Miss America, where will you go?

ABC didn't renew their contract to show the Miss America pageant for next year, after last year's pageant was less than a big success. I suppose "big success" in tv terms is an odd thing anyway; 9 million people watched last year's pageant, and that's considered a failure since it's only 7% of the people who were watching tv. [See the NY Daily News story.]

Surely someone else in tv-land will take a flyer on Miss America, but the fact remains that in network terms it fails now. Is it just maybe because this isn't the 50's anymore? We don't get excited about a once-a-year opportunity to watch a nationally-diverse set of attractive women model swimsuits and evening gowns. Now, we can flip to NYPD blue or Nip/Tuck every week and see underwear models practically naked. Survivor, MTV's stable of non-music-oriented Spring Break programming, and many other shows offer us attractive, bikini-clad women who seem far more girl-next-door than Miss America could, expensively made-up under the stage lights. Then again, if any of the girls-next-door that we knew acted like either one, they probably wouldn't make for good television.

Some people who consider themselves good feminists will likely celebrate any downgrade in the promincence of Miss America. I'm not really ready to take a stand. Then again, I watch Nip/Tuck (more on that some other time), so people might question my morality anyway. But the thing is that Miss America is more wholesome than a lot of what is presented and has at least some noble goals. That doesn't really make it less exploitative. Maybe these days, it just makes it less interesting.

"Now the world is my lobster."

Speaking of Sports Quotes, one of the funnier reads on the net is a collection of soccer (football to everyone else in the world) quotes, including the one above, supposedly said by Keith O'Neill, who plays in England. Here's the link. Enjoy. Try not to disturb your co-workers laughing out loud.

working my way back with a Sports Quote...

Ok, so I've been hassled recently for letting my occasional forays into blogdom slide. Nothing terribly interesting today, but I will share this quote from Isiah Thomas, who apparently went to New York to manage a sports team and has ended up talking like Stengel or Berra. So, from the

NY Times:
"Houston and Miami have an interest in Shandon Anderson if he becomes a free agent, but Knicks GM Isiah Thomas is waiting for someone to make a solid trade offer. Asked whether any team is willing to make a trade, Thomas paused, then grinned. 'If I was to answer that question honestly,' he said, 'I would have to lie to you.' "

Well, that just about says it all.