What a day!

Tuesday we got our first hunch that Wednesday would be a little loony. Maggie Rodriguez let the cat out of the bag during our live talk back on Tuesday. She told us that she would be coming to Washington to interview the First Lady. Then she said something like this.

"Then after my time at the White House, in what should be the highlight of my day, I'm hoping to come by and finally meet you guys."

I like Maggie, we had never met, but she's got a winning smile and great personality. So I was looking forward to meeting her. But I knew we were going to have problems. We would have to live by two clocks that tend to be a little tricky. The White House clock, and the Network clock. By that I mean nothing ever seems to be on time at the White House, it doesn't matter who lives there, Democrat or Republican. When you go there you tend to cool your jets, and then when you get that shot at an important interview they speed you along, because quite naturally they are running behind schedule. Then there's the network clock. If the folks at the network say that Maggie will be here at 11:00 am, you can be sure of one thing, Maggie won't be here at 11:00 am.

So I was prepared for her to be late. So we waited. Then came word that the White House was going to give her a shot at a second interview, so Maggie would be delayed. I started to get a little antsy. I had a committee meeting at the Food Bank that I was chairing at 1:00pm. So now I started to do the math, and thought, oh man I'm never going to make it. That's when I learned the meeting was going to be on a conference call because few people were actually going to be able to make the meeting in person. It's a good thing too, because Maggie got here right around 12:00 noon. She down to make an appearance during our noon show. After the newscast we got a chance to visit with her. Then Andrea and I shot a promo with her. I was out the door by 1pm and on the phone for the meeting.

By 2:00 pm I was downtown for an event across from the Convention Center. Our good friend Ted Alemayhu, the CEO of U.S. Doctors for Africa was in town to promote the fact that they were going to begin sending mobile health clinics to Africa. The first mobile health clinic was parked there and available for tours. This is a picture of Ted with Russell Simmons at a similar event in New York. Officials and journalists were on hand to take a look. What makes these clinics so unique is the high tech. methods to deal with the primitive aspects of some of the areas they will be going to. After all if you head into the bush how do you power some of these high tech gadgets? They've figured out a way to do it with solar energy. So precise instruments will still be available to doctors in the field. Ted will talk more about the project on our 9 am newscast today. Tune in!

Star in your own movie

Every morning I get the chance to interview interesting people. Tuesday on the 9 am show it was Max Sindell. He's a young guy fresh out of college. He's the author of the new book ""The Bright Side: Surviving Your Parents' Divorce." Max told me that he started thinking about writing this book as a teen. He's now made it a reality.
I was fortunate to never have to live through a parents divorce. I've also been extremely fortunate to have a solid marriage now in it's 26th year. A lot of that is a credit to, okay who am I kidding, all of it is a credit to my wonderful wife Kate. She deserves an award for managing to put up with me.

Max's father was already divorced once when he was born. So he points out he has a collection of step brothers and half brothers and on and on. He never imagined his father would divorce again, but he did. His parents split up. He talks about how painful it is for a child to go through a divorce.

Max says parents argue about two things during a divorce, money and the kid or kids. Since money usually involves the kid or kids as he points out, the arguments are all about the kid or kids. That makes it tough.

But Max points out how to survive and also includes his kids bill of rights. It's powerful stuff. Ironically we were visiting with a friend recently, when she started talking about her daughter who is in the midst of a bitter divorce. Our friend told us her daughter picked up her son after a visit with the ex husband. The child asked, "Mommy when will you let Daddy come back home?" She pointed out that Daddy wasn't coming back. The little boy told the mother he couldn't wait to get home so he could call his dad and let him know. She soon learned that her ex husband had put the child up to asking the question. All too often the children unfortunately become pawns in a divorce. Max points out the kid needs to be neutral and doesn't have to be drawn in.

His step-father helped him a lot with this bit of advice, "You are the star of your own movie. Everyone else is just a supporting character. If someone is in your movie and they're not supporting you, they get fired. But also remember that you're not the star of anyone Else's movie." I think that's good advice for all of us. I think that's one of the reasons why Max has such a great attitude about divorce. Unlike so many others he doesn't look at the downside of divorce, he looks at the benefits. He has people in his life that he never would have known had their not been divorces in his life. It's proof again that attitude is everything. So be a Star in your own movie and give the heave ho to the bit players in your life who really aren't playing a supporting role.

A Day at the Newseum

We have a close friend Susan Bennett. She is vice president of marketing at the Newseum. She invited the two of us out to see the new facility before it opens in April. Naturally it's a great offer. But it's taken forever to actually pull it off. Yesterday we made the trek to the Newseum to get a look.

