title and they struggled through injuries this year in finishing 12-12 in conference play.   True to their season, they did it the hard way once they arrived in Pearl, MS, the C-USA tournament venue.   It took a five run ninth inning rally to beat third seeded  East Carolina in their tournament opener, then beat second seeded Southern Mississippi in a 14 inning marathon that ended at 2 AM.    They dropped a 7-1 decision to Tulane but their 2-1 pool play record was enough to get them to the title game.

And who will be the Cougars 2011 C-USA title game opponent?     None other than the top seeded Owls, who have now made it to five C-USA title games in the last six years..

This all Houston C-USA title affair features one more UH versus Rice matchup at 7 PM CDT.   This time the winner gets the C-USA title and an automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs to determine who goes to Omaha for the NCAA 2011 College World Series.

Sooner or later we're going to beat them in a baseball game this season.   Sure would be nice if it were today.