Michael Jackson’s father Joe continues his “Foot In Mouth ’09” tour by giving an interview to the syndicated television show “Extra.”
In the interview Jackson says this about his son:
“He’s worth more dead than when he was alive,”
Even Joe must have understood that he comments might sound a bit callous — so he added:
“I’d rather have him alive.”
Thanks Dad. Mighty kind of you.
Last week ABC’s Nightline had a segment on Scientology including a clip in which church spokesman Tommy Davis strongly objected to questions about some alleged specific Scientologist beliefs.
Questions from reporter Martin Bashir like this one:
“Do you believe that a galactic emperor called Xenu brought his people to earth 75 million years ago and buried them in volcanoes?”
…led Davis to tear off his microphone and storm off the set. The interview with Davis starts at the 3:40 mark on the video below.
Today we learn from the New York Daily News that:
….just 45 minutes before the segment was to air on Thursday, Davis showed up at ABC headquarters on West 67th Street and asked to speak to Bashir and the show’s executive producer about the interview.
The paper goes on to report
Davis “demanded to a security guard that he be let in,” but was told as politely as possible that the piece was cut and in the can and could not be changed and that Martin would be unable to see him. He was then asked to leave.” The NYDN’s source says Davis “…was not happy.”
Given his performance we can understand why he might hope for a “do over” — but any trained spokesman should know that after you say or do anything colorful on camera and on microphone you don’t have a prayer asking the media not to run it.
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The Washington Post as a front page story today about declining fan support for their hometown team — the Redskins.
In most cities it would not be news that fan enthusiasm is weak for a losing team. But for decades DC natives have been fanatical about the ‘Skins win or lose.
Now, not so much. Even the most die hard supporter might be bummed out. It is not just the record of 2 wins and 4 losses but by the fact that Washington’s defeats included falling to the Detroit Lions (who hadn’t won since 2007 — a run of 19 games) and the Kansas City Chiefs — who are nearly as inept as Detroit.
After the loss to KC, the Redskins stripped head coach Jim Zorn of play calling duties and gave them to someone who has been out of football for several years and whose most recent activity (we are not making this up) was calling bingo games at an old folks home.
So the Washington Post writes that, for the first time in recent memory, there are a lot of vacant seats at the Redskin’s FedEx Field. Not only that, TV ratings are falling and “…the national market for burgundy and gold jerseys, banners and hats has plummeted, down 47 percent in the past month compared with the same period last year, according to sales data.”FAIL TO THE REDSKINS
So, what is the official response of the Redskins? They’ve found the problem — it is the Washington Post!
“I think the relentless negative coverage in The Washington Post is a real difference from previous years,” David Donovan, the Redskins Chief Operating Officer is quoted as saying. “But in terms of the way our actual fans are behaving, we don’t see any difference.”
FUMBLE! If you have a relentlessly bad team, Mr. Donovan, you should expect coverage to match. Instead of shooting the messenger, how about thanking the fans who have stuck with you during a period of less-than-stellar performances and promise that you are working on putting a better product on the field. Bingo!
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