The Bobcat Nation

Book excerpt from “Busted Bronco: From Addiction to Redemption,”


http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/08/1 ... h-joe.html

BOISE_CAT wrote:Book excerpt from “Busted Bronco: From Addiction to Redemption,”


http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/08/1 ... h-joe.html

I read the excerpts several times and I just don't get the feeling O'Brien really feels sorry for everything he did--in fact, I was a little disgusted reading about how sorry he felt for himself when he was living in his car finishing his degree. I mean, he once was an All-American for this "school." I got the feeling he's proud of his past.

Anyway, good stuff happening with the BSU athletic program nowdays Their AD canned. Maybe they can hire an NAIA athlete like Idaho did and take them down the same futile road Moscow experienced.

Here's a man I'm cheering for: http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/ne ... 03286.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I hope Mike turns ISU around. I would love to see him succeed. I met him in one of his first years here when my exs kid was playing Lions football. The speech he gave the kids was great. The exs kid still remembers that speech from that day. I wish him all the luck in the world. I never cared for O'brien. There was something about him that didn't sit right.

Good luck Big Human. I hope your Bengals go rough shod on all but one team in theBSC.

Cat Grad wrote:

BOISE_CAT wrote:Book excerpt from “Busted Bronco: From Addiction to Redemption,”


http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/08/1 ... h-joe.html

I read the excerpts several times and I just don't get the feeling O'Brien really feels sorry for everything he did--in fact, I was a little disgusted reading about how sorry he felt for himself when he was living in his car finishing his degree. I mean, he once was an All-American for this "school." I got the feeling he's proud of his past.

Anyway, good stuff happening with the BSU athletic program nowdays Their AD canned. Maybe they can hire an NAIA athlete like Idaho did and take them down the same futile road Moscow experienced.

Here's a man I'm cheering for: http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/ne ... 03286.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm not defending O'Brien, but it's ridiculous to judge a guy (and a book) based on reading excerpts "several times". Of course, in this era of many people getting their information from sound bites and less than factual forwarded emails, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Billings Cat wrote:I'm not defending O'Brien, but it's ridiculous to judge a guy (and a book) based on reading excerpts "several times". Of course, in this era of many people getting their information from sound bites and less than factual forwarded emails, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

So do you run out and pay to watch every movie on the market and buy every book published, or do you judge those books and movies by their excepts/reviews/trailers and spent your money only on the ones that appear to be worth spending the time on?

I don't think this is unique to this era ... people have always relied upon the marketing of a book to reach their conclusions about whether to spend their money to read the whole thing. If the messaging from the excepts (marketing materials printed graciously by a newspaper free of charge) doesn't paint O'Brien in a good light, that's his fault.

Bay Area Cat wrote:

Billings Cat wrote:I'm not defending O'Brien, but it's ridiculous to judge a guy (and a book) based on reading excerpts "several times". Of course, in this era of many people getting their information from sound bites and less than factual forwarded emails, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

So do you run out and pay to watch every movie on the market and buy every book published, or do you judge those books and movies by their excepts/reviews/trailers and spent your money only on the ones that appear to be worth spending the time on?

I don't think this is unique to this era ... people have always relied upon the marketing of a book to reach their conclusions about whether to spend their money to read the whole thing. If the messaging from the excepts (marketing materials printed graciously by a newspaper free of charge) doesn't paint O'Brien in a good light, that's his fault.

You've completely missed the boat on this one, son. You're talking about the decision as to whether to read a book versus what I'm talking about which is knowing what the book does or doesn't actually say in it's totality. Two very different things. It's absolutely reasonable to say, "Hey, I'm not interested in this book based on the excerpts I've read", but it's ludicrous to assume that since you may have read a couple excerpts that you know exactly what a book says or doesn't say. Christ that's worse than being an idiot and just reading the Cliff Notes to a classic novel! And while you're explaining things, how is this any different from hearing a soundbite on the news, and assuming you know what the whole speech was about? You don't think that, do you...?

You kind of lost me when you compared this situation to one involving a classic novel.

Let's keep this all in perspective. A guy who screwed over MSU in a huge way is now trying to profit on a book about his experiences of being a drug addict and meth dealer. If somebody reads his expansive marketing materials (excepts in the newspaper) and doesn't come away feeling like the guy is expressing much regret, then perhaps the blame falls on O'Brien for failing to market his book correctly, or maybe he really didn't express much regret.

The onus is on him to get whatever themes he wants out there communicated ... not on us to buy his book.

And to address the sound bite/speech analogy ... if a pol gives a long speech, and then the pol edits the speech and puts up a 3 minute condensed youtube version of it, and the youtube doesn't contain any references to the one theme you think is the most important part of any speech of its kind ... yeah, I would probably assume that the pol didn't put too much value in the theme I was hoping to see.

Bay Area Cat wrote:You kind of lost me when you compared this situation to one involving a classic novel.

Let's keep this all in perspective. A guy who screwed over MSU in a huge way is now trying to profit on a book about his experiences of being a drug addict and meth dealer. If somebody reads his expansive marketing materials (excepts in the newspaper) and doesn't come away feeling like the guy is expressing much regret, then perhaps the blame falls on O'Brien for failing to market his book correctly, or maybe he really didn't express much regret.

The onus is on him to get whatever themes he wants out there communicated ... not on us to buy his book.

And to address the sound bite/speech analogy ... if a pol gives a long speech, and then the pol edits the speech and puts up a 3 minute condensed youtube version of it, and the youtube doesn't contain any references to the one theme you think is the most important part of any speech of its kind ... yeah, I would probably assume that the pol didn't put too much value in the theme I was hoping to see.

I don't think there is any reason for you to knock Polish people buy saying " A Pol gives a long speech"

You got me ... I thought I was finally going to get away with an ethnic slur.

I'm not real impressed with his description of punching/intimidating a guy because his was annoying him by rapping. He didn't tell that in a way that made it sound like he felt bad about it. It sounded like he was proud to have done that and was hoping to get a laugh from his readers. The incident where he forearmed the ISU player was kind of along those lines also, unless I'm completely missing something. While both those guys were being jerks and I'd be frustrated, too, his reaction wasn't anything I'd be proud of, yet he doesn't sound terribly remorseful.

Also, I don't really consider sleeping in your roughing it. I've slept in my car many times and it isn't pleasant, but it isn't a story that I'd tell about how I was going to extreme measures. He sounds like the guy from "Survivor" on the "Curb..." episode that was whining to Holocaust survivor. "We had to sleep on the beach and couldn't shower for days...," he says to the Holocaust guy. Of course in theatre it's funny, but in real life it makes people laugh at you.