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Days Like These..... turned 5 today!

[willoughbytv]

Was Jefferson an Idiot?

By Brian Donlon

Thomas Jefferson must have been an idiot.

 That is the only logical conclusion one can make given the “relationship” between our elected officials and the myriad of reporters, columnists, bloggers and producers who try and cover the body politic. It was 230 years ago that the author of the Declaration of Independence wrote a letter to his friend and fellow delegate to the Continental Congress, Edward Carrington about the state of liberty in the still embryonic United States. Then, like now, the press was very much part of the equation of government life. While Jefferson had his issues with the newspapers of the day, he penned these words to Carrington:

“. . . were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

 By comparison, on July 6th of 2017, just two days after the celebration of our nation’s independence from the tyrannical rule of England’s King George III, Paul LePage, the duly elected Governor of the State of Maine, offered a different view of newspapers and the government:

        “The sooner the press goes away, the better society will be.”

 The governor must have missed the class on Jeffersonian Principles when he was an undergrad at Husson College, now Husson University. By the way, Husson actually has a journalism program as part of its New England School of Communication. The school also has a newspaper, The Spectator. Maybe the governor believes his alma mater would be a better college without the paper or the journalism program?

 Are Le Page’s comments any worse than the daily finger pointing and child-like name calling of “fake news” that comes out of the White House? Probably not.

 Declaring war on the press is nothing new, though these current salvos lack the some of the élan and panache of say the Nixon White House. Who could forget Vice President Spiro Agnew’s naming the media the "nattering nabobs of negativism" ?

  At least Agnew limited his animosity to name calling. John Adams, our second president and his Federalist cronies in Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798 which made speaking openly against the government a crime of libel punishable by fine and even prison time. Federalists sought to quell dissent by prosecuting those who violated the Sedition Act to the fullest extent of the law – including publishers of newspapers.  Thankfully our third president, the aforementioned Thomas Jefferson, true to his words above put an end to that “law” in 1800.

 Figure right now we are somewhere between Agnew (name calling) and Adams (government action).

 The closest we’ve come to any serious move against the Fourth Estate so far, was on the campaign trail. In February of 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump offered this pearl as the man seeking to uphold the Constitution and free speech. "One of the things I'm going to do if I win, and I hope we do and we're certainly leading. I'm going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money.”

 My first thought when I heard this was who will get all that money? Trump? Surely, with his billions he doesn’t need the millions that would pour in. Would he use it to help pay down our national debt? Make a down payment on the new wall?

 Despite all the hand wringing and name calling directed at CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, et al, there has been very little movement on Trump’s libel plans. Clearly healthcare and North Korea just to name a few have superseded its place on the agenda. Plus, Russia looms over 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue like a never-ending storm.

Or maybe someone finally told Trump that there is no federal statute for libel. If he woke up tomorrow and decided to pursue this course – and Lord knows anything is possible – he would have to convince all 50 states to change libel prosecution or pass a new federal law governing libel.

One does not need to be a libel lawyer to understand the challenges of such cases. If you are a movie fan you pretty much picked up the basics in the Paul Newman film, Absence of Malice, which certainly doesn’t portray journalism as heroic and through the scene stealing performance of Wilford Brimley gives some insight just how hard such cases are.

In order to win a suit against a media organization an individual must prove that information was published or produced for air with actual malice. That the writers or producers knew the story to be wholly incorrect and acted reckless disregard.

The realities of the relationship between the press and the presidency is that it is part of the checks and balances that Jefferson and his fellow “revolutionaries” drew up more than two centuries ago. Like it or not – and clearly Le Page doesn’t and on most days the President doesn’t seem to like it either – but journalism and democracy walk arm in arm through the halls of power. They are like the lovers who fight all the time, but need each other to thrive.

Before the age of “no fly lists” and the Tea Party and WikiLeaks, in what now seems like a much simpler time not just for media and politics, but for the country, the noted communications theorist and academic James Carey stated the seemingly obvious realities of the relationship between the media, the government and the people. “Journalism is another name for democracy or, better, you cannot have journalism without democracy,” Carey said at a journalism conference at Middle Tennessee State University in 1996. “The practices of journalism are not self-justifying; rather, they are justified in terms of the social consequences they engender, namely the constitution of a democratic social order. There were media in the old Soviet Union just as there was communication and even something resembling news business. There just wasn’t any journalism because there was no democracy, which alone gives rise to the social practice of journalism.”

There is little doubt that Paul LePage and Donald Trump would disagree with Professor Carey. However, even Jefferson, despite his belief in press freedom, might have had issues with Carey’s theory.

Not unlike Trump, Jefferson had to deal with partisan press coverage during his presidency. After leaving the White House, he wrote a letter – the tweets of his day – to another friend lamenting the state of the free press. In writing to Dr. Walter Jones, a fellow Virginian and two-time member of the House of Representative, Jefferson expressed his dismay: “I deplore with you the putrid state into which our newspapers have passed, and the malignity, the vulgarity, and mendacious spirit of those who write for them.”

Despite Jefferson’s defense of the fourth estate, even he grew weary of failures – perceived or otherwise – of the press. It is a tale worth noting for the media that even ardent supporters can tire if the search for truth gets entangled in partisan lines. It is also worth nothing that a President could change his views on the press. Maybe that will happen with President Trump (or Governor LePage for that matter), but probably not.

[willoughbytv]

The Worst Is Yet to Come - and Maybe That’s a Good Thing

The glamorous life of being one of ‘the worst’ a.k.a a journalist (top covering the 2004 Democratic National Convention from “the floor and on location in New Orleans with FBN’s “Money for Breakfast”) 

By Brian Donlon 

It’s official. I am the worst. 

Well, maybe not THE worst, only one of the worst.  

To be clear, I’m not the worst person (at least I don’t think am) or the worst husband (my wife can refute that statement in the comments section below) or the worst barbecue grill master (though I do have difficulties with salmon from time to time). 

Rather my job is the worst. Now I like it just fine. It is the rest of the world that appears to have a problem with it. According to Careercast.com, my chosen field of reporter/journalist is one of the worst jobs in 2017. Wait, actually it is not limited to this year. The site says these will be the worst jobs for, well, ever.  

The metrics for what makes journalism so awful it seems is based on “growth outlook, income, environmental conditions and stress.” 

Now there is an invitation to the next generation. Looking for a job where automation is creeping in? Middling pay? Work conditions to drive you to the nearest pub? Have we got the job for you! 

It is difficult to comprehend anti-journalism sentiment given the stellar work of organizations like The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN in recent months. Even careercast.com can’t seem to make sense of its results in light of the events taking place daily on our national political stage. “The value of trained, professional Newspaper Reporters and Broadcasters has taken on heightened importance recently as well as increased scrutiny. Journalists covering politics in particular, have been under extreme pressure as they strive to credibly cover the news and keep our nation informed.” 

How much pressure?  

Ben Jacobs, a reporter for the U.S. edition of the esteemed British newspaper The Guardian (which also happens to be a non-profit) was “roughed up” by Greg Gianforte, the GOP candidate for Montana's lone House seat last Thursday. Naturally, Gianforte went on to win the election.  

Danger from war zones is a given. But now we do have to worry about the possible perils of a campaign rally of a local election. President Trump certainly doesn’t aid the situation in his constant attacks on the media, pointing at the press at rallies and calling reporters “dishonest” and “fake.”  

At least some people are taking notice of the newfound perils journalists are facing. The St. Louis-based Pi Pizza mini-chain created “Love a Journalist Day” following the Gianforte-Jacobs incident, offering free pizza to journalists “In light of the figurative and physical assaults on our journalists and real news.”  

Now the more cynical of us might stamp this as nothing more than a publicity stunt. But the owners did not participate in any media interviews or hand out fliers outside of news offices. It was just a tweet – and one that was appreciated by thousands.  

Albert Einstein while not a journalist dealt with nothing but cold hard facts as a theoretical physicist and once said, “The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.” 

Journalist do attempt to make the world, if not less dangerous, more safe and fair. The constant barrage of charges of bias or fake news chips away not only at journalism, but at the foundations of democracy. Author Alex Jones understood the dangers that we now face eight year ago in his book, Losing The News: The Future of The News That Feed Democracy. “If news institutions cease to be trusted to be honest brokers of information, then disagreeable or politically unwelcome news will be dismissed as spin and bias. In such an environment, the argument goes, a genuinely informed citizenry is replaced with an anarchy of half-truths, misinformation, and propaganda.” 

Of course, when careercast.com cites journalism as one of the worst callings one could ever have, that clearly has no impact of future reporters, editors and producers, right? Surely, the thousands of journalism students in American colleges and university surely understand what is at stake and stand ready to answer the clarion call. Maybe not. 

"Journalism has been failing in my opinion . . . .in reality only 32% of Americans trust the media in 2016 yet (our professor) acted like journalists are some sort of Gods". Those are the comments a communications student at Iona College offering a review of his journalism class."  

Gods?  

Ouch.  

I certainly don't know any journalists or journalism professors for that matter who see the practitioners as god-like. I believe some of that student comments are rooted in the drumbeat of chants that the media is "the enemy." In today's 24/7 news cycle, if someone says it loud enough and often enough it become alt news – as if that is a concept has any relation to the news business. , some people believe it. 

Polls which suggest a distrust of the media, surveys that place journalism as a horrid career choice, claims that reporters are enemies of the people all will take their toll on the profession – if it hasn't already. 

Another recent survey of 1,000 children by the travel company First Choice revealed that the number one job kids aspire to is – are  you ready? – YouTube star. If only Andy Warhol were still around to address this development. 

In the same survey, kids also expressed a desire that media studies and video editing were a regular part of school curriculums. Oh, and out of the 10 jobs that kids want according to First Choice, number nine was writer. 

Journalism the worst? Maybe the best is yet to come 

[willoughbytv]

"Fake News" & Real Robots Pose The Latest Threats to Journalism

By Brian Donlon

These are trying times for journalism and journalists.

Between “fake news” and “alternative facts” and trying to develop editorial plans that reflect the news habits of 21st Century consumers, the state of journalism and journalists has never felt to be in more peril.

“Real” reporters before the dawn of “fake news” covering the Dan Rather vs then Vice President Bush clash with author Brian Donlon second from right. 

Most journalists I know – even those of a more seasoned vintage – are hard pressed to remember a time where the leader of the nation and the free world singled out reporters, editors, producers and anchors as “enemies.” Now journalists are just as prone to navel gazing as the next guy who can indulge in excessive contemplation of ourselves and our self-interests. These declarations though have made us look not only inward but outward – on air, in print and online as exemplified here is a recent edition of Closing Bell.

Ir increased newwspaper subscriptions, raised television news ratings, lifted traffic on digital news sites. In general the public seems to be more involved and aware of issues – and that is a positive development.

Still, journalists and journalism remains under siege. Yes the economic model of news and been tossed on its ear and financial budgets are now just as important as news budgets. The encroachment of technology however is no longer just about digital media vs traditional media vs social media vs virtual reality vs whatever the next great buzz is. No, the threat is no longer about displacing or re-positioning content, the threat is to the human factor of news.

