Oregon Trip, Red Sox Update, Sports Media news and a show I cannot stop watching (Warning: Spoiler ahead).

What an exhausting but amazing last couple of weeks for me.  It all started 2 weeks ago this Thursday (August 15) when I got on a plane to Portland, Oregon and spent the next 8 days there with my parents, my brother, Nate and my sister-in-law, Julia.  I had a great time, going to Nate's work, meeting Julia's family and friends at the party on August 17th (and her family's friends).  I spent the first four nights at a hotel near downtown Portland, then spent the next night at Nate and Julia's place.

Tuesday was my parents' 30th wedding anniversary and my brother decided to send us to a hotel in Hood River, about an hour away from Portland.  Spent a fun day and night in the area; then went to a golf course in the area to watch my dad and Nate play 18 holes of golf.  Went back to Nate and Julia's on Wednesday afternoon and spent the last two nights there.  I had a lot of fun last week and I wouldn't mind going back there again (if I can get over the 3 hour time difference).

Either tomorrow or some time next week, I will be going through my take on all 32 NFL teams and how they will fare this season.  I will not be doing a college football preview this time around (just updates and reaction when needed).  As far as the Red Sox are concerned, they are getting better by the week, but we'll have to see if this holds against the Rays or the Orioles...or even....The Yankees (they're coming, folks.  Don't be surprised if they make a run in September).

In the sports media world, Fox Sports 1 has begun and...I haven't seen much of it.  I have tried to watch Fox Sports Live with the Canadian duo anchoring, but the panel discussion makes me want to do a quick change.  When you have a former tennis star talking baseball, you know something's not right.  I don't mind the anchors, it's just the crew.

As for NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), they are having some success with the Premier League games.  Already, after two weeks, the network has had two "upsets" (Cardiff over Manchester City on Sunday and Aston Villa over Arsenal on August 17) and one of the biggest games of the early part of the season in Manchester United and Chelsea.  That game saw Wayne Rooney start for the "Red Devils" against the "Blues," who are actually trying to make a transfer deal with Man U to get Rooney.  The game ended in a 0-0 draw, but it was a great game and drew some big ratings for NBCSN (over a half-million people watching soccer is actually big).  Whether this trend continues will depend on how well the rest of the season goes for the BPL.

Finally, I thought I'd let people know that I am not really into watching anything other than sporting events on the air, but there are two shows that I have gotten into this season.  One is "Whose Line is it Anyway" on the CW (which some of you know already).  The other series is HBO's "The Newsroom," about a fictitious cable news company and the day-to-day life of the people involved in cable news.  Jeff Daniels plays the main character, Will McAvoy, who is the anchor of the network's main news show.  This season has been all about "Operation Genoa," a story that was brought to attention by a former army general and kept going by a producer from the network's D.C. bureau who was brought into the main bureau in New York when the producer of the newscast goes to New Hampsire to cover the Romney campaign (you can see how hooked I am on the show from this).

Spoiler Alert Below 

Well, last Sunday was the most recent and biggest episode of the season in which the story was given the green light and showed on the air as a special report.  Little did they know, Mr. D.C. producer edited an interview with a 3-star general in a way to make it sound like the general's saying that chemical weapons were used in the operation (Note:  Make sure the TV is off when doing an interview and that it's not on a sporting event with a shot clock showing).  Everything goes downhill after that:  the story had to be retracted a few nights later, the producer gets fired and sues the company for wrongful termination (why the lawyers have been at the network the whole time).

Spoiler Alert Ends

If you have not seen the show yet, give it a chance, especially those who are trying to get into the world of television.*^ It will give you a whole new meaning of the newsroom experience.

*  Disclaimer:  I know that the show is about a fictional news network and that there is more to news reporting that isn't shown on the show, while some of what is shown don't actually take place in real newsrooms (May need assistance with this).
^Note:  The show is rated TV-MA.  It is intended for mature audiences for Adult content and language.