Posted by Jimmy DOTcom on February 06, 2001 at 09:20:34:
Hey, y'all:
It was 2pm LCT (Left Coast time - 5 on the Right), and I was putting the final touches to the first edition of JimmyDOTcom - The Newsletter, I got an excited phone call from a young friend of mine. Since he knows I'm a bit of a Parrothead, he couldn't wait to tell me that he was watching the Miami Heat vs. the New York Knicks, and Jimmy Buffett had just been thrown out of the game for cussing a Ref.
Well, that was interesting news, but it was 88 degrees (I'm not lying) outside, and I wanted to get away from the computer and clean the pool and deck while soakin' up rays. By the time I got back on and back to work (yes, being a Professional Parrothead means you work on Sundays sometimes, but hey, there's time off inbetween--plus I like what I'm doing), the Internet was hummin'!
The buzz was all over the ListServ. Big Dog doesn't allow me to post, so all I could do was read the postings as they went up at the speed of light. At the same time, the first thread about Buffet and the Ref opened up on Buffett News. It wasn't long after, infact 5:30 EST, that Buffett News broke the first related story on the incident.
I bring this up, not because it's such an earth shattering story, but because it shows how the Internet works where Parrotheads get there news. It's been a long time since I've seen such a buz. In fact, it reminded me of when the Saga of Benny Puckett was being told on AOL back in 1995, or when the Hemisphere Dancer took a bullet down in Jamaica.
The opinions were spread all over the board. It ran the gambit from people being down on Jimmy for using foul language in front of children, to having an opinion that only the rich deserve special treatment. The NBA could use the publicity. But the slant I sided with was, "Hey, interesting, but what's the big deal." I found the energy that was created online to be "the story."
It didn't take long for the creative juices to start flowing. My good buddy Jerry Diaz, of Key West the Band, had a pretty good idea. He thought it could be a publisity stunt, considering the timing. Now, don't get me wrong, Jerry wasn't dissin' Jimmy. He thought if it was a pulicity thing, Bubba was pretty damn smart. Hell, I told him we needed to get Jimmy to mention his band and my book next time he's on camera. We were diggin' it.
More creative ideas started poppin' asking, "Hey, maybe there's a song in the making. It didn't take long for Scott Henderson to chime in with a great possible song title list. The last time I had seen Scott, we were both sweating bullets at a pre-concert function prior the the BHOTM Tour back in the summer of '99. Man it was hot. I was glad to have the excuse to touch base with him when I emailed him asking him permission to use his creative genius in this article. Here's his list:
* The Referee and the Asshole
* All Fouled Up and (D)Ejected
* Things You Shouldn't Teach Your Kids
* Refs Suck
* Spike Lee - He Ain't Me
* A Basketball Game From a Different Point of View
* The Most Publicity I've Had in 54 Years
* Shoulda Gone to a Hockey Game
* Two Hours I Can't Explain
Damn, that's some funny stuff. It proves one of the things I discovered when I was writing my book; Parrotheads are the most creative bunch of people on this "Round Ball."
Then, the end all to be of all end alls happened late afternoon today.
Suddenly there was a posting that a Ft. Lauderdale Radio Station was going to have a live interview with Bubba at 5pm EST. Then just as quickly, postings started showing up stating that it wasn't really Jimmy on the Interview, it was nothing but a hoax. Now we had some pissed off PHs. You can't fool a true PH even on the radio. They know Bubba when they hear him.
Here's a low down on all the online activity in the twenty-six hours preceeding the event:
* ListServ breaks event......68 Postings in the 26 hours to follow.
* Buffett News first of the newsletter in with the story. There with some awesome coverage and a lot of great links, pictures and sound bites. Resulting in 58 posting on 3 different threads in the next 26 hours.