Tim on one knee: From Reuters

So, honestly, if there’s enough stuff going on with Tebow on the field, why has there been so much attention paid to what he does off – by that, I mean the taking the knee business? I’ve been watching athletes pray, cross themselves, kneel, point to the heavens – any number of things during events for years. If an individual wants to make an exclamation of their faith, why should anybody else care? Sure, it takes attention away from the sporting event, but it’s a football game, nothing more. And haven’t we seen football players take a knee in seemingly dozens of football movies? “Rudy,” “Knute Rockne, All American,” John Wayne’s “Trouble Along the Way…” I think all three of those films also have priests encouraging the lads to say a prayer.

Maria "Tebowing" - From AP

Some people complain that Tim’s pushing his faith down our throats, but really – we’ve seen dozens of players from teams all over the league gather at the end of a game to join in prayer. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes have been saying prayers at stadiums all over the NFL. But for some reason, Tim’s knee work has gathered an almost absurd amount of attention. Maria Menounos, the host of “Extra,” was seen Tebowing on the red carpet on her way into the Golden Globes Sunday night. Okay, I don’t watch her show, so this is probably the only time I’m going to see Maria doing anything. I know there have been a lot of folks dropping to a knee to spoof the kid – but really, leave the kid alone. If he wants to pray, that’s his business. It’s not as if Tebow is asking God to ignore everything else to guide his throwing arm – and it’s not as if God would ignore everything to give Tim the hook up – although God could if He wanted, without ignoring anything else. Maybe if we all spent a little more time thanking whoever it is we pray to, we’d be a little more happy with who we are.

Locally, politics have not been as bats**t crazy as when the former city mayor was in office, so I haven’t had too much to say on the local occurrences. I will say that I’m glad that it’s finally caucus day in Iowa – it’s about time the Republicans narrow their field a little. It certainly seemed like Herman Cain had no idea what he was getting himself into. Having touched a couple of female backsides in my life (usually with at least tacit permission), I know enough that if someone wants to complain, it will most likely happen as soon as you get involved in the most important thing you’ll ever get involved in. Which is why I’m amazed that former House Speaker Gingrich lasted as long as he did. Way too much baggage

Here’s the thing. Since the networks are camping out in Des Moines, Gov. Terry Branstad has been using the attention on Iowa to be hypercritical of Pres. Obama, blaming him for jacking up the national debt “a trillion dollars a year.” No blame for the House Republicans who have been stonewalling any type of progress on fixing the economy. Just playing Fox News’ “class warfare” card, claiming the Administration is freezing job growth by demanding a tax hike for the “job creators.” Of course, while the president has been calling for higher taxes for the super rich, they’re still paying taxes at the Bush tax cut rate. That said, where the heck are the jobs they’re supposed to be creating? They’re not paying higher taxes right now, haven’t been for an Administration and a half – so where are those jobs, again?

Family Fun Time

Stephen and Maria Roberts (Thanks for coming!)

I’m finishing up five days off work, but they’ve been busy enough that it feels like I’ve been working. My sister and her husband were here for the holiday. My TV pal, Joe Larkins, and his lovely bride Bethany Smith, hooked us up with tickets to the Liberty Bowl. The incredibly unseasonable weather made it a nice way to spend an afternoon. After a nice dinner at the new restaurant in the Westin, we wandered over to Beale Street to watch some of the New Year’s Eve run-up. Okay, here’s the funny part. We had to show ID and get scanned to get onto the street. Not as bad as Times Square, but still a tiny hassle. But by the time we leave just before the Tigers game lets out and thousands of additional folks streamed onto the street, the security team had stopped screening people and was enjoying some pizza. I guess it was okay. I watched the Guitar Drop on TV later and everything went off without a hitch. One quibble. Back when WMC was covering NYE, it was a TV show about the event itself. The weird melange of a show WKNO is doing has some live coverage and taped pieces promoting stops along Beale Street. I’d rather have a completely live show. Then I wouldn’t have to turn to Kathy “Look at me, I’ve got a potty mouth” Griffin and Anderson “She embarrasses me every year, and I’m so easily embarrassed” Cooper on CNN. Kathy, don’t take your top off anymore – no one wants to see a 50-year old woman (and her 50-year old breasts) in Time Square.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 6,200 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

It’s always nice to go home for the holidays. Because of the years I spend working in local TV news, I’ve missed a few holidays with the family over the years. The nice thing about that is there are usually more than a few folks in the same boat, so there’s a bunch of folks willing to put together an ad hoc holiday event for people who can’t get home.