When it opens in April you should make sure to stop by. It's really impressive. I used to work across the street from the old Newseum in Roslyn. Periodically on my lunch breaks I'd head over and just spend some time looking at all the cool exhibits. Now of course it's even cooler, because it's even bigger, and more interactive. Of course now it's not across the street though.

Phillip Graham is credited with the quote, that jounalism is the first rough draft of history. So this isn't just a museum on the history of journalism, it's also a history museum. Every monumental occurance in our lives plays out in newspapers and screens throughout the Newseum. This is a walk back in time. You can remember where you were on this moment, and that.

If you do go, make sure to spend some time watching the video from the reporters and photographers who were at Ground Zero on September 11th, 2001. You won't find a more compelling piece of videotape anywhere else. Outside the theater you'll see the mangled TV Tower that was atop the World Trade Center when the terrorist attacks occured. We spent a few hours floating from this spot to another, until finally we had to hit the road. Susan's parting words, "I hope you come back often!" I'm certain we will.

Is blogging dangerous to your health?

I've gotten a couple of comments over the months about my blog. They go something like this, "Wow I can't believe you wrote about that!" It usually comes after one of my mocking assaults on the behemoth Rick Garner. You know our blogmaster. That's him pictured right there. But I am learning that you can step over the line and end up in big time trouble doing this sort of thing. So who knows maybe one day the guy who carries the club around the newsroom may actually end up konking me on the head.

I'm reminded how dangerous this free speech thing is because of what happened to a poor ole producer at CNN. He got the heave ho for his blog. TV Newser reportedly got a hold of an email sent by American Morning's Executive Producer Edward Litvak. It went out to the staff and reportedly said: "Chez Pazienza has left 'American Morning' and CNN. We wish him well in all of his future endeavors." That's shorthand in my business for "Get Lost." An insider (read tatletale on the staff who couldn't wait to spill the beans) says "he was let go because he didn't get permission to publish personal writings."

Pazienza wrote for The Huffington Post. He took on some controversial subjects. He wrote about MSNBC correspondent David Shuster and Fox anchor John Gibson. Shuster got into trouble for his comments about Chelsea Clinton. Gibson got into trouble for his comments on Heath Ledger. So maybe I'm putting my neck out there right now by writing about both of these guys. But I have to say while I'm a huge proponent of free speech, and a free press, I can't understand why these guys said what they did.

Sure I've said boneheaded things on the air that I've regretted. I defy any of you to talk for three hours a day and not say something dumb at some point. Mix in sleep deprivation and it's a dangerous combination. Having said that, I would never say the things these guys said. It's not that they are boneheaded comments, it's that they are so distasteful, and ugly. I've got a daughter in her twenties and if Shuster said something about Courtney like he said about Chelsea I'd want to pop him one. I think most parents would feel the same way. As for Gibson how can you say something so distasteful about someone who just died? There seems to be this line of civility that has been erased in our society. I think that's a real problem. If you don't know what Shuster or Gibson said you won't find their comments here. I have no plans to re-print them, but don't worry, just like everything else you can find them online.

I think it's ironic that the guy who wrote about both of them ended up getting canned, but Gibson and Shuster survived. As for me I am thinking maybe I should be a bit more civil. I'll even be nice to Mr. Garner in the future. So Rick if you are reading this, and I suspect you are, I finally dusted off a current photo of you. Here it is on the right. What do you think?

WHY

I stand in the cold. I'm looking down the street, keeping an eye out for Kate. She's taking the Metro into the city and should be here any moment. I'm standing right outside the Newseum. It's about 10:45. The service is going to start in 15 minutes. An SUV pulls up and out jumps an elderly couple. The man smiles and says hello. It's Donald Rumsfeld. It speaks volumes that he is here to pay tribute to the man who made his living aggressively going after him.

Kate arrives just a few minutes later.We're here to pay tribute to John McWethy who died suddenly and unexpectedly in a skiing accident in Colorado. His wife and two sons are here. So is Charles Gibson, and ABC News President David Westin, Sam Donaldson, and a host of other ABC veterans. There are people here from CNN and CBS. The eulogies are smart, witty, warm, which is fitting, because that is what distinguished McWethy.

There are very few people who enter your life briefly but leave an indelible mark. McWethy is one of those remarkable people. Charles Gibson says, "Sometimes I think it's okay to be mad at God, and this is one of those occasions." To take it one step further, sometimes I think it's okay to be envious of Charles Gibson, and this is one of those occasions. It would be easy to envy him for his position, or salary, but that's not why.

