Bowled Over by Bowls

Good morning and happy "1-1-11"!

That's the most "ones" we'll have in any date for 10 days and it's "1-11-11", but still nothing compared to November when it becomes "11-11-11".....a numerologist's Dream Day.

There's kind of a strange vibe to this New Year's Day, and much of it has to do with the bowl games today. For what seems like forever the bowl schedule would begin with the Outback Bowl from Tampa (Florida vs Penn Sate) on ESPN at 11:00AM. The Capital One Bowl from Orlando (Alabama vs Michigan State) would begin on ABC at noon, followed by "the Grandaddy of "em all", The Rose Bowl from Pasadena (TCU vs Wisconsin) at 4:00, also on ABC.

Meanwhile, the Cotton Bowl from Dallas (LSU vs Texas A&M) would start at noon on FOX, and CBS would have the Gator Bowl from Jacksonville (Michigan vs Mississippi State) around the same time. Back in the day, NBC would have the Orange Bowl from Miami (Stanford vs Virginia Tech) to close out the day, with the Fiesta Bowl from Arizona (Oklahoma-UCONN) and the Sugar Bowl (Arkansas vs Ohio State) from New Orleans either preceding the Orange on New Year's Day, or one would be played New Year's Eve.

Before the BCS, we would have final polls on January 2, and an unofficial national champion would be declared by the writer's and the coach's polls. This year the champions will be crowned after the meeting of Auburn and Oregon in Glendale, AZ....on January 10.

I know it seems confusing and a lot of gobblegook from anyone who's not a fan of college football. But the rhythm of what used to be has once again been disrupted, partially to facilitate TV scheduling, and also to maximize profit.

Something I've never heard of, the the Ticket City Bowl (I HATE the use of corporate names attached to the bowls) is being played in the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas on New Year's Day, pitting Northwestern and Texas Tech. Meanwhile the Cotton Bowl Game is NOT played in the Cotton Bowl, but in Cowboys Stadium in Arlington...and the venerable old New Year's Day classic has been moved to Friday, January 7. The Orange Bowl, not played in the old Orange Bowl Stadium (now torn down) for at least ten years, has been moved to January 3, and the Sugar Bowl will be played on January 4th.

All six of the New Year's Day Games will be on the ABC-ESPN family of networks....The Ticket City at noon on EPNU; the Capital One on ESPN at 1:00PM; The Outback on ABC at 1:00PM; the Gator on ESPN 2 at 1:30: the Rose at 4:30 on ESPN; and the Fiesta at 8:30 on ESPN.

For the first time the Rose Bowl will not be on one of the Big Four Networks, and the Gator has moved to basic cable for the first time. The Outback went from a 11:00 am regular on basic cable to a network featured game on ABC.

Are you confused yet?

Well don't worry about it... I'm a college football fan....and I'm having a hard time keeping track of all the stuff.

President Obama 0n THE VIEW- No Justin Bieber and Who's Snooki?

The 44th President of the United States became the first sitting chief executive to visit a daytime talk show....and the only controversy to arise when Barack Obama visited the ladies of The View was when the POTUS responded to a question regarding Jersey Shore's Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi with ""I've got to admit, I don't know who Snooki is."

But the free world wants to know...is that true?  Does the President really know who Snooki is?.

This should give Fox News something to talk about for most of August...but more on that later.

Barbara Walters returned from recent heart surgery to co-host the show, which was taped yesterday, along with cohorts Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sherri Shepherd, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck. In recent weeks the President did receive criticism in certain circles because his appearance was seen as frivolous while the situation in the Gulf slogs on, the nation claws it's way out of a recession, and we are engaged in two wars in the Middle East.

But I couldn't disagree more. This was a brilliant move on his part. Mr. Obama was able to sit down and answer questions at length and in a relaxed atmosphere about those situations, in a small unscripted forum. He touched on the crisis in the Gulf, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the state of the economy, and he spoke of his faith in the resiliency of the American people to bounce back after the financial collapse of 2008.

The President was asked about his decision in early life to embrace his African heritage instead of calling himself bi-racial....and he referred to talking about this choice extensively in his writings. He sparred gently with resident conservative Hasselbeck about the slow progress in job creation in the post recession economy, and said that we're doing better but must do more. Obmama also talked about creating a $30 billion fund for smaller lending institutions to help America's small businesses. Today Senate Republicans blocked the bill. And, he quipped at the beginning of his sitdown, he wanted to appear on The View because it's one show that wife Michelle watches.

Obama talked about the Shirley Sherrod controversy, and admitted that his administration didn't do a good job in handling it.  He also talked about the role media plays in creation of controversy, and how the stories of co-operation between the parties never makes the news....Obama said it's because conflict sells, and co-operation doesn't.


The conversation got a bit lighter when the ladies went into a "Lightning Round"  style line of questioning. Check out the video below.



Now we know that the President will not be attending Chelsea Clinton's wedding, that his own daughters are not interested in boys yet, that he knows Lindsay Lohan in in jail, that the thought of Mel Gibson makes him stammer....and that he has a new IPhone and uses his IPod. His playlist includes Jay Z, Maria Callas, Frank Sinatra....but no Justin Bieber. Obama did say he was a nice young man who did appear in Washington some months ago, and he enjoyed Justin's performance.

