I saw 152 shows, all before Jerry died, only a fistful thereafter. Keith's wife Donna sang far more than he did. Keith got tossed from the band because his heroin usage was also bringing Jerry down.
One of the best shows for you to check out is 1-20-79, Shea's Theatre Buffalo, where Keith was "sick" and Donna for some reason or other didn't perform either. Without those two lugnuts dragging down both the set list and the performance, the band rocked in a new, unexpected direction. The transition in the "Miracle->Bertha" is outstanding, and the finishing run of Other 1->Dark Star!->Not Fade->Sugar Mags is through the stratosphere. The transition between NFA and Sugar Mags is one of a kind and absolutely joyful finally once they land in Sugar Magnolia...unlike any other Grateful Dead show ever performed...and you know that as time went on they could get into a rut.
Check it out here: https://archive.org/details/gd79-01-20.naks.moore.12575.sbeok.shnf
Most people love 74, but I don't. I find the energy a little listless at times. There were only four shows in '75, but starting the next year, the energy level started to peak, finally reaching one of the great eras - 77. Most people love May shows, but I think the Winterland run in June of that year was the best, June 7-9.
With the exception of the Hampton Dark Star show in 89 which I saw, June 9 is my all time fave - Half Step->Jack Straw to open - WOW!, Epic Music Never Stopped to close set 1.
Second set was awesome - Help on the Way>Slipknot!>Franklin's Tower, Estimated Prophet>St. Stephen>Not Fade Away>Drums>t. Stephen>Terrapin Station>Sugar Magnolia
Stephen>Terrapin>Sugar Mags!!?? That's like Jack winning the Masters in 86!
Gib since I'm a lot younger than you, and my first show was march of 85, I missed a lot of the sick shows you saw, but we probably were at some of the same excellent shows as the 80s wore on.
Anyway to bring the thread back, people who say I didn't shine a light (stones reference) on other golfers in my article don't read my stuff well. I talk about the following golfers: Phil, Cabrera, Scott, Bubba, Zach, Patrick Reed, Jason Day, and Kevin Stadler. It's erroneous to say I neglected the other golfers for Tiger, and it's backwards to say I fed the beast of media Tiger co-dependency I slew it one arrow at a time.
Is it fair comment to say maybe I took a potshot at Lindsay? Yes...upon reflection perhaps you're right, but I think right now she's overrated and overexposed.
We certainly would be talking exponentially less about her if she wasn't dating Tiger, wouldn't we?
And much of the exposure is for vapid nonsense - Sammy the Sqiuirrel is exhibit A. Some people get on my case because I discuss with media co-dependance on Woods and the effect of chasing casual eyeballs, but then say I should focus on Paulina Gretzky? I give you analysis, others give you Sammy the Squirrel. I leave you to decide which you want - But because some people I refused to let bully me they went off the deep end and became obsessed with trying to make me fail by any means necessary, they'll parse every comma I write.
If you believe 1/8 of the dogcrap some GCAers say about me, then you probably believe 8 times as much as might actually be true.
On the other end of the spectrum, there's those of you that have met me, played golf with me, had a meal with me, talk to me on the phone, or work with me. I post my stuff here for you. With the popularity and circulation of the various outlets I work with, the few extra people from GCA.com that read me are only an incremental addition. Any idiot who thinks I write for clicks never saw me put in a 20 hour day at a major - and that's pretty much every day. I go for six days and I write 2000 words every day - lead, column, and sidebar - game story, feature, or opinion piece. So don't believe the crap you read about me here or hear from guys who don't know me from the man in the moon. Haters gonna hate, but playa's still gonna play. Those who give me a fair shot usually come back.
So let's recap - mid 70s GD rocks, Lindsay is a great athlete, but may be chasing exposure in the press, casual eyeballs are not a profitable business model, but you're right, there is a media co-dependency on them and until more mags go under we'll still have to deal with bull like Sammy Squirrel, and my name's Jay ad I love to work hard as a writer so some of you will have a good piece to read. There's room in sports writing for thought provoking guys like me, just like there's room for direct men like Gib.
Let's enjoy the Masters, all of us...together.
P.S. "That last guy" - Vince Welnick was a bad joke. We called him Chintz Welnick:) I'll never forget all f us watching the announcement of the new keyboard player on MTV, and everyone went "WHO??!!"