About 18 months ago, Derek Thompson of The Atlantic wrote a piece “The World Without Work” which should be mandatory reading for everyone, but especially those who reside in Washington D.C. In his piece Thompson detailed the technological changes past, present and what is coming in the future. He noted that with each technological transformation, new industries and services were created.

However, for the digital age Thompson warned that “throughout these reshufflings, the total number of jobs has always increased. What may be looming is something different: an era of technological unemployment, in which computer scientists and software engineers essentially invent us out of work, and the total number of jobs declines steadily and permanently.Thompson is not referring to coal miners and auto workers here. There is hardly a sector that will remain untouched – including journalists!

Read that again . . . “the total number of jobs declines steadily and permanently.” It is a subject that Closing Bell tackled recently -- and one that deserves more coverage.For more than two centuries the process of journalism has not dramatically changed. The delivery systems have certainly progressed. The Founding Fathers never could have envisioned the inky printed paper delivered to their doorsteps would be replaced by the immediacy of digital publishing on the Internet or non-stop news via something called cable.

Through the decades, no matter the technological shifts, the practices and procedures of news gathering have remained by and large intact. Even with all of today’s technology a reporter still researches, interviews and analyzes the facts (and non-facts). Then arranges words to create a compelling story. It is a process that when boiled down is truly awe inspiring. The late media theorist Neil Postman offered a unique insight on why the gathering of news and newspapers have survived. “Unlike television or the computer, language appears to be not an extension of our powers but simply a natural expression of who and what we are. This is the great secret of language. Because it comes from inside us, we believe it to be a direct, unedited, unbiased apolitical expression of how the world is.”

Those great powers Postman praised, that seem so essentially human, that seemingly made journalists special are now facing the robot age. The “great secret of language” that personal expression is being targeted by computer programmers and cost-cutting news managers. Consider:

More than 1,500 newspapers have access to corporate earnings business stories from the Associated Press which are now “written” by software programs.

Fox Sports auto-generates some sports recaps that appear on its Big Ten Network web site and presents game predictions under the banner of “Whatifsports,” a company Fox parent NewsCorp, acquired in 2005.

An algorithm is being utilized by the Los Angeles Times to offer stories about earthquakes in California.

A more sanguine chronicler of journalistic developments might shrug off these developments as rote content that features nothing but numbers, offers little writing or creativity and does not threaten the essence of reporting.

Maybe.

But take the case of the LA Times. The quake coverage/data collection proved so successful that it is now using another algorithm in its coverage in reporting homicides. The days of a “cub reporter” working his way up on the “police blotter” will soon be a reference in old black and white journalism movies like Humphrey Bogart’s great Deadline, USA.

Two companies -- Narrative Science and Automated Insights -- are leading the charge into newsrooms with these robotic journalists. Both provide names for their products that aim to kindle thoughts of newspaper luminaries such as newspaper publisher and founding father Alexander Hamilton and noted writing stylist E.B White, (and any self-respecting journalist still has a copy of his Elements of Style sitting on a desk).

Narrative Science’s non-human journalist is named “Quill” while Automated Insights’ competitor has the moniker “Wordsmith.” Neither company or robotic journalist seems content at stopping at offering game scores or financial reports.

Wordsmith is working with the National Football League -- America’s most popular sport – to offer coverage of games. Automated Insights plans is to place tiny sensors under players’ shoulder pads and these devices will allow for Wordsmith to receive instant data that can measure tackles, fumbles yardage etc., which in turn it could create live blogs and “first person” -- or is it “first robot”? -- reports from the field.

It’s not just reporters that are at risk. Robots are also infiltrating some of the tasks performed by editors. The work of an editor at most outlets has long been in the wise hands of a newspaper veteran known for superior editorial judgment. An editor is also the individual who bridges the gap between a reporter’s raw information and what the public finally sees. Despite experience and knowledge that can only come by daily “journalism” practiced day in and day out, these positions are being usurped by tech as well.

Social media platforms Twitter and Facebook are selecting stories for consumers with user “newsfeeds.” Who needs an editor to select and place the best stories when a “bot” can search Facebook and deliver what a user wants – even if what the reader receives is “fake” as we saw with Facebook during the 2016 election.

Not to be outdone by its social media rival, Twitter’s “Moments” tool is designed to aggregate information, images, and live video from its users to produce a steady flow of content around real-time events and news stories.”

These personal news bots and news feeds may allow consumers to “select” their news, but if a generation of digital newsreaders prefer information about the Kardashians over the facts behind Islamic Fundamentalism or write off presidential politics what kind of democracy does our future hold?

Years ago I had a discussion about what is news with the late great Reuven Frank. The two-time president of NBC News was pushing for harder news coverage of, well, just about everything. I argued that daily coverage of the inner working of Capitol Hill were not going to generate large viewership number and Reuven waved me off. “My boy, our job isn’t just to tell them what they want to know, our job is to tell them what they need to know – even if they don’t know it.”

It would be interesting to hear what Reuven would say about today’s journalistic processes. One can certainly argue that “feeds,” “bots” and algorithms are about personal preferences and hence about freedom. But to some extent they diminish journalism.

These seemingly rudimentary programs cannot rival shoe-leather investigative reporting that human journalists have excelled at for decades. The role of the watchdog on big business and the sentinel who keeps eye over the matters of government cannot be emulated by an artificial intelligence. Or can they?

David Caswell, a fellow at the Donald W Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri told The Guardian last year, “If no one had detected the break-in at the Watergate Hotel, and in the election, the committee to re-elect the president had used information they’d gleaned, an algorithm could look at the series of events and say ‘these people had secret knowledge somehow.”

Artificial intelligence beating Woodward and Bernstein to the story? No secret sources like “Deep Throat” who turned out to be FBI agent Mark Felt risking life and career to preserve democracy?

Sorry. I saw Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines. That version of the future where AI rules wasn’t very appealing. Nor did HAL seem to have a handle on reality in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Would HAL have the ability to not just absorb Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics, but to maneuver the nuances of them such as being “vigilant and courageous about holding those with power accountable” and giving “voice to the voiceless” or “Boldly tell the story of the diversity and magnitude of the human experience,” ?

Before there was “fake news” and AI and the internet, Humphrey Bogart’s crusading newspaper editor in Deadline, USA dealt with different threats to journalism. Still, his warning in the 1954 film holds true today, “A free press, like a free life, sir, is always in danger.”

With all the marvels of technology, we sometimes forget that.

[willoughbytv]

Free Market Could Sack College Football & Post Season Bowls

By Brian Donlon

First, let me declare I am at best a casual college football fan.

As a native son of the New York metropolitan area where we have 11 major league professional sports teams and as a graduate of a university that knocks around Division II, NCAA football, the college grid iron even that played by "locals" such as Army or Rutgers or even Fordham was always on the periphery.

Beyond the Hudson River life -- as if often the case -- is quite different. One of my buddies, “The Czar” is a graduate of USC. After several years in the East, he has moved back to the Southland. Despite the return of the NFL’s Rams coinciding with his homecoming after a two decade exile in St. Louis, “The Czar” could care less about the plight of Jared Goff and rest of the team. But USC football? Ah, that's a different story. The Rose Bowl, with its parade and pageantry that just saw USC play pinball with Penn State in a 52-49 victory, was his Super Bowl. It was a shared experience. “The Czar” also had the Czarina and his two emperors and little empress on hand in Pasadena. Rasputin couldn’t make it as he of course was at the St. Petersburg Bowl.

Imperial Russian humor aside, for those of you who missed the Dec. 26 St. Petersburg Bowl, it featured the University of Miami of Ohio and Mississippi State. Both teams boasted a record of six wins and seven loses. That’s a LOSING record. In the “old” days the only bowl you would see with a record like that is the one you had with your cereal.

The poorly attended Miami Beach Bowl

The significance of the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl or the Cotton Bowl has been diluted. Tradition and success in college football has been replaced by greed (I know a shock in college sports) and need.

The greed is attempts by bowl organizers and teams to cash in on our football crazed country. The need is by ESPN.

The self-proclaimed worldwide leader in sports, ESPN will have aired 30 bowl games including the national championship game this weekend. Leading up to that it will also have presented such classics as the Gildan New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque (University of New Mexico vs the University of Texas at San Antonio) and the Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl (Army vs University of North Texas).

On a recent appearance on CNBC’s Closing Bell , Tony Ponturo who once oversaw all of the sports sponsorships for Anheuser-Busch, shared a dirty little secret. Not all of these game are profitable. But it is not just the bowls that are struggling. Some of the country's best know football programs are under financial siege. Bloomberg Business Week is out with a troubling report – one you won’t find on ESPN, the Big 10 Network or any other NCAA football related entity – about the debt that many colleges and their football programs are operating under. Eben Novy-Williams reports that “For some schools, millions in TV money can support a high level of debt service. That includes the University of Alabama, which plays Clemson for the national championship on Monday. The Crimson Tide owes $225 million over the next 28 years. In the Big Ten, also flush from a rich media deal, the University of Illinois owes more than $260 million. If that revenue stream fails to grow or starts to drop, as it already has for some programs in the top tier of college football, the results could be crippling.”

So given the debt load, if a school is invited to one of these “outer rim” bowl games with a million dollar pay day -- or even less in some cases -- that team is going. Consider the Quick Lane Bowl (if you are wondering apparently Quick Lane is the Ford Motor Company’s Tire & Auto Center chain played at wherelese? Ford Field in Detroit). This year the University of Maryland and Boston College – both with mediocre records of 6 wins and 6 defeats – saw a payout of $2 million from the Quick Land Bowl. Maybe they should rename the Quick Work Bowl.

There is a formula to success for bowls. A large part is sponsorships. That is why for years you had the Poulan Weed Eater Independence Bowl. It is now the much more refreshingly named Camping World Independence Bowl after years of "Weed Eater" jokes by late night comics.

TV rights fees also figure in to profit metric. If you believe content is king and ESPN has 24 hours to fill on multiple channels, the network is happy to open its checkbook. That may soon change though. The new cord cutting culture is putting a dent in ESPN’s subscriber fees and how much revenue it collects for parent company Disney.

Then there are ticket sales. That jammed stadium of crazed USC fans my pal “The Czar” witnessed at the Rose Bowl is the exception and not the norm. More often than not many of these post season events can’t even give away tickets to fills some these stadiums. The folks who run the Miami Beach Bowl know that better than most when the picture above went viral on social media showing “the crowd.” Also missing in that photo? The beach. The game was not played in Miami Beach. It was played in Marlins Park – home of the Miami’s major league baseball team – in the City of Miami about nine miles from any sniff of the beach.

Losing teams, crazy sponsors, poor ticket sales, I’m no college football expert, but this cannot continue. Nor should it.

We live in a world of supply and demand. There is very little demand for most of the games. Certainly not by the fans. ESPN and the other TV networks use it to fill up program hours, but the quality of these games is secondary to stocking up a program grid.

Free markets are supposed to weed out the strong products from the inferior in consumer land. College football fans should prepare because I think that will soon happen with college bowls. The debt load to run Division I college football programs may very well sink some teams. The 41 bowl games that offer quick paydays won’t survive sponsor less games – this year five post season contests did not have a sponsor. In many others game, attendance at best was middling.

