The graphic above shows the top 10 most popular cable channels in America. Two things jumped out at me:
The NBA is reportedly putting together a social media policy that bans in-game tweeting.
I'm fine with putting a gag on players talking to the media during games. But a Twitter ban would send an inconsistent message. The league lets TV sideline reporters interview coaches and players during the game. In fact, it requires coaches to participate in these on-camera interviews.
Talking to a TV reporter is okay. But bypassing the journalists to tweet directly to fans is not okay.
Is this to protect the relationship with the TV stations that are paying money to broadcast the games? Or is the NBA scared of mobile phone and Internet technology?
Update: Texas Tech University has banned its football players from having Twitter pages.
Should we be worried about the state of our society? Young people don't read newspapers. They don't read books. In fact, to hear news accounts, they don't read much of anything other than text messages.
Gossip Girl has a different view of Generation Y.1
When high school senior Dan Humphry has a poem published in The New Yorker, everyone he meets (students at the St. Jude's School for Boys, the Constance Billard School for Girls, the Yale University dorms, the NYU dorms and patrons of Brooklyn coffee houses) recognizes his name from the poem's byline.
If everyone under 20 really reads The New Yorker cover to cover, how badly off could we be as a society?2
1Or is it Generation Z?
2Disclosure: I do not regularly read The New Yorker.
The other day, I mentioned NPR ombudsman Alicia Shepard.
Some women ombudsman, of course, choose the title ombudswoman or ombudsperson. But former ESPN ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber did not. She explains why:
"It was my choice to be ombudsman because it's a Swedish word. It's gender neutral. The -man ending in Swedish doesn't mean man. It means human being. And Swedes are very proud of that word — I think it's the only word other than smorgasbord that made it from Swedish to English in a big way. So I didn't want to mess with their word: ombudsman."
Over the weekend, football legend John Madden talked to NBC's Bob Costas about how he watches NFL games these days at his office in Pleasanton, Calif."I have a setup where I have nine 63-inch television screens, or monitors, and one big movie screen that can put the big game onto."
Madden's big screen is a 192 inches by 144 inches. That's pretty big.
Still, it's not as big as the 1080p HD scoreboard at the new Cowboys Stadium, which measures 1,920 inches by 864 inches (and consumes 635,000 watts.)1
1According to Mitsubishi, the scoreboard's developer.
When NFL teams visit Wisconsin to play the Green Bay Packers, they typically stay at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel in Appleton, Wis., which Google Maps says is about 30 minutes away from Lambeau Field.
Concerned that teams will stop frequenting the Radisson if it can't assure a smooth ride to the stadium, the hotel has asked the state to let police escort visiting NFL teams through red lights.
As a result, the Wisconsin Senate will consider a bill today that would allow NFL teams to run red lights on their way to Lambeau.
Perhaps lawmakers should consider an additional measure that would let the visiting teams park their vehicles on the field itself. After all, that's what the Pittsburgh Steelers did back in 1979. (See video footage.) (Thank you to ERD for this joke.)
While appearing as a guest on this morning's episode of "Reliable Sources," NPR ombudsman Alicia Shepard sported some nifty glasses. Are those her everyday glasses? Or does she wear them only to match that particular necklace (much like ESPN's Digger Phelps always holds highlighters that match his tie)?
The economy is getting on track, haven't you heard? Or at least it's not falling by as much as it was earlier this year.
The best case for this economic rebound comes from a headline in today's paper: "Factories Produce Hopeful Signs."
Evidently, factories across the country are cranking out signs (road signs, perhaps?) that tout hopeful messages. Surely, that's an indication of an improving economy, right?
(This joke brought to you by senior Silver Spring corespondent JRR.)
Yesterday, I complained that if NFL teams can't sell out their stadiums, they should lower their ticket prices.
The Detroit Lions were one of the teams I had in mind, but I didn't know until today that the Lions offer an all-you-can-eat option. For $15, select sections are eligible to buy a wristband that entitles them to as much food as they want, all game long (up to four food items per visit to each concession stand). The eligible food: hot dogs, brats, chips, popcorn, nachos and soda.
In related news, 28.9 percent of Michigan residents are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's official rankings.
Given that many NFL teams are having trouble selling out their games, the league is tweaking its TV rules governing whether fans can watch home games in their local market when tickets are still available.
The new rules will allow local fans to watch the blackout games online. (On delay — the league will make the video of the afternoon games available only at midnight.)
I love that the NFL is putting games online. But as usual, I have a couple complaints:
MADISON, Wis. — While strolling down Willy St. the other day, I noticed a nice little storefront. "Grampa's," the side of the store store said.
Curious what sort of shop grandpa runs, I looked in the window and learned that grampa is Larry Gleasman, an abortion-rights radical who sells guns.
Last month, Truthout made the claim to be the first online-only news site with unionized writers.
Meanwhile, China (which has blocked this very site) wants to force people commenting on online news articles to register with their real name. This crack down to ban anonymous comments presumably has the high-minded goal of improving online discourse. But it also gives the government the ability to keep a nice tidy file on what each person is saying about politically controversial news events.
Some high schools have imposed a three-second rule on hugs. Others have banned hugs altogether.
Fears about the H1N1 virus have led some schools districts, such as the one in Glen Cove, N.Y., to discourage students from so much as exchanging high-fives.
Rather than a handshake or a hug, according to a doctor quoted in Sewell Chen's story today, it might be safer to greet people "elbow to elbow.”
But doctors are also teaching us to cough and sneeze into our elbows.
So there you have it. Elbow greetings are either the most sanitary or the least sanitary way to express cordiality.
