Classic Rant #1,308 (October 23, 2004): Nothing Much To Say

I have nothing much to say today, just some random thoughts on a trio of topics.

Here goes:

Ebola, Ebola, Ebola: This is a terrible disease, don't get me wrong. Heck, I was scared when I heard while cruising that a cruise ship had a possible Ebola passenger as a guest, and breathed a sigh of relief when I found out that it was not on the cruise ship my family and I were on.

But don't you think that social media and the TV news might have blown the whole thing out of proportion?

Yes, we have to protect ourselves from this disease, and yes, we should secure our borders a bit more against those coming from countries where the disease is spreading in epidemic proportions.

But it seems that everywhere you turn, it is Ebola, Ebola, Ebola.

Our finest doctors, I do believe, will come up with a cure for Ebola, much like they came up with a cure for measles. It will happen.

I had measles as a child, a few years before they came up with a vaccine to rid us of the worry this disease causes. I was a little guy, quarantined for several days, and came out of it smelling like a rose.

Back to Ebola ...

But if you listen to the media, you would think that catching this thing is as easy as getting the common cold.

It isn't, and the regular media and social media should stop perpetuating this myth that we are all a handshake away from contracting this disease.

Yes, we should be aware of it, but the frenzy around it has become a bit much, I have to say.

Royals Even World Series: Heck, the way the World Series is being covered in New York, I bet people who live here didn't even know that it was being played.

For an area that is so Yankees-dominated, an area that loves the Mets even though they are pretty awful, a region where baseball is truly king year-round with coverage, it is so funny--and sad--at how the World Series is being covered here.

If it is even mentioned at all, it is usually behind coverage of two bad pro football teams, and even the new hockey season and burgeoning basketball season.

On Tuesday, when the championship series between the Kansas City Royals and the San Francisco Giants began, I was watching the local WCBS news program in the early morning, and there was absolutely no mention of the game at all.

Not a single mention.

Have we, in this region, become so blase about the Series because one of our local teams isn't in it?

Are we so spoiled that if the Yankees aren't in the playoffs, at least, we don't care about who is battling for the championship?

How said that really is.

Survivor Begins Another Season: Talk about being blase, does anyone other than myself even watch this show anymore?

It is the same basic premise that was developed from the first show of this series all those years ago to the current season: a group of "castaways" is placed in some remote place and has to basically fend for themselves, voting off those who aren't worthy.

This show has had some added features over the years, but basically, it is the same show that is has been from its beginning to right now.

Richard Hatch, anyone?

CBS has tried to reinvigorate this show by occasionally including D- and even E-list celebrities to the castaway mix--this year it was former controversial baseball player John Rocker, who was voted off pretty early based on his reputation--and it really has not worked at all.

And yes, you do see skin, and I guess that gets a lot of people going.

But at this point in time, just tune in on various shows on cable TV and you will see a lot more of that.

Survivor needs to take a giant step, have the next castaways try to survive in a frigid climate, and see how it plays out.

You won't have the skin, but you will have more game playing, more masterminding, more gamesmanship and more for the audience to grab onto than some guys and gals in their underwear.

Well, I guess I did have something to say after all.

That is really all I have to say today, just bits and pieces of stuff that I have been able to look at now that my family and I have returned home.

How's by you?