samjohnson88

Here's the full video of Bruce's speech in case anyone's interested... http://www.npr.org/2012/03/16/148778665/bruce-springsteens-sxsw-2012-keynote-speech

I just copy and paste...

All of these criticisms and knee jerk reactions to the results this week are incredibly frustrating to me as a fan of Earwolf and podcasts in general. This podcast is a contest with judges. Whenever judges are involved the results are subjective. No contest is objective or consistent. Just because a movie wins the Oscar for Best Picture doesn't mean that it was the best movie of the year. It means that most of the voters of the Academy thought that it deserved the Oscar more than the other films. Just because a skater wins the gold medal at the Winter Olympics doesn't mean they were the best skater that year, it means the panel of judges thought they were the best skater. Contests are contests. Those who win win THE CONTEST. It doesn't mean they're the best ones out there. If the judges picked winners based on a rubric every week, it wouldn't necessarily lead to the "best" and "worst" podcasts, it would mean that the podcast that beat the rubric. This isn't one of those contests. They're not grading a 4th grader's homework assignment. They are judging the podcasts based on which is "the best" in their minds. The only objective contest in the world involve sports-the team with the most points or athlete with the fastest time wins. Period. No one judges what they looked like when they scored or crossed the finish line. For me, the best thing about podcasts is that there is no rubric or rules. There aren't execs looking for the 4 quadrants or remakes and sequels saturating the market. People record things and give them out to people for free (most of the time). This is a contest for podcasts. An imperfect way of judging an imperfect art. Those imperfections are what make these two entities great. Contests start debate. King's Speech or Social Network? Totally Laime or Left Handed Radio? But attacking the judges or crying foul isn't debate or discussion, it's just throwing shit. Listening to podcasts is so great because we are listening or watching people do and talk about what they find interesting are passion in. As I read through this forum, 75% of the comments were irate at Matt and the judges, or whomever because they were "wrong"- that they fucked up a challenge or were inconsistent in what they judged the participants on. Criticize and debate, but don't say the Earwolf Challenge is unfair. It's a contest. It's not a race and it's not a game of football. Contests are contests. When a competition podcast was announced by Jeff a few months back I was excited and a little wary. Podcasts, and comedy podcasts in particular, are great because they are independent and whatever the podcasts decide they are. But then I realized that this way of thinking applies to the Earwolf Challenge as well. There are no other competition podcasts out there. Jeff and Scott are doing something new, they are making their own thing. So for people to go batshit over how fucked over Left Handed Radio was seems so trivial and wrongheaded to me. They signed up for a contest and did great. They were one of the final three. They fell victims to the very nature of a contest--the judges didn't think they were the best this week. The guys at Earwolf put in a fuckload of effort each week to give us a bunch of free and extremely entertaining content. Everybody is passionate about their favorite podcasts and I understand that. But the vitriolic reactions from people about LHR being eliminated is disgusting--attacking Walk the Room on iTunes? Go back to licking your shitstains, assholes. Anyway, this is a long and convoluted way of expressing something that many have already written and Scott and Jeff are addressing, but I wanted to include my two cents. Now I'm reminded of why I avoid message boards. Jeff, Scott, Matt, and everybody else at Earwolf: keep doing your shit. I know, or hope, that none of this is discouraging as you move forward. I know I'm enjoying the hell out of the ride. Someone else can take the soap box now.

All of these criticisms and knee jerk reactions to the results this week are incredibly frustrating to me as a fan of Earwolf and podcasts in general. This podcast is a contest with judges. Whenever judges are involved the results are subjective. No contest is objective or consistent. Just because a movie wins the Oscar for Best Picture doesn't mean that it was the best movie of the year. It means that most of the voters of the Academy thought that it deserved the Oscar more than the other films. Just because a skater wins the gold medal at the Winter Olympics doesn't mean they were the best skater that year, it means the panel of judges thought they were the best skater. Contests are contests. Those who win win THE CONTEST. It doesn't mean they're the best ones out there. If the judges picked winners based on a rubric every week, it wouldn't necessarily lead to the "best" and "worst" podcasts, it would mean that the podcast that beat the rubric. This isn't one of those contests. They're not grading a 4th grader's homework assignment. They are judging the podcasts based on which is "the best" in their minds. The only objective contest in the world involve sports-the team with the most points or athlete with the fastest time wins. Period. No one judges what they looked like when they scored or crossed the finish line. For me, the best thing about podcasts is that there is no rubric or rules. There aren't execs looking for the 4 quadrants or remakes and sequels saturating the market. People record things and give them out to people for free (most of the time). This is a contest for podcasts. An imperfect way of judging an imperfect art. Those imperfections are what make these two entities great. Contests start debate. King's Speech or Social Network? Totally Laime or Left Handed Radio? But attacking the judges or crying foul isn't debate or discussion, it's just throwing shit. Listening to podcasts is so great because we are listening or watching people do and talk about what they find interesting are passion in. As I read through this forum, 75% of the comments were irate at Matt and the judges, or whomever because they were "wrong"- that they fucked up a challenge or were inconsistent in what they judged the participants on. Criticize and debate, but don't say the Earwolf Challenge is unfair. It's a contest. It's not a race and it's not a game of football. Contests are contests. When a competition podcast was announced by Jeff a few months back I was excited and a little wary. Podcasts, and comedy podcasts in particular, are great because they are independent and whatever the podcasts decide they are. But then I realized that this way of thinking applies to the Earwolf Challenge as well. There are no other competition podcasts out there. Jeff and Scott are doing something new, they are making their own thing. So for people to go batshit over how fucked over Left Handed Radio was seems so trivial and wrongheaded to me. They signed up for a contest and did great. They were one of the final three. They fell victims to the very nature of a contest--the judges didn't think they were the best this week. The guys at Earwolf put in a fuckload of effort each week to give us a bunch of free and extremely entertaining content. Everybody is passionate about their favorite podcasts and I understand that. But the vitriolic reactions from people about LHR being eliminated is disgusting--attacking Walk the Room on iTunes? Go back to licking your shitstains, assholes. Anyway, this is a long and convoluted way of expressing something that many have already written and Scott and Jeff are addressing, but I wanted to include my two cents. Now I'm reminded of why I avoid message boards. Jeff, Scott, Matt, and everybody else at Earwolf: keep doing your shit. I know, or hope, that none of this is discouraging as you move forward. I know I'm enjoying the hell out of the ride. Someone else can take the soap box now.

Wendell Pierce from The Wire and Treme...I have no idea if he gives a shit about the sporting world but I just want to see him on everything

Is that a what's up hotdog shirt I see in the pictures?!!??!

Green Lantern Haiku My magic ring makes anything I can think of Like a shit movie or This ring can create A sword, a gun, a lazer but no fucking plot...