I Might Be Regionally Biased But "Empire State Of Mind" Got Absolutely Robbed On The 2009 Dog Walk Snake Draft

Just fired up the latest Dog Walk on my bus commute in which featured KFC and Big T along with the Chicago usual trio of Eddie, Chief and White Sox Dave. A good listen as always. A variety of topics, a bunch of conversations sparking other conversations, funny moments, ridiculous takes and WSD being WSD which is always something to watch. 

Anyway, the topic of 2009 hits home big time for me as it's the year I graduated college and distinctly remember a ton of stuff going on in an age where we obviously had the internet but not everyone had smart phones yet, where we were on social media but not consumed by it. You got new songs by word of mouth, sports were still not streaming, but you knew everything would be coming, it was like waiting in line for a store to open at all times, you just had massive impatience for what's next yet lived in the moment the best you could. Fun times. 

There were some phenomenal picks including the 6OT Syracuse UCONN Big East Quarterfinal game which is so much fun to go back and look at the box score and see how much the game has changed that Syracuse took 23 three pointers in 110 minutes of play and UConn took 35 three's in the same time frame. Teams take that in the 1st half now ... insane. 

There's some great movies, some great stories, and some other sports stories etc. It's a great year and one I'll always love because it felt like every song, ever movie, every moment brings me back to small town college on a shitty flip phone begging for service in a pair of plaid shorts and a polo. However, there was one I kept BEGGING someone to take, and was kind of amazed that a NYC guy like KFC didn't take it. 

Now again, this may be a regionally biased thing but to me,  -  no song was banging on the Ipod's, the radio and in pop culture more than Empire State of Mind.(it did come out in the fall AFTER I graduated but at that age you are still very actively going out, etc,)  . Now upon some quick research it was #62 on the Top 100 Year End singles charts but this is what makes these drafts great is the passionate takes and Empire State of Mind HAD TO be on a board if you ask me. Isn't it one of the songs people feel they most recognize from JAY Z? Wasn't the "Knicks and Nets gimme high fives" a Facebook photo album caption from literally everyone who went to a Knicks or Nets game that year? Concrete Jungle ?? He created a phrase ... cmon. That should count as being a big thing in the year, the cultural popularity. Anyway, listen, I get that people from Iowa or Nebraska will say they have no care for that song one way or the other, but as a New Yorker and a 2009 diehard ... that song's gotta be on a board. 

Go give the full pod a listen as always.