I'm envious because he talks about a dinner where McWethy had come up with a list of questions to engage the mind. They started with the innocuous, like name your favorite movie and the best dinner you've ever had. Eventually the questions progressed on. I'm envious because I know what it's like to have him prod and poke your mind and get you to think about the more important issues in life.

Just a few years back Jack and I were at a workshop in Baltimore. It was a day long affair and we were sitting next to one another, talking throughout the day. I mentioned to him that I wanted to see a Niteline report he had done on returning vets suffering from PTSD. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is of keen interest to me for a number of reasons. He mentioned that he had a copy in his car and would give it to me at the end of the day.

When the workshop was over we went out to the parking lot and in the cold and snow talked and talked. Finally Jack said, "Hey your freezing to death, lets jump in the car." He turned on the heat and we talked, and we talked some more. We talked about life, and our families, and our upbringing. We talked about all the important things, including our philosophy on life. We talked about how demanding, and yet rewarding our business can be. We swapped funny stories. I think we covered it all. At some point, I had to get out of the car or the folks inside would send a search party.

So I knew when Charles was talking about that dinner, just how special that night must have been. I slugged this 'Why', and you are probably wondering why. So many people talked about that word yesterday. John felt it was the most important question, and he said so in a commencement address at his alma mater, Depauw University. It certainly was the most important question yesterday. Why was this man with so much life, wit and wisdom taken so early? We all know sometimes the most important question can be impossible to answer.

Congress doing it's job

I don't know about you, but I slept a lot better last night. I went to bed knowing deep down that the government is in good hands. Maybe it's just me, but last time I checked our country was at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. So many people in this country are suffering and losing their homes to foreclosure. Oh and did I mention it appears our country is thundering towards a recession. Maybe I forgot to mention that we are leaving an enormous debt for our children and grandchildren to pay off. New Orleans is still suffering and in need of help. If you are in Congress you might need to think about these issues. Nah what am I thinking!

Forget about Waterboarding and whether our country should be spying on us, no America and Congress needs to know, in fact we must know, is Roger Clemens a Vegan! I was listening on C-Span radio yesterday to the Congressional hearing. I know one thing Clemens is smart and crafty. One Congressman moved in and tried to pin him down on the Vegan issue.

Congressman: 'Are you a Vegan?"

Clemens is trapped! Even though I'm listening to it on the radio, I can tell he's squirming, and uncomfortable. How is he going to get out of this jam? He certainly can't throw a fastball or a curveball this time can he? In a stroke of genius he decides not to answer the question. Does he plead the fifth? No he's too tricky for that.

Clemens: "Um, uh, um, uh, um I uh, I don't know what that is!"

I don't know about you, but did you notice he didn't answer the question? The Congressman didn't press him on this either. I'm thinking Roger really does know what a Vegan is, he's just misremembering. I came away shocked and confused. I still don't know if he's a vegan. I also don't know if he went to Jose Canseco's party. Jose says he didn't come. Jose had hurt feeling. A lot of other people say he didn't come too. I'm not sure if they had hurt feelings too. The Rocket says he's produced a golf receipt proving he was on the course instead of at the party. But Brain McNamee insists he was there. I don't know about you, but this steroid issue isn't all that important. I want to know if Roger was at that party, and if he wasn't why did he stiff Jose! Does Jose still have hurt feelings?

But more importantly someone has to find out if Roger is a vegan. Most vegans I know weigh about 8 pounds, so my hunch is Roger isn't a vegan. I want answers to these pressing questions. I hope someone follows up. But at least we know members of Congress are working hard on the real issues confronting our country. Who cares about all those other issues I talked about earlier. Is Roger Clemens a vegan? Is Jose Canseco still sulking? We need to know, we want answers!

Name Dropper

I got busted on Friday by one of the big bosses here. She says the only reason why I blogged about Romney last week was so that I could mention I had lunch with the General Manager of the station. This is that she wrote to the staff.

"Mike Walter billed his latest posting as a story about why Romney dropped out of the presidential race. But it was really a chance to show off about having lunch with the big boss!"

The ironic thing is I was going to start the Romney blog by saying I wasn't name dropping, and then decided that was a dumb way to start the blog. So out went that sentence. Not a smart move! Well I figured since I'm being blamed for name dropping I might as well give it a shot this time around. If you are wondering who the guy is to the left, it's my first boss in broadcasting. It's Leon McAuliffe. He was in the band Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. He made enough dough as a performer to buy a small radio station in Northwest Arkansas. Back then owning a small station in a small town was a license to print money.

