Back in 1996, Ted Koppel walked out of ABC's coverage of the Republican National Convention because he did not think it was newsworthy.
Twelve years later, nothing has changed.....and this is a bipartisan issue.
This is one of the reasons why I selected theme music for the conventions, to treat them with all of the respect that they deserve.
Essentially, a political convention is a four day long masturbatory exercise. It makes them feel good, but does nothing for the rest of us but make us want to turn our heads away in embarrassment.
What I did see yesterday was the bullying that, one of my new favorites, Griff Jenkins took from protestors outside the convention. He was pushed, shoved, blocked, threatened and generally disrespected by those who were upset by not having their First Amendment rights respected.
Does ANYONE else see the hypocrisy here?
Anyhow, all of that said, I disagree with Koppel on what he did 12 years ago. They have to be there just in case something of note actually happens. While unlikely that anything of note will happen, if it does, you know that it will be messy.
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I mentioned "Robin Hood, Men in Tights" because it actually happened to be programmed against the convention. I did turn it on for about 5 minutes. It was a better choice. But I couldn't even sit through it.
I went to the Military Channel to watch a show about the myths surrounding the Pearl Harbor attacks. (The USS Ward fired the first shots in the war against the Japanese, not the Japanese on us. Interesting stuff.)
I learned something last night. And not by watching Ted Kennedy. Nor Michelle Obama. Nor Claire McCaskill.
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Some folks think that my criticism of Joe Biden was a little harsh.
The main point regarding the selection of Joe Biden was that it was A BORING PICK!!!
I do not think he is a bad person. I do not think he was a bad choice. I do think he was a BORING choice.
Joe Biden got ONE percent of the Iowa Caucus vote. ONE PERCENT!!
The only thing he adds to the ticket is credibility on several issues were the naive junior Senator from Illinois will not have for a few years.
Reverse the ticket and you bore the base, but you'd have a better setup for the nation.
But who cares about competence? Certainly not Democrats, they gave us Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.
Republicans, before you think I am on your side, wait until next week. Then, you will get yours.
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Football begins this weekend. Illinois is such a power that they are unable to provide a coach for me to interview.
Being turned down for Mark Richt, Nick Saban, Pete Carroll, Phillip Fulmer or even Rick Neuheisel, I can understand. But Ron Zook or his coordinators? Really.
I am tasked to interview someone from opposing teams for our Saturday show, "On a Football Saturday" so that we can balance out our coverage.
I got stiffed by Dennis Franchione and Bill Callahan last year.
Where are they now?
OK, so I got stiffed by Mark Mangino too. And Oklahoma didn't get me Bob Stoops, but they got a me a great surrogate in Merv Johnson (former Mizzou player and assistant coach, long time OU Football Staffer).
I am sure that it is not a Karma factor. But, knowing what happened then could be a sign for other coaches to consider. Ha ha ha....
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Have a great Tuesday