Older brother & younger brother (youngest couldn't make the trip)

About the time I got to CNN, it wasn’t a problem any more.  Even though in 8 years, I only had two weeks on a Monday-Friday schedule, I usually had Thursday and Friday off, so I could make a quick Wednesday run to get home for Thanksgiving and another Friday run to get back to work on Saturday. My problem is a little different now.  I can get the time off, but now that I’m involved with the delightful Pam Roberson, we have to deal with that “couple” issue of where and how to spend the holidays. She lives across the street from her parents, and a lot of extended family is in Memphis, so it’s very easy for them to get together (and they get together a lot).  Most of my family is about 600 miles away in Columbus, so there’s a little driving involved.

The Ladies

We were in Columbus together earlier this year, so I came up alone this time. Her daughter just moved back to Memphis, so I could understand her hanging out in Tennessee.  It’s always nice to come home to see how everyone is doing. Everyone’s a little older, which is a drag for the grown-ups, but good for kids, although it’s always kind of spooky to see a niece or nephew a few inches taller, or hear a voice start to change and such. Two of my brothers, my brother-in-law and I sat at the kids table this year and spent a few minutes talking about the aches, pains, creaks and groans that afflict us a little more each year.

Eddie, Kara & Lance

The passage of time is always too fast. One nephew already has a masters degree, the other is a few years away from that, but he’s a little bigger every time I see him. And my niece is already as tall as her mother. Still, they get a little older, their personalities develop a little more (not so much for Eddie, since he’s actually been an adult for several years now).

I haven’t lived in Columbus since 1986, but I do come back enough to keep up with a lot of what’s going on. Over 25 years, a lot of things do change, but it’s kind of interesting to see how many things don’t change over time. Skyline, local sights, things like that that are pretty much the same as when I left. Some of the TV stations are clinging to a small market look. I don’t think I’ll stay long enough for the big Ohio State-Michigan game on Saturday. This is probably one of those years that’s best forgotten for Buckeye fans. The good news is for Michigan fans. Barring disaster, they’ll notch their first win in the series in 8 games. I’m just waiting for OSU to name Urban Meyer to the head coaching job. If anything, it’s a shame that I don’t have more time off. A lot of times, these holiday visits seem like drive-bys, since I’ve only got a day or two to spend before heading back to the land o’ Elvis. Pam and I still have to discuss what we’re doing for Christmas, although I think I’ll probably be in Memphis with her family.

When the news isn’t good

On my way to Ohio, I got an email from a friend at CNN with some very bad news. A former co-worker and her were on the road, on their way to visit family for the holiday when a tractor-trailer jumped the dividing line and crashed into them head on. Her husband, a long-time anchor for CNN Radio, was killed in the crash. My friend Angi is in an Alabama hospital, waiting for surgery. Much of her family is there with her – but what terrible thing for all of them to have to cope with. I hope she’s heartened by the outpouring from her friends on Facebook. We love you kid, and hope you get through this.

Honestly, it’s not that I don’t have time to blog; it’s just determining what, if anything, I want to blog about.  I’ve done weight loss.  I’m fat, I want to be thin, but my thyroid makes losing weight very difficult.  Can’t think of a different way to say that.  I’m gainfully employed, so of course, I don’t want to kvetch too much about the working world.  I certainly want the bosses to think I’m happy.  Guys: I’m happy.  Thanks for the new computer.  I’m glad to see that some people in Memphis are embracing the idea of making it easier for bicyclists to get around – I’d just like to see smoother streets around more of downtown.  Front Street has been nice since it was resurfaced – but you just can’t pedal up and down Front – particularly on weekends when it’s busy at Gus’s Fried Chicken.  When people want their chicken, they don’t give a damn about some guy in bicycle shorts getting in their way.

Of course, there is that old mainstay, racial politics in Memphis.  I’ll be honest; I thought there would be rioting in the streets before county residents accepted the idea of a merged city-county school system.  Could the lack of fight be due to the fact that so many people had already left for DeSoto and Fayette Counties?  I admit to be tickled when I saw in the Commercial Appeal this week that Memphis City Schools superintendent Dr. Kriner Cash had given himself an exceedingly large number of “excellent” ratings on his self review.  Having had the opportunity to interview the doctor, I was quite aware that he has a high opinion of himself and his abilities.  After all, we’ve seen the supremely self-confident approach in that job before (it didn’t seem to hurt Dr. Herenton).  Anyway, would you really want someone in such a demanding position who wasn’t cocksure?  Perhaps not so willing to rub it into everyone’s faces though.

