Woodstock: The Defining Event of an Entire Generation

When did Peace, Love, and Rock 'n' Roll get replaced by Benjamins, Bitches, and Rap?

Fourty years ago the world was forever changed by what was supposed to be a quaint little outdoor rock festival in upstate New York. That little festival grew into the defining event of the generation in attendance.

Woodstock organizers struggled to get the city of Bethel, N.Y., to approve a permit for the expected 50,000 attendees. But in an age eons before Facebook and Twitter, word spread fast and soon music lovers from all over the country made what became known as a pilgrimage to the famed event. Over 400, 000 people showed up to the event so many that by the second day the organizers gave up on the ticketing and opened the gates for all.

Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll was what it was all about. Billed as "3 Days of Peace and Music" the festival not only showcased many of the greatest bands in existence, it also opened the world's eyes to bands that have since become legends in their own right.

It was hotter than hell, muddier than a pig pen, and 400,000 dirty bodies surely smelled like a landfill, but Woodstock 1969 was perfect.

My father recently told me the story of he and his friends sitting around a restaurant table trying to figure out a way to make the roughly 2,000 mile trip. Although they didn't make the drive you could tell just the thought of Woodstock brought back some incredible memories for him in his prime.

There were attempts to duplicate the magic that was created on that farm so many years ago, but none have come close. The festival's first reincarnation took place in 1979, with an extremely weak, relatively speaking, line-up of has beens and soloists separated from their former '69 bands. 1989's festival saw the birth of commercialism at the festival intended to be about the music.

Billed as "2 More Days of Peace and Music" the 25-anniversary Woodstock in 1994 was by far the best attempt to recreate the original. While only 30,000 attended the '94 event it was successful if nothing more than getting back to the music. But the commercialism continued with the entire event being underwritten by Pepsi. The peace and music was dying in favor of money.

1999 saw the death of the great festival, thanks largely to MTV's horrible planning. The concert was cut short when unruly fans ignited a bonfire which eventually spread to a speaker tower forcing the abrupt end of the bastard stepchild of Woodstock. MTV helped organize overpriced "merchandise malls" and impenetrable fences that only angered the concert goers. After the mayhem multiple trailers and porta-potty's were burned to ashes, at least four rapes were reported, but only seven people were arrested.

Thanks to the debacle of 1999, 2009's 40-Anniversary was nothing more than memories of the good ol' days.

Somewhere along the way those bright eyed dreamers of 1969, turned into money-hungry executives looking to exploit the "Peace and Music" festival for their own gain. Today we sit 10 years away from the 50-Anniversary and there needs to be another concert on the same farm that the original once was.

To the organizers...let the money go, it's about the music.

To the concert goers...let the anger go, it's about the peace.

It's time for another Woodstock festival just like the original and in 10 years I plan on climbing in my 1969 Volkswagon Bus and make the drive to New York, with my nearly 70-year-old Dad copiloting.

Yeah, I'm An X Gamer...What About It?

I don't know if it's kosher with my age, but I love the X Games. Every August, and January for the winter version, I set my DVR to record endless hours of ESPN programing dedicated to "All That Is Extreme!"

I personally have never done a kick-flip on a skateboard, or a backflip on a motorcycle, or driven my pseudo-Subaru over 70 foot jumps. Even still I am glued to my TV judging every spin and and grind that these daredevils perform.

I enjoy watching the Games, because these athletes are doing things that I would love to do, but don't have the testicular fortitude for. I'm the guy that gets a little uneasy on roller coasters at Disneyland.

Being a longtime fan of motorcycles, off-road riding, and many things outdoors I easily gravitate to the world of extreme sports.

Three years ago I was jumping up and down with excitement in a Washington, D.C., hotel room when Travis Pastrana landed the first ever double-backflip on a motorcycle. As the announcer commented it was (emphasis on WAS) the Holy Grail of Freestyle Motocross tricks go.

This year was nothing short of awesome. Pastrana attempted to find that Grail again with a new trick only to land flat on his back, with a 300-pound motorcycle nearly landing on top of him. A couple of unknowns (at least unknown to a novice like me) made the street skateboarding event look like child's play. There was even a new event in which 'boarders climb to the top of a 50-foot tall ramp only to grind a rail that spanned a 50-foot gap.

