boston progress radio

When the Boston Red Sox won the World Series in 2004 – has it been that long already? – I got phone calls from friends all over the place: Chicago, Seattle, California, congratulating me on my hometown team’s accomplishment. I thought it was kind of funny, because I did not contribute to that championship – not even a little. I didn’t play on the team, didn’t buy a ticket to a game, didn’t even order the cable package that allows me to watch the entire season on TV.

But there was something to all those congratulatory phone calls. I may not ever have suited up for the Sox, but I’ve invested – some might say wasted – a lot of time caring about them. I’ve gone through the full range of emotions, and rooted for them to get back up every time they fell, which was often throughout the 80s and 90s.

And as dubious as it may sound, all of us who lived through Mookie F–king Wilson and Aaron F–king Boone and Roger F–king Clemens and Wade F–king Boggs and so on, finally pulled hard enough in our hearts that we helped bring the universe a little toward our team. Yeah, so I guess I’m saying that rooting at home still makes a difference.

So now, I’m getting congratulatory e-mails from friends about the launch of Boston Progress Radio; this time, I’m actually part of the team.

And this time I’m asking all of you in front of your computer screens to pull for BPR like you pull for your home team. If you have a favorite artist who isn’t on our playlist, let us know! Or even better, let them know, and encourage them to send their stuff over to us. We won’t survive if artists don’t support us; artists will be more likely to get down with us if they know you’re down with us too.

That’s all I had to say about that. If you’re reading this, I just hope you’ll pull for us. Every little bit counts.

Elsewhere in the world of sports… the Golden State Warriors are still in the playoffs. I must mention this because:

1. The “We Believe!” slogan was created by Paul Wong, a fellow Asian American and believer in what I said about rooting for your team, evidenced by a quote from the SF Chronicle: “The more people who have the same thought cheering on the Warriors, the further this team will go.”
2. It was at a Golden State Warriors home game where racist point guard Jason Williams made machine gun noises at a group of Asian American fans and said he would kill them like “in Vietnam.” Jason Williams is watching the playoffs from home after his team got knocked out in the first round.
3. There was a rap group named the Golden State Warriors, a member of which was Ras Kass, a West Coast emcee who encouraged Key Kool to write the now-classic “Reconcentrated,” a song about Japanese American internment during WWII, which will be added to the BPR playlist soon!
4. I’ve always been partial to the state that is the same color as my skin.

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Tags: Commentary, Online Radio.