This just brings up an issue I’ve had with the HR world for some time – asking people to review themselves.  Now really, who is going to ding themselves during a self-review?  It’s disingenuous for an employer to put a worker on the spot like that; anyone doing a lousy job surely won’t admit it.  That affects the curve for anyone doing an excellent job and is willing to toot his or her own horn.  Performance reviews are subjective at best and potentially harmful at worst.  Most exist as a way for businesses to pay lip service to the idea of fairly measuring the work done by employees.  If the duties of a job are clearly defined in the first place, any competent supervisor should be able to sit down with an employee on a regular basis and be able to tell them whether they are or are not meeting expectations.  The “meets, partially meets or exceeds” and all the other stuff are ways to create a bell curve to base pay increases on.  I’ve worked in places where I’ve seen bosses work to stack their employees along that curve, and end up re-writing reviews to match those artificial placements.

Knucklehead.

Okay, I’m finishing this up just as Ohio State gave up an easy touchdown to Miami.  I’m not going to go on about the transgressions of the players who traded trinkets for tattoos; after all, college kids are notorious for having bad judgement.  Jim Tressel however, deserved to lose his job.  After winning a national championship, he could have run for governor of Ohio if he had wanted to.  But failing to report improper activity and then trying to get around it?  That is poor judgement.  It looks like the Bucks are about to give up another 6 to Miami.  This is going to be a loooong night.  I just hope Terrell Pryor  gets a lot of time on the field for Oakland.  It’s not the easiest place for a QB.

Coming Soon...

Here’s some good news; I took a quick ride over to Mud Island to pick up a couple of sundries from Miss Cordelia’s before Kroger reopens the Schnuck’s location on Union tomorrow.  I see the Bass Pro Shop folks have put a couple of semi trailers in the north and south parking lots of the Pyramid.  Doesn’t mean that they’re going to start building anytime soon – but it’s something.

I’ve done variations on the “getting old sucks” thing, but I’ve been noticing it a lot lately. After I crashed the bike last year, it took several months before I was willing to get back in the saddle. Even so, I don’t ride with the abandon I used to. That’s because I just wrapped up two months of physical therapy, several months after the fact. Seems I was developing adhesive capsulitis in my right shoulder. I had the same problem a few years ago in my left shoulder, so I knew how bad it could get.  Back in the day, though, I probably could have ridden the bike into a wall and just needed to brush myself off.

Oww!

So, I’m a bit gunshy on the bike. At least I can jog. After switching to the Vibram 5-finger shoes, my nagging knee pain went away. So of course, I developed plantar fasciitis in my right foot!  At the same time, I found that I was having trouble staying upright. A couple of weeks ago, I was heading south on Main Street when I caught a toe on the sidewalk (not in a crack or on uneven pavement – just on the sidewalk) and took a tumble, scrapping a knee, an elbow and both hands. I’ve switched to a lightweight Nike shoe, the Free 3.0 v.2 to see if I can manage to put one foot in front of the other without any more damage.

Here’s my beef about running downtown. For the most part, it’s either sidewalk or street. Now, as I understand it (and please correct me if I’m wrong), keeping the sidewalks in some state of repair is the responsibility of the corresponding property owner. That means every property owner on Tennessee, Front, Linden, Main and Patterson needs to get cracking on fixing their cracked sidewalks. Every single one. Okay, so why don’t you run in the street Doug? Thanks for asking. Because the city does an even worse job of making sure the streets are passable. Most of Front in the South Main district is in some level of repaving, but that project is running on C.T. (City Time), which means the old asphalt is up and the streets have been regrooved, but it’ll be a few more weeks before new pavement is put down. I know, budget problems.

And even when there’s a stretch of sidewalk where there is some grass to fall on in case of emergency, it’s the length of Tennessee Street between Georgia and G.E. Patterson, which means all the dog owners who live in the condos along Tennessee use that grass as a dog crap holder. Apparently, picking up behind your dog is just not something downtown residents can be bothered with. And dear readers, not to gross you out any more than I’ve been, it may be that a couple of those people own small horses, based on the piles left in the grass.  Running down that street when it’s hot outside is like being locked in a Port-a-Potty. Not one of the upsides of downtown living.

On an up note, I hit the two-year mark at my current job. In a couple of months, I will have worked there as long as I was at FedEx, where it seems like there are more people in the Communications Department than when I was let go because of the economy. I guess things are better over there. I’m heading up to Ohio soon, where several family members work for the state. The governor up there is one of those mad GOP union-busting budget cutters. I’m hoping they’re all still working by the time I get up there.

Photo by: Dan Price

The push of the river over its banks is nothing short of amazing. I jogged by Beale Street the other day, when water was just starting to back out of the storm drain. The southern half of Mud Island was submerged, as were big chunks of Tom Lee Park (thank goodness he’s got that row boat!)