But.....when Joy Behar asked the President if  Snooki should run for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, following the footsteps of a certain half term governor of that state, the President said he didn't know who Snooki (left) was.

 And now we have a brewing controversy- because Mr. Obama told a joke earlier this year, and Snooki was one of the punchlines.

At the White House Correspondents Dinner this past winter was wowing the crowd. This is what he said about the star of JERSEY SHORE.

“This next provision is called the Jersey Shore-Up. It reads, ‘The following individuals shall be excluded from the indoor tanning tax within this bill: Snooki, JWOWW, The Situation and House minority leader John Boehner".

What do you think? Will Hannity, Beck and Limbaugh be yelling "Flip-flop"?

Does anybody really care?

You mean Snooki's 15 minutes aren't up yet?

NEWSFLASH!!!!! Dateline 6:15PM July 30 2010 Seaside Heights, NJ..........This just in.... Snooki Arrested!!!!! As a nation prays and waits.

Has Blogging Peaked? Facebook Posts, Twitter Tweets Growing, and Easier to Do - ABC News

The question comes from ABC NEWS....is blogging "so last year"?

The answer, in this neighborhood anyway, is a resounding "Nooooo!!!!".

If you can get a coherent, in depth thought out in 140 characters or less, you're a better communicator than I'll ever be, so "tweet" away.

As for FACEBOOK, does anyone really care about what YOU are doing 24/7? Frankly, I don't....with VERY rare exceptions. And these "friends" on FACEBOOK; if they're such good friends, somebody please loan me $500 until Easter. OK?

Nope.....I'd rather have followers than...."friends". It seems so much more honest.

Anyway, click below to read the whole article featuring ABC NEWS' crack panel of experts.


Has Blogging Peaked? Facebook Posts, Twitter Tweets Growing, and Easier to Do - ABC News

Rep. Patrick Kennedy Blasts The Main Stream Media; Plus Commentary

Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), son of the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, ripped the news media on the floor of the House of Representatives Wednesday, citing the media's failure to adequately cover the war in Afghanistan while giving updates of the Eric Massa scandal 24/7.

Kennedy continued his loud tirade until cut off by Rep. Loretta Sanchez, who was presiding over the chamber. Kennedy has announced he is not seeking re-election in 2010.



Commentary
Patrick Kennedy is on the mark...we are not well served by most mainstream media in this country, whether it be the Big Four Networks, or CNN, HLN, MSNBC, or FOX. All of the networks are owned by large conglomerates looking at a bottomline....all have cutback in coverage of international news, and some have specifically geared their broadcasts at particular demographics or political beliefs.

When was the last time there were meaningful stories leading off the hour about events in Iraq or Afghanistan? The news of American casualties seems to get buried in the middle of a broadcast, if mentioned at all. And the failure to inform the public is not exclusive to war coverage- any news about what's going on in Haiti in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes has been sadly lacking; Sean Penn showing up on REAL TIME with Bill Maher and on CBS SUNDAY MORNING to tell of the plight of tens of thousands living in tents on hillsides with hurricane season less than three months away is not enough coverage.

A few years ago PBS had an episode of FRONTLINE that dealt with the change in broadcast media. The "bottomline" ownership of mega conglomerates was only part of the equation....this transformation began more than 30 years ago when a little show called 60 Minutes was moved to Sunday nights following NFL football, and became one of the most watched programs on television. Until then news coverage was a "loss leader" at the networks....ABC, NBC, CBS and local affiliates covered news as part of their licensing agreement to serve the public good. But with the ratings success of 60 Minutes the networks and affiliates has an eureka moment; there was a way to make money with news. Soon the copycats started up, tailoring stories that they thought viewers would watch.

Ted Turner came along with CNN....all news, all of the time. MSNBC and FOX followed years later...as well as the ownership by Time-Warner, General Electric and Microsoft, and by NEWSCORP. Along with DISNEY owned ABC, the news divisions of the Big Four networks and 24 hour cable news outlets shifted from what Walter Cronkite said "the public needed to know" to what the public wanted to know; and we had "infotainment" on a larger scale than what we had ever seen previously. Viewership was segmented by demographic and political preference in some cases, and always with the intent of maximizing ratings. Add the rise of the internet as an information source, and the slow protracted death of America's newspapers, and we have the situation we have today.

Some may accuse me of hypocrisy because I'll include personality driven features in this blog along side political entries. But here's the difference- I never set out to do a strictly political blog....but I do write a blog that has a decided and admitted political slant, and I make no apologies for it. I write about people places, things, and ideas that appeal to me....and I just like to write; so I throw these ideas and features back to you, all 900 + of them.

And I'm not doing it for the money.

I thank God for the dedicated bloggers we have out there...the one's who'll talk about subjects few want to, and of subjects few in media want to touch. Though there may be a slant in the presentation in some, its being brought for with a passion that's void of profit, other than profiting by doing a good job in its writing.

Maybe more of that zeal is need by some of the "MSM", minus the bottomline.