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Van Halen Closing in on Orioles
E! Online (via Yahoo) ^ | 12 Aug 05 | Joal Ryan

Posted on 08/13/2005 7:46:08 AM PDT by Drew68

Van Halen Closing in on Orioles

By Joal Ryan
Fri Aug 12, 8:57 PM ET

If Van Halen was a sports franchise, the argument could be made it'd be the dysfunctional, "Bronx Zoo" version of the New York Yankees. In which case the Baltimore Orioles might be in trouble.

More often than not, the Yankees of that era beat the Orioles.

A showdown between Van Halen, the hard-rock supergroup, and the Baltimore Orioles, the fourth-place baseball club, is on after a judge rejected the team's attempt to bench the band's lawsuit challenge, the Baltimore Sun reported Friday. The start of the trial, set for Los Angeles, is "imminent," a Van Halen lawyer told the Associated Press.

The rivalry dates back to last year, when Van Halen filed a federal lawsuit alleging the Orioles reneged on a deal to bring the then-touring band to the team's Camden Yards. The would-be Sept. 2, 2004 concert would have been a first for the baseball-only facility. Presumably more important to Van Halen, the concert would have brought it about $1.5 million, plus an 80 percent cut of ticket and merchandise sales, the band claimed in the suit.

Technically, the suit is being pursued by Van Halen's management company, the newspaper said. The firm seeks at least $2 million in payback from the Orioles.

Even without a stop in Baltimore, Van Halen hit 80 cities during its 2004 tour. Billed as a new beginning for the veteran band, with "Right Now" singer Sammy Hagar back on vocals, the road trip ended with Hagar and guitar god Eddie Van Halen coming close to a bench-clearing brawl, Hagar recently told Billboard.

"It was a horrible way to end the whole thing," Hagar said in the music-industry magazine. "So, I just say, 'Man, that's it for me. I'm not playing with people like this.'"

Van Halen, the band, has been on hiatus as a recording and touring act since the tour ended last November, leaving bassist Michael Anthony time to touting the pending release of his two new barbecue sauce varietals, Mad Anthony's Original and Extra Hot. ("Reinforce the asbestos underwear," Anthony wrote on his Website this month.)

Meanwhile, Hagar, out on the road again this summer as a solo act, occasionally backed by Anthony, told Billboard he held out hope that Van Halen, the rocker who used to be "a fun guy," might "change back, and then we can do it again."

After all, comebacks are part of baseball.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; US: Maryland
KEYWORDS: baltimoreorioles; mlb; orioles; rockandroll; sports; vanhalen
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And the soap opera that has become Van Halen limps on...
1 posted on 08/13/2005 7:46:08 AM PDT by Drew68
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To: Drew68

Baltimore loves hard rock. Van Halen would have done very well there.


2 posted on 08/13/2005 7:49:12 AM PDT by staytrue
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To: Drew68

Sorry, I just had to.

3 posted on 08/13/2005 7:49:27 AM PDT by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: Drew68

It's hard to think of a more dysfunctional band.

They should take lessons frrom Aerosmith or even (yech!) the Rolling Stones, who at least know how to stick together and roll with the changes.


4 posted on 08/13/2005 7:49:49 AM PDT by Choose Ye This Day (What did Jamie "The Wall" Gorelick know, and when did she know it?)
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To: martin_fierro

Discount Dave in all his glory.


5 posted on 08/13/2005 7:50:34 AM PDT by cripplecreek (If you must obey your party, may your chains rest lightly upon your shoulders.)
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To: Drew68
...Van Halen, the rocker who used to be "a fun guy," might "change back, and then we can do it again."

Is Sammy suggesting that Eddie should start drinking again?

6 posted on 08/13/2005 7:50:39 AM PDT by randog (What the....?!)
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To: martin_fierro

That falls under the "cruel and unusual punishment" category.


7 posted on 08/13/2005 7:51:15 AM PDT by Choose Ye This Day (What did Jamie "The Wall" Gorelick know, and when did she know it?)
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To: Choose Ye This Day
It's hard to think of a more dysfunctional band.

