How's Your Friday Morning?

I was in blissful sleep until 7 AM came and my wife and I were awoken to the sounds of a large lumber truck and a small forklift arriving at our house. Today, the crew was beginning the framing phase of our remodel, and lumber companies make their deliveries way early in the morning so the crew has the lumber before the job day starts so they can get right to work. Good for them, not so good for the people living in the house or the cats, who were freaking out at the sights and sounds of something strange. I will say this, the cats settled in later because they're now used to seeing the crew in the backyard, so they often sit and stare all day. I feel badly for girl, though, as she spent yesterday dealing with very loud equipment moving and collecting dirt. She said her ears were still ringing that night from all the noise, and I'm not surprised. I can imagine anything like that makes whatever I deal with in the office seem pale in comparison.

 

I've always had a problem with the way media turns hero worship on and off for athletes, especially when it comes to the standards of behavior. Like many other sports fans, I can be forgiving for certain transgressions simply because these people are human and should be viewed in that light because we all make mistakes. It's easy to equate prominence on the court or field into having the same success in their personal lives, and quite honestly, we find too often that our heroes are as messed up as we all are. And when mistakes happen, some jump on the bandwagon to criticize, lambaste or destroy the very folks they've elevated to this higher standard because of their sporting talents.

 

What impressed me with Greg Oden as I noted a few days ago was his ability to admit his mistake and not try to run away from what happened. He didn't shy away from the negativity, even though it could have been easy to run and hide from it all. It shows tremendous character to stand up in front of your peers and admit a mistake, and as one particular ESPN commentator puts it, he probably didn't even need to do that. It's not like Oden did something that nobody else did, he just trusted someone that he was dating with very personal information about himself. It takes a lot to build up trust enough to be that open with another person, and this girl threw that trust and feelings into the trash in the search for cash. The fact that there are those amongst us that revel in tearing down people makes me angry, but it's also the delicate balance that we have in our media today. For every wonderful, heartwarming story of triumph, there's trash like this because people are supposedly interested in it. However, before anyone can really judge Oden, shouldn't we all ask ourselves do we really have the right? Would you feel differently if it was your pictures all over the web? Would it matter that most all of us have something that we've done at that age that we aren't that proud of? If you can really say yes, no, and no to those questions, I wonder how truly fulfilling your life might be.

 

But then again, when dealing with certain media members, I can imagine the desire to be closed up as much as possible. I spent some time reading through a transcript of an interview that Oden did with a certain newsweekly here in town, where the reporter asked one of the most tasteless questions I could ever imagine. It might have been what many people were thinking, but at the same time, telling him he shouldn't be embarrassed because people were impressed was one of the lowest things I think anyone could have said at that point, especially when he was trying to be apologetic about the situation. I get that sex and nudity open up a huge can of worms for many people, and there's an incredible about of double standards about how situations like this would be handled. A reporter making a comment like this to a female victim would have been lynched on the spot, yet somehow because it's a man, the question appeared to be OK. Uh, not really, it just shows that some outlets don't care about having integrity or standards, it's simply about news hits and attention. I realize that by me linking to it, I'm contributing to the cause, but at the same point, this newspaper was one that I religiously read for years because I respected their rather unique spin on events in Portland for years. As of today, I'm no longer going to read them in web or paper form. I can't respect an institution that plays that loose and fast with the ethical rules about other people's lives, especially one that I held in some respect for many years.

 

I love to play golf, but I hate watching it on television. I don't see the point of watching it when I'd rather be out there playing on the course myself getting some exercise. I've been able to use the WII Fit Plus driving range game as a viable alternative to practice my swing in the blustery, rainy winter weather we have about here, but I don't care to watch professionals on television to help my game. I'm not the best golfer around, but when I'm out there I have fun and it allows me to relax, even when I'm hitting snowman and I'm still 100 yards from the pin. The other aspect of golf on television that I have issues with is the absolute paranoid obsession with the rules. I've never laid witness to a sport where someone watching at home can see a rules violation, call the network and have a player reported because the course marshalls missed it. Can you imagine what would happen if the NBA allowed fans to call fouls from home?? Uh, that might be an improvement..