The weeding out of college football and its post season bowl games will soon begin. If you don’t believe me just as the folks from the Weed Eater Bowl.

[willoughbytv]

Olympic Hopes, American Tastes

Jonathan! Jonathan! Jonathan!

That is what I was expecting the crowd watching Team Handball at the Olympic Games in Rio De Janiero to start chanting. Not because anyone named Jonathan was playing, but because the game sort of reminded me of Rollerball.

No, not that crummy 2002 remake with LL Cool J. No the ultra-cool 1975 original with James Caan as superstar roller man Jonathan E. There were no last names in this dystopic society where corporations governed the world (gee, that would never happen) and big multi-national outfits controlled sports – not unlike the International Olympic Committee or NCAA.

Take away the skates from Team Handball and you sort of had Rollerball on foot. 

It wasn’t just me. Millions of Americans watched. This is somewhat amazing since there was no Team USA competing (it seems we are not very good at playing the game). In the fact, Team USA has not competed in an Olympiad since 1996 – and that was only because the host country receives a “courtesy” bid.

Major newspapers including the San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post, The Charlotte News & Observer and The Chicago Tribune all seemed to agree that  Team Handball screams American Sport, This Bud’s For You.  

Do you like the excitement of the fast break in basketball? Handball has it. If your thrill is the penalty shot in soccer and hockey, handball has it. You say it is not a sport unless bodies are banging in the quest to score? Team Handball can rival football and lacrosse on some plays – and they don’t wear protective equipment.

Oh and by the way, that is true for the women’s teams too. Yes, this is a “co-ed” sport. “There is huge athleticism, constant action, a lot of scoring,” Bob Djokovich, a 1984 Olympian and vice president of USA Handball  told USA TODAY.

Forget for a minute that Djokovich is as an official of the governing body – such as it is – of handball in the U.S. Djokovich also played hoops at the Air Force Academy for San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, so he might know a little bit about fun and entertainment in sports.

We have college teams. In fact, there is a national championship that the money grubbing NCAA has no association with and that can only be good for the game.

The fact that Team Handball combines so many skills associated with other sports the USA at high schools and colleges could field hundreds of teams by next Tuesday.

When I was watching both the men and women from France, Poland and the other countries down in Brazil I couldn’t get Rollerball out of my head. Then I heard that – are you ready for this – roller derby is aiming to become an event at the 2020 Olympics.  

Now don’t laugh. I know that roller derby was once seen as one step above (or below, depending on your point of view) from wrestling. Still those skaters had skill and the likes of the New York Chiefs, Midwest Pioneers and of course the beloved/hated Bay Area Bombers were wildly popular back about the same time Rollerball was released.

The Chiefs at one time regularly sold out Madison Square Garden. When the sport's resident big man – Charlie O’Connell – bolted from the Bombers to the Chiefs, fans in the Big Apple went wild. New York after all loves its stars (see Joe Namath, Reggie Jackson, Derek Jeter etc,).

Roller derby got the Hollywood treatment in 2009 with Whip It starring Ellen Page.  Since then roller derby has been enjoying a comeback, almost a renaissance, if you will.  Teams and leagues are popping up all over the country for both men and women in cities such as Kansas City and is even making a dent in the competitive entertainment economy of Las Vegas.

The skaters' re-birth has also been drawing the attention of the national media with recent stories appearing on Vice, ABC News and CNBC, which recently profiled one of the cleverly named teams, the New York Shock Exchange who visited the New York Stock Exchange.

When you think about it roller derby and Team Handball actually have a fair amount in common. Both are fast action, high scoring affairs. Each sport claims men and women who are pretty much of equal skill and acclaim.

Both are growing on each side of the Atlantic Ocean. There are more than 400 roller derby leagues in the United States and globally the wheels are spinning with the national skate federations in Australia (Skate Australia), the United Kingdom (British Roller Sports Federation), Canada (Roller Sports Canada) and on the European continent it's wheels up with recognition the Federation Internationale de Roller Sports (FIRS) which reports directly to the International Olympic Committee.

For Team Handball, a match in Germany drew more than 44,000 fans in the HBL, widely seen as the world's best handball league. You think in 100 attempts the Brooklyn Nets versus the New York Knicks could draw 44,000 fans on one night?

There are more than 190 team handball federations around the world but Europe without a doubt is the handball hotspot. In the U.S it is estimated there are less than 100 top tier clubs or teams.  However, since 2013, Auburn University has been home to the USA Team Handball Men’s and Women’s National Teams as part of the USA Team Handball Residency Program. In addition, the university's School of Kinesiology is developing youth programs to introduce children to the sport of team handball.

What do both of these high octane sports need to crack the American athletic psyche? A professional league that airs on TV of course.

In a former life I worked for the Major Indoor Soccer League. It was affectionately called "human pinball." Like handball and the derby, it was fast, it was furious and it was fun. Attendance wise It drew fairly well in mid-size arenas across America. On TV, the ratings first on ESPN and later Versus (now NBC Sports Channel) were adequate.

The reason why there is no more MISL is not because enough fans did attend the games or the ratings missed the mark. Frankly what sealed the MISL’s fate back in 2008 was a small group of owners who looked in the mirror and saw George Steinbrenner and Jerry Jones instead of a group trying to build the next great American spectator sport.

Roller derby did spend some time in the American sports entertainment spotlight in the 1970s with a well-watched syndicated TV package and recognizable stars like Charlie O, Mike Gammon and Joanie Weston. In 1972 more than 50,000 fans showed up at old Comiskey Park in Chicago to watch the Los Angeles Thunderbirds skate against the Midwest Pioneers.

Everything from high overhead to the 1970s gas crisis to the changing sports marketplace has been cited for the demise of the original professional roller derby league. Still, the sport has an impressive track record and great grass roots support to drive a pro league.

As recently as 2009 – after following Team Handball's popularity in the 2008 Olympics – the idea for a U.S. league was floated. Dennis Berkholtz, a former U.S. handball Olympian proposed the American Team Handball League (ATHL).

According to Team Handball News, the league was to start playing in the summer of 2010. It was to be comprised of eight teams with a North Division featuring New York, Chicago, Montreal and Salt Lake City squaring off against a South Division consisting of Miami, Houston, Atlanta and San Juan. Like the MISL, Major League Soccer and the original WNBA it was to be a single entity ownership. The league would own all rights, including the teams. Individual owners would share profits after the expenses of the organization were acquitted.

Ample support was promised by the powerful HBL in Germany and events were planned with the French handball association. Some European stars would be signed to U.S. teams

The plan never materialized although it is unclear if the issue was signing investors, players, sponsors or all of the above.

The false start does not mean it was a poor idea. I could see a four to six team league. Team would represent regions not cities a la the old roller derby (Bay Area Bombers, Midwest Pioneers). Teams could play in multiple cities in each region creating a new fan base across a wide swath of territory. There are hundreds of mid-size arenas in cities in large metropolitan areas such as Harbor Yard Arena in Bridgeport, CT. just 40 miles outside of New York City or the USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth Township outside of Detroit or the Sears Center located near Chicago.

Plus, NBC Sports Channel – as one of lynchpins of NBC’s Olympic coverage – has a vested interest in the success of Team Handball. It would be a natural outlet for a package of games to be televised on.

While we’re at it, if roller derby is about to become an athletic event to achieve Olympic status, let’s get that pro league re-started too and place the matches on NBCSN.

Starting two leagues with two sports that people are not completely familiar with (What is that dotted line for on the handball court? What is a jammer in roller derby?) might seem risky. Ok then combine the two, make Rollerball a reality. The film after has the 5th highest grossing box office in 1975 taking in $30 million.

The sports world is filled with teams and leagues that would be thrilled to make $30 million in profit. But here’s a better idea: split the profits: $15 million for Team Handball and $15 million for roller derby.  

Roller derby.

Team Handball.

USA ...USA...USA....

Jonathan.....Jonathan.....Jonathan....

Come on America, bring it on!  

[willoughbytv]

The eSports Debate: Athletes or Not Athletes

 By Brian Donlon

The 1919 Black Sox Scandal 

Russia’s state-run doping program at the 2014 Winter Olympics  

 Baseball's steroid era of the late 20th century. 

 These are some of the most notorious scandals to hit sports. Through the history of athletic entertainment, those who play the games have always been prey for gamblers and hustlers promising more riches or improved performance in exchange for an errant play here or a needle there. 

 So it should come as little surprise that the rise of eSports is already the target of cheaters, creeps and conmen. 

Now first, you have to accept participants in eSports are athletes. It was the focus of a recent segment on CNBC. Still, studies have been zipping all across academia quicker Akali in League of Legends. In the United Kingdom, the University of Essex conducted the first study on the question several years ago and found that while gamers had mental/psychological attributes similar to those of more "physical" and "traditional" athletes, the university's Dr. Dominic Micklewright, the head of Sport, Performance and Fatigue Research Unit said the lack of mobility and physical exertion made video game as much of a sports as darts or billiards.

 Gamers/participants in the study were not specimens of good health as one would expect from most athletes. Said Dr. Micklewright, "Like videogames, these require very high levels of skill, but are relatively sedentary and not physically demanding."  

 But the Essex study has largely gone ignored. Since its release more than five years ago, some colleges and universities have embraced the X-Box and PlayStation with the same zeal that can be seen at the University of Notre Dame on Saturday's in fall with football in the air and national championships in their dreams. 

 More than a half-dozen colleges now offers college scholarships for gamers with Robert Morris University in Chicago the trailblazer in the arena. The University of California at Irvine is already upping the ante. It is not only offering free rides to its League of Legends combatants but this fall will have a 3,500-square-foot auditorium that will feature a stage for gaming competitions, a live webcasting studio and high-end gaming PCs – much like football teams have state-off-the-art weight rooms. 

 UC-Irvine’s push into this area makes perfect sense given that the school has “built a dynasty of League of Legends Esports excellence with three consecutive national titles. The team’s true strength, though, is anchored in their secret weapon: Their school’s passionate and growing League of Legends community,” according to the official League of Legends web site.

 There are several ad hoc outfits arranging tournaments and leagues on the collegiate level which include several of the gaming companies such as Riot Games, creators of League of Legends, arguably the most popular competitive video game. Riot’s majority owner is China’s Tencent Holdings. It is another example of China’s creeping control on the American entertainment industry. But that’s a story for another day.

 There are some attempts at a national governing body, but it is a little bit like the wild west these days. There is the National Collegiate eSports Association, which is “dedicated to unifying the collegiate eSports under one governing body made up of members within the community.” There is also the National College Gaming Association which among other membership opportunities promises:

· NCGA will host one fundraiser for your club per year

· Ensures at least one Tournament will be held at your college per year

· Players' stats will be entered in a national database for ranking and scouting purposes

Surprisingly there is no involvement by the major domo of college sports, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). There are only two possible explanations for this: 1) the NCAA does not consider eSports as sports or 2) There is not enough money in it for the NCAA to pay attention to it yet.