Someday, someone will make a movie. I'm sure it'll be a comedy.

8 posted on 08/13/2005 7:51:42 AM PDT by Drew68 (IYAOYAS! Semper Gumby!)
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To: randog
Is Sammy suggesting that Eddie should start drinking again?

For some people this isn't necessarily a bad idea!

9 posted on 08/13/2005 7:52:35 AM PDT by Drew68 (IYAOYAS! Semper Gumby!)
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To: randog
And I imagine Sammy has a suggestion for what Eddie should start drinking...


10 posted on 08/13/2005 7:53:00 AM PDT by Choose Ye This Day (What did Jamie "The Wall" Gorelick know, and when did she know it?)
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To: Drew68
"Reinforce the asbestos underwear"

I'm not sure I know (or want to know) what that means.

11 posted on 08/13/2005 7:54:04 AM PDT by Sometimes A River (Che Guevera isn't cool)
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To: Drew68

That's not Van Halen... it's Van Hagar (*cringe*).

And this nonsense isn't Rock & roll.


12 posted on 08/13/2005 7:54:20 AM PDT by mikeus_maximus (Hillary for Prez! -(The Whitehouse wants its china back; China wants the Whitehouse back))
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To: Drew68
"a judge rejected the team's attempt to bench the band's lawsuit challenge"

Nice to see Havana Pete Angelos getting sued for a change.

13 posted on 08/13/2005 7:56:29 AM PDT by Senator Goldwater
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To: cripplecreek

Isn't David Lee Roth the one who's driving an ambulance in NY now?

MM


14 posted on 08/13/2005 7:57:50 AM PDT by MississippiMan (Americans should not be sacrificed on the altar of political correctness.)
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To: Drew68

I thought they broke up and went into rehab. Their last couple of albums sucked.


15 posted on 08/13/2005 7:59:13 AM PDT by TheSpottedOwl ("President Bush, start building that wall"!)
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To: mikeus_maximus
And this nonsense isn't Rock & roll.

You got that right. Van Halen was great...about 2 decades ago.

16 posted on 08/13/2005 8:00:35 AM PDT by Recovering Hermit
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To: mikeus_maximus
That's not Van Halen... it's Van Hagar (*cringe*).

As a teenage fan of loud, guitar-driven hard rock back in the 1980s I eagerly anticipated the release of "5150" in 1986. I loved Van Halen and I thought Sammy Hagar was pretty damn good as well. Putting them together in the same band seemed like a perfect match.

Few times in life have I been greeted with as much disappointment as that day when I unwrapped my brand new "5150" LP and placed it on my turntable.

17 posted on 08/13/2005 8:06:08 AM PDT by Drew68 (IYAOYAS! Semper Gumby!)
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To: MississippiMan
Isn't David Lee Roth the one who's driving an ambulance in NY now?

No, that's the guy that played Eddie Haskel on Leave it to Beaver. The guy who used to be Johnny Holmes. I read about it because Robin Williams wrote about it at about the time Denzel Washington gave a bunch of money to the military. Or was that George Carlin?

18 posted on 08/13/2005 8:07:53 AM PDT by isthisnickcool (Get all the incumbents out of politics!)
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To: Drew68
I would say Sammy's havin fun, judging by this:

http://www.redrocker.com/video/080105/baycafe.html

19 posted on 08/13/2005 8:08:30 AM PDT by goron
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To: Drew68
Few times in life have I been greeted with as much disappointment as that day when I unwrapped my brand new "5150" LP and placed it on my turntable.

Yep.  Same here.  I was unhappy with DLR leaving but figured "Hagar + Van Halen = Rock!".  I bought 5150.  It was the last Van Halen LP I bought.  Too bad, because the original VH was about as fun as heavy metal gets.

20 posted on 08/13/2005 8:13:02 AM PDT by softwarecreator (Facts are to liberals as holy water is to vampires)
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