I even watched kids (yes, kids) half my age perform amazing tricks that left me awestruck.

Much like the Olympics, the X Games celebrate the world's best but contrary to the Olympics' mystique the X Games is more about the fun of the sport.

I truly cannot wait until the next X Games are shown, I already have my DVR set to record them.

The Fountain, The Boot, and The Bell

The football season is now a mere month away, and everything is starting to charge up for the University of Utah. For months now I have been eagerly awaiting the start of the new season, pondering the questions that were left unanswered from last year's epic season.

Who will quarterback the Utes? Junior College-transfer Terrence Cain or semi-proven two-year backup Corbin Louks.

How long will the longest winning streak in the country last for Utah? Currently sitting at 14.

I'm sure the answers to these and many more will be answered in the coming weeks and months. But in my search to quench my thirst of red I turned to a Google search. I simply typed in University of Utah Drum and Feather hoping to find a little information about the famed logo of the athletic program.

After sifting through pages of useless information I learned a little about the logo as well as more interesting things about Utah Athletics through the years.

The Bell.

Apparently the winner of an annual battle between Utah and Denver University was awarded an old Rio Grande Railroad bell.

For many years the bell was lost thought to be the victim of a forgotten time. A year ago it was found at a LDS church camp near Eden, Utah. According to the article it is not known how the bell ended up in Eden.

The bell is weathered and beat up thanks to years of abuse (I'll make the guess it was Utah haters), but it rightfully belongs at the U as the winner of the final Utah-Denver game. Utah Athletic Director Chris Hill needs to claim the bell and bring it home.

Think about it how awesome would it be to hear the old bell ringing after a win, while it hung from the top of Rice-Eccles Stadium.

The Boot.

As any true college football fan knows The Beehive Boot is a traveling trophy awarded annually to the football team that holds the best record among the other in-state colleges. For years I thought this only included Utah and BYU, a while ago I learned that Utah State is included in the fray. But today I learned that Weber State and Southern Utah are also eligible to win the old Boot.

Now I like that all five schools are included in the great rivalry, even though Weber and SUU have never won the trophy due to rarely playing the other schools, but I think it takes something away from the Utah-BYU rivalry.

Major rivalries across the country have their own often strange trophies. Ranging from Paul Bunyon's Axe to The Old Iron Skillet they are all icons of their respective rivalries. I think it is time for Utah and BYU to have their own traveling trophy that only they can win.

My suggestion: The bell from the U.S.S. Utah. The ship was sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor and the bell is one of the only things recovered from the ship. It would add a necessary historical connection that is sorely needed in the rivalry.

The Fountain of Ute.

If you've ever driven past Rice-Eccles Stadium I'm sure you've noticed the old brick building sitting just off of 500 South in the stadium parking lot, this is the Fountain of Ute.

Originally it was a water well used to wet the whistles of those on campus, but over the course of 40 years it has taken on a great mystique. The story goes that in the '50s and '60s the small building was used as a laboratory for the U's biology department. The lucky students that used the lab were also some of Utah's best student athletes.

The decade of the '60s was possible the best ever for athletics at the U (not counting the current decade). Men's Basketball took two trips to the NCAA Final Four, Baseball advanced to the national tournament, and Football enjoyed a Liberty Bowl win and a #14 ranking.

Rumor has it that coaches from the various sports would use the Fountain to fill up the team water coolers for game days. When the students, known as the "Rad Red Scientists," graduated it was said the students locked the building and hid the key somewhere on campus in hopes that someday the athletic department would find it and become great again. Former basketball coach Jack Gardner sent everyone he could out looking for the key only to come up empty.

Now here is the really good part of the story.

When Urban Meyer was hired on as head coach of the football team he was told the legend of the Fountain of Ute. Meyer himself with the help of his staff and team supposedly spent the Summer of 2004 searching the campus for the key, the story never said if Meyer found it. However, the story said that an invoice for a locksmith was found in his desk when he left Utah in 2005. If the legend of the Fountain is true then Meyer either found the key or picked the lock and got to the water. As we all know, 2004 was the year Utah first went undefeated and broke into the BCS.

The story also said Meyer took the key with him to Florida but made a copy for his successor, Kyle Whittingham. My thought is there is every possibility in the world that the story is true, but then again it could be just one incredible legend.