 I’d go with number two. The NCAA used to pay zero attention to women’s college basketball. That changed after Title IX and the success of Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women which the NCAA beat into submission after deciding women’s hoops could make money ignoring women’s basketball for decades. ESPN now pays the NCAA more than $200 million dollars for the rights to the women’s Division I championships. Beware NCGA and NCESA.  

So like it or not eSports are here and participants are now receiving all the trimmings we associate with big time athletics. And it seems it has already lost any purity even before it knew that this young “sport” should have any. In addition to the collegiate associations there is also an organization to help regulate competitive gaming beyond college. campuses The eSports Integrity Coalition will look to prevent cheating in eSports competitions. This non-profit association features members that include eSports outfits Electronic Sports League, DreamHack, Intel, Sportradar to name a few. It is an industry trying to clean up a mess before one is dropped on its consoles.

The organization’s code of conduct includes anti-corruption, anti-doping policies as well as disciplinary procedures. Its commissioner Ian Smith told the trade newsletter Cynoposis that, “It has been eye-opening and a privilege to work in eSports these past nine months.”

I bet.

Oh wait. I take that back. No betting. That is one of Smith and his organizations major concerns. It is not just worries over the “athletes” throwing the big money tournaments that keep popping up. No it goes deeper. Reddit threads abound about the woes of underage gamblers in eSports with cases of kids stealing their parents’ credit cards running up debts in some cases as high as $10,000.

Gambling’s big bad running mate in big time sports is drugs and guess what abuse has found its way into eSports already. Last year Kory Friesen, a Counter-Strike player known as “Semphis,” told the New York Times that he and his teammates “were all on Adderall,” during a competition in Poland. The drug is often prescribed for children and adults suffering from ADD and ADHD.

Shortly after the interview was published the ESL, a tournament organizer, said it would create a drug policy in conjunction with Germany’s anti-doping agency, which of course monitors the country Olympians, World Cup team, etc. The first doping tests were taken in Cologne at a tournament last August. Officials said all tests for all e-athletes were negative.

Why does a sport that many aren’t even sure is a sport need all of these “authorities” all of a sudden? On colleges participation is exploding. On the “professional” level, Bloomberg reports it is worth an estimated $612 million a year. Twitch, an online platform that live-streams gameplay, tells advertisers it has 100 million monthly viewers dwarfing just about anything on commercial television.

Oh, and speaking of commercial television these developments have not been lost on the “old” media. In the never ending fight to get the elusive “new” and younger viewers, both Disney’s ESPN and Time Warner’s TBS have been airing tourneys in primetime. The ESPN development is particularly amusing. Back in 2004, when I was the executive producer of ESPN’s first morning show, Cold Pizza, we created our own college football championship played on an Xbox. We “covered” the tournament just as ESPN would cover the college bowl games – except with our tongue planted deep inside our cheeks.

After the first weekend of “virtual” highlights and a “report” on the weekend’s games aired on the program, I received a call from an executive as ESPN. It went like this.

ESPN Executive: “What are you doing?”

Me: Today or in general?

ESPN Executive: No, with the football tournament, it’s not real.

Me: Well, it is real in that we’re playing it.

ESPN Executive: No, it’s not sports. We report and produce sports.

So now ESPN is televising eSports – including a recent Madden NFL championship. It looks like the “worldwide leader” in sports television believes video games are now viable sports competition. So the argument may be moot. What remains is how its grows and does it become more organized like college or other professional sports?

Oh and by the way, that ESPN executive who told me our virtual, video game tournament wasn’t sports and Cold Pizza should not be airing such non-sense, he is no longer employed by the worldwide leader. Maybe he is spending is off time playing video games.

[willoughbytv]

An about face on Facebook

By Brian Donlon

Preston Hall as it stands today

It wasn’t quite the bright white light that struck that tax collector Saul on the road to Damascus. Nor am I ready to change my name to Paul. But consider myself a convert to the Church of Facebook.

Now that may merit a response along the lines of, “Welcome to the 20th century,” as we lurch towards the third decade of the 21st century, but bear with me for a bit.

While social media is all the rage these days with businesses creating “social enterprises” and leveraging “social data,” I just wasn’t connecting with Facebook. I was one of the first people I know to have a LinkedIn account and with this blog post it is obvious that I use that social platform. Despite Twitter’s sagging stock price and its demise of being the “it” app, I’m a “140 character-aholic.” But Facebook? I’ve never been in like. That changed May 21st.

That day is not the day that I joined the social media giant and like St. Paul, all was revealed to me. No, quite the contrary. I have been a user of Facebook for about 10 years under the aegis of my company. The reason I joined was twofold: 1) a colleague told me it was a fantastic way to generate news business (not really) and 2) a decade ago it was the rage with kids. Like most teens and pre-teens, my children were “on” – and remain so. But when they were younger I wanted to monitor their activity and make sure there was no cyber-bullying in play as my town has had its share of sad, social media inspired incidents.

Plus, I work at CNBC where the network covers Facebook like ESPN covers LeBron James. Daily I hear about what a great investment it is and how it is changing the face of media. If that woman putting the Wookie mask from “Star Wars” is revolutionizing media and is a threat to major video companies, I need to buy a tiki bar in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Nor has it just been at work that I have had to listen to the cheerleading for Mark Zuckerberg and his creation. In graduate school, my very smart Media Economics professor, Spencer Grimes has extolled the virtue of Facebook in several lectures. As a prelude to that praise, Prof. Grimes labeled the internet “the most important invention of all time.” And of course without the internet there would be no Facebook. But all-time greatest invention? Ever?

Making My “Pitch” for the future of the College of White Plains of Pace University on May 21st at Preston Hall.

Now this is one of those great barroom debates. Sort of like who was better the 1927 Yankees or the 1998 Yankees?  There is no correct answer. Actually a few years ago The Atlantic, put together a list of the "50 greatest breakthroughs since the wheel"  and the Internet finished ninth -- behind the likes of the printing press, electricity and penicillin.  The internet did finish ahead of the automobile airplanes and personal computers.

However, after May 21st, I am now officially a subscriber to the internet being the greatest invention and to Prof. Grimes’ position that Facebook has the most powerful (not to mention profitable) business model in history. Hands down. No argument.

 So what was my Saul to Paul moment on the 21st of May in 2016?

A reunion. But not just any reunion.

Several of my “long lost” fellow alums listen to how we all got back to Preston Hall

It was for a small liberal arts school, the College of White Plains. It is an institution with, shall we say, a complicated history. It began in 1924 as an all-female institution, Good Counsel College, resting on several rolling acres in White Plains, New York. In the 1970s it, like so many one gender colleges, decided to offer co-educational programs either because of prevailing social change or because of the declining popularity in single sex institutions which led to declining enrollment and revenues.

So in 1972, Good Counsel went away and the College of White Plains was born. Swimming against the changing economics of higher education with an enrollment in the neighborhood of 1,000 students, it was unlikely CWP would make into the next decade. Enter Pace University.

In 1975 the college made a “consolidation agreement” with the school, where CWP would become a “college” of the university and Pace would build a law school on the then wide-open spaces of the White Plains campus. The move unquestionably saved the College of White Plains which became known as The College of White Plains of Pace University.

Naturally there was some resistance to the “big school” practices the university would inject into the small college world of CWP. It made for great sparring. Protests and college newspaper editorials about “preserving our identity” were not uncommon.

Changes in administrations and the recession of the 1990s, once again put CWP in peril. The university leaders who made the agreement to continue CWP as a college within the university – not uncommon in large institutions – were gone. With another Pace undergraduate campus located in Pleasantville, NY – a 25-minute car ride away – and with the original Pace campus in downtown Manhattan, the economic tide was pushing ferociously against CWP.

In 1993, Pace University ended the life of College of White Plains of Pace University. Some departments such as the journalism program -- which had produced a long line of successful professional journalists and media executives -- were moved to the Pleasantville campus. Programs, such as business, were folded into Pace’s well-regarded Lubin School of Business.

Worse than the shuttering of the undergraduate life that thousands had come to know and love, was the loss of identity. The CWP academic records were merged into Pace-speak. I was listed as attending the Dyson College of Arts and Science.

The what? Dyson? Didn’t he make vacuum cleaners?

Alumni events were held at campuses that no one from CWP attended. Thousands of graduates felt less like alumni and more like post-graduate nomads.

In the meantime, “real life” carried on. Classmates married and had families. Others moved. Even more “moved on.”

Long held connections were lost. The sole touchpoint with the college experience for many became the seemingly constant solicitations to make a financial contribution to a university that many felt had ripped out the hearts of their college life.

Years went by and the disappointed turned into the disheartened who turned into the disenfranchised.

Two years ago, one more attempt was made to see if Pace could understand that the College of White Plains was different, and certainly unique, within the university. The school elicited a passion that would rival Notre Dame. This despite the fact that CWP had no football program and its major sports offering was a ragtag group of playground pick-up artists who for some reason could fill the school’s small “athletic building” for the lowest level of college basketball action possible.  

The student body would often pack the cafeteria for a Thursday night "mixer" to drink a red concoction called "bash" out of plastic garbage cans. The booze filled beverage was only part of the appeal of the event. The camaraderie and sharing of stories from the inevitable hangover laden aftermath proved to be the real draw. It was a campus where people looked after one another.  There were no outcasts. No elites. No caste system between seniors and freshmen. There was just CWP.      

But after more than two decades since an undergrad set foot on the campus who at Pace would remember? Worse, who would care? 

In what could only be classified as a minor miracle, Pace University had one person who had an ear and a heart for the White Plains graduates. Michele Camardella, the assistant director of alumni relations listened. At one meeting where she heard former students tell their tales she said, “I don’t know what I would do if I felt like my college didn’t exist anymore.” 

Now, you may be wondering just what does this have to do with Facebook? 

Imagine trying to arrange a reunion for a school that has a database filled with long forgotten phone numbers or is populated with discarded America Online email addresses. Imagine trying to overcome an institutional memory with that has seen parts of it discarded and other parts absorbed into sprawling entity.  

What at first seemed like a wonderful idea – host a reunion on campus in the college’s most beloved building Preston Hall celebrating the 40th anniversary of the “consolidation” – suddenly felt like a Herculean task. Initial estimates by the alumni staff anticipated a turnout of 50 to 60 from an alumni population that exceeded tens of thousands.

The one intangible people underestimated? That CWP spirit – and Facebook!

While a small group of alums were “googling” names they could remember and tapping into the email addresses Pace had on file, there was a separate group operating separately trying to gather a group of students who lived in Dannat Hall – one of three buildings which housed students at one time or another. This was being conducted on Facebook.

As soon as Marybeth LaMendella -- the Facebook organizer -- received the “official” email letter from the University informing her about the planned reunion she sprang into action. The Dannat Hall Facebook Group with 70 or so members was converted into the CWP Pace Reunion Group.

In a matter of a few weeks the number of members doubled – and then in what seemed like days -- doubled again. Today some 320 members have enlisted into the Facebook group and it continues to grow weekly.

Facebook proved to be a beacon in the dark night for so many CWP ships lost at sea. It helped spread the word of the reunion event. Those 60 people that were supposed  to attend? The number turned out to be 170 and dozens of others were unable to attend because of longstanding family commitments – such as the college graduations of their own children.