Most of you probably don't know this, but even though I grew up in Southern California my first job in broadcasting was in Arkansas. I worked at KAMO in Northwest Arkansas. I was the News Director at McAuliffe's station. The station is still on the air, but it's changed quite a bit. I don't think there is anyone there who would even remember me. I was just a young pup fresh out of college. http://www.us94.com/kamo/

It was there when I came to know the Attorney General of the State Bill Clinton. I like to say I knew Bill Clinton, before he was Bill Clinton! I covered him quite a bit back then. We haven't spoken in years. The last time we talked was back in the 1990's when I was working in Kansas City.

So I think you can imagine how shocked I was last night when the phone rang and there he was on the other end of the line. Our conversation was cordial, and rather one sided, like most of our conversations in the past. One thing you need to know about the former President is this, he likes to talk, and he has a lot to say!

This time though it was different, usually I can get a word in edge wise. In the past I'd always been able to pepper him with questions. But this time it was different. There was a sense of urgency in his voice. He only wanted to talk about Hillary. He urged me and the entire family to vote for her.

I couldn't believe it, but just a few minutes later it's a phone call from Senator John McCain. Now admittedly I had spoken to McCain more recently than President Clinton. It was just a few years ago at Reagan National. Even so, I was stunned that he was calling too. To top it all off I also had Senator John Warner on the phone. I had no idea that all of these guys had my number. Now there is one little piece of this story that I've neglected to mention. All of these calls were generated by machines, and the reason I couldn't talk to any of these guys is because they were all recorded messages. Now admit it, it was a pretty good story until I got to the ending. To be honest even though I have spent time with McCain and President Clinton, (Clinton on several occasions) I'm convinced both of them would have difficulty picking me out of a police lineup. But it still was great to hear from them after all these years, even if it was memorex. Their calls didn't have much of an impact. The primary is just a few hours away, and I'm still undecided.

How to kill a campaign

I'm at lunch yesterday, when our General Manager Allan Horlick says "Not to interrupt, but did you see this, Romney's suspending his campaign." Allan was in a great position he was staring directly at the TV screens. I had to crane my neck, and Mark Richer who was having lunch with us had to swivel around to take a look.

So what went wrong? The answer is always the same isn't it? I was reading the Post as they did the breakdown on the campaign breakdown. I felt like I read this story before, and I had. It wasn't that long ago really. A few months ago in fact. The Post did an analysis of the breakdown in the McCain campaign. The reporters had their hammer and nails at the ready, as they prepared his coffin, and wrote his political obituary. But McCain came storming back.

So what did those stories have in common? The answer is infighting. The McCain camp had two factions and they were fighting. Finally McCain fired a bunch of them, and suddenly he was off to the races. In the Romney story it's all about infighting. One group thinks the candidate should do this, another thinks the candidate should do that. This summer I read the book, "No Excuses." In it Bob Shrum talks about all the presidential campaigns he worked on. One of the themes that emerges is infighting.

So here is what I am fascinated with, if someone is running for President of the United States, how can we trust them to run our country if they can't figure out how messed up their campaign is? I guess in a way it's good that there is this infighting. If you think its bad in a campaign, it's got to be worse once you get to the White House. So as President you'd better be a good commander and chief, a great orator, but more importantly a great referee. McCain may not be conservative enough for some Republicans, but he's already proven he's a be a better referee than Romney. He stepped in and took care of the problems, and apparently that's why is campaign is still afloat.

Such Sad News

How about a dose of honesty. On the drive in most mornings Im wondering to myself, what will I write about today. This morning I didn't have to think for long. I was listening to the radio when the news anchor said this, "A long time correspondent at ABC has died in a skiing accident in C0lorado." He didn't have to read the next line. I caught my breath and braced for the news, but I could predict what was coming. I was right. John McWethy had died.

I met John on the worst day of my life. It was September 11th, 2001. It demonstrates his ability as a journalist that he found me. I had talked to a public affairs officer with the Air Force who wanted to know if I had witnessed the attack on the Pentagon. He was trying to find witnesses for the FBI agent who was investigating. John was always working his sources. So a short time later, he approached me, and in a hushed whisper he told me that he had heard that I had witnessed the jet slamming into the Pentagon. He asked if he could interview me. I agreed, and he hustled me off quietly to a section removed from the swarm of reporters.

