On The Cover Of The Rolling Stone

TigerBlog knows the song. He didn't know the group.

The song is "The Cover of the Rolling Stone," which was an early 1970s offering that became relatively famous as a commentary on the definition of success in the music business. The goal, obviously, was to be on "The Cover of the Rolling Stone," which as anyone in the 1970s knew, meant Rolling Stone magazine, which was the bible of the entertainment industry back then.

TB heard the song the other day, for the first time in years and years. It's a cute, clever, funny little song.

Then it dawned on TB that he couldn't remember who sang it.

As an aside, when Miss TigerBlog is in the car and listening to her songs on her stations, TB is always saying things like "who is this, Pink? Rihanna? Bruno Mars?" It's his way of saying that it all sounds the same.

Anyway ,at first, TB thought it was the Allman Brothers who sang "The Cover of the Rolling Stone." Then he thought it might have been Lynyrd Skynyrd.

It would have taken him a long, long time before he came up with Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show.

TB's favorite Rolling Stone cover of all time, by the way, isn't one of the many times that Bruce Springsteen was on. Nope. It was the one that had a picture of an up-and-coming group, with the blaring headline "Duran Duran - The Beatles Of The ’80s."

Rolling Stone magazine - and its cover - was featured prominently in the outstanding movie "Almost Famous." Again, it was set back in the 1970s.

These days, Rolling Stone isn't what it once was. In fact, TB wasn't even sure it was still being published - until he awoke to the news that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who will be tried for his role in the Boston Marathon bombing last April, was on the cover of the next issue of the magazine.

The story is probably a pretty good one. Apparently, it's about how a "popular, promising student was failed by his family, fell into radical Islam, and became a monster." TigerBlog will never know, though, because he will never read it.

He's too appalled by the cover.

The next cover of the Rolling Stone shows Tsarnev, with his long curly hair, goatee and non-smiling smirk. He looks very much like a rock star - except he's accused of killing four people, including a police officer and a child, physically injuring hundreds of others and emotionally injuring an entire nation.

And there he is on the cover.

TB's first thought was to wonder how many people will look at the cover and feel sorry for Tsarnev, like he's just a lost soul who got in a little trouble. Hey, there's going to be a segment of the population who thinks it's exciting.

Or worse. Who think it's the way to be famous.

And let's face it. In 2013 America, it's about fame for the sake of fame.

That's what reality TV is all about. Get on TV. Be famous. It doesn't matter what you did - doesn't matter how anti-social or reprehensible. As long as you're famous.

With fame comes all kinds of perks, and not just money. TB always scoffs and wonders what's happening to America when he sees people referred to as "reality TV stars," as if that's some sort of accomplishment.

In the case of this Rolling Stone cover, though, it's a celebration of someone who doesn't not need to be celebrated.

And Rolling Stone did it for the shock value. Websites liberal and conservative have pictures of the magazine cover on them this morning, and the debate is raging on Twitter.

And that's exactly what Rolling Stone wanted.

At the far other end of the spectrum are pictures like this one.

TigerBlog has no idea where that gym is. He has no idea of the context.

He recognizes three faces in the picture - women's basketball Director of Operations Tyler Cordell and women's basketball players Kristen Helmstetter and Amanda Berntsen.

The picture is from Princeton head women's basketball coach Courtney Banghart's Twitter feed. Her words are: "Evening of hoops with those that are both grateful and refreshing."

This was done far away from the spotlight, and done not for personal recognition but instead because it was a way to acknowledge the great gifts that Cordell, Helmstetter and Berntsen have been given in their own lives.

It was about their love of their sports, and a way to share that love with others who haven't been gifted in quite the same way.

TigerBlog saw the two pictures consecutively on Twitter.

The cover of the Rolling Stone.

And the picture that should have been the cover.

It's not something that's unique to Princeton women's basketball or Princeton athletics. Or Ivy athletics or athletics at all.

Pictures like the one of the three members of the women's basketball program are taken all over the country. They are happy, joyous pictures of wonderful moments, when those who have been given so much give their time to others whose appreciation leaps out of the photo.

And so what if it's not going to be the magazine cover? It's not the kind of thing that sells, and worse, it's not the kind of thing that generates the buzz that a mass murderer can.

So what?

It's way bigger than that.

It only took from one tweet to the next for TB to feel like there's hope for America after all.