Disney World bills itself as “the happiest place on earth.” Well, from 2 to 6 pm ET, on Saturday May 21st at 78 North Broadway, White Plains, NY, inside the venerable Tudor Room of Preston Hall, that title fell Pace University and its old College of White Plains campus. The happiness came from moments with friends who were separated by the valleys of time. The happiness came from rejoining the connections severed by the twisting, turning journeys of life. The happiness came from the long overdue recognition of an extraordinary institution.

While undergraduate classes may have ended on that campus in 1994, the essence of the school still very much exists. Many of the buildings still stand – now part of university’s law school. More importantly the essence of the college thrives. Anyone it attendance on May 21 saw that. It lives in all of the graduates. Much of who we are and what we are today is because of what transpired at that quirky little school that lived inside the large, polished university.

What life the school takes moving forward is up to those who returned to Preston Hall, all the members of the Facebook group and the alums we have yet to connect with again. But make no mistake about it. The College of White Plains of Pace University is  alive -- just visit its Facebook page if you have any doubts.    

[willoughbytv]

This will be a MUST WATCH doc -- “By Sidney Lumet “ from Nancy Buirski on Vimeo.

[willoughbytv]

My Time With the Donald

By Brian Donlon

In my career I have been fortunate enough to have interviewed former President Richard Nixon for print and in TV produce interviews with President to be Barack Obama right before he locked up the Democratic nomination and former President Jimmy Carter as he continued to develop his reputation as America’s greatest ex-President. 

Three residents of the White House in one career for someone who was not a political or White House reporter? I always thought not bad for a career. But now it appears I may have a presidential grand slam if Donald Trump continues his rampage through the political process. 

All of my brushes – and that’s what they were I don’t want to oversell anything, although given we’re talking about Trump overselling would be appropriate – came during my time as a reporter for USA Today.  

My first Trumpian experience came in 1990. Warner Brothers Television and The Donald teamed up to create a new game show for first-run syndication to sell to local stations. The concept was a marriage of two tried and true games -- trivia and Bingo and was called “Trump Card.”  

Trump was the master showman (surprise) at was once the grand stage for TV pitchmen – the National Association of Television Programming Executives Convention. It was January of 1990 in New Orleans. Trump was in the Crescent City and the crowds to see him then – as they are now – were in his words “huge.”   

The Warner Bros convention booth was always a must-stop destination for reporters or program buyers. Plenty of food and drink, beautiful women and a galaxy of television stars. But back then there was no bigger star than Trump. The line to take a picture with him seemed as long as the Mississippi River which ran adjacent to the New Orleans Convention Center where NATPE was held.  Although the giant gathering featured the likes of Dick Clark, Oprah Winfrey, Jesse Jackson Vince McMahon’s wrestlers -- Trump was the must see TV.  

His predictions for his entry into television – remember this is long before “The Apprentice” – were very similar to his presidential proclamations. How would “Trump Card” perform? “It will be tremendously successful,” he told a gaggle of reporters.  

His name was not the only Trumpian aspect of the game show. It would also be taped and produced at his Trump Castle Hotel in Atlantic City – another town he was trying to take by storm (and for a short time succeeded).  

I actually wrote several stories about “Trump Card,” not because I was mesmerized by his Donaldness. Rather, the host of the show was Jimmy Cefalo, the former Miami Dolphins wide receiver turned NBC sportscaster. Through some mutual friends at NBC we had become friendly. So whenever a story about the “hot” shows for the fall was going in the paper, I invariably mentioned Cefalo and Trump and “Trump Card.” And the show was hot. It was one of the biggest sellers to leave NATPE – this despite signs that the game show was on the wane. 

The Donald & Trump Card host Jimmy Cefalo

The show debuted in September of 1990 and was practically a flop out of the box. The premiere did feature “The Donald” in his only appearance (watch the clip here  he enters at 1:06). While “Trump Card” had several key time periods in big markets like New York and Chicago, it did not generate the ratings Warner Brothers had hoped for. The all-important November sweeps offered the knockout punch as “Trump Card” generated a 1.6 national rating. Today in syndication such a rating would make it a hit beating the likes of Rachel Ray and Meredith Vierra, but in 1990, not so.  Stations in other markets like Milwaukee, St. Louis and Nashville moved it to overnight time periods, buried in the dark of night. No one puts Trump in the corner. 

Surprisingly, the often pugnacious Trump didn’t mount a counter-offensive against TV reporters and critics who were penning the show’s obituary. I thought that was the last we would ever see of Trump as a TV property.  

Outside of reading about him in the New York Post, I thought that would be last of my brushes with Trump. That was until I was called to jury duty in Manhattan about 18 months after the premier of “Trump Card.”. 

The case was a civil suit involving one of Trump's West Side properties. It seems a fire escape ladder on one of Trump's tenement buildings separated from the structure. Problem was the "super” of the building was on the ladder and injured his back in the fall. 

There were two other plaintiffs along with Trump, thought I can't recall who they were. So it would be three lawyers trying to empanel one jury.  

The selection went surprisingly quickly. There was one seat left for two potential jurors – myself and an older woman who was nonplussed by the events around her and was more concerned with her knitting.  

The first attorney approached me and after asking for name, residence, etc. asked if I had any relatives in the judicial system. I said I did explaining my brother was a U.S. Marshal who may very well be somewhere else in the courthouse that day.  

He did not seem pleased by my answer. 

Attorney number two sprang into action and quickly picked my brain on my attitude towards civil suits. After mumbling something about "as long as cases have merit" he began to walk back to his long table opposite the jury box and turned around as if he forgot something? "Have you or a family member ever been involved in a civil suit?" 

I thought to myself why wasn't this the first question. I explained yes, that my father had successfully sued for damages on a case on Long Island.  

He also did not seem pleased by my answer. 

Now it was time for the main event. Trump's lawyer. He asked me if I knew of his client. To which I responded, "well I do read the New York Post."�� 

He smiled at me. "You said you were a newspaper reporter earlier, yes?" he asked the smile vanishing. I nodded. "Have you ever written about my client Mr. Trump?"  

I told him I had and explained the circumstances of “Trump Card" as well as the billionaire's foray into boxing in promoting fights at his Atlantic City casinos.  

Shaking his head, he wanted to know my opinion of Trump. I told him what a newspaper reporter is supposed to say, as a reporter I don't have an opinion I gather facts. Meanwhile the facts are: the game show bombed and his efforts in the boxing business were at best mixed. Trump's lawyer knew this. He also did not seem pleased by my answers. 

The three barristers huddled around the table to weigh in on my worthiness as a juror. I sat there thinking, brother in the court system, father winning a civil case, stories about a billionaire's failure in media, I'll be skipping out onto the streets of Manhattan in a matter of seconds. 

Trump's lawyer turned to the judge and said "We'll take him."  

Your legal system at work. But I thought well this should be interesting because the word around the court house was that Trump was on the witness list.  Alas as it turns out all parties settled the next day. Trump never took the stand..

Given some of his recent commentary on the campaign trail can you imagine what he would have said under oath?  "Look at juror number five, he's such a loser." To the assistant district attorney, "you are exactly what is wrong with the legal system."  

But it all comes full circle in the next few weeks, voters will play judge and jury and we’ll see if Trump the Candidate fares better than Trump the Game Show.         

      f����F

[willoughbytv]

Double Trouble for This Cliche

By Brian Donlon

Never did it occur to me that Blackjack was so popular among politicians, pundits and political writers. Sports writers, broadcasters and a few athletes it seems are equally fond of the card game. It is the only logical explanation for the over-use, over-hyped and over-done practice of the term “double down” on just about every news or sports program.  

For those few who have not used “double down” in common, everyday conversation of late,  blackjack, it means doubling your original bet in Blackjack after you’ve received two cards but before you’ve been dealt your third. It signifies an increase of risk, but also your potential for reward.

But in its current usage, risk falls by the wayside. Instead has become a cliche, oft times   illustrating an individual's  poor decision or judgement and despite fact to the otherwise, ramps up the position instead of retrenching. More often than not, it not an example of anything that has a reward as President Obama pointed out when discussing college affordability.

President Obama “doubles down” on college 

It is sort of dumbfounding that this phrase has become so prevalent in the vernacular of the day. Consider this: There are 1,511 casinos in the U.S, that offer some form of Blackjack -- also known by its more polite moniker “21.” By contrast there are more than 26,000 Subway shops in the country and no one has been running around saying “that idea is as good as a five dollar foot long.”

More surprising is according to the University of Las Vegas Center for Gaming Research even though everyone is “doubling down” on television, fewer people have following suit at casinos in Las Vegas:  “Twenty-One (blackjack) has declined in both terms of units and revenue. In 1985, 77% of casino games were blackjack. In 2013, just over 51% were. In 1985, the game accounted for just over half of all table game revenues: in 2013, it accounted for under a quarter of table win,”  

Somebody better alert all these double downers that they are all so 1985. The new game -- and it would make Ian Fleming would be so proud -- is baccarat. Here is what my friends at UNLV had to say about that card game: “Baccarat’s growth as a revenue driver since 2003 predates the recession, and is nothing less than astounding.... before topping blackjack, baccarat pre-eminence as the king of table games appears insurmountable.”

Insurmountable. Got that politicos? Pundits Players? Insurmountable. That means incapable of being overcome. You best double down on some new lingo.

So if baccarat is the hot game, what term can we steal from it to make the next hot political/cable news/sport cliche?

Here are a couple of suggestions from the game, which has its origins in France and has to attribute any growth in popularity to James Bond (pick any version of Bond, it is the super spy’s game of choice) .

Sean Connery play Baccarat in Dr. No, while Daniel Craig does the same in Casino Royale  (below) 

> Monkey -- This is slang for a face card or a 10. Can you just see someone from the Republican National Committee talking about say Hillary Clinton. “She a real political monkey.” Meaning she is a 10 politically.More than likely though few would take it that way.

> Dragon Bonus -- This is a side bet option for either the player or banker hand. “That play in the second period was a real Dragon Bonus,” declared Coach Smith.

> Baccarat – Ironically the name also represents the worst Baccarat hand, which is the total of zero. “He’s a real baccarat of a candidate,” exclaimed Donald Trump in his latest assault on his Republican foes.

Maybe these alternatives are not great. But double down only took hold because people kept using it. Still folks have to admit, it has gotten a little out of hand. KFC jumped into the act with a sandwich that replaced bread with two pieces of fried chicken housing bacon, cheese and in some countries a hot dog. Talk about risk and reward.

KFC’s Double Down “sandwich” 

Blackjack is on the decline. There have been at least three totally forgettable movies called Double Down . The KFC sandwich looks like a heart attack waiting to happen. Double down is not on the upswing. We’re living in risk averse times, getting back to the game’s original definition. It’s time to “roll the dice” and move on. Oops. looks like I’ve doubled down on gambling cliches. 

[willoughbytv]

The REAL Rise of the Machines

By Brian Donlon

When the Terminator was first released in 1984, it was a fun, low-budget affair starring a wanna-be action movie star named Arnold Schwarzenegger. Most people walked out of the theaters remembering the one liners like “I’ll be back.” Few walked out worried that the future flashed on the silver screen.