 

But then golfers are up in arms over a recent rule change about clubs and grooves, and a prominent left handed golfer figured out a loophole in the rules changes that helps him out. Many of his fellow players equate his use of very old clubs to cheating because he went against the spirit of the rules. Yet most golfers I know when playing their friends use most every advantage in their disposal to try and come out ahead. I've even improved my lie within my loose interpretation of winter rules when I probably shouldn't have, but at the same time, I'm not going to judge somebody simply because they were smart enough to find a loophole. Again, if you can view your conscious as pure and know that you've never done anything to circumvent the rules, go ahead and yell your head off about the integrity of the game. The rest of us will be shanking our drives on the course, living the true spirit of sport.

 

Still Spinning..

I spent the afternoon yesterday at the Portland City Council to hear testimony about the agreement between the city and Peregrine Sports to bring MLS to Portland. While I'll talk more about my day at my other blog home, there's still a few thoughts that I wanted to share about things.

 

There's some crazy people out there, and some of them hang out at the council chambers. I can't imagine being a public official and having to deal with people like this, which is why I appreciate those that choose to follow this line of work even if I don't agree with their positions on many issues. It takes a special person to give of yourself in this manner, and despite all of the insanity, back biting, differing viewpoints, and other things, the city still gets things done. I'm not sure if I would call it operating on the edge of insanity, but it certainly appears that way during this MLS process. Granted, I'm sure on the more mundane proposals, there probably isn't this much attention, scrutiny, or this many public figures involved, so it's probably more quiet. One thing I will say is that I'm resolved to continue my involvement on city issues, and write emails or attend meetings when I can. It's important that everyone take their time to share their thoughts with their elected officials, even if you agree with their position. They work for us, and it's vital that they hear from the people that they represent.

 

Brandon Roy will soon be an All-Star, and all sports radio wants to talk about is whether he should play in the game or not. He's been dealing with hamstring issues and sat out for the past week from games, but I for one think he needs to participate in the festivities even if he doesn't play. His selection says a lot about the reputation of the Portland Trail Blazers and the job that Roy has done despite everything. It's amazing that this team is sitting at 27 and 20 as of today with all the injuries and distractions, and Roy's work has a lot to do with it. It's not just him, though, but until you make the All-Star team for the NBA 30 players, there's always going to be players that get shafted during the selection process. I'm wanting to make sure Roy is healthy for the long haul, but at the same time, he should be able to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

 

Think we made the wrong choice with the first pick back in 2008? Greg Oden does something that lots of young people do all the time by sending nude photos of himself to a girlfriend, who then turns around and shares them with a website that posts them all over the Internet. Instead of running away from the problem, Oden stood up and admitted his error in judgement and offered his apology to everyone. He could have hidden behind an attorney or other official, he could have allowed the team to put out a statement, but instead, he faced up to his issue and admitted what he did. Seriously, do you still feel the team made a wrong choice here? This guy may have some injury issues going on, but he's simply a great human being and a special person, and we should all be fortunate that he's here wearing our jersey.

Spin the magic wheel of life...

There's lots going on with me lately, and so when I had a spare moment to talk about it, I wanted to share some random thoughts that would be easier to play that the Simpsons version of Life. I'm sure many of you remember the game of Life, which was a pretty fun game to play for everyone. The Simpsons version requires you to have an advanced degree in astrophysics just to understand how to play the game. Girl's brothers came over for Christmas and we tried to play it as a family gathering, and let's just say we didn't make it past reading the instructions. DOH!!

 

The house right now is crazy, with us having some rooms added to the back part of our house. This endeavor helps the house in many ways: our brood of cats gets their own area where they can live, we can move about the house without the cats zooming about, and we get more space for entertaining. Well, and girl's mom gets more space downstairs while we get room for games and such. Right now, they are on day 10 of the work, and it's impressive how much can get done in a short period of time. It's required some changes around our home, as we need to be up and moving about before the work crew shows up, and they arrive between 7:30 and 8 AM. Things are going to be even more crazy when they start to work inside the house within the next few weeks, but that just makes our vacation plans for March/April that much more special.

