Afternoon Post

I come from a long line of Carolina fans. That’s the University of North Carolina Tar heels to you among the great unwashed. We in the Harris family bleed Carolina Blue. As the fight song indicates, I’m a Tar heel born, and a Tar heel bred, and when I die, I’ll be a Tar heel dead. It even caused a minor scandal when I married an N.C. State fan! I look at that as going behind enemy lines to get the real battle plans for my team.
So this is the best time of the year for me. John Bunting and the Carolina football team fought hard this year in the face of adversity. Hard fought wins at the ending of the season pulled a respectable 6-5 record and a birth to the Tire Bowl in Charlotte against future ACC school Boston College. Roy Williams and the Carolina basketball team are also doing very well this year. They have a tough game coming up tonight against Indiana in the ACC-Big 10 challenge.
For years many basketball fans that I know have railed against the commentating of Billy Packer. He is anti-Carolina or anti-Duke too much they say. I dismiss most of that as bias against a commentator that isn’t a cheerleader for your particular team 100% of the time. That isn’t Billy Packers, Dick Vitale, Dan Bonner, or any other network commentators job. If you want to hear a broadcast tilted toward a certain team, then dial in Woody Durham or Bob Harris or Tony Haynes. They all do wonderful jobs, even if their jobs are different than the network coverage.
Billy Packer isn’t bad, but I think his son Mark is one of the better radio hosts that I have ever heard. His daily “Primetime with the Packman” and weekly “Primetime in the A.C.C.” shows are entertaining and informative. He is tuned in to the pulse of sports around the area and knows his stuff. I had the time of my life listening to his show last night driving back home from my parents house.
With tonight being the last night of Tom Brokaw doing the evening news, the focus shifts to Brian Williams as he begins his tenure as NBC’s lead anchor tomorrow night. I like Williams a lot. I don’t think that he is that bad of an anchor. I used to watch his newscasts on CNBC and MSNBC before he switched over to the network to take Brokaw’s place. He may lean toward the liberal side, but no more than any of the other anchors. He will give the conservative viewpoint a chance from what I have seen of his newscasts. That’s more that what other anchors have done.
Which leads me to Dan Rather. Or more specifically, to his successor. CBS is still looking for the person to fill Rathers seat come next March. The latest news is that they may go to a rotating basis with a few different people. They would love to have someone like Tim Russert come in and take the chair. The problem with that is Russert signed with NBC through the 2012 election. So here I am to offer the ultimate solution to the problem. CBS should offer the job to…………me.
Seriously. I couldn’t do much worse in the job than what is being done now. CBS is already third in ratings and down in the dumps as far as viewer reliability. I will even renounce the top editor and producer job that comes with it. All of the reporters and producers can do their jobs and stories any way they see fit. I will announce the reports and let them dig themselves into a big hole or whatever else they see fit to do. All I ask is that when I am reporting the news of the day the people at the CBS news division allow me to write my own copy and report it my own way. That’s it. Think CBS will go for it? Hey CBS, you want the resume? All you have to do is email me. More later.