Flash forward to the a second sequel in 1991 subtitled Judgement Day and 2003’s Rise of the Machines. Both have some very good lines but more importantly there too, but with the maturation of the internet, advent of ubiquitous mobile devices, and approaching age of big data in retrospect both of these Terminator movies in retrospect may have been more cautionary tale than escapist fare,

Arnold came back & back & back 

Remember the company from the Terminator franchise called Cyberdyne Systems? The same company that builds lethal robots and develops Skynet, the network of computers that eventually tries to destroy all of humanity? Well, there's a real company called Cyberdyne.

Now this Cyberdyne manufacturers robotic exoskeletons which are used to help mankind in institutions such as in nursing homes and hospitals to assist people with walking. Maybe the CEO of the company is an avid film fanatic, but one has to take pause that when in addition to the movie bad guy name of the company, one of its products is called HAL -- the evil computer from the 1968 classic 2001: A Space Odyssey. HAL the acronym for Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer.

HAL the “grand dady of artificial intelligence

Algorithms are all the rage today in every field you can imagine. Healthcare, financials, entertainment, transportation...the list goes on. Neither Cyberdyne or Schwarzenegger appear in the best selling book, Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and  Kenneth Cukier. But the spectre of both haunt several pages.  

On page 70 of Big Data, the authors write: “In the future, our understanding will be driven more by the abundance of data, rather than hypotheses.” No longer do companies ask “what if…” now more than likely the question is “what does….” and it is fed into a program based on past and current activity. Consider the art of movie making and how big data is altering the creative process. . Analytics companies have taken root in Hollywood just as they have on Wall Street and on Capitol Hill. One firm, EpagogIX ( http://www.epagogix.com/studios.html ) works with studio executives -- notice it is executives not the filmmakers per se -- on creative and cost decisions. 

EpagogIX analysts read a script, placing a value on all of the plot points -- from shoot-outs to love scenes. In addition characters are also pegged with a point value  according to a directory. The scores are then fed into a computer algorithm, which calculates how much the movie will make at the box office, give or take 10 percent.

Script changes will be recommended based on the outcome of the computation. So one must reason if this process is attached to say five love stories, five action pictures and five comedies, won't each one of those films in each category be similar?

I don't need an algorithm to tell me familiarity breeds contempt. The box office charts are littered with failed copycat movies. It is one matter for big data to predict box office, it is quite another to have it so involved in the creative process

Even if this was deemed a perfect approach, it is not void of human bias. Human judgement is still assigning values.  

Elsewhere In the media business journalism is also under siege by the rise of machines.

The news business, maybe more than any other aspect of media, is being forced to adapt to change at a speed it can not humanly maintain. The technology is too fast, the changes too far reaching for journalistic paradigms to acclimate  at the pace it needs to in order to survive, much less thrive.

The advent -- and pick any one of these new trends --- of “data journalism” or “computer-assisted reporting” or “computational journalism” have dramatic implications for journalism as a whole. Story gathering almost since The Daily Courant  -- widely considered the world’s first daily newspaper published in England in 1702 -- has always started with a hypothesis. The questions asked were always who, what, where, when and why. On page 59, Mayer-Schonberger and Cukier write that correlational analysis “show what, not why, but as we have seen knowing what is often good enough.”

Really?

Not in any journalistic organization I have ever worked.  

Business sections of newspapers and websites already use “automated reporting” to write and publish corporate earnings reports As media companies with news holdings continue to seek ways to increase profits and slash costs, the push towards more  “automated reporting” can not be too far into the future. Would an algorithm have been able to uncover Watergate? Can an algorithm properly capture the pain and suffering of the current Mideast-European refugee crisis?

These stories were and are built on hypothesis, theories and human experience I enjoy reading Nate Silver’s 538  “news” site. But it is really more analysis than journalism.The "news" on 538 is that Silver and his band of analytics have compiled and computed data relating to newsmakers or newsevents. The public still needs coverage of the newsmakers and those events.

Yes big data will change -- and is changing -- the journalistic/news media work force. Thousands of jobs have been shed from newsrooms over the year already because of digital changes fostered by market conditions. Big Data -- in one of the great understatements of our time -- declares  as the closing of this week’s chapter points out, “It challenges many institutions.”

While “Big data may not yet spell the ‘end of theory’ the Big Data authors note “… it does fundamentally transform the way we make sense of the world.” But if  “automated reporting” were to replace traditional human driven news gathering, I am wonder how much of the world will make sense without context and human analysis -- even with all its imperfections. 

[willoughbytv]

Living in the Past in a Mobile Age

                By Brian Donlon

                For the past 14 days, my life has been a Jethro Tull song – “Living in the Past.”

                 During this period I have been without my mobile phone, a trusty Moto X. The glass cracked after falling out of pocket onto a concrete floor back on July 25th while attending a local presentation of the musical, “Godspell.” It is somewhat fitting that it happened at a revival of a musical that first opened off Broadway in 1971.

               A few nights ago I was picking up takeout at a Chinese restaurant. A display on the takeout counter asked me to like the eatery on Facebook. The cashier also asked me to offer a “like” and offered me the QR Code to scan with her right hand as she added the extra duck sauce to my order with her left hand.  

               “I would,” I started to explain, “but I don’t have my phone.”

               “Did you lose it?” she politely asked, although I could not understand why she was so interested in my lack of telecommunications mobility.

               “Long story,” I replied, “but it is being repaired.”

               “Oh my God,” she shrieked, “I could not live without my phone. What is it like?”

               What an odd question I thought. Noting she was about 25 years old I quipped, “It’s like the 1970s only the music today isn’t as good.”

My order was handed to me with a nervous laugh. I’m not sure she got the reference.  Maybe I should post on the restaurant’s Facebook page the trailer for CNN’s “The Seventies” docu-series and the upcoming music episode (http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2015/08/07/series-the-seventies-the-music-rock.cnn-creative-marketing)

               Now I am not completely without handheld technology. My employer has had me carrying a Blackberry for more than two years. I don’t know what the number for the phone. My only email is my professional account, which outside of colleagues, no one I know sends to me.

Blackberry Messenger? Might be able to use it, if my address book transferred easily from the Motorola back-up app to Blackberry. It does not.  Posting to social media? Forget it. The Blackberry apps are sluggish – and that’s being kind. I have made a half dozen outgoing call in nearly two weeks.

The “old” phones at Grand Central Terminal in New York City

              One day last week, I thought I would call home with a pay phone. Surely I have seen them in the recent past. I found one. Oddly placed on a wall, like a solitary reminder of days gone by. Then I realized. I don’t even know how much a phone call costs these days. It used to be a quarter the last time I used one – which had to be at least a decade ago.

               This payphone was not operated by Verizon or AT&T or some brand I was familiar with. No I think the name was actually “Frankie’s Phones” or some such. It cost $1 but also offered directions on handing over my credit card info.

               I did not need to call home that badly.

               At first, I felt a little like my friend at the Chinese restaurant. But as the days wore on, I found myself slowly separating from the appendage that has become our mobile devices.

               Walking down the street became easier because my head was looking up now and was able to avoid ALL of the other people transfixed by their phones and were running into other zombies.

               My reading of books has increased. I have finished two in record time because my down time is not checking Twitter or email or Facebook or anything else.

               If I want to talk to someone I actually call them on – are you ready for this? – a landline or try to catch them in person instead of texting.

               As a result, I have to be honest it is a little less stressful. It made me think of the time growing up when Fridays would come and work would be put away until the following Monday. There was no 24/7 constant connection, nor do I recall a desire for one.

               The no-phone experience drove me to apply that to television. For a few days I just watched linear, regularly scheduled programming. No DVR. No Netflix. No On-Demand. Frankly, this was not as exhilarating as the no phone.

               Still, as I have ridden the commuter railroad the last two weeks, I look around and see nothing but heads hung down, ears plugged in, with phones and tablets. If Jesus suddenly appeared in the middle of the train in a flash of light, I’m not sure most passengers would notice  

           Now don't get me wrong. My app-less life has sometimes felt hapless. I miss Shazaam does identify all the music I hear in stores or on the radio (since Dee-Jays rarely tell you the tune titles anymore). Fandango sure is a nice way to beat the line at the movie theater to purchase tickets. And that commuter railroad timetable app comes in handy especially given the printed schedules are now readable only via microscope given the given the small type faces.  

            My fitness app that keeps tracks of my calories proved helpful. This morning I learned the old fashion way that I may be enjoying the fruits of summer a little too much. The waist on the pants to my suit was a tad tight. Looks like tomorrow I'll have to go for a longer run. But wait. I have no way to trace or time my morning jog without Runtastic.  

             So it looks like I am caught between two worlds. The simple time of the seventies versus the hyper connected life of the 21st century. Eventually Motorola will return my Android device (by the way, no one will confuse their customer service with the halcyon days of “the customer is always right”). All of my apps will be re-installed, my text messaging up and running and just like a bite from a zombie in "The Walking Dead" my fear is I will slowly transform to a head hung, hand cramped, social media infested half-life.  

               But there is always the power button which turns a phone off as well as on. It also doubles the on switch for a time travel device. You just have to want to take the journey – even if it is only for a few hours.  

[willoughbytv]

Ay Yi Yi with the Iconic Already

By Brian Donlon

In today’s happening now, go-go, video-on-demand social media world words still matter.

Really?

Well, despite all the memes, viral videos and selfies that dominate social media, where would Facebook or Twitter be without words? Tweets may be only 140 characters, but what the words those letters form can pack a powerful punch.

But be it the blog-o-sphere, Twitterdom or even Yelp reviews, the words that fill these spaces are often filled with hyperbole. You know the greatest this, the most amazing that. The “li-stories” that make up a large portion of the content from sites like BuzzFeed or Uproxx love to swim in those waters.

These list “stories” are fun to read. They are not usually based on any journalist foundation other than three guys sitting around the office decided to come up with “The 17 Most Troubled Superheroes Who Were Once Teen TV Stars Who Could One Day Be President of the United States.” Ok maybe that list hasn’t been published yet. But give it time.

My gripe with these type of reads is not so much the form or function. I worked at USA Today, when everything was a list, so I get it. It is the wording on some of these compilations. Amazing? Ok, they are not usually. I mean think of the truly amazing things you have seen in your life. The birth of a child. The moon landing. Penn and Teller. These are amazing.

What is truly amazing though is the use of the word iconic. Everything today is iconic. Folks on TV use it like it is putting ketchup on a hamburger -- and they should know better. The internet? Google the word iconic. I did on July 6. The results while not iconic, are eye popping.

Here are a few of the results that Google delivered.

Iconic car 'General Lee' faces public backlash

How a Physicist Solved the Mystery of an Iconic Photo  

Maine artist recalls making iconic Burt's Bees logo

Sternberg Furniture Leaving Iconic Location on the Square

Ghostbusters' Director Reveals New Photos of Iconic Proton

Britney Spears And Her Boys Recreated The Iconic ‘Oops’ Album Cover

Detroit's iconic Joe Louis statue gets a fist lift

Jerry Weintraub Dies; Iconic Hollywood Producer Was 77

23 iconic business signs that let you know you're in Mobile

Ok, let’s eyeball these iconic headlines one by one. But before that. Let’s go to our old friend Merriam Webster for the definition of iconic.