 

We all went to see Craig Ferguson last night at the Aladdin Theatre, and it was one of the funniest shows I've ever seen. If you love his late night show, seeing him live is a must as he's just as crazy in person as he is on television. There were points that I wasn't sure where he was going with his random stories, but at the same time, he was engaging, entertaining, compelling, and just plain nuts. His back story is incredibly fascinating, as he started his career in Europe, dealing with drugs and alcohol, moving to the States, and getting his show during a low time in his life. Now, he's the funniest and most irreverent guy on late night television. I wish his show wasn't on so late in the night, but at the same time, he's worth the effort to watch the feed when you can. The fact that he's Scottish and angry most of the time even helps the situation that much more. As he put it, "Portland is exactly like Scotland with teeth!!"

 

I'm also trying to work on a trait that proves more annoying at points than anything, as I'm fast learning that I might be the most gullible person in existence. This usually leads to me becoming the butt of any joke or random thought process because there are points where I may believe anything I've been told. While driving to the show, I was talking with girl's mom about the bathroom arrangement with the house remodel going on, and she said the upstairs bathroom was off limits no matter what. I suppose what got me going was her saying there is a garden hose to use while girl said we could join a gym for a month if we need a shower. They had me going for hours until I finally asked girl what she meant, and she couldn't believe that I believed them. I'm not sure what is worse - my embarrassment at believing such an outlandish story or the fact that it just proves that I could be convinced to believe anything. I guess I haven't become too cynical yet at the world, but apparently, I shouldn't make professional poker a career choice of mine.

 

I'm happy to see the Trail Blazers do well despite the fact that almost everyone on the team is injured. I'm waiting for the day that Blaze, the mascot, is out for 4 to 6 weeks with some injury. OK, apparently that has happened to a few mascots who injured themselves in some random stunts, but at the rate the Blazers are going, the injury list is longer than who is available. Well, at least some of them are returning to action soon, and by the time March rolls about, they should have everybody back by Joel, Travis and Greg. Not a bad group to run into the playoffs.

 

Finally, I don't have a horse in the NFL playoffs right now, but the story of the New Orleans Saints is one that is hard to ignore. The team has been in existence for 43 years, and have never gone to the Super Bowl. Actually, there were many years that this team was terrible, and not just bad. I mean, winless or near winless, yet the fans kept showing up each game and supporting this team no matter what. The region ravaged by Hurricane Katrina is still dealing with recovery after all these years, but they still love the Saints, and so hearing that they won their way into a Super Bowl was an incredible sight to see. The closets many Saints had been to a Super Bowl was to attend the game when it was played at the Super Dome, and now this team is one game away from the title. It couldn't happen to a better and more deserving city.

 

 

Is there anything noble in the world of television anymore?

I'll admit it, I'm probably more addicted to television that I should be, but at the same time, it's a welcome diversion from the day to day events that crop up from life and work. I'm willing to pay more than most folks for the ability to watch certain things, like professional soccer, so we have a digital package with our local cable operator. I've suffered with just normal network television, and now that I've seen the light, I can't go back. It would be like switching from cable internet to dial up, you could make it work but if it doesn't cost that much more, why not pay the extra.

 

And for the most part, television provides some welcome diversions. I have my stable of shows that I watch religiously each week to see the wacky adventures, and for parts of the year, I'm entertained. It's not a bad relationship on most occasions, except when networks decide to put a lot of good shows on the same night, like Thursdays. I love Community and the Office, but my wife is a huge CSI fan and used to watch Ugly Betty when it was still on Thursdays, so we used VCRs to catch up on episodes we couldn't see. Most Tuesdays we bowl, so any shows that fell on that night got taped for viewing later, but then it became an issue trying to find time to watch. No worries, television on demand now has most of the shows available anytime, so it makes it easy to watch when you have a spare moment. I appreciate the flexibility of this, especially after one tragic night where a VCR consumed a tape of a show that I was watching, and we never did get the tape removed. This led to us having to buy a new VCR, which apparently now is hard to do because most places don't make just plain VCRs anymore.

 

Technology may take care of some concerns and problems, but there's been some rather disturbing trends that are beginning to bug me about the whole concept of television. While I appreciate that cable has become a big business and most people now have it simply as a necessity, I miss the days where big events were always on broadcast television. The NBA All Star Game hasn't been on broadcast television in years, and over the past few years, the MLB playoffs have been shown between Fox and other cable outlets, and now even regular season NFL games are appearing on cable on either ESPN or the NFL network. Granted, we live in a rather wired society, so most hardcore fans have figured out ways to watch what they want to without having to rely on networks, but I fear the days of being able to choose are slowly fading away.

