News reporters becoming news
REMEMBER when news people used to report the news instead of becoming the story? Now reporters are falling all over themselves to be guests on shows instead of being out doing their jobs. There's "Today" show "sexiest man" Matt Lauer trying to explain to Conan O'Brien that the shot of him in coy pose for People magazine's "sexiest anchor" award wasn't really posed, but caught during a relaxed moment when he was perhaps stretching his neck to the side. Yeah, Matt. Then there was Marv Albert doing the impossible, trying to establish credibility by making the talk show circuit from Barbara Walters to Larry King (this is a good example?) to David Letterman to Katie Couric on the "Today" show. Sorry, Marv, but if I were a polygraph machine, I'd be making a razzberry noise about now ...
THE best one of all, however, was when Tim Russert of "Meet the Press" was on the Jay Leno "Tonight" show talking about his one-on-one interview with President Bill Clinton. That's the one where Clinton laughingly said he'd not eaten in a McDonald's since he took office. After that blatant misstatement Sunday, the Star-Bulletin printed (and ran on its web site) the George Lee photo of Clinton, drink in hand, walking out of the McDonald's in Waimanalo in November of last year. Leno then showed the photo on his national show Wednesday night and Russert, who hadn't seen it, said "Forget Whitewater -- McDonaldgate is big!" And Leno made the point that if you can't trust what Clinton says about McDonald's, how're you expected to believe other pronouncements? It was a classic "Gotcha," courtesy the Star-Bulletin ...
No arguments here
JUST after I'd warned folks to be aware of how many reporters, particularly sportscasters, overuse the word "arguably," it was in the first sentence out of Frank Gifford's mouth on "Monday Night Football." Of course it's inarguable that he has other things on his mind of late -- yet another newsman making news.GOLF fans still have a way of watching the MasterCard PGA Grand Slam of Golf on Kauai Sunday through Tuesday. The Hyatt Regency Kauai still has some packages available for $195 per night that include passes to all three days of the tournament. Crowds of 8,000 are expected to overrun the course to see Davis Love III, Justin Leonard, Ernie Els and particularly Tiger Woods in the big money tourney ... "Superstar" Billy Williams brought some of his Hertz gang and his beautiful young wife Ramona to Murphy's to watch Monday Night Football. They've been married 12 years now. "And you said it wouldn't last," chided Williams. "No," I corrected, "I said you wouldn't last." ...
YOU'LL be hearing more about mezzo-soprano Zheng Cao, who'll be performing Nov. 23 & 25 with the Honolulu Symphony. Maestro Seiji Ozawa has engaged her to sing in the upcoming Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan. And I'm sorry, but the way CBS and affiliate KGMB pronounce Nagano by stressing the first syllable instead of all three equally, reminds me of mainlanders referring to "Sen. IN-oh-way." ...
Fred the Sled
SOON embarking on a new campaign is former gubernatorial candidate Fred Hemmings. This one has nothing to do with politics, however -- he'll be hanging ten in various bookshops pushing a new book he's written. Hemmings, who was Hawaii's first World Champion Surfer in 1968, is the author of a new anecdotal "The Soul of Surfing in Hawaiian." It hits isle bookstores Monday.
Contact Dave by e-mail: donnelly@kestrok.com.