John McWethy had something he tended to get a lot, an exclusive interview. No one else had interviewed me, no one else had even asked. His photographer didn't like the location. There was a bit of an argument. John wanted to stay put, the photographer wanted to move. The photographer won out. He needed the Pentagon in the background of the shot. During the interview I was struck by his sensitive manner. He could tell I was still in a state of shock over what I had seen. He genuinely seemed to care.

I think deep down John knew that the photographer was right to have the Pentagon in the background, but he also knew it would attract attention. As the interview was wrapping up, he said, "Look what I've done to you, you should run." He could tell I was traumatized by what I saw. Moments later I was swarmed by reporters, and John had lost his exclusive interview. But deep down I think he could care less, he was more concerned about how all of this was going to affect me.

A few years ago our paths crossed again. Both of us were asked to speak at a conference in Baltimore. We got locked into a long conversation that stretched from the conference room to the parking lot. We stood in the bitter cold talking about our business, 9-11, and the tough stories we were asked to cover along the way. It was cold, and starting to snow. John said, "Hey jump in the car, it's cold out here." He turned on the car, and the heater and our conversation went on for another half hour. It was one of those bonding moments in life that are so rare. One of those moments when you feel really connected to someone, because they understand you, and you understand them.

As we were parting, John loaned me a tape of a remarkable report he had done on PTSD for Niteline. We developed a friendship that day. A few months later John and his wife Laurie met us for dinner at his favorite restaurant in Mclean. It was a wonderful night out at Cafe Oggi. Great food, great people, and great conversation. John and I picked up where we had left off in the car. We were fascinated with each others backgrounds. John's background was so different from mine.

Sure both of us were on television. But John was a print guy who swore he would never work in television. In the end though he was recruited by Roone Arledge. My experience was in local television. My whole career was spent at local television stations, with the exception of the three years when I worked at USA TODAY.

We pledged to get together for a cup of coffee, sadly it never happened. We did stay in touch through email. My most recent email from him came just about 4 months ago. I thought of John, because I knew he was retired, and that he and his wife cared passionately about homelessness and hunger issues. So I tried to recruit both of them to serve 0n a Capital Area Food Bank committee I was chairing. I didn't know that he had already snuck out of town. This is an excerpt from his email to me.

Mike,You are correct that Laurie and I have an interest in the
hunger/housing issue. She was chair of ASPAN (Arlington's non-profit
homeless program) board. She, however, resigned from the board because we
have moved to Boulder, CO. We've always loved the mountains and thought it
would be fun to do a little reinventing of ourselves. So in a
backward way (this is what they call burying the lead), I guess this means
neither of us will be able to attend the Aug. 27 luncheon. Keep up the
good work.>From the foot of the Rockies...john

I sent notes to friends, this morning, letting them know about this terrible loss. Each one expressed shock, and talked about what a great man John was. I thought I'd share one from my friend Leigh Germanis, who was the moderator at the conference in Baltimore..

Mike,
I’m just devastated. I can’t believe it. John McWethy was
such a force for good... such a genuinely warm and caring person who seemed to
not have a selfish bone in his body. I’d exchanged e-mails with him just a
couple of months ago. He was loving life in Colorado and wasn’t missing
the journalistic rat race…or DC at all. I got in touch to see if he might
consider coming speaking to a regional conference of TV journalists…he said he
really was trying not to get on planes anymore…unless absolutely
necessary. All those years living out of a suitcase…I guess I couldn’t
blame him.

What a terrible loss. I’ll never forget how
wonderfully supportive he was of our ICISF workshop in Baltimore. So
generously giving of his time and effort. And so encouraging of me when I confessed that I didn’t think I had the ‘chops’ to help moderate the
thing. Our loss is heaven’s gain. God bless him…and comfort his
family as they mourn losing him…far too soon.

John McWethy was a talented journalist, who left such a mark on my profession. He was also my friend. But more importantly he was a great guy, who touched everyone he met, and he died in the place he loved, at the foot of the Rockies.

Super Tuesday but what are people watching?

I admit it I'm a junkie. So I was up late to watch returns. I wasn't crazy enough to wait around to see what happened in my home state of California. It was the top prize for both the Republicans and Democrats. I know a lot of people are intereested, and watching. But really what's of interest to most Americans? Is it this election? Or are they worried about the Economy? The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Healthcare? I'd like to think that the answer is all of the above.

I was poking around the internet this morning and found this tidbit. Todayshow.com had its best month ever in January with more than 100 million page views. The site also had 20 million video streams for the month; two of the top videos were about Britney Spears. That's right we are at war, we have a possible recession, people are having their homes foreclosed on, and yet America is fascinated with Brittney!

