Lou Pickney's Online Commentary
Truth & Spin Control
Sunday
February 23, 2003
I'm a little bit steamed right now about an article that ran in All Access on Friday. They had the story about the Lex & Terry funeral. That part was fine. But then they had a response from Lex & Terry that included this quote from Terry: "Don't you have to beat us first? In the FALL 2002 ARBITRON ratings book I am looking at we are #1 and have been for over seven years."
There's no dispute that L&T are still #1 in 25-54 (though their share is considerably down as Bubba charges toward them in that category, too). But Bubba is beating them in Men 18-34 and Persons 18-34. That's completely true. Then there's this quote from Lex: "He really should stop lying to his listeners and go kill a pig or something."
Now I have a real problem with that. Lying to his listeners? Look, I've seen the ratings books, and Bubba has been more than forthright about admitting which demos he's won and which he hasn't yet. Bubba even went through them on-air and itemized the categories, going so far as to say that he hopes to have a big celebration concert in Jacksonville when he beats L&T in 25-54. So, my question is, how is he lying? How?!?
Click here for a look at the exact numbers.
Last night was an interesting time. The Mike Tyson fight was a joke. Am I the only person who wonders about the possibility of Clifford Etienne taking a dive? Granted, that hit was legit, but Etienne was smiling right after the match was stopped. It seems a bit too convenient that Tyson is the top draw in the sport and could by far draw the biggest money on PPV in a rematch with Lennox Lewis.
And then Tyson did his usual in talking gibberish after the fight. He claimed to have a broken back. I think some of that tattoo ink seeped into his brain. It was hilarious as Jim Gray was trying to make sense of all he was saying.
Riley and I had an interesting conversation about the restaurant business over at the James Joyce Irish Pub in Ybor. It's the one that you have to go up a big flight of stairs to get to. If you get thrown out of there, you've got to take a Mick Foley level bump going down the 75 or so stairs. It'd be a good place for a Slinky. Anyway, Riley told me how he'd run a bar that size if he was the owner. Interesting perspective. Also, he told me that there was more money to be made in food than in drinks. That really surprised me; I thought drinks (be they alcoholic or non) were how a restaurant made the bulk of its profits.
The view from the window there is a unique look at 7th Avenue. You can get the second-floor perspective from a number of balconies, but this is high enough up to give a wider view.
The pizza shop (Market on 7th) wasn't too terribly busy for a Saturday night. I met a friend of Sabrina's (one of the bartenders there), a guy named Michael who was telling me about how his wife died last year after giving birth to their first child and that he's about to file an $11 million lawsuit against Tampa General Hospital. He told me that he'd secured the services of prominent Tampa attorney Barry Cohen, who was the lawyer for Steve and Marlene Aisenberg (among others). It's a tough situation, for sure.
I have the movie
Animal House on in the other room. What a classic film. I've seen it probably 20 times, and I still find it extremely funny. Like the scene where they talk about hooking up Pinto. "We're willing to trade looks for a certain morally casual attitude." Priceless stuff. Of course, my favorite line is when the professor is asked "Will it make me go schitzo?" and he responds: "It's a distinct possibility." And if you've ever been in a fraternity, well then I imagine you can appreciate the movie all the more.
| 
