This Blog Title Has Changed? W.T.F???

I have decided to change the title of my blog. I wasn't really happy with the whole "W.T.F." thing, it just didn't catch my ear (or my eye) very well but it was the best thing I could think of at the time. The new title comes from an interview that aired on "The Rachel Maddow Show", Nov. 11, 2010, with Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show".

During the course of that interview Rachel asked Mr. Stewart how he sees the role of his show in the media as compared and contrasted with 'serious newscasting'. Stewart claimed a closer kinship to Jerry Seinfeld than to CNN or MSNBC and the kind of reporting that Rachel and others do. Stewart likened his role to as being, "in the stands yelling things, criticizing", putting journalists and reporters (like Rachel) "in the game". I think that Mr. Stewart underestimates his influence.

I believe it more accurate, to continue the sports metaphor, to say that the politicians and news makers are "in the game". The serious, 'hard-news', journalists, reporters and commentators (including social satirists such as Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, Stephen Colbert, among others) are the folks in broadcast booth calling the game.

The play-by-play announcer calls the mechanics of the game, the 'nuts-&-bolts' of what is happening on the field. This is the role that Brian Williams, Katie Curic, or Diane Sawyer might be equated with. The 'color commentator' is the person that gives meaning and perspective to the action on the field. They help the viewer to put together the intangibles and make the connections that might otherwise be missed by the casual fan. The two halves of the 'broadcast team' work together to bring the fan as close to the action as possible, to bring the game to life for their listeners whether they are at home watching on the T.V. machine or are in the stands at the game. I always had my little radio with me at Mariners games to listen to the late, great Dave Niehaus and the Seattle Mariners broadcast team calling the games. Quite often the Mariners were terrible and there were more people on the filed than in the stands, but Dave and 'the color guy' made it seem worth sticking around for - or at least listening to.

The news can be complicated and confusing when simply presented as a serious of facts and events. Often people are left wondering how the events covered on the evening news actually impact their lives. What does it mean to me and my life right now? This is where Jon Stewart, along with other satirists and humorists, is able to bring together the connections that are often just out of reach until someone puts it in terms that have relevance to our personal lives.

Most people that watch sports as casual fans really do need the announcers and analysts to follow the games. There are some, like me, that can watch a baseball, football or basketball game without a soundtrack and not miss a thing. There are some that only catch the scores and highlights on the news and never go to actual games. There are some people that never watch or pay attention to sports at all. This is true with respect to the news, too.

I am a self-confessed news-junkie and political nerd. I can safely say that I am not the average American in this respect. Most Americans, it seems to me, are like the folks that catch the highlights on the late news after the games have been played. Unfortunately the numbers of people that don't pay any attention at all is growing. This is a seriously dangerous situation, as it has been said, all that is required for evil to succeed in this world is for good men to do nothing.

As I see it, it is guys like me (and readers like you) that are in the stands. We go to the games, so to speak. We follow our favorite teams, we know the standings, we know how our favorite players are doing and how the playoff picture is shaping up. We are the people that read our newspapers, watch "Meet the Press", etc. We are not, as I have previously mentioned, average as it pertains to our awareness of the world around us.

I hope to make this something that will appeal to all levels of interest. It is my ultimate goal for this blog to start, and to maintain, a conversation about the issues that face our country and our world. I have started to add links to some of the blogs that I read and some of the issues that are important to me. Please feel free to comment as you read, but do remember to be respectful to individuals.

The point of this blog is to give myself an outlet for my opinions and observations, to allow me to present my 'view from the stands', so here we go and thanks for reading.