Jason-

As a brand-new collector, longtime music fan, and sleazy music journalist, I'll share the following.

One of the worst parts of my job is that I have to "profiteer" off of the death of people I admire. When Joey Ramone died, I was the one who broke the news to a longtime (and mildly famous) mutual friend of ours, and I then had to request an interview. If Roger Daltry had walked through the Hard Rock today while I was interviewing cops and fans, I would have put a microphone in his face. It's the part of my job I like the least. To a certain extent it's exploiting the pain of others. But it's also a necessity in the job I do. If I want to do the thing I love, I have to excel at the sleazy part as well. So I pursue those stories ruthlessly, and I often get things no one else gets. But there's a part of me that's happy when the grieving parties shield themselves so closely that no reporter gets access to them.

I feel the same way about the release of these chips. Some people make a living dealing chips. Fans and collectors will both want this chip so desperately that the profit margin would be incredible. But in addition to that, every collector would want it to maintain his collection, and every dealer would need it to protect his reputation. No chip dealer, or collector, who is serious about what they do could forgo standing in line the minute these chips went on sale. Those people would not be bad people. But I am glad that the Hard Rock is willing to protect Entwistle's memory enough that they will make it unnecessary to tarnish a great man's legacy with the spectacle of a thousand people lined up to buy a souveneir in the very place that he died, less than a day after his death. It's the same way I felt when I realized that there was no chance of anyone sticking a microphone in Roger Daltry's face today.

The fact that they are considering a memorial chip, if the family agrees, seems like a good solution. I just hope they print enough of them (or wait long wnough) to make it of little commercial value.

Please excuse the preaching. It's been a long day. I've filed many reports, interviewed a lot of people, confronted the ugliest part of my job, and washed it all down with a 6-pack and a shot of Jagermeister.

God Bless John Entwistle