Pride of MN Needs to Accept Responsibility and Move Forward

I was amused by the chord of self-righteous indignation, over-sensitivity and denial that I struck in the little mind of one of the Marchers with my tongue in cheek letter to the Minnesota Daily, the largest circulation daily college newspaper in the country. Like too many of his generation, the writer of this piece of amateur sophistry starts off by mouthing the words of a good talk, but winds up failing miserably at walking the walk. (Much like a crack addict singing "Amazing Grace" at a funeral, apparently lip syncing and humming along with the melody is the best he can do).

Just see what I mean by this excerpt:

"The cliche' 'everybody makes a mistake' has been beaten into the ground that no one really believes it is an acceptable excuse any more. This is mostly a good thing, responsibility and accountability are very important."

Cliche'? "Mostly a good thing"? Well, I have news for you Rosalita, it never was and hopefully never will be "an acceptable excuse" at least not among my generation. After mouthing the above words do you think our dear little drummer boy in fact acts like a grown-up, admits his mistake, even the seemingly (to him) trivial ones, learns from his mistake and then moves forward? Oh no, just read on:

"It is ridiculous to think that if every time I saw an error or typo in a Yahoo! News article that I wrote a scathing letter in to their editor in attempt to destroy their credibility or reputation. That's why I don't, and I feel safe saying that most others don't for the same reason."

"Scathing"? Try gently sarcastic my little sensitive one. "Destroy their credibility or reputation"? You seem to be doing quite well on your own. Here's some more constructive criticism for Cryin' Ryan, turn off American Idol and Kate Plus Eight and do your homework so others won't have to take you to school. If you make a mistake in life for God's sake own up to it, learn from it and move on. Don't act like a victim and lash out with ridiculous ad hominem attacks and lastly, respect your elders.

Oh yeah and word to the MN Daily, first-rate journalists and newspapers do not "edit" opinion and letter to the editor submissions to the point where they change the meaning of the piece to protect their own. Furthermore it is the policy of respectable newspapers not to publish, or at least edit out, ad hominem attacks against other writers of opinion pieces. Since the MN Daily was not up to their journalistic credentials, I felt I had no choice but to defend myself in kind herein. Peace Out.

Letter to the Editor as Published in the MN Daily

Letters to the Editor
Pride of Minn. needs some schooling
Published: 10/06/2009

I felt extremely fortunate to attend my first Gopher football game in the beautiful new stadium — that is, until halftime. The public address announcer and the scoreboard announced that the University of Minnesota marching band would perform a tribute to Stevie

Wonder.

During the retrospective of Wonder’s musical career, the “Pride of Minnesota” performed a song from Wonder’s album “Innerversions” and, subsequently, a tribute to the legendary “jazz singer ‘Sir Duke’ Ellington.”

Hmm … is it too much to ask that an institution of higher learning get its facts straight, especially when doing a “tribute”? I believe the album was “Innervisions,” and I think any member of the marching band could tell you that Duke Ellington was this country’s greatest composer, band leader and piano player — not a jazz singer. Who will the marching band’s next tribute to a legendary jazz singer be? Neil Diamond?

(Plainsense)
University alum

http://www.mndaily.com/2009/10/06/pride-minn-needs-some-schooling


*Note the editorial changes made by the Daily staff to try and make the Marching Band look not responsible for the errors. Since the script the announcer was reading from was being scrolled across the "3rd largest jumbotron" in college football, the director of the Marching Band was responsible for not proof reading the script submitted to the announcer. Plainsense

"Pride of Minnesota" Needs to Go Back to School

Last Saturday I felt extremely fortunate to attend my first University of Minnesota Gophers Football game in their beautiful new stadium against arch rival Wisconsin, that is, until halftime. The public address announcer as well as the scoreboard closed caption service announced that the Minnesota Marching Band would perform a tribute to Stevie Wonder.

During the retrospective of Mr. Wonder's musical career, the "Pride of Minnesota" performed a song from Stevie's album "Innerversions" (sp) and subsequently a tribute to the legendary jazz singer, "Sir Duke" Ellington.

Hmm...is it too much to ask that an institution of higher learning get its facts straight, especially when doing a "tribute"? I believe the album was "Innervisions" and I think any member of the U's Jazz Band could tell their Marching compatriots that Duke Ellington was this country's greatest composer, band leader and piano player, not a jazz singer. Who will the Marching Band's next tribute to a legendary jazz singer be, Neil Diamond?