I caught a little of Mayor Wharton’s appearance on the CBS Morning Show, assuring the national audience that the city is prepared for worst. I think that measured calm that Wharton exudes will be particularly helpful during this time. Not to slag the former mayor, I’m sure he could have struck the right notes as well – but I don’t think I would have had a lot of confidence in his people to help the population get through all this (I’d hate us to end up with one of those “you’re doing a great job Brownie” situations).

Fortunately, my house is about 20 feet higher than the part of downtown that’s getting wet, so I’ve put off plans to lug my downstairs valuables upstairs. The interest thing about the water downtown is how is attracting the looky-Lous. May is the busiest time in my part of Memphis, due to the Memphis in May festival. A couple of Fridays ago, I went to watch the Grizzlies eliminate the Spurs. The Forum was packed, there was a baseball game across the street in AutoZone Park, Music Fest was going on and the monthly Main Street Trolley Tour brought a few more people out. Naturally, we were all ignoring the storm warnings.

Honestly, do these slacks make my butt look big?

It could be my imagination, but it seems like nearly as many people are wandering to the heart of the city to see the flood water. I saw that Diane Sawyer will anchor ABC’s World News from Memphis tonight. I also see that the Corps of Engineers is already looking at action to try and protect New Orleans (considering the Corp’s track record with NOLA [see Katrina], they might want to consider other options).

I will keep checking the flood maps for zip code 38103 at the website of the Shelby County Office of Preparedness. Looks like the potential for water extends to the point where Riverside Drive starts climbing the hill toward South Bluffs. It could potentially get to Georgia Avenue, which would surprise me – but that’s still a block away. Worst comes to worst, I’ll be heading to Cordova till the levels drop.

Somewhere near Flagstaff, AZ

Once we were in the air, it was a pretty smooth trip. I’m traveling with someone who had never gone to Las Vegas before, so there was the kick of seeing the slot machines in McCarran Airport.

The last time I was in town, the airport was being renovated, so the baggage claim was a mess. That work is long over, but it looks like they’ve still got some things to take care of. The plane crew told us which carousel to head for, but after waiting nearly an hour; no bags. The Memphis flight notification switched to another carousel, then went blank. About an hour in, there was finally an announcement and a switch back to the original carousel.

Dance waters, dance!

So, hours later, we were in the car and making that 5-minute trip to the strip. We’re staying off-strip, but did the tourist walk to check out the Bellagio and the dancing water. Always nice. The weather’s spring-like. Not Memphis spring, where it starts warm and gets warmer, but cool at night. The other good thing is that it’s not the very heavy, soak-to-your-bones Memphis heat & humidity when it gets warm during the day.

Seems like there are always hundreds of people, wandering up and down the strip. They must be trying to get out of the casinos, which may be the last indoor place that’s safe for smokers. I’m noticing a lot more cigar smoke than I smell anywhere else.

Hello ladies!

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is holding is annual convention here. If you’re in TV or radio, whether news, production, broadcast or whatever, there’s some kind of equipment that you could use. HD is the norm now. This year, 3D and “clouds” seem to be popular from what I saw from day one on the floor. The Convention and Visitors Authority has managed to make the place entertaining. Check out the view from the urinals in one of the men’s room.

Buy the book, make some money

I’m trying to work in visits with a couple of old friends while I’m out here. One was the former news director at WTVF in Nashville. He retired here (although he’s absurdly young to be retired – but hey, if you can, why not?). The other is a former college friend. Lynda Hammond, currently the Garage Sale Gal, shows people the best ways to get the most out of holding or visiting those ubiquitous neighborhood events. If you have the chance, check out her new book, “The Garage Sale Gal’s Guide to Making Money Off Your Stuff.” She’s making a pair of TV appearances in Vegas (her husband is with the AP, so is here for the NAB Convention). 25+ years later, and she still looks like the 20-something I met at Ohio State. Buy her book.

19 years

24 years

14 years

Not that it carries the cachet it used to, but one of the select positions in the news business was as the anchor of the CBS Evening News. Douglas Edwards, Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather each spent years as anchor, many of the years in each of their tenure’s as number 1 in the ratings.  Connie Chung and Bob Schieffer for short stints. And Katie Couric. But not, apparently, for long. The current anchor and managing editor of the Tiffany Network’s flagship newscast is on her way out as her contract ends this summer. If you believe Monday’s news reports.

At least one person mentioned to me today that CBS made a mistake giving the news to a morning show anchor. I had to remind them that Walter Cronkite, Tom Brokaw and Diane Sawyer all anchored morning shows before moving to the evening anchor chair.