1   of, relating to, or having the characteristics of an icon

2   a :  widely recognized and well-established <an iconic brand name>

b :  widely known and acknowledged especially for distinctive excellence <an iconic writer><a region's iconic wines>

The Confederate Flag controversy has engulfed the classic Dodge Charger from the 1970s  hillbilly action/comedy, “The Dukes of Hazzard.” Some television outlets that were airing the repeats of the series, dropped the program because the “stars and bars” are painted on the roof. Fair enough. Regardless of the heritage, the flag has come to be a symbol of racism. But is the bright orange General Lee iconic?

It is certainly widely recognized and well-established and fairly well known from airing on television and online now for nearly 40 years. The flag notwithstanding it qualifies as iconic.

Next the famous Life magazine photo of the sailor kissing the nurse celebrating the Allied forces victory over Japan was snapped in 1945 in Times Square. But no one know who is in the photo or what day or time it was taken. A scientist can now peg the time hence the iconic headline. There is no question the picture deserves the iconic classification. Beyond the Webster definition, the emotion and memories that photo conjures up are timeless.

Burt’s Bee’s logo? It was called iconic in a story about the death of the company’s founder. This one stings. I see the products -- mostly lip balm -- at drugstores. I have never seen anyone buy the product, talk about it on the subway and frankly had no idea there was a “real” Burt until he died. Sorry, Lose the “i” word on bee line.

Now I’ve never heard of Sternberg Furniture. That may have something to do that I never visited, much less resided in, Jasper, Indiana. So it appears this local shop is moving away from an important part of the town. It might be iconic in Jasper, but Jasper is not even “widely recognized or widely known. Try “local landmark” it is far more fitting.

Anything involving boxing legend Joe Louis or Hollywood impresario Jerry Weintraub is iconic. The former was heavyweight champion of the world for 12 years at a time boxing was one of the most popular sports in America and African Americans were not. He transcended race and sports. The latter, well, words, including iconic, can not describe this titan of Hollywood. Pictures speak louder than words and that is true of the recent HBO documentary, “His Way” that detailed Weintraub’s life

Now just because you are a celebrity or tied to Hollywood like Weintraub and the General Lee does not mean you or anything you do automatically qualifies for iconic status. Britney Spears may have been fantastic fodder for the tabloids in her hey day, but sorry the album cover of “Oops does not make it to iconic status.

Don’t take my word for it. Rolling Stone -- thankfully sparing us of the use of the word iconic -- has compiled the list of the greatest 100 album covers. The one-time “pop tart” doesn’t pop up. Want a less “old school” opinion? IGN, which with its heavy male targeted audience for all things geek, would have no aversion to putting a sexy picture of Spears on its web site, couldn’t bring itself to place her on its list of the “50 Most Iconic Album Covers” -- oops they did it again, used iconic.

The Beatles TRULY iconic “Abbey Road” album cover 

The Beatles, Nirvana, Herb Alpert, 2 Live Crew all made the cut. Yes the artwork was memorable, but guess what? So was the music. Not Britney. Not close. Not iconic.

Now one could argue there is large scale iconic -- like the Beatles Abbey Road -- and small scale or local iconic. Maybe that is where the aforementioned furniture store falls. So when I clicked on the list for the 23 most iconic business signs in Mobile, Alabama I had an open mind.

The Dew Drop Inn? It may not be as common as Joe’s Bar, but it is close. Another eating and drinking establishment, The Garage has a nice sign, but iconic? I have been to Mobile. It is a nice town and some of this signs are notable for those who follow local legends, but sorry no iconic. Not even as the crow flies in Alabama.

The point here is an icon has to stand the test of time. But it is more than longevity. It has to have meaning and purpose. Stand for something -- good or bad. Look at the Life magazine photo. It is the perfect picture -- pardon the pun -- of an iconic moment, that represents an iconic time in American history when people pulled together for one purpose and then collectively collapsed in celebration. Iconic isn’t just physical. It is a feeling, a place, a moment that lives forever.

It is not a word that should pop up frequently in the 24 hour news cycle or in every other tweet. If we keep calling everything iconic, than eventually nothing will be.

[willoughbytv]

Stream Baby Stream

By Brian Donlon

Everything old is new again and you can thank new technology.

The advent of video streaming has changed the way we watch “television” but not necessarily what we watch. Netflix has scored subscribers with a mix of bold programs -- House of Cards, Orange is the New Black  -- as well as some names that have been dusted off such as Arrested Development and soon a reboot of Full House.

Yahoo picked up Community after it was dropped by NBC and Hulu followed suit when Fox canceled The Mindy Project. Amazon has managed to veer away from the reboot or continuation strategy.

Now to be fair, all of these services are invested fairly heavily in either original production or acquiring programs from abroad and bringing them to new markets. Amazon has some 15 “new and original” programs including children’s shows, Hulu has another 21 on the boards or coming soon, Yahoo has five with the promise of more while Netflix has 50 original series on and in the pipeline.

None  of these numbers include reruns of classic and not so classic TV series which have created “the binge” and is the bread and butter of Netflix. Hulu is hoping to tap into the Netflix gold mine with its recent deal to bring arguably the best and most popular comedy of all time, Seinfeld to its service. Likewise Amazon has made deals with HBO for its contingent of groundbreaking dramas including The Sopranos and The Wire. Or if you just want the HBO library and don’t care what else lies in Amazon’s video jungle, there is HBO Now and you don’t even have to be a cable TV subscriber to receive it.

The producing and presentation of a prime time TV series was once a very much life or death proposition.Generate an A.C. Nielsen rating, you live … middling to low ratings led to certain death.

Take a show like ABCs Spenser: For Hire. It was based on Robert B. Parker’s popular detective novels. It bounced around ABC’s schedule from 1985 through 1988. It attracted anywhere between 10 and 13 million homes, occasionally cracked the Top 25 shows on television and featured one of TV’s most popular and durable stars, Robert Urich.   

By contrast one of the most popular programs on TV today is the zombie drama, The Walking Dead which has often been the most watched show of the week pulling in, oh about 13 million -- the same numbers that made Spenser a “failure.”.  In today’s world Spenser might be a hit -- or maybe could be again.

Rebooting a series has never been more popular and now video streaming offers programs a new lifeline where it can not only survive but thrive. So in that spirit here are some series that deserve a “streaming” resurrection.

Clockwise: New hires for Spenser: James Wolk, Robert Urich, Barbara Stock, Avery Brooks, Common and Natalie Zea 

1. Spenser for Hire -- There are 66 episodes in the Warner Brothers vaults (four made-for-TV movies were produced by another company) and sadly Robert Urich passed away in 2002.  Warners has only ever released the first season on DVD. So how about a Netflix deal to stream all three seasons and a reboot starring James Wolk (Mad Men, The Crazy Ones and CBS summer series, Zoo). He has Urich’s boyish good looks and can carry off Parker’s wisecrack, but literate dialogue. Barbara Stock will forever be Susan Silverman for Spenser fans, but Natalie Zea (The Following, Under the Dome) has the smart, sexy presence to update Spenser’s true love. Hawk is harder. Avery Brooks defined the role so well that the character inspired a spinoff, A Man Called Hawk, three years after Spenser was canceled but it lasted only 13 episodes. Rapper turned actor Common (Selma, Hell on Wheels) would be ideal to reprise Spenser’s friend and enforcer. There is even a new Spenser pilot script that has been written by crime novelist Ace Atkins, who is the new steward of the Spenser novels since Robert Parker died (although the Parker estate has passed on developing the script according to a recent interview with Atkins, but that could possibly change with the right streaming deal). All the pieces are in place for Spenser to become the hit it was but wasn’t because of a different “time” in television.

2. The Following -- This is an easy one having just been cut loose by Fox. Kevin Bacon’s obsession with serial killers and bringing them to justice may not be for everyone. Bacon’s Ryan Hardy has that wild-eyed Jack Bauer quality about him. But while viewers appeared to enjoy the “damn the torpedoes” approach on 24 to tracking Jack’s terrorists it didn’t quite transfer with Ryan’s masochists. The show’s executive producer Alexi Hawley in an interview with Entertainment Weekly said.“I would love nothing more for the show to continue in some form.” Hulu has been mentioned as a possibility. Shot in New York with a good size cast, it is not an inexpensive program to produce but according to TV By the Numbers, The Following saw an 82% increase in post air DVR viewing . So there is an audience for the program, it just wasn’t watching every Monday at 9 pm on Fox.

3. Crime Story -- In the late 1980s when Miami Vice was both the coolest and hottest hour of primetime television and executive producer Michael Mann had carte blanche to put any program his heart desired on the NBC schedule, he chose this gritty drama that in many ways was the flip side of Vice. The settings: tropical paradise versus a decaying inner city. The look: Vice was awash in pastels while Crime Story ‘s look was a wrestling match between 1960s black and white and prime colors as the show followed childhood friends Chicago police Lt. Mike Torello and mobster Ray Luca.  Each was obsessed to destroy the other as the “crime story” moved from the streets of the Windy City to the new neon of Las Vegas where Torello pursued Luca as head of a special Organized Crime Strike Force. The two hour pilot was released theatrically and the premiere was seen by 30 million viewers but poor scheduling doomed the series, which introduced viewers to the late Dennis Farina (Law & Order, Get Shorty) who was a real-life Chicago cop who worked as a consultant on Mann’s feature film, Thief. In true Mann tradition, Crime Story was a grand opera, a serialized drama at a time that was not in vogue. It is an ode to fedora hats, wingtip shoes, tail fins cars and the birth of rock ‘n’ roll (the show used Del Shannon’s classic pop hit, Runaway as its theme).

Mann is still a major player in Hollywood, producing or directing some of the best films -- Heat, Last of the Mohicans, Ali, The Insider -- of the last two decades. Re-visiting Crime Story might have some appeal to him given that it went off the air largely because of money problems with the production company, New Line. It would have to be re-cast but maybe Anthony Dennison who played Ray Luca could have some type of role with a nod to its predecessor. It is available on DVD (though not easy to find) and has been in Hulu’s library in the recent past.

4. Playmakers - ESPN’s highest rated programs are usually live sporting events. Though there was a time back in 2003 when its highest rated presentation was an original drama about professional football. It looked at the complex and often controversial lives of professional football players. It generated strong ratings, fairly positive reviews and more buzz than you can find at a bee farm. So what was the problem? ESPN was a rights holder of NFL games and the powerful league saw the series as an indictment of its game. Pressure mounted on the sports giant and it eventually canceled the program after 13 episodes. A streaming service would not have such a “conflict” with the NFL  (except Yahoo, which recently inked a deal to present its first NFL game online). Sports are fertile ground for drama and conflict as demonstrated most recently by Friday Night Lights. Coincidentally Crime Story’s Anthony Dennison had the misfortune of being cancelled prematurely again in this series where he played the head coach. That would be as good a place as any to start to revive this series.