I will come back to America's fascination with Spears in a moment. But first a journey back in time to the late 1990's. I was living in Tampa. A good friend Dave Cook stopped by my desk one day and let me in on a little secret. NSYNC was going to appear on the Jack Harris show, and chances are my kids would love to see them. I nodded knowingly. When I got home and told my kids, they were elated. Of course all I knew about NSYNC was that they were an emerging boy band.

Jack Harris is a long time personality in Tampa. He hosted a talk show on the station that I worked at. I tortured my kids by having them pose with Jack Harris for a picture before his program. I glanced over and saw this young woman sitting all by herself. I knew that she was going to be the opening act that night. I turned to her and asked if she would mind if I took a picture of her with my children. She was elated. She seemed so young, shy, sweet and innocent. We chatted briefly and I wished her well. Her smile was bright, she was delighted someone had taken notice of her. She went back to her seat and sat their in oblivion as everyone raced around fawning over the boys of NSYNC. After their performance the kids got their picture taken with NSYNC.

My kids showed off the shots of them with NSync and shoved the pictures with the young woman and Jack Harris in a box in one of our cabinets. Months later my son was fumbling around in the box full of photos. He was searching for the picture of the young singer, because now she wasn't an unknown, she was Brittney Spears. Classmates didn't believe he really had the photo.

I think about that photo that I took by chance, and that brief exchange with a young artist dreaming of fame. I know America is fascinated and watching as her life spins out of control. They are interested in Brittney the star. I watch like everyone else. But I keep thinking about that sweet teenager sitting in the shadows out of sight. I guess her life is a case study of the old adage of be careful what you wish for.

That's James Carville

So Trevor and I went to the big game yesterday. We were across the street from the Verizon Center waiting for the light to change, when I glanced over and saw the man standing next to me. It was James Carville. I turned to my son and whispered, "That's James Carville."

My son looked at James Carville, then looked at me, and asked, "Who's James Carville?"

Some times I think about the great divide seperating me and my kids.. This is just the latest episode. A few years back also at the Verizon Center, we ran into Bill Walton. Walton reached down tassled his hair and said, "How ya doin big guy?" I turned to Trevor and said "Wow that was Bill Walton!" My son said, "Who is Bill Walton?" Of course a few years ago I was talking about O.J. Simpson and what a great running back he was. My son and daughter looked at me like I had three heads. Their comments that day, "O.J. Simpson played football! I didn't know that!"

I think these episodes are great teaching experiences. No not the way you think. Although I did inform my son who James Carville was. He peered back around me and looked at him, and said, "Wow that's cool!" No I really think it's a teaching experience for me. Our job is to attract younger viewers, and in the case of our blogs, younger readers. It's impossible to do that if you have no clue of what they know, and what they are interested in. I think all too often we talk about people like Carville, and Walton, as though everyone should know who they are. We may think that, but clearly that's not the case.

Maybe one day my son will have to explain to his son who Kobe Bryant is. Yesterday Bryant was on fire, totally dominating the Wizards. Having grown up in Southern California I was delighted. I know that sounds traitorous, but it isn't. Any other game, I would be rooting for Caron and company. I do have some observations about the game and the team though. The Wizards are never going to be able to compete effectively in the NBA unless they can get a presence down low. You need a big man who can intimidate, rebound, and score. The Wizards may get an occasional game like that from Brendon Haywood, but it doesn't happen often enough. Yesterday the Lakers didn't even play new addition Pao Gasol, and their other twin tower Andrew Bynum. Yet they easily won the game. Haywood needs to learn when someone fires a pass to you down low, put it in the basket and not on the floor. This has been a huge problem with him. He always dribbles just long enough to allow defenders to converge on him, and the rest is history. Brendon if you are reading this, please stop doing that.

One final thought on the game. I was not alone. With about 9 minutes left in the game, the chant began.

"Let's go Lakers!"

It was thunderous in the upper deck. They flashed "boo" on the big screen. Fans began to boo, but that only inspired the Lakers fans. They started the chant again, only this time louder. My son glared at me. Which led to this exchange:

"I wouldn't do that, it's just too rude!"

"Like rooting for the other team isn't rude."

Perhaps it is, but it's the only time it will happen this year, I promise. By the way I was wrong about that other big game. It was incredible, and the team I was pulling for, the Giants won. I tend to like the underdog, unless of course they are playing the Lakers.