I alternated between watching Peter Jennings and Rather. I didn’t quite see Dan as the liberal tool that many conservatives believe he was. He was a bit quirky, which made the news interesting. I do think he made his own bed with the mess over the story about President Bush’s time in the Texas Air National Guard. Dan has been a journalist long enough to know that if you go on the air with shoddy sourcing, it’s gonna bite you in your big Texas butt.

NBC planned for change. Tom Brokaw could still be doing an excellent job of anchoring the Nightly News. But he was ready to step down, and he knew soon enough for his network to groom Brian Williams for the anchor desk. I think the suits in charge at CBS knew for years that their preference would have been to ease Dan toward the door – but they never asserted themselves and made the decision to start that process.

When he did leave (don’t let the door hit you on the way out!), CBS had no plan. Bob Schieffer – a fine journalist – was put in place on a temporary basis while Les Moonves hatched his plot to bring star power to the news. I wasn’t a “Today Show” fan, but I knew Katie was popular. Popular enough to bring viewers to the network? A lot of people didn’t think so. No gravitas they said. No depth. No hard news credentials. Hey, she didn’t suck. But CBS had its share of problems before she got the gig. CBS lost a bunch of strong big market affiliates to Fox in the mid-1990s. Without strong local news lead-ins, the network news isn’t going to do well. In my hometown of Columbus, Ohio, the CBS affiliate is incredibly strong. And there, Katie has the #1 network newscast.

Where will she land?

So now, Jeff Fager, head honcho of “60 Minutes,” is now the boss of the entire news division. The talk is that he’s willing to give Katie a slot on that show when she leaves the anchor desk. Of course, she part of the deal to bring her to CBS in the first place was to make her a regular contributor to “60,” but for some reason, that never happened.  There’s also talk of giving Couric a daytime talk show. CBS happens to be a major syndicator. Their biggest daytime offering right now? Oprah. Once she rides off in the sunset to her own network (see what I did there? ‘own network…’ Oprah Winfrey Network… huh? huh?).

Good move, Mr. Roberts!

Anyway, I though John Roberts should have gotten the job instead of Couric back in 2006. Well, he left CBS when he was passed over, stopped off at CNN, where he found himself a really beautiful woman and started a family and is now working at Fox News. Rumors point to Scott Pelley as a possible replacement, just like in ’06. And Harry Smith, who was just booted off the morning show is also a potential replacement. Whoever you pick CBS, don’t let it be Anderson Cooper. Unless you make him co-anchor with Kathy Griffin.

Here’s the nice little nugget highlighting the page on Tennessee: Taking the top spot as the laziest state in the union is Tennessee, where just more than half – 51.8% – of the adult population report at least two and a half hours of physical activity per week. And because the only way to make a point is to over make it, they included a nice little photo of an Elvis impersonator (in Los Angeles, not in Tennessee).

The actual work was done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in another sign of your tax dollars hard at work. You can read their report here.

To me, the upshot of this is that we don’t exercise quite enough. Granted. Exercise can be a drag, and I think that even people who exercise regularly would admit or agree to that. We eat too much and most of the stuff we eat too much of is bad for us. I’m reminded of that every time I bike or jog past the Gus’s Fried Chicken on Front Street. Of course, bad food (food that is bad for us) tastes incredibly good, because it’s got so much of the stuff that makes us enjoy food. It is tough to ignore the treadmill I put in my bedroom recently, especially since Spring is playing coy with bringing the heat – or at least enough to make outside exercise a regular thing. Although she has brought the pollen.

Good night and God Bless

We’re saddened at the passing of Elizabeth Taylor and Geraldine Ferraro. Taylor’s beauty, personality and acting ability was outsized, much bigger than the petite girl with the oddly-colored eyes (they never seemed violet to me; but then, I never saw them in person. Color correction in film and video tape often misses reality). Seems like she liked being married; but wasn’t very good at making them work. Incredibly beautiful, this picture was taken when she was a teenager!

I did get a chance to see the also petite Ferraro in person. The year she ran for vice president was when I had my first job as a reporter, for 610 WTVN radio in Columbus, Ohio. I covered a campaign stop of hers. It was my first time going through the whole Secret Service screening. She was quite personable, but between Vice President Mondale telling voters that he would raise their taxes and Ronald Reagan telling people it was morning again in America, the New York Congresswoman never got the chance to show her skills on a national and international stage.

Speaking of loss, several friends of mine have lost loved ones recently. Facebook has created a unique way for people to share their feelings of love and loss. And for the people who care about them having a way to support those feelings. Always remember those you love. Tell them when you can.