 

NBC and Comcast are merging operations very soon, giving a cable communications magnate control of one of the major networks in American, while the other three channels are part of large multi-national corporations that have a media arm. Even large companies now have separate divisions that strictly deal with media and public relation issues, and while that's not exactly a new development, this arrangement is even filtering to smaller firms who need help with the media. Unlike in other parts of the world, television in America is for the most part a free enterprise run by whomever owns the broadcasting rights with very minimal oversight. The Federal Communications Commission provides oversight into mergers, business practices, and ensuring that some federal standards are met, but for the most part, they've let business do what they want on the airwaves.

 

In many parts of Europe, the government levies a television tax for all the houses that use television, and the tax is then given to broadcasters in lieu of having to generate income from advertisements. American stations on the other hand rely on their network sponsors to provide some content, while they subsidize themselves to a great deal on income from advertisements. This has lead to a spawn of infomercials, a full length program that advertises a product or service. And while I find some of them rather amusing, it's obvious that with them appearing on the schedules a lot, stations make a ton of revenue here without having to buy or create other content. It's bad enough that most shows now have more commercials bombarding our senses, but now many shows have become talking billboards for a product without most folks realizing it. I am all for free enterprise as much as anyone else, but at what point is commercializing everything enough?

 

And with overcommercialization, it's now become part of the plan to make some things more of a spectacle that they've been before. I know it's crazy when NFL playoff games have halftime entertainment and other events reserved for the Super Bowl, because networks and advertisers are doing whatever they can to have people watch. Even local news has become shills for network programming, often taking away news time from their nightly news to talk about an upcoming show or interesting story that happened on a network show. I suppose that I've become numb to that whole development, but this meshing of entertainment and commercialism has produced two prominent situations playing out as we speak that affect a lot of people.

 

One is with an FCC decision regarding regional sports networks and sharing content, as the FCC declared that content operators must make a good faith effort to share content amongst various interfaces. This means that cable operations that have a contract with a team or league must work with other vendors, such as satellite providers, to ensure that content is more readily available. This situation has a huge impact in the Portland area, as the rights to the Trail Blazers broadcasts are held by Comcast. While some providers have worked out an agreement to broadcast the game and some games are available locally on KGW, most fans are shut out because of Comcast, who not only has asked for a premium price for their channel from other providers but they've exercised their rights to blackout other access channels available to local residents for Blazer broadcasts, like the NBA Ticket. Since the Blazers signed a 10 year deal with Comcast to create a channel for their games, some fans have been in limbo trying to see their team on television.

 

While I agree that free enterprise works in most situations, it's hard to make something work efficiently with a limited amount of providers, referred to in economic terms as an oligopoly. Because there are only a few outlets available, most situations require a government agency or group to regulate companies to ensure free access while allowing companies to charge a reasonable fee. And based on what is being said, Comcast is happy to sell their channels to anyone that wants them, but the fees being asked for apparently are appalling. And within the past few months, there have been various cable outlets upset at the increase in fees that most channels are charging for their programming. It's no wonder that cable rates have risen quite astronomically over the past few years, and now to prevent people from moving to satellite or other options, cable systems are trying to play hardball in protecting their exclusive content. Instead of thinking of fans, the companies are searching for more money and keeping control, and in that war, consumers lose. The only problem is that when companies fight, consumers often lose, and that's why most Trail Blazer fans may rejoice the decision but they don't expect any dramatic changes right away. There's too much money involved for either side to back down now, so this whole thing could get ugly.

 

Not as ugly as the late night wars, which have finally reached a point of truce today. After seven months, Conan O'Brien is leaving the Tonight Show after NBC decided they wanted to move Jay Leno back to late night television. Leno hosted the Tonight Show for 17 years before agreeing to retire this year to give O'Brien the earlier time slot, only to be given a prime time talk show at 10 PM to keep him at the network. When the show failed, NBC tried to move Leno back to late night while keeping O'Brien and Jimmy Fallon on the payroll, but when O'Brien refused the move, it led to a war of words. The retirement agreement was set up a few years ago to avoid the media mess when Leno took over from Johnny Carson and Dave Letterman bolted to CBS in protest.