5. The Green Hornet -- A timeless superhero who continues to be victimized by circumstances beyond his control. First when the Hornet burst onto TV in 1966 it had the misfortune of riding the “coattails” of the wildly successful Batman series on ABC. The problem: Adam West’s Batman was produced as a campy caped crusader so expectations had been set. But the Hornet with Van Williams in the title role and legendary martial artist Bruce Lee as sidekick Kato was a bit darker. The Green Hornet was actually seen by police as a criminal not a crimefighter. There was a classic Batman -- Green Hornet crossover and the differences in style were quite apparent. After one season, the Hornet flew away until the mid 1990s when a feature film was placed in development largely due to the box office success of who else? Batman. George Clooney, fast becoming a movie star after his turn on TV’s ER,  was set to play the Hornet with Jet Li as Kato. It seemed like a perfect pair to create a Green Hornet franchise with plenty of green at the box office. But Clooney bailed in 1997 to become another superhero. None other than Batman in the ill-fated, widely reviled Batman & Robin. Flash forward to 2011 and comic actor Seth Rogen producing and starring as the Hornet. Talk about miscast and misfortune. It cost $120 million to make but only managed to clear $98 million in domestic box office.

This tale of a crusading newspaper publisher / crime fighter cum criminal with some very cool gadgets is a natural for a new digital service. If Daredevil -- also the victim of bad movie making -- can find new life on Netflix, the Hornet deserves a similar opportunity.

Stream, baby stream !.

[willoughbytv]

Not Such a Scary Idea

By Brian Donlon

Corporate image advertising is usually fairly dull – try sitting through any of the spots that air during the Sunday morning public affairs program such as NBC’s Meet the Press or CBS’ Face the Nation. Some can also border on the downright annoying like those BDO advertisements. “Oh, my the world is ending,” …. “Don’t worry we’re bringing in BDO.”  

Who needs the Avengers when we have the accountants from BDO?

General Electric has long been a large supplier of image advertising on television. Who can forget, “GE….We bring good things to life.” Except if you worked for its iconic appliance division. After nearly a century of manufacturing refrigerators, dishwashers and ovens for your kitchen, last year sold all those good things it brought to life to the Swedish company Electrolux – of vacuum cleaner fame.

For the last year or so, GE has offered a new series of advertisement under the banner of “Imagination at Work.” I have seen them on dozens of occasions and they have all been very “nice” but forgettable. There was one with a little girl and bubbles and an airplane engine. I think there was another spot with trains and walking trees. Visual background noise.

Then came “Scary Ideas.” 

Or at least that is what the creative agency, BBDO, christened it.

It is odd. It is eye catching. It is depressing --- or a celebration. It all depends on who you ask.

If you have not seen it. Basically it follows the arrival/birth of a strange looking furry creature. People are aghast at the sight of the creature. It is tossed out of restaurants, chased out of office buildings, forced to sleep in dirty alleys. It is sad.

As dusk sets, the creature walks past a GE office and a worker notices this bedraggled figure, puts a hand on its shoulder and invites it inside the building. Flash forward to the end frame and the furry creature is now puffed up with a colorful plume of a tail. It walks onto a stage to a standing ovation. It is an idea that has found its place, found it’s home.

Now I have no clue if GE is this wonderful sanctuary of great ideas. But the message of this spot goes beyond corporate mumbo jumbo. It really speaks to the basic needs of humanity. Everyone can use a hand. Everyone would like to have their voices heard. Everyone wants to be somebody, be part of something.

That desire, that need, lives in everyone and is embodied in that commercial. Despite that universal feeling, the spot has drawn a spate of negative comments. Adweek, a bible of the advertising agency criticized the spot for “depressing” and creating a feeling where the viewer is “about to drown in sadness.”

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ad-day-ideas-are-scary-says-ge-and-so-commercial-actually-159807

  Adweek’s takeaway was that “GE employees, unlike the rest of humankind, are nice.” That is a fairly cynical point of view, but fairly emblematic of the society in which we live.

To me, the ad is hopeful. After the last decade of wars, the rise of terrorism, the fall of the Great Recession and in recent weeks racial strife, the planet could use some hope, Why not some fluffy odd looking creature. It is possible that corporate giant GE -- which by the way has been no angel when it comes to larger matters such as the environment -- is trying to send a more resounding message other than “imagination at work.”  

We live in cynical age times, one drenched in selfie-enriched narcissism. Somedays it seems we are closer to end of civilization instead of the beginning of a great age. As a result the GE ad stuck with me.

The message reverberated even more on a recent visit to an outlet mall. Consumerism was in full bloom on this early spring day. Amidst the Nike bags and Polo purchases there was a furniture store. In the window was a retro antique-looking sign that had this message:  “Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

Simple, right? Whether it is the guy across the aisle from you on the 6:37 train to work or the woman working the register at Macy’s or the soul sitting on a park bench looking lost. Everyone has their own struggles. Sometimes we can all use a little help. Sometimes it could be something as small as an act of kindness, a smile, a dollar in a beggar’s torn paper cup or not getting angry with barista at Starbucks with our double mocha extra foam whip cream skim latte was not made to perfection.

If a giant company like General Electric can understand -- even if it only for the 60 seconds that is the length of the commercial --that kindness is vital, than I’d like to think so can all of us.

Put the selfie stick down. Stop Facebooking your latest trip down Memory Lane. Instead of tweeting, how about trying? Look around. Some fluffy odd looking creature might need an act of kindness -- and like in the commercial -- it could turn out to be a beautiful thing.    

[willoughbytv]

What To Do With a Bucket of Balls ?

By Brian Donlon

The snow has finally started to melt after a long winter of frigid cold. Patches of green grass now outnumber the swatches of white ice sheets in my backyard.

Popping up amidst the thaw are a half dozen lime green tennis balls. No one in our family plays tennis and yet out in the yard, buried in seat cushions and under the beds we have what might be the world’s largest collection of tennis balls. At least it seems that way.

I can’t recall ever actually purchasing any tennis balls. We live across the street from some town courts. The quality of play there ranges from very good to absolutely awful. When play leans towards the latter, balls tend to go flying all over the neighborhood. The green orbs can be found in our driveway, front yard, next to our mailbox and lining the curb.

The tennis balls made it into the house by way of our dog Callie. It was not love at first sight however. One day about five  years ago I picked up a ball from the driveway and threw it in the backyard. Callie just sat there and looked at me.

It seemed we had a dog that did not like to play ball. It happens.

I “fetched” the ball and laid it down in front of her. Within a few minutes she had it in her mouth – barely. She came over to me and started moving her head in all sorts of directions, daring me to remove the ball from her jaws. I wrestled it from her then threw it out into the yard and off she went. With Callie it was not enough to just throw the ball. The head shake--pull the ball from her mouth--then throw was it had to be the entire game. She was not interested in just one part of the formula.

So with a feeder system of tennis balls from across the street we built a collection. “The Bucket of Balls” were for outside “The Box of Balls” for inside.

If I was cooking on the grill, she ran to the bucket to grab a ball. If I was reading on the deck, out came the ball. If my wife or I were doing some yard work, there was Callie with a ball.

Indoors, winter or night time did not deter her appetite for tennis balls. If I was on the couch watching TV she would go over to her box of balls, select one, saunter over to the couch and drop the ball next to where I was sitting. Other times she would park herself at the foot of the couch and start barking seemingly over nothing. One family member or another would inevitably get on their hands and knees on the floor and look underneath the furniture or behind the television, and sure enough, there was a tennis ball. Callie knew. Callie always knew.

I cannot actually say how many balls we’ve acquired over the years, but it’s been enough that if they wanted to play the U.S. Open at our house, the United States Tennis Association would not have to worry about supplying any balls.

With the warm weather approaching. I was anticipating adding to the bucket outside and the box inside. But I won’t be doing that.  

Callie passed away March 13th.

We were told she had cancer back in September. We were shocked, she was just six years old.

Now, I know. Everyone believes their canine to be the best, most unique animal ever to grace the earth. Well everyone is wrong. Callie was the best, most unique dog ever to grace the earth.

For years my oldest son begged for a dog. My wife managed to keep those birthday wishes at bay until he turned 16. Then she called me at work one day and said, “I think it is time.”

My response? “I think you are nuts.”

After all, our son was two years away from heading off to college. His dog was quickly going to become our dog. It was the best decision my wife ever made.

Callie had character. She was happy to see EVERYONE! Walk through the door no matter who you were, she was there to “greet” you. Her welcome was a little bit like the arrival of the Tasmanian Devil in the old Looney Toons. Sometimes she would jump two feet off the ground.  Now it could be annoying, I can’t lie. But the dog was just so damn happy be it your first time in the house or you were returning from grocery shopping.

I grew up with dogs, four of them to be exact. I was sad when their time passed. Eventually the tide of life ushered those feelings to the background. This time it is different.

As the kids grew older and spent less and less time at home, Callie became my wife’s companion during the day. If the house was being cleaned Callie would follow her from room to room. Just sitting and watching waiting patiently for the afternoon walk they often enjoyed together.

When I was between freelance projects or steady employment during the throes of the “Great Recession” they were not easy times. Instead of waiting for phone calls that never came or staring at the computer for hours endlessly waiting for an email reply for a meeting or a program pitch, Callie and I would go for long walks. I would often have my iPod with me and invariably during every walk John Hiatt’s “Just My Dog and Me” would play during our journeys around town. That song, those walks with Callie helped me through some difficult times.

I always thought that the “man’s best friend” tag was the creation of some clever copy writer at Hallmark Cards. I am not sure who coined the phrase, but they were right.

Callie was the one being on this earth who asked for very little and returned more in a week than some people do in an entire lifetime. Every day, and I mean every day, she would sit by the door at 7 pm waiting for me to walk up the driveway. There was never, “Oh him again” it was always “Look it’s HIM … AGAIN!!!!”  

Now she could be a nut. Some days she would ignore dinner, sneak up to the bathrooms and “snack” on tissues in the waste basket. Other days she would jump on the couch, roll on her back and just thrash about for no apparent reason. She was always doing something. Rarely a few days would go by without someone in the family calling through the rooms, “you have to come in here and see what she’s doing now.”

The house is a little more quiet these days. I can now open the food cabinet in peace. No longer does the crackle of the opening of a plastic container send a caramel colored flash flying through the rooms with the hope of getting piece of a cookie. The late night trips to the backyard in torrential rain are over. And now we can travel and not have to worry about getting home to take care of “the dog.”

This morning I woke up. While preparing for work I dropped my mobile phone and it slid underneath the bed. The phone landed next to a tennis ball. Callie’s “secret stash.”

I pocketed the phone and grabbed the tennis ball. Breaking through the crisp morning air, I stepped onto the deck where Callie’s bucket of balls still sit. I placed the lime green sphere next to its two dozen or so look-alikes.  I thought about the countless throws I made off that deck, the myriad of miles we logged walking and John Hiatt’s lyrics came dancing through my mind:

I coulda gone that extra mile For an extra bark or an extra smile 'Cause i never felt so free When it’s just my dog and me