 

I'll admit I'm not a fan of Leno, and watched his actions as the retirement date approached wondering if he would really fade into the sunset or if he'd try to move to another show or network. He did, and provided NBC a terrible entertainment option at 10 PM causing other issues with the affiliates. When they got unhappy, instead of honoring the agreement with O'Brien, NBC decided to wedge Leno into the late night fold. And Leno, instead of being noble or a good guy in just walking away decided he wanted to return to the limelight. I can't blame O'Brien for being upset, especially being a loyal employee for almost 20 years, and now given a chance to host a show he's dreamed about for years, he's shown the door after 7 months.

 

Granted, the ratings have been off the hook and late night television hasn't been this funny in years because the drama is real and hosts are veering from their normally scripted material to mine some comic gold. But this whole situation just reinforces the fact that ratings aren't enough anymore, and shows must worry about marketability and demographics. Leno draws the type of viewers NBC wants, and they made their choice not based on ratings, simply a desire to attract the people they want watching their network, and in the process, have upset many people with their decision. O'Brien may not appeal to everyone, but he's got a manic energy that is reminiscent to the early days of Letterman with his absurdest humor, and to me, that's what late night television is supposed to be about. The only people benefiting from this mess are Letterman and Craig Ferguson at CBS, who stand to benefit from disenfranchised O'Brien fans waiting for his eventual return.

 

Television is supposed to provide a diversion from the day to day drama we all experience, but as often we see in the world, reality creeps its head into a lot of unexpected areas. Maybe in all of this mess, people will see the value of sticking to your word and doing what's right for the consumer instead of grabbing for every last available dollar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rain, Rain Go Away...

I couldn't think of a better title for this entry, although I don't mind the rain one bit most times. I could do without the blustery wind and rain that happens from time to time, meaning it's quite miserable to be outside for any amount of time. I can handle just rain quite nicely, I don't mind being drizzled on because if you avoid being outside around here during the rainy months, you'll be confined inside between late October until early June most years around here. It's part of being around here that we get rained on...

 

I've also enjoyed the concept of All-Star Games for most sports leagues, because the concept is to have a game that is for the fans showcasing the best talent the league can offer. Just like most other things, selecting teams often generates a lot of controversy because while fans are certainly entitled to their opinions and often vote for the players they want to see, their selections at times don't make much sense. This is very apparent for this year in the NBA where Tracy McGrady is one of the leading vote getters in the Western Conference despite not playing a single game this season. Allen Iverson is also a leading vote getter for the East, despite playing in Memphis for the start of the season. Teams have campaigns to get their fans to vote for their favorite players, which often produce results that don't correspond to actual performance at that time.

 

I get that sometimes fans vote in players because of past performance or likability, but with the NBA All Star teams only having 12 available spots per side, selections are at a premium, so unlike the MLB and NFL, a bad selection ends up harming the event quite significantly. The MLB mandates all teams need to be represented, but they end up having 32 players a side so one bad selection doesn't harm things, while the NFL's game hasn't really mattered for years because even the players don't seem to care about playing in it. The NBA, meanwhile, tries to balance the fan selection with the coaches selecting the 7 reserves to fortify the 5 selected fan starters. There's always somebody that gets left off the team that deserves to play, and sometimes the players do the right thing and decline the honor to allow a more deserving player to show up. However, you can't always count on people doing the right thing (right, Jay? you're being the better person?), so things like McGrady being voted in are just a product of the system. Unless the NBA gets a handle on this situation and does what is best for the event, nobody can really take the selection process that seriously. I didn't watch an All Star game until Brandon Roy got selected, and otherwise, I just wouldn't care to watch.

 

Meanwhile, the devastation in Haiti just gets worse, as another quake hit the area today. I just can't imagine what it is like to be dealing with all the chaos, destruction, and stress of trying to simply survive where everything around you is falling apart, literally and figuratively. The pictures and video are hard to watch, as one of the poorest regions in the world continues to get battered by nature while the world comes to their aid. I'm thankful that there are many stepping up to help, including one heroic doctor who simply wouldn't leave a makeshift medical center after orders were put out to evacuate the site. I don't like to throw out the label of hero all that much, but Dr. Gupta's actions are quite simply some of the most heroic things I've ever read about. He could have left the area, but he couldn't abandon the patients who were clinging to their life. If you haven't given to Haiti yet, please do so because it's that important. And it's vital for the Haitians to know that the world is watching and pitching